the clouds hang over the sinister sands. the beach is quiet. it is dusk, and any tourists hardy enough to brave the winds have long retired to their petrol-pumping shelters and hurried off to a different world. the breeze has dropped now, although a thin film of rain hangs in the air, stinging our faces as the waves lap over our trainers. not a good day to be wearing corduroy. before us, a trail of footprints. they lead out of the water and up towards the dunes, where they recede into the darkness that is starting to thicken around us. you take my hand and we follow them. why not? following the trail is easy, and its comforting to know we're not alone. for a while, neither of us speaks. your shoes make a squelching sound as the water seeps out of them, back into the sand. the noise of the seagulls has ceased. they are watching us silently, pondering the strange habits of humans. perhaps they are waiting for us to die, so they can swoop down and peck at our eyes... but dying is for tomorrow. today, you and me are alive, and as the palm of my hand gently caresses yours you begin to hum, almost imperceptibly. it takes a couple of seconds, but i recognise the tune, and i start to sing along, hesitantly at first but growing more sure of myself. "she's very quiet, and very small infact she's hardly there at all that's what she is and what she is and what she iiis....... a rotting rowboat lies abandoned on the sand. the wood cracks under our feet as we climb over the edge and sit ourselves where the seat used to be. the last of the sunlight is fading, it touches the clouds with the softest pink smile and we don't feel sad any more. looper...you take the moments of your life and you share them with me. and, in this way, i start to feel like i have lived them too. like the time we danced madly in the water while "the balad of ray suzuki" played from your cheap transistor, --- a bunch of loopers...damn right. i'm glad stuart david left the group, if it was a choice between that or there not being another looper album. i have no idea how it will affect the group dynamics, but it has been apparent for some time that the guy is branching out. perhaps b&s wasn't quite big enough to hold him any more. i love my twattybus album as much as any of the b&s recordings, but it seemed not to fit together as well as the others. the song that seems most out of place is "space boy dream". a lovely story, it always brings a smile to my face, and the way it flows into "dirty dream number 2" is fantastic, but i don't feel it fits with the general mood. even the glam sounds and muffled vocals of "electronic rennaissance", rather at odds with the rest of tigermilk, seem....right..... somehow. space boy dream seems like it should have been on an e.p. somewhere. or on a different album. perhaps it just doesn't sound like a b&s song. okay, maybe a group should aim for diversity. but i don't think the stu d style and the stu m style was fitting together quite as well as it might have done. if, as he says, he has left the group amicably, i'm glad. at least this way he'll still be recording with them from time to time. i'd hate this band to have one of those unpleasant-split scenarios. it seems beneath them. stu d seems to have been waiting for a change. the whole theme of "who's afraid of y2k" was "maybe everything will be allright soon. maybe....perhaps.. the world will change and none of us will really have to try to make it happen". and when it didn't? maybe he looked to himself for that change. the looper album isn't the cleverest musical work i've ever heard. the lyrics aren't knowing, sarcastic or particularly witty. the spoken word format can seem a little cloying at times. despite all this, i love it. perhaps because of all this. it came from someone's heart, a few moments were snatched as they passed and someone was good enough to share them with me. i'm grateful for that. i hope this doesn't change b&s too much. i'd like them to stay subtle as the wind is grey. perhaps they'll grow through it. guess we'll have to wait and see. the sun has set. i pull my coat a little closer around myself. the wind has returned, and it drives the rain into my flesh, biting my skin. i touch the spot where you sat, and imagine i can still feel your warmth on the wood. my fingers are numb and my head is starting to ache. i can't help wondering where you went. ian +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+