Hi sinisterines and -ettes, This was on Pitchfork today: Belle & Sebastian: "Stay Loose" So whoulda thought it, but Belle & Sebastian have gone and made one of the most offbeat, punchdrunk pop records so far this year-- one that bears little resemblence to the literate wallflower wish fulfillment and Mozzeresque revenge fantasies they've established as a signature. On early inspection, the band has chucked its recent fascination with Northern Soul pastiche in favor of a delicate mix of craft (six years ago, who'd have thought that word would used to describe Belle & Sebastian?) and quirk. The result is in parts reminiscent of 10cc's irreverent pop, post-Bubblegum 70s soft rock, and the eclecticism of Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label. The assured hand of producer Trevor Horn must have helped. His dexterity is felt strongest on the near seven-minute album closer "Stay Loose", in which B&S take a dreadlock holiday through the echo chamber, have a conversation with a helpful cornflake, and skip through musical styles like a Scottish Super Furry Animals. It's either genius or madness but after years of mostly missteps, I'm once again slowly leaning to the former. -- Scott Plagenhoef I'm sure some of you have probably already seen it, but I figured there also *must* be people who don't read that website every day. Anyway. That's it for now. I'll be slinging hot dogs tomorrow if anyone asks. Oooh yeah Kevin +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+