Sinister: Gentle Waves (my God! he used the actual proper name!) review
Here, for anyone who's interested, is a rather nice review of the Glasgow gig on Saturday from the Glasgow Herald. Belle and Sebastian's cellist and vocalist, Bel Campbell, has made a solo album under the name The Gentle Waves. Critics who pretend to regret that B&S triumphed over the group Steps at the Brit Awards detect in The Green Fields of Foreverland a fey indie-girl indulging in an Edwardian hippy picnic, and this on the strength of the title alone. But the true and now considerable B&S fanbase is highly motivated. A girl in the audience, announces Stuart Murdoch, has followed the Gentle Waves to Leeds, London, and Cardiff, apparently finding the latter gig cancelled ("Say you're sorry!" calls a voice). Allowing Mr Murdoch to romp after this particular stick on his own, Bel busies herself with her role as band leader, introducing Margaret Smith (flute, xylophone, etc) pointing out that we already know everyone else. And indeed, the rest of the seven-piece band are all members of the Belle & Sebastian collective. However, the Gentle Waves turns out not to be B&S beneath a shifting spotlight. At it's heart is Bel's small, soft voice. Around her, the band move from one instrument to another, sympathetically changing the textures from a loping country bass and slide guitar to glittering arpeggio with muted horn and flute. The timeless scene is set by two short French movies : The Red Balloon and Truffaut's Les Mistons. Stories of naive grace, love misunderstood, loss and understanding, light and darkness. The chanteuse is dressed in black, the model of a student teacher in mid-calf pleated skirt. She sings Evensong in French translation, or perhaps that is how she wrote it. The Gentle Waves: not so much a gig as an event. (By Peter Easton) Also, do Chris and Keith know that Chas and Dave are playing at the Cottier Theatre on Monday? Perhaps you could pick up some tips on how to keep your rabbits going for longer. That's all. Alasdair x +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
Alasdair Cook, codename MS1996, said that the Glasgow Herald said:
<Gentle-wavey stuff>... A girl in the audience, announces Stuart Murdoch, has followed the Gentle Waves to Leeds, London, and Cardiff, apparently finding the latter gig cancelled ("Say you're sorry!" calls a voice).
The disembodied voice was Neil, Mr B&S Management, mixing desk slummer and sometime bassiste for B&S. The "girl" was our very own Kara, a loyal Sinistereen of this parish who told us about her abortive Cardiff trip a week or so ago: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister/cgi-local/archive.cgi?month=199904&msg=00048 and who had come along to "the picnic" (bit like a picnic in a nuclear bunker, but the thought was there), and told me the Cardiff story again with astounding good-nature. And you can crucify me now Kara for your embarrassment, because I told our mauve-headed popster about your Cardiff fiasco between the films and the songs, expecting something a little twee-er (say a consolation gift of a furry pencil-case with a butterfly on it) than his robust "oh poor kid, I'll say sorry from the stage haha". Still at least Neil got Isobel to say sorry :) Oh and yes, the barman at the pub really DID leave a phone number on our table for a vinyl copy of Tigermilk he has for sale, so if anyone's interested I have his number (he gave me the eye), so just mail me privately. I think he's cottoned on to it being worth a bob or two though, I offered 2 quid and handful of Pringle crisps and he wasn't having any of it. Yes, we're on 995 listees as we speak, and excitedly leaning forward from the back seat over daddy's shoulder to see all the 9's on the milometer clock round to nice sensible 1000s when we turn the next corner. Is this how a load of monks in a field felt in 999 AD? In a minute daddy will turn round and slap our thighs and tell us to stop getting so excited and making so much noise and play with our Travel Scrabble. Yes we could have a big party and pronounce the 1000th listee king or queen for the day I suppose, but the rate at which you lot subscribe and unsubscribe I think they'll probably be about 12 "1000th" listees. Besides you'll all go and cheat :) The spontaneously combustible Mr Miller said:
Mitchell, I saw an album by Kate Jugsy yesterday, and it was really cheap, but I couldn't buy it because I was affronted by her Brian May bubble perm. Has it gone yet?
Peter, I think there's something amiss with your keyboard you keep spelling things wrongly recently - oddly it's only proper names... anyway Peter is referring to the wondrous Miss Kate Rusby a fabulous Yorkshire folk-singing lass, fabulous because she's a folk singer and still fabulous (eh?). I'm totally transfixed by her, in spite of her hair, and Peter should have bought that LP, so let him ever be ashamed. She's only done one so far and that's it. I even sneaked a song of hers onto my tape-tree-tape-tree-tape to see if anyone noticed or was too discreet to say "it's folk, fucking RUN!". Mind you, folk music is a very scary thing, as attendance at a concert of Kate's a week or so ago in Edinburgh demonstrated. It's like descending into the Wheeltappers and Shunters social club circa 1973 and if you go to a bona-fide folk gig in the UK, make sure you're near the fire exit. There's an awful sense of "that man sitting next to me is about to sing along, or pray out loud, or something". The "support act" featured a Belgian accordionist who had bright blue curly hair and leather pants and grinned like a loon, hopping from foot to foot. I tell you, very very frightening. Thank you Ciara for those Cambers films - but why on earth not "Carry On - Follow That Camel"?? It's a literary classic and you think the management at Camber Sands would tart their heritage to high heavens if it was really filmed there. Sinister knows how to tart its heritage. Someone gave us a fabulous summary of Dr Who episodes, what I'm wondering is, was this an ironic impersonation of Vince from "Queer As Folk"? The UK documentary that's taking the #Sinister chatroom by storm, and from which Starry seems to be selling video stills of the rude three-in-a-bed bits. While stocks last, folks. Honey xxx NP: JAMC: "Honey's Dead", Honeybunch: "Mine Your Own Business", The Pastels: "Baby Honey", Mariah Carey: "Honey" +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
participants (2)
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Alasdair Cook MS1996 -
Honey