Sinister: Belle influences

[duke of harringay]

> I can't be the only one that is pretty bored by
> the constant comparisons to
> Nick Drake, they are misleading at best.

lazy and ill-informed is what i'd say, but hey!

> OK there is the plaintive vocals but the music
> is very different. I hate it
> when B&S are described as 'folky' too

um, i know what you mean, but there is nonetheless
a folk tradtion in the songs, i think particularly
in the narrative structure of many songs.

> The first thing I thought of when I heard Mayfly
> (for instance) was
> 'Drumbeat for Baby' by Weekend. Have B&S ever
> mentioned Weekend???

not as far as i know, but then i suspect that
Stuart Murdoch is at least familiar with the work
of Alison Statton and Stuart Moxham, in their many
guises.  i suspect that, Stuart being the age he
is and of the things he has mentioned like Felt,
he is most proabably aware of things such as YMG
and also a lot of the mid 80s indie groups like,
say the great lost Emily, another group with whom
i sometimes think B&S could be likened, if you
wanted to do such things.  I would really like to
know, however, if he's familiar with the group
McCarthy (Tim Gane of Stereolab was the guitarist,
and they were members of the RCP at the time -
Revolutionary Communist PArty for those who don't
know... sounds rather quaint now doesn't it?!)
because 'la pastie...' sounds like a McCarthy
title if ever there was one! (they had a great
song called 'we are all bourgeouis now', in
fact!).  McCarthy played in Glasgow quite
regularly, and i wonder if Stuart was there?

> Felt are mentioned, and at least I can kinda
> agree with that, though only
> early Felt, and only in a Durutti Column sort of
> way. Nothing past
> 'crumbling...' I would have thought.

i dunno, i get the feeling that Stuart was bit of
a Lawrence obsessive, which i can entirely
understand (been there, done that!), so i'd say
that the whole Felt experience is important,
rather than just the sounds they made.  The B&S
approach to the whole Pop deal has so far been
very Lawrence-like.  A bit odd, perverse even,
certainly playing by slants on rules.  And of
course you can draw influences back and take Vic
Godard who was a massive influence on LAwrence,
and also on the POstcard thing, with which Stuart
must have been familiar with...  You could go on
forever making assumptions, but without talking to
the guy you'll never know.

okay, i've rambled enough.

the duke

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