Hello pop pals. Yes It's that time of year again where our beloved music press compile their year's best albums. Glad to see B&S so high on Select's list and I predict a similar pattern for NME, Melody Maker etc. More than makes up for the fact that "IYFS" was cruelly left out of most music press's Critic's Lists last year. It is a most magnificent album. So in the spirit of these times, I have compiled a personal best list, and since Honey has stressed "no music lists", I'm gonna respect his wishes and just tell about why some albums have made it to my best list very, very briefly. Unfortunately, my favourite album of the year has to be Black Box Recorder's "England Made Me". Not since Belly's debut "Star" has there been an album that has reached glorious new heights of perversity. It's very quietness adds to its power. It is very sinister and chilling indeed. And yes Philippe, Sarah Nixey is a most beautiful girl indeed and here voice is spine-tinglingly lovely, even if it is detailing morbid lyrics. It beat out "TBWTAS" mainly cos I'm just a sucker for the darker side of pop. So there is no need to say how wonderful the B&S album is, cos we ALL know it. In third place is Air's "Moon Safari" because it's ground-breaking just like the One Dove, Bjork and DJ Shadow albums are, and also the unspeakably gorgeous Bacharach-ian influenced soundscapes. Fourth is Mercury Rev's "Deserters Songs" which is also another favourite of my fellow listees judging by a lot of posts about it. Fifth would probably be Tori Amos's "From The Choirgirl Hotel" cos she beats Courtney Love hands down. Her album embraces techno very successfully and is a very intoxicating blend of her weird and wonderful voice and strange instrumentation. And there are the songs of the Tori of old which are impossibly sad like "Playboy Mommy" and "Northern Lad". It's a massive improvement from "Boys For Pele". So there you have it. Other albums that have made it for me include Catatonia's "International Velvet", Garbage's "Version 2.0", Spiritualized's "live from Royal Albert Hall", Sparklehorse's "Good Morning Spider", both Elliott Smith albums and the UNKLE album among many others, though I'm not gonna talk about 'em for fear of incurring Honey's wrath:) Hmmm does anyone out there have the Michael Head album, "Introducing The Strands"??? I've been hearing the greatest things about them and was wondering if anyone can tell me more about them. It seems whenever I write, it's to ask whether my fellow listees have heard various albums. Oh well:) Could someone be so kind as to tape a copy of the album for me, if one has it. I have a LOT of rare, live and unreleased B&S stuff to trade (although that is a bit naughty to write on the list). I've got TONS of other stuff, maybe some you are interested in- I've got heaps of Tindersticks (all the albums including "Donkeys", plus a tape of all their early vinyl recordings up to 1995), Belly (again, lots of rare stuff), and gazilions others including Sparklehorse, Air, Andrea Parker, Black Box Recorder, Kristin Hersh, Tanya Donelly, One Dove, Teenage Fanclub, Pulp, Beth Orton, Beck, Lush, Garbage, Throwing Muses, Spiritualized, Palace etc, etc. If you would want to trade, please contact me privately at my uni email addre So yeah please contact me Michael Head fans and hope we can do a lovely trade:) Seeya folks Kin Woo With A Star Upon Your Shoulder Lighting Up The Path As You Walk ______________________________________________________ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+