ROBIN HAS AN ENCOUNTER WITH A SPARROW I dreamt I was a mouse. A mouse with blue shoes. As I scurried through the neighbours' wall on my way to their box of cornflakes I heard a tapping on the window. I looked up and saw a sparrow. A sparrow with a trilby hat. "Squawk!" he said. "Squeak!" I replied. "Hold on a second," he said. "Do you speak English?" "Doesn't everyone these days?" I replied. "Indeed. Hey, you seem like a smart fella, d'ya wanna buy one of these?" He lifted a wing to reveal a row of cheap watches. "Oh, I don't think so," I said. "They're the best quality," he said. "Bulgarian!" "But that one only has numbers up to eight," I spotted, shrewdly. "Oh, well, er.." he paused and pulled at a feather or two. "Well," he said, "How about this then?" He lifted his other wing and revealed a copy of Dear Catastrophe Waitress. "Crikey!" I said. So later on, when I was full on cornflakes, I put it on the stereo. I have to say I liked it quite a lot. The funny thing is, though, that the version I heard was slightly different to the one that Katrina just talked about. The tracks were in a slightly different order for a start, and there was another song called Travellin' Light. The sparrow sold me a dodgy version. I might have known!! It seems quite strange, though, sparrow or no sparrow. My theory is that either Katrina has missed a song out (unlikely, considering the NME doesn't list it either) or there are, in fact, only twelve songs on the album and Travellin' Light has been dropped. I wasn't very keen on it anyway, so I'm quite happy about this. And with all the words about Jesus on the new record (DICKYWUSS, I think) it's no surprise that Stuart has decided 13 is an unlucky number and gone for a holy twelve. Robin x PS: I'm thinking of posting my wild theories on the new album, including a fair few references to some of the songs. If don't want to open your presents until christmas, and think this might spoil it, then don't read it. I'll try to remember to put a warning in the subject line. PPS: Gatefold double vinyl! Oooh!! ROBIN PROPOUNDS SOME WILD AND ILL-THOUGHT-OUT THEORIES THEORY ONE: I think this is the third age of Belle and Sebastian: First Age = Tigermilk > 3..6..9..Seconds of Light Second Age = The Boy With The Arab Strap > Jonathan David Third Age = I'm Waking Up To Us > ? I haven't thought this idea through, really, and so tomorrow it probably won't make any sense and I'm not going to explain it much because it should be self-evident. However, what I think characterises the latest records (the Third Age) is that Murdoch has finally shown that he can write great songs that aren't "typical belle and sebastian songs" yet aren't mere pastiche. The Pinefox is right about I'm Waking Up To Us. THEORY TWO: Struan described the new album as "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue", and although I'm sure he just made that comment up on the spot I think it's pretty true. Something old: Lord Anthony; Dear Catastrophe Waitress, Wrapped Up In Books Something new: Stay Loose; Piazza, New York Catcher; If You Find Yourself Caught In Love Something borrowed: Stevie and Sarah's songs - what are they called? oh i don't care Something blue: Step Into My Office, Baby I'm not quite sure whether I'd put I'm a Cuckoo in old or new. It's somewhere inbetween. I think it's excellent. I think that if you like I'm Waking Up To Us (ep) you will like Dear Catastrophe Waitress (lp). I'm Waking Up To Us is a great example of a new Murdoch song, with angry, direct lyrics. Marx and Engels is a wonderful example of an old Murdoch song. I Love My Car is a light music-hall number. Struan's songs on the new album follow more-or-less the same pattern. THEORY THREE: Belle and Sebastian have managed to make an album that works as a whole. TWATTYBUS and FISHYCLAP never hung together for me, and were broken by the different styles. The new album (I like the sound of DICKYWUSS) is stronger for its different styles. The orchestral pieces that showpiece Lord Anthony help it fit in where it otherwise wouldn't. I will still probably end up skipping Stevie and Sarah's songs, though. _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself with cool emoticons - download MSN Messenger today! http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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. 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