Hi All, I've found some more writing on B&S at the gay bookstore where I work. This time it's not from one of the porno mags but from one of the more "respectable" ones. Now even all you youngins can run out and buy it! But I figured most of you won't be out asking for the new issue of Out(it's the June issue in case you do) so I've copied the article below for you. Quite an interesting one too. What do the rest of you queers think? Anybody know what's up with Stuart and Isobell then? I want gossip, damnit! I need to know who's sleeping with whom. Nice photo of Stuart from some concert too. "La Vie Est Belle And Sebastian Meet the elusive darlings of indie pop: eight Scots who sing about being a queer, in all sensed of the word. We just can't help it. Despite the fact that Scottish septet Belle and Sebastian shun any and all publicity, obsessed critics and fans-legions of them gay and lesbian-continue to swoon over these unlikely pop stars, particularly waifishly beautiful lead singer-songwriter Stuart Murdoch. What's driven so many queer music lovers into the frail arms of this ex-choirboy who's been favorably compared to Nick Drake, Donovan, and Morrissey? Besides having a "wee bottom", as it was recently praised on a fan webpage, the 31 year old singer delivers soothing, heavenly vocals so fey they make Rufus Wainwright seem like Meatloaf. And though Murdoch isn't gay himself(he used to date band-mate Isobel Campbell), it's clear from his lyrics that he either hangs out with a lot of queers or, for whatever reason, deeply identifies with us:"My brother had confessed he was gay/It took the heat off me for awhile," he sings in "the state I am in" from the band's flawless 1996 debut, Tigermilk. "She's Losing It," also from Tigermilk, is a better dyke anthem than anything Melissa Etheridge has ever written. And "Seeing Other People" from the equally exquisite follow-up, If You're Feeling Sinister, can easily be interpreted as the story of a young closet case. In general, the band's lyrics tend to switch pronouns midway through songs, so that just about everyone seems to be bi. One popular single, "Lazy Line Painter Jane" flips chorus from "you will have a boy tonight" to You will have a girl tonight" in the blink of an eye. The group's new, mysteriously titled Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant, is a graceful recovery from its one uneven release, 1998's The Boy With The Arab Strap. Out of 11 songs, eight are perfect, and there's only one flat-out dud(the biblical "beyond the sunrise"). The overall sound of the record is a kink of sophisticated easy listening, with apparent Carpenters and Simon & Garfunkel influences, and grandiose flute, violin, and trumpet parts. The obvious hit single is "woman's realm" a head bopping duet between Murdoch and Campbell that encompasses everything a Belle and Sebastian song can be: It's sweet as a peach, with a driving piano beat, hand claps, a catchy-as-hell hook, and evocative, whimsical lyrics. Gay characters aren't as evident on Fold Your Hands; instead, the band seems preoccupied with feminist issues. She may have a breathy baby voice, but Campbell sounds adamant in "family tree" when she sings, "if you're looking at me to start having babies/Then you can wish because I'm not here to fool around." The saddest and most shocking cut is the haunting "the chalet lines", on which Murdoch sings from the point of view of a girl who's been raped-a subject hinted at on previous albums but never addressed this bluntly: "he raped me in the chalet lines/I had just said no for the final time.../She asked me why I don't tell the law/Oh what's the fucking point at all." It's the darkest Belle and Sebastian song yet, and all around the world hearts are breaking."------by Amy Kellner Till next time, Steven +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+