Sinister: The State to come all over

[Nick Dastoor]

>The Dog on Wheels version sounds like a passionless dirge, with flat,
>naked production. It sounds like it was performed in a workman like
way >by crappy session musos..

I like this naked production idea.  Are all Belle and Sebastian
records produced this way?  Dirty devils.

Sebatian said:

>>Because it was.Save for the boy stuart, Belle and Sebastian were not
>>in the building on that occasion, as it says in the sleeve notes. 

I've decided I don't believe the story that the EP was from pre-band
days.  I prefer to think that the band all turned up but George Martin
said none of them were good enough except Stuart and the pretty boy
with the kilt, so the session musicians were called in.  Actually, I
like both versions.  The Dog on Wheels one has that lovely bit where
Stuart's voice cracks on the line "she was not impressed" and also a
nice flamenco feel.  For those of you think there aren't enough posts
to make you sigh these days, search the archives for the word
'moments' using the 'Search Subjects and Authors Only' and 'Search all
Months' options.

jessica wrote:

>People mention this song "Loneliness of a Middle Distance Runner" quite
>frequently around these parts, and it makes me sad that i have no
idea >what they're talking about. Actually, a lot of other song titles
bounce >around here which are altogether unknown to me, too. So, um, i
was >wondering if i could take this opportunity to see whether there
is >anyone on this list who has songs not appearing on any of the 3
albums 
>or EPs or the BBC sessions who would be willing to make a tape for a 
>lonely little American girl? The terrible bit of it, though, is that
i >don't have a lot to offer in return, other than my undying
gratitude. 

Which I made this young boy sigh.  Jessica sounds not just lonely, but
also lovely.  If no one over in America can help out, I will.  As long
as she doesn't mind that I've taped over the intro to 'Loneliness of
the middle distance runner' in a horribly backfired attempt to make a
back-up copy.

Whoever it was who wanted the two songs identified from the concert
the other night - in case no one has answered your plea they are 'Slow
Graffiti' and 'Loneliness'.  Oh, all right then: 'Loneliness of a
Middle Distance Runner'. Or HERBERTLOMDIRGE, as it is not known for
short.

To anyone else who is scared of asking about all these new songs, have
a look at the end of Keith's nicely prepared FAQ at
http://www.majordomo.net/sinister/hypermail/1998-month-09/0915.html

Since then, 'Wrong Love' has been renamed 'Wrong Girl', Stuart David
has written another new song 'Paper Boat', and Stuart Murdoch has
written (or, as suggested by the strange "I've heard this before"
spooky phenomenon" noted by two listees, stolen) a song called 'Lord
Anthony'. Keith doesn't mention the Isobel solo songs (4?) that
appeared on the Web (now only one left to hear) in the theatre at
Stuart and Karn's Treehouse page (http://home.clara.net/treehouse/). 
They aren't really Belle and Sebastian songs, but then neither were
the Stow College demos.  Keith also can't spell 'loneliness' or
'graffiti', but we will forgive him because he's terrific in all other
ways.  He's like that kid at school who was good at everything and
made it worse by being nice too.  Bastard.  I hate him.
  
The great cover art poll turned up this amusing fact:

>5) The boy with the arab strap ( no votes , nobody voted for this
>cover)

Tee hee.  Chris smells.

Right, enough tomfoolery and helpfulness.  I have some questions of my
own:

1. Someone (I think it was PJ, but it may have been Duncan) said they
listened to the 'Black Session' ("Le rock... Le soir...C'est Lenoir!" 
- how cool is that slogan?  Is it also a jingle, my French chums?) on
FM. Sorry to to come over all 'hey can anyone burn me a CD-R' audio
bore, but is this true and if so, will we people who request one from
our allotted representative get a copy from the FM or the AM broadcast?

2. Was this 'session' really a very long session, or was it just a
recording of the Paris concert?  If it was the concert, can everyone
stop calling it a session (including evil Lenoir) as it's confusing my
tiny mind.

3. 'Loneliness..' is indeed a lovely song.  One of my favourites, and
if you don't have it, then possibly ask me (swap for a live tape or an
appalling recording of 'Rhoda' anyone...?) but certainly go to
http://www.majordomo.net/sinister/hypermail/1998-month-07/0831.html
and read the lyrics.  Oh yes - I was supposed to be asking another
question.  Stuart's fussiness with this track and its consequent
no-show to date reminds me of a little bird telling me all about his
generally obsessive streak when it comes to recording.  Apparently,
part of the delay on TWATTYBUS appearing was his insistence on none of
the tracks being compressed prior to the final mixing stage.  Or
something.  Can anyone tell me what this means from my garbled
non-muso retelling?  Could it partly explain why the records sound so
wonderful?

4. Did 'Lisa helps the blind' become 'Beautiful', or is it a differnt
song?

5. Apart from 'Le Pastie..', were any other early Stuart Murdoch demos
ever played on local radio in Scotland?

That'll do.  A final observation:

On Philippe's review of the Black Session on the Radio France site, it
says the version of 'Poupée de cire, Poupée de son' was played "au
grand galop".  Sometimes, French is best.

Nick xx




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