ZvoRuna, You requested recommendations from the wide world of sinister land. Two recommendations that I offer for your listening pleasure are Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Weezer. These aforementioned groups sound about as different as one can possibly imagine, but they (with Belle and Sebastian) represent the best music, in my humble opinion, to arise in the last five years. But if you don't mind reading paeans of the highest order, may I state some reasons why I request these two? Godspeed You Black Emperor! are the best group that I've encountered this year. Their sound is an ineffable amalgam of Richard Wagner, the Who, and, on occasion, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. However, a better description of their brilliance is that they provide the soundtrack for the apocalypse. The nine members of GYBE!'s live performances include five guitarists (3 six-stringers and 2 bassists), two standing percussionists, a cellist, and a violinist. Suffice it to say, the five guitars create a soundscape that crescendos (and diminuendos) to unparalleled degrees in the history of music (only Richard Wagner and, more recently, Mogwai offer suitable comparisons). The percussionists typically begin at pianississimo volumes and imperceptibly build to fucking break the roof of the venue or blast a stereo, replete with marching beats, an incessant crash cymbal and a bass drum that seems to blast through your chest with every stroke. Last but not least, the cellist and violinist appear to be Julliard's brilliant but rowdy rejects that complement and drive GYBE!'s timbre into uncharted regions that Beethoven could only dream about. I would purchase GYBE!'s EP "Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada" before obtaining the LP "f#a# infinity" as the EP contains their best track to date, viz., "Blaise Bailey Finnegan III", and the drum-laden "Moya" that sends quivers through my stomach at the final crescendo. However, I don't seek to give you the impression that "f#a# infinity" is pants; to wit, it may be the best LP of 1998 (including Belle and Sebastian's "The Boy with the Arab Strap"). However, to novel ears, it may seem tedious at times building to crescendo and the frequent drum loops and other miscellaneous noises, e.g. train sounds, bagpipes, and drone chants, may initially be an unpalatable morsel in one's musical mouth. Now to change my direction entirely, allow me to deliver a panegyric to my favorite American pop band, those catchy-as-a-cold-standing- butt-naked-in-the-Antarctic dorks from California, Weezer. They only have two albums, the self-titled release in 1994 and 1996' "Pinkerton", but for the amount of material that they have, to put it bluntly, there is no better pop band ever to grace the earth. Only Felt and Belle and Sebastian offer suitable comparisons. And, speaking of Felt, I think that there are tremendous similarities between Weezer and the Lawrence-led Birminghamians. Just as Felt is post-Sex Pistols British art pop that emphasizes punk's melodic dimension, Weezer is post-Nirvana American punk that exploits melodies pervasive in the early stages of "alternative" (as well as 1950s pop, but that's another story!). In addition, Lawrence of Felt and Rivers Cuomo of Weezer leave no doubt who is in control of their respective groups. Both maintain firm reigns upon their band's sound, and both have had members of their groups leave due to this fact (Maurice Deebank of Felt and Matt Sharp of Weezer, now with the Rentals). However, both are absolute geniuses (and Rivers is truly a brilliant man as well - he graduated with a B.A. from Harvard in English) when it comes to sculpturing pop masterpieces. I would start with Weezer's self-titled album, which features "Buddy Holly" - their biggest hit in the U.S. so far and, with its parody of Happy Days, it may be the best video I have seen. However, their second album "Pinkerton" is lyrically different, as virtually every song is about foibles and failings with the opposite sex, but the power pop is still there in spades. And there is no album that I have been awaiting more than Weezer's forthcoming third album. Christ, it's been a long time! Hope that helps and thanks for reading, ~~M ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "jelly-filled danishes" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+