Hello Sinister As various media corporations keep reminding me, the Brit Awards are taking place this week. Last night Carsmile Steve reminded me that Belle & Sebastian once won a Brit Award, after the release of their third album, for best newcomer. But that was seven years ago, and things were very different then. Indeed, I don't think many could have plotted a seven-year plan which transformed the Brit Award-winning B&S into the just-plain-winning group that performed last night. It seems that every time I post to you these days I bleat on about how satisfying it is to see the band all grown up and confident, how much I love seeing them swagger, without all the nervousness and diffidence of old. Sure, the records were great then, but the live shows were a little underwhelming. Now, as someone else said, the band are "tight" and "in tune", and there is a polish and ambition, which means that they're actually choosing to play their most difficult songs, but playing it really well. So last night we got a frankly astounding version of Your Cover's Blown, replete with crisp harmony and a lot of very tight funk, and seriously raving version of Electronic Renaissance, which appeared to have three of the band on percussion duties and Beans enjoying his new role as programmer/dance wizard. Much of the new stuff, too, with its three-part harmony and glam stomp would sound rubbish done by a less accomplished set of musicians, but they were professional and well-reheased (dirty words!) and the results showed. I was particularly impressed by the vocal breakdown of White Collar Boy ("She said you ain't ugly you can kiss me if you like"), and most of Sukie in the Graveyard, which beforehand felt like a bit of a filler on the LP. With this new-found confidence throughout their set, it was slightly funny hearing the old stuff. Fox in the Snow, perhaps the wettest of the "old-B&S" cannon, mutated into an assured, accomplished song, so much so that it was almost like hearing a "pops orchestra" version of the tune, like those 70s LPs you get of "chart hits" as performed by So-and-so So-and-so and his Orchestra. Judy & the Dream of Horses and Pastie, too, were greatly improved by the new style, rounding themselves up in the most satisfying of dins, and the finale of Swing Your Cock Around even had strobe lights and a house beat. Dazzling stuff. Struan is now a true showman too, shaking hands with the crowd, cracking jokes on stage, and writhing on the floor for the last verse of Your Cover's Blown before announcing that he thought he'd pulled something and appealing to a masseur to ease his pain after the show (that's my boy!). Disappointingly, Stevie's songs continue to let down the rest of the set, and his voice seems to jar with Struans when they sing in unison. These are minor gripes though, the performance was masterful and slick, and there ain't nuttin' wrong with that. For the completists then, the setlist ran: The State I'm In Another Sunny Day The Model Sukie In The Graveyard If You're Feeling Sinister To Be Myself Completely Electronic Rennaissance The Loneliness of a Middle-Distance Runner Blues Are Still Blue My Wandering Days Are Over Fox In The Snow Funny Little Frog White Collar Boy She's Losing It Your Cover's Blown Dog On Wheels I'm A Cuckoo If You Find Yourself Caught In Love The Wrong Girl Judy & The Dream of Horses -encore- Le Pastie De La Bourgeousie Sleep The Clock Around Pre-gig there was pubbage at the Duke of Cornwall, outside of which a bunch of Egyptian minors had gathered, with the intention of watching the African Nations Cup final through the window. We discovered their nationality when the match went to penalties. Inside the pub, meanwhile, was an assembled crew of Carsmile, Brapps, Aerosmith Guitarist Jo Perry, Gillian Kirby, and a couple of others whose identities escape me at the moment. That's all for now. Stay loose, Asm.x ================================ "He's strictly a pain in the ass, but he certainly has a good vocabulary" - Holden Caulfield +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the 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 +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+