Sinister: Referential, differential, vertical integration

[Alasdair Cook MC1996]

This post will probably bore most of you stiffless, but then, no change
there. I apologise.

The delectable Mr PF had to say (why, heaven above only knows):
 
> Alasdair Cook is out at the moment. But he's bought some records and I think
> you should get him to tell you about them. They're gggrrreat.

Interesting statement. Possibly correct. I did indeed buy *some*
records, 13 in all I believe, in but 2 different shops. For a bargain
price of...oh, I forget, and details are not what are important here. Or
perhaps they are. But only certain details, pertaining to the specific 3
records (and 2 of them, whisper it, actually ARE) which PF is so
fervently interested in. These being:

Easy Pieces - Lloyd Cole and The Commotions, 1985
Raintown - Deacon Blue, 1987
Lloyd Cole (X) - Lloyd Cole, 1990

It seems fitting to start, as is usually best, at the beginning. And in
The Beginning there was 'Rattlesnakes'. Now let's not beat about the
proverbial here, this was, still is and ever will be one of the single
most perfect incarnations of The Pop Record ever to have graced that
strange, contradictory decade known as the 1980s. Yes, standing with
'You can't hide your love..', 'Murmur', 'Queen is Dead', and all the
ones I can't remember or haven't heard yet. Yes! Soaring and swooping
and whispering in the shadows and hollering from the rooftops "why can't
it be like this all the time?!".

And the answer is, well, just because. So stick it up yer jumper and
bloody well accept yer lot. And 'Easy Pieces' is yer lot, so to speak.
Not a lot, but you might like it. I do, kind of. Yes, it's dull in
parts, yes, it doesn't quite have the same youthful charm as it's
predescessor, but, well, it is what it is. Reasonable, if not
triumphant, with Cut Me Down my own personal high point. I mean, how can
you fail to be bowled over by a line like "I hang upon your pretty
frown"? Answers on a postcard.

Speaking of Postcard, you could say that Deacon Blue are the other side
of that peculiarly wonderful coin. Which is not to say that they are, in
essence, bad. It's just...well, the songs are often there, I mean you
can see them, God knows you can almost feel then, and then suddenly
they're lost forever under blankets of rubbish production, crap guitar
parts and Lorraine MacIntosh's incessant wailing. Alright, so it's not
that bad really, I mean there are high points (Dignity of course, The
Very Thing) and the cover's lovely, a cloudy Dundee (one assumes), but
the whole thing just doesn't quite work for me. A fact which I was going
to apologise for, but I shan't.

Finally, we come to the boy Cole's first solo outing, all black leather
and gruff sleeve with Bad Cowboy stubble. Inside though, we find some
soft centres (leopards and spots, eh?). The single 'No Blue Skies' is
possibly the finest thing here, as Lloyd accuses "Baby you're too well
read". It seems self-depreciation is the new black. Elsewhere 'Loveless'
is gorgeous ("why do you say you love me/when you don't?"), and
'Undressed' is pleading and pretty wonderful. It doesn't quite sustain
itself over 13 tracks though, in fact the last 3 could have been omitted
without too much fuss from me, but it's all about compromises, folks,
and I'll happily take the rough with the smooth. Two adjectives which
can be applied to Lloyd Cole in almost equal measure. Long may he keep
slowing down.

Disclaimer: Opinions on these albums are subject to possible change over
time. You've all pressed delete by now, haven't you? La la la la la
monkey tennis.

Oh, there was this little thing:
> That result even made the front of the Toronto Star newspaper.
> The world rejoices!
> 
> Marty GGGGG wrote:
> > 
> > Ya fuckin' beauty! Even from half way around the globe the sweet taste of a
> > Celtic victory has brought a huge grin to my face.

Not the whole world, mate. Still, with De Boer signed and Mols back,
it'll be a doddle from now on. Ya dancer, goan yersel etc.

Ken:
> Two tankers, one carrying red paint, one blue paint, collided in the North 
> sea, all the penguins were marooned...

Surely there are no penguins in the North Sea, unless they've escaped
from the nearest zoo. Perhaps a daring "zoo-break" has been achieved by
a collective animal 'resistance' operation. I heard the oran-utangs were
sceptical of changes in their cages, that could have been what sparked
the whole thing off. Oh, and always be nice to insects folks. Can you
imagine if they waged war on us? We'd be gubbed, no problem.

There are times in life when you know you should stop talking. 

Alasdair xx
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