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From: andrew dean <koogydelbbog@yahoo.com>

box set of the first 3 eps? i don't see the point. there's only a very small corner of the market that'll be even vaguely interested.

It doesn't seem B&S are overly concerned with large corners of any market, judging by the way they have handled themselves so far. That doesn't mean something isn't worth doing. The number of people who bother to mail in to them to order buttons, t-shirts, or posters is a small group I would imagine, but they choose to make those items because they want to, not for you to see or not see some point in it.

someone said the box set will make things easier for people to discover belle and sebastian. doesn't make sense. nobody's going to splash out nearly 30 bucks on a box set by someone they haven't heard before, they'll buy one of the eps, risking maybe $10 and go from there. if they like it they'll continue with the others, if they don't then at least they haven't spent much.

In the US, at least, there are tens of thousands of people who have bought the albums through Matador's distribution. The EPs were previously only avalable as imports, which meant that few stores carried them and when they did they were $10 to $12 each. Rather than spending $30 to $36 for them seperately at one of the few stores in the states to carry them all (Aarons and Rhino in LA, Other Music and Kim's in NYC, and a store or two in each college town or big city) you will be able to buy all three for under $20, with a slip case with new artwork. I don't imagine they are expecting to sell them to people who haven't heard the band before, but there are tons of people in the US who have and adore TBWTAS, IYAFS, and Tigermilk who haven't had access to the EP's yet and might buy them in that under $20 format.

anybody who has even one of the old eps isn't going to bother with the box set cos of the duplication involved. this is the reason i never bothered with the galaxie 500 box set or the this mortal coil one even though they both contained new material - 30 quid for 3 cds that i already had plus one that i didn't. makes no sense. (and if they do include new material on the cds just to force people to buy the box set then they are evil)

To avoid the risk of die hard fans buying the set at $20 just for the new cover slip, the band and labels are selling that cover slip seperate at a negligable cost. I don't know of any other band or label that has had the foresight to be this considerate at avoiding taking advantage of completists and devoted fans.

if they insist on selling all the eps in one go then put them all on one disk - uses a lot less in the way of resources and is just more convenient for everybody. put the new artwork on the front of this compilation rather than waste more resources on a box to go around them all.

There are obvious aesthetic and conceptual reasons for preserving them as seperate EP's. They were recorded, conceived of, and released at different times at different sessions as records with a beginning, middle, and end and artwork specific to them. How would you sequence them? In chronological order? I can't imagine a more awkward segue than going from "Century of Elvis" to "Century of Fakers". As far as jamming them all together somehow using less resources and being "convenient", there are obvious reasons to keep them as seperate entities, as they were released. You could have shoved them onto the end of the Tigermilk CD, but it would have ruined the flow of that album and each of the EPS.

and selling the box (slipcase, whatever) on it's own? why? maybe i should buy one just to make sure that they'll no longer fit on the shelf next to all the others.

So that fans who want the cover for whatever reason don't have to waste money and resources on duplicate copies of the music, just as you were whining about a few lines above.

i think it's safe to say that we'd all rather have something new instead. what is it, a year now?

Sure, and when it is ready I imagine the band will release something. In the meantime why not make the great songs and sleeves of the EP's available to those who haven't been exposed to them or chose not to buy them at high prices in the past? My favorite release by them has always been the "3.6.9..." EP, and the idea of tens of thousands of people who couldn't easily hear it before now having better access to it without it being crammed in the middle of some awkward compilation that seemed to start and stop three times in one listen is great.

can't find the eps in LA? my girlfriend did easily enough. try aron's. it's in the yellow pages. they'll order any that they don't have in stock.

andrew dean (koogydelbbog@yahoo.com)

Aarons and Rhino in LA carry the Ep's, yes. You can also get them any day in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The remaining thousands of square miles of the US are a lot trickier. Having Matador distribute them, as well as having them come out as a new release with reviews, articles, and displays will bring them to a lot of fans in the States who haven't been exposed to them yet. If you can't understand it, simply don't buy it. You missed out on some great music on that Galaxie 500 box set as well, but so it goes.... Regards, Lance Bangs +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+