Sinister: what is proper

[Youn J. Noh]

Dearest Sinister,

Nick wrote:
My own feeling is that the key members of the band were never satisfied
with the way the early records (so beloved of the duke) sounded. See I
think they always wanted to transcend the folksy arrangements and lyrical
concerns of the first two albums. Weren't they really unhappy with the way
songs like 'Get me away from here, I'm dying' got recorded? They wanted a
bigger, Stax-y sound didn't they? And look at how they go out of the way
to choose diverse, never-indie records when they're invited onto radio
shows. Wasn't it some time ago that Stuart was quoted as saying that in
the past he'd write the words first (or little acoustic strums), whereas
lately he'd been trying to writing 'proper songs'? 

I think the songs on "Tigermilk", "If You're Feeling Sinister", and the
eps are proper songs.  As far as I can tell, the music is not amateurish. 
It is true that some songs are spare, but more is not always better.  "If
You're Feeling Sinister" is probably the record considered to have 
'folksy' arrangements.  I always thought that was when Belle and Sebastian
found their sound.  It's the record that sounds the purest. 

How have the lyrical concerns changed across the span of their work?  They
seem to have stayed pretty much the same, but dwelling on the same
themes made the lyrics less inspired and anemic or deliberately obscure.

Joan Didion wrote:
I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we
used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not.  Otherwise
they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind's
door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who
betrayed them, who is going to make amends.

I am sorry that Stuart said that he no longer felt the need to write
stories on CD sleeves.  I can't find the quote or report, but it was in a
recent email about the press conference.  I don't want to misquote him,
but I think he implied that he looks back upon these stories as
self-absorbed. I think the stories are funny and are written in a way so
that everyone could relate to them - or at least those who like their
music.

Glen reported:
At the press conference thingy, Stu said about the Stone Roses,

"They got fame and started doing interviews and they started to get a bit
self-conscious and to me that's rubbish. What they had at the start was
magic and powerful."

Does Stuart think that being self-conscious is under one's voluntary
control?

Can't find it now, but one of the things I liked best from Stuart David's
book after "Ink Polaroids" was the account of a meal in  NY restaurant:
Stuart M ordered eggs, the waiter asked how he wanted them, he said
however, the waiter said however (as a question or confirmation), and
Stuart was charming enough to get embarrassed about it.
 
In an interview from a web site in the Tigermilk web ring, Stuart said:
I love English fans. I love the boys who write letters but when you see
them in the flesh they are gentle and stand offish. There are a lot of
very cool American fans, we don't get to meet them much because they are
cool. We get the frantic puppies who want to eat you! The crazies! 

How did Stuart feel when he went to meet Lawrence? 

The regrettable thing about turning against your former self is that you
turn against people who remind you of how you were. 

Ian wrote:
and here on the sinister list we ape our heroes ,of course, as mindless
saddos do. we talk about hello kitty and nice little bunny rabbits and
generally exchange whimsy with one another. and this is what we know, and
this is what we like.

It can't be helped that people present themselves in this way, but I don't
think that is how people on this list really are.  Sometimes when people
stick around, I think you get a better sense of them.

Regarding what PF wrote - so now the intended audience is between the age
of 7 and 17?  When I was in London last summer, I foolishly attended this
Belle & Sebastian night at some club.  Their songs sound awful played as
dance music.  

Prosaically yours,
Youn



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