Sinister: "...a young boy takes a feather out of his mouth"

[James Gilmer]

    Hullo to all Sinister Siblings, both the newborns fresh from the nursery
and those who've been about for awhile.
    I called Harmony House in Brighton (a smallish town in Michigan near
where I live) which is the closest record shop to me at the moment this
morning at around eleven:
"Hi, do you happen to have the new Belle and Sebastian album?"
"Lemme check, I know we got a few in...(pause)"
"Oh, I'm sorry. We just sold out of them"
"...yer kidding...how many copies did you get?"
"...oh..four or five it looks likes"

    So B&S sold four or five album's in my Lil' Michigan town in an hour
this morning. Which is good, though it forced me to drive up to East Lansing
to get the new album. Suffice to say it was worth the drive.

*Fold Your Hands Child*

*****Album review coming up***Spoiler Space******This means you*******




    It might not be as good as Tigermilk but it's hooked me even more than
BWTAS did upon first listen, and that was the album that got me infatuated
with B&S in the first place. I was unsure how much I'd care for the openning
track, but "I Fought in a War" suprised me. It's a solid B&S standard even
though the subject matter didn't seem to be run of the mill fare for Stuart.
It's a great song though.
    "The Model" could be one of my favorites, or so I thought at first
listen. By the time I had listened to the whole album there were two or
three other songs fighting for that spot. It's a nice song with some great
piano work and strong lyrics from Stuart. It makes me want to dance in the
same way "BWTAS" and "I Spent the Summer Wasting" did.
    "Beyond the Sunrise" is the only clunker for me. It doesn't do anything
for me. However, out of eleven songs on an album only having one that I
actively dislike is pretty damn good.
    "Waiting for the Moon to Rise"....fucking brilliant...no, I mean that.
Where has Sarah been hiding all this time? I'm not sure if she penned the
song or just sang it but this floored me. Now, as much as I've never had
anything bad to say about Isobel (and she does a fine job on the latter
songs on the album) I am stunned we have not heard Sarah before this. It's
an amazing song with great lyrics supported by Sarah's voice which is
*perfect* for the song and captures the mood exactly.
    "Don't Leave the Light on Baby"- Actually hit the fast forward key on
this the first two times I listened to the album, thought better about it
the next time round and gave it a few proper listens which has caused me to
warm up to it quite a bit. It's a nice enough song I suppose and shows again
the range that B&S are capable of. I'm starting to like it more and more.
    "The Wrong Girl"- Nice enough song, nothing special though. I almost
would have rather had "Lord Anthony" in its place and "Loneliness of the
Middle Distance Runner" in "Beyond the Sunrise"'s place. For that matter I
wouldn't have minded seeing "Pocketbook Angel" make it onto the album.
Perhaps the singles though, eh?
    "The Chalet Lines"...christ, this is a beautiful song. Stuart's voice is
perfect in it, sounding tired and resentful and just...perfect. Between the
lyrics and the mood created by his voice it is an astonishing song of
painful beauty and one of the most moving songs I've heard from B&S. It's
brilliant, it's as simple as that.
    "Nice Day for a Sulk" has the same problem that "Slow Graffiti" has for
me. his voice goes a bit to high for my tastes. It's a nice enough song I
guess, but it seems out of place just after "Chalet lines". All in all I
don't really have any feelings one way or the other about it.
    "Women's Realm" suprised me, Isobel does a good job on it and I ended up
liking it a bit more than I thought I would based on others comments.
Actually, I liked it quite a bit and I have to say I think Isobel actually
sounds very good on it. I've never had a problem with her singing for the
most part, but on this song it seems as if her voice truely clicks and in my
opinion she sounds better than she has before.
    "Family Tree" is another pleasent suprise. I really like Isobel on
backing vocals, and I don't mind her all that much but I've never been
overly fond of her taking lead vocals. The Gentle Waves album failed to
impress me because her voice didn't hold me through the entire album, I
tired of it. However, her work on this album is very good and her voice is
used to good advantage and so I ended up liking "Family Tree" far more than
I thought I would. Well done!!
    "There's Too Much Love" is another of my favorites. I thought the album
would go out on a low key tune along the lines of "Rollercoaster Ride",
instead we get another song that makes me want to dance. It's a great album
ender and a wonderful song.

    That's it then. I think the album is much stronger than BWTAS and thus
has slid into place as my favorite album from our heroes. It's a strong
album that shows growth from TBWTAS but is without a doubt heir to
Tigermilk, and though I was dissapointed in a couple of songs and perhaps
the ordering of the songs I think it's a great effort and a solid,
enojoyable listen. Good work all around! With a little luck perhaps we'll
hear more from Sarah in the future as well...

*Goodbye*

    Well, I'm gone then. In the sense of leaving Sinister as well as ending
this post. It's been a blast and you're all brilliant, even you moody lot in
the back...yes, you. Before I split I must give high props to our list honey
for being brilliant and wonderful and patient with our little indie kid lot.
Honey is the best list mum we could have ever had.
    Thanks to those who've replied to me in the past and turned me onto cool
music and cooler books. Lovely Laura Llew ranks foremost for tossing good
tunes and good reading my way. Props to rachel tucker for turning me onto
gormgenhast and liking "Vurt". While I'm at it a big shout out to those who
recognized and wrote me about my Jeff Noon "Vurt" quotes.
    The #sinister people get massive mentions, they all know who they are;
lleweth, bastards, Mc, hobson, aic,rocketboy, and all the rest, I may still
pop in there from time to time.

That's all....

Be Sinister Children........

Jim (...taking the feather out of his mouth.......)

"Cherish the flame, till we can safely wake again. The Flame is in your
hands, we trust it to you, our sacred demon of ungovernableness. Cherish the
flame. We shall rest easy. Child be strange, dark, true, impure, and
dissonant. Cherish our flame. Our dawn shall come."- David Rudkin



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