ok, i'm so bored i thought i'd do this. these are the two single of the week reviews in the music papers week ending october 4th. i've not seem them posted before, apologies (and curses) if they have been A musical box left playing in a long-abandoned nursery. "A Century Of Fakers"" is the Velvet Underground ("Pale Blue Eyes", say), and The Pastels, and Donovan, and The Seekers all in one delicious bundle. It's not fey, it's not twee: just simple, straightforwardly, beautiful. If you can write a tune this stunning, why smother it with overly-lush arrangements or loud guitars? In contrast, "Le Pastie De La Bourgeoisie" is a speedy but dark Western soundtrack. The disconcertingly truthful press release - courtesy of guitarist Stevie - reveals that he rates it but "Wee Chris on keyboards thinks it sucks." Sorry Chris; I'm with Stevie on this one. It's only when we get to "Beautiful" that i understand why Belle & Sebastian have left some people cold. It sounds aimless at first; but then it blossoms into something cherishable, if awkward, like a butterfly struggling out of its cocoon. (Besides, ever since Animals That Swim, I've been a sucker for poignant trumpet solos.) So heart-piercingly perfect, I can only prostrate myself in awe. Tania Branigan, Melody Maker, 4th October 1997 ------- Shall we curse them with the tag of the Best New Band In Britain? The B&S masterpiece has still to come, but right now this four-song EP towers above everything else, briefly restoring your faith in pop music. Two albums, a few EPs - it isn't a huge canon of work, but already Belle & Sebastian are quite obviously an important group. Why? Well, anyone who can write stuff at this stage in the game as good as "La Pastie De La Bourgeoisie" and the wistful "Put The Book Back On The Shelf" will one day do something so breathtakingly great that we'll all just drop down dead from the shock of pleasure. And songs like "Beautiful" are archetypal white adolescent bedroom blues, less obviously ripe for parody than the Tindersticks, fresher and untainted by the unremitting blackness of Nick Cave. Like all tragedy, it is faintly ridiculous. It's more than just the ability to write emotionally affecting songs, though they do get you with the hairs on the back of the neck. They have the same European coolness, the comforting depression of Francois Hardy, the arch wordplay of Morrissey (when he was good) and the pathos of Nick Drake. Most importantly, "Beautiful" could so easily have been some smarty waspish sneer, like Morrissey at his worst, but Stuart Murdoch's mellow Donovanish voice carries such emotional depth and sincerity it saves all their songs from this. Yeah, they are the best new band in Britain. But don't tell everyone. And, yeah, they really are wet and twee. Wanna step outside and make something of it? Tommy Udo, New Musical Express, 4th October 1997 my thoughts? i'd heard "fakers" and "book" before and these are my favourites from the ep. the others seem too wordy somehow, almost as if he's trying to be too clever with the words and didn't write the music to match. having heard most of the new lp played live it's going to be a corker but this isn't quite up to that standard somehow. um, well that filled up 20 minutes. only 90 left to go. worse still, i keep thinking it's friday today somehow. sigh. oh, and has anyone else noticed that if a mail has -- at the start of a line then the rest of that post appears in the archive in a fixed width font rather than a proportionally space font? god, i'm so sad. andy matt, it's in the post and mike(?) i'll finish it tonight, check it and post it tomorrow. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister@majordomo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------