Need a bass ! January. Jan-U-ary, JAN-uary, Janu-ARY. I hear some adventurous folks are injecting conc-Benilyn into their lungs to banish this 'flu thang. I'm not surprised at such desperation; it's no fun being a walking percolator by day, and condensing an entire season of "Daktari" sound-FX into every laboured rasp by night. Of course, I generally pay enfeebled street-urchins to be ill *for* me at this time of year. Most of them don't make it, poor blighters. An enormously long time ago, back in the days when you could still write a cheque without having to delete the pre-printed '19' in the top right-hand corner*, Stevie T and Peter M concocted a humourous little tale regarding the ludicrous nature of Lawrence Felt's new pop construction. Except, it now transpires, they were being horribly factual. Lady P and I gave it a spin the other night; mouths - opening and closing. No sound. "Lots of anger in Rwanda... drinkin' Um Bongo, drinkin' Um Bongo". My head was sticky with bewilderment from that point on; my critical faculties snapped off as soon as the synthetic kiddie-vox kicked in on "Mrs Back to Front...". Someone else can review this properly for those who are interested; I don't think I can stomach a second listen. The man's a genius, of course. (* - I like to think that this is an indication that the humble cheque was never supposed to persist beyond the 20th century; that banks fully anticipated that we'd be exchanging money-fluid through glittery tubes fastened to our hips by 2001. I think the tragic consequences of NatWest's Ashton-under-Lyme trials in the mid-80s took everyone by surprise. No matter how often they hose, you can still see the stains on the Town Hall steps.) Chad, in a thread concerning Bibbe's boy-wonder, said:

Does anyone really think what modern pop musicians do is new? In the bold truth, music stopped being something new and original many decades ago.

Well, let's not confuse the terms 'new' and 'original'. It's entirely possible to juxtapose a clutch of existing styles and produce something fresh; if one can see the joins or catches a whiff of cynicism in the execution, it's supremely irritating; if it seems as natural as breathing, you're onto a winner. This, I reckon, is where B&S qualify as something 'new'. I'd say the same for Arto Lindsay and Stereolab. Or Windsor Davies and Don Estelle. Beck, I'm not too sure about; one could make a case for his thrilling "nowness", or dismiss him as patchwork-pastiche - Lenny Kravitz with a broader record collection. I'm not about to do either. Some nice songs on "Mutations". As for the idea of music ceasing to be something new and original, I don't think that's strictly possible. It renews itself whether we like it or not. In the pop realm, I don't recall anything remotely like Missy Elliot or Richard James in the top 10 (or anywhere else) a decade ago. Where are the pop theoreticians when you need them ? You can see I'm struggling here. Duke, Timbo, Starry, Trousse, Brooking and da rest... cock your kultur-pistols and blast me back on course, you foolz. Ste' Mik' __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+