Sinister: kind of a review, but only kind of.

[duke of harringay]

anyone familiar with my reviews of belle and sebastian records will
probably know already what the words below contain. for any newcomers,
um, well like i say, it's only kind of a review. Anyone wants to see it
on the web with it's cover scan (i did my own cos the one on jeepster is
too darn orange..) can do so from the Tangents front page. oh yeah, and
i feel better about The Gate, although it's still the worst track by a
looong way.

keep the faith,

the duke.

------ the 'review' ------------

Soul Of An Unearthly

[two steps step out]

Standing on the quayside wrapped up in mist, it's the middle of the
morning and there's nothing but the sound of beating wings.  Swans are
gliding near the river's surface, sweeping beneath the wire that crosses
between the banks, across which the ferry once pulled before it sank at
the height of the season. There's a bridge to the left, suspended in the
lightness.

A faint and familiar green glow emanates from the clouds to my right, as
though a beacon were slowly materialising. A voice breaks the mist,
whispering words I can't quite hear and don't quite want to.

Chris looks strangely older than usual, although this is probably
impossible, and it's more likely only my own eyes reflecting defeat. He
looks at me and silently smoothes my hair with his fingers of gold.
'Things move on' he says, and then is gone.

[December 7th, 1998)

I'm waiting in the bar, watching the door for Jo and wondering how
things come to these ways of working. I've got my third Haig and Perrier
in hand. Outside the lights of the city are winking at me, twinkling
white in the treetops, swaying in the light wind. There's a man who
looks like my father walking past Debenhams, pointing and laughing at
the plastic puppies riding exercise bicycles in the window display. The
seat next to me is cold and although there's always hope, even empty
expectation is lacking.

It's always a cold and desperate time of life, or so Chris is always
saying. I saw Isabel three weeks ago and she didn't seem to agree. She
was wearing Jo's pedal-pushers and had a top of gauze underneath a snow
white cardigan, despite the wind. Some people never feel the cold, and
some never know the warmth of anything but a summer sun creeping up the
back of their neck. If you had to choose, you'd say Jo was the former
and me the latter, which explains a lot if there were any explanations
to be made. Which there aren't.

[dream a million and one]

I'm talking to Jo again, and again it's not real. I go 'I used to dream
of the sounds of the Velvet Underground being made by people my own age'
to which she looks up at the campanile and frowns. I continue, and say
'there's just these folk on a stage and there's an amazing noise coming
out of the air and I'm stood transfixed. Lou Reed is wearing a shirt
that says 'Felt' and instead of a viola there's a cello.' Next thing I
know I'm telling her about how once I wrote a whole paper on the
feelings of dreamed musical moments, of how they were a response to
death and anxiety about age. By now though Jo has stopped listening and
is flicking through the pile of papers for recycling. She holds up a
Guardian Friday Review and the cover headline says 'Interminable Three
Chord Break.'

[the escapapologist's heart]

A small green car turns left down a farm track near a town a thousand
miles away and rolls to a halt. Smiles in the sunset betray the
escapapologist's heart. From a tape deck in the dashboard the sounds of
slow music drift. The singer says something about imaginary friends
whilst the sky turns silver and brown. Lips impossibly kiss.

[the last music journalist]

The new Belle & Sebastian four track EP is released on December 7th 1998
by Jeepster Records of England. The Cover is rust coloured and features
a picture of Mr Alan Horne of Postcard Records of Scotland. The four
songs are 'This Is Just A Modern Rock Song', 'I Know Where The Summer
Goes', 'The Gate' and 'Slow Graffiti'. 'The Gate' is a song by Isobel
Campbell and sounds like Tiger Trap at their slowest and sweetest.
'Modern Rock Song' is an old live favourite, according to the press
release, and my friend said they heard all six minutes and more on the
radio. 'I Know Where The Summer Goes' is, alongside Jonathan Richman's
'That Summer Feeling', 'Hungry Beat' by Fire Engines, and 'Summer In The
City' by the Lovin' Spoonful, one of the four greatest summer songs ever
written. 'Slow Graffiti' is from the soundtrack to the 'Acid House' film
and is the single best song I've heard in too many years. Sublime was
made for moments like this. 

------------------------------------------
'all of our dreams are dying of overdoses'
------------------------------------------
Tangents On-Line http://www.tangents.co.uk
PO Box 102, Exeter, EX2 4YL, UK
tangent at lineone.net
------------------------------------------

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
      +---+  Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list  +---+
 To send to the list please mail "sinister at majordomo.net". To unsubscribe
   send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to
 "majordomo at 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"  +-+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+