Sinister: B&S Everywhere

[Mick McMick * Sandcastle Records]

Hello...
	Well, I think Belle & Sebastian are now officially everywhere. Or at
least they were today. Firstly, while returning from lunch, I detected a
familiar sound emanating from the battered old speaker which thrust
itself proudly out onto the street from "Outer Limits." Outer Limits, by
the way, is a record store, and that familiar noise was, yes, Belle &
Sebastian, playing "Sleep the Clock Around." I found it a bit
surprising, as I usually only hear either A) Garage rock B) Various cool
60's records or C) Punk rawk coming from said speaker. The guy who works
there is mighty cool, though, and Magnetic Megan found an Orange Juice
7" there, so nyah.	
	Then I had bought my flatmates "Christmas" presents, to make up for the
fact that I had forgotten when it was actually Christmastime, and better
2 months late than never. One of them was a copy of Sinister, which my
flatmate loved, and actually said she was thinking about buying it. Hm,
I guess I've already done half the conversion work. 
	I am inclined to agree with the school of thought which says the more
B&S fans, the merrier. I kind of like that, and I like that at least one
of the bands I like best is one that other people like too. I guess I
shouldn't complain, it's not as if New Order had a shortage of fans.
Having said all that, no one's stopped me and said they liked B&S when
I've worn my shirt, though a B&S fan from Athens did come into the chat
the other night.
	However, I can also see that it is nice when you can see a band you
like 10 feet in front of you, talk to them and tell them you like their
music, and not see their eyes glass over, and even ask them to do a song
on a compilation you're doing without immediately getting turned down.
Or better yet, ask them a question about their band and they offer to
send you two 7"S and a flexi ;) That's just a lovely feeling, and I
don't think anyone could say that wanting that feeling is wrong.
	Having said that, I never felt that way about B&S, who have always
seemed to be a band that a lot of people liked, and somewhat
unreachable, though not entirely so. As a consequence, I never felt my
heart harden as they graced the pages of CMJ, who reported in this
week's issue about Tigermilk and the upcoming side-projects. And even if
one of the virtually unknown bands I liked became a big thing, it would
only make me happier. There's always someone unknown doing something
interesting and new, after all.
	Incidentally, I was just at my office hours today, and I perused said
new issue of CMJ. Indeed, Spiritualized are nowhere to be found on the
charts (though you won't find me lamenting) and I believe Ani Difranco
is at the top. I'm pleased to note the Mojave 3 album is number 3
though. B&S are still in the top 50 somewhere, after I believe 21 weeks.
	And on the subject of how the next album will sound... B&S have never
seemed like a band which reinvents themselves to me. I expect the 4th
album to be a very similar record in sound to previous ones, with
perhaps a slightly differing tone to all the songs. Perhaps this is
because they put all the most different-sounding songs on their EPs?
Certainly with 3...6...9 and Lazy Line Painter Jane in hand you could
claim this, but you might have to hide TINKERTOYS behind your back and
cross your fingers when you said "Yeah, *all* of the EPs."

fweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep
(that's the sound a button makes when you play it)
 
 /"\_/"\_/"\  Mick McMick/Sandcastle Records <<->> bp224996 at ohiou.edu 
 \         /  Sandcastle Records Homepage:                ICQ#5056758
  |       |   http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Amphitheatre/4972/
  |       |   "I am always wishing to make people   
  |       |       in the world happy with my smiles."  
  |       |           -Mr. Friendly
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