Sinister: reporting back from the all-night cafe

[alistair fitchett]

I was fortunate enough to have a copy of Stuart David's book waiting for
me on the doorstep the other day. Needless to say it immediately went to
the top of 'to-read' pile. Needless to say too, having polished it off
last night, I thoroughly enjoyed every last moment of it. It connected
with me in a number of ways, not least in being a vivid portrayal of
being on the dole in the West of Scotland in the early '90s, looking for
ways to avoid the attentions of the DSS and effectively using benefits
as an arts subsidy - bloody scroungers the lot of us ;) I think anyone
of a certain age will certainly find that evocative. Certainly for me
too the whole notion of everything taking place in Glasgow helped
connect with me - does knowing the places make it feel more real? Maybe.
I think anyone who knows/knew Glasgow in the '80s and '90s will find the
book as a comfortable friend, and anyone who's yet to experience the
city will certainly want to visit it, even if only to see if the sun
really does shine as rarely as Stuart suggests (in my experience, yes it
does).

I guess the real reason any B&S fan will want to read the book though is
to discover lots of juicy stories, and if that's the case then I think
they'll be pleasantly disappointed. By that I mean there are no
revelations, at least for anyone who's a long-time Sinister dweller, but
that's okay. Rather it kind of cements in place what you already knew,
or felt you knew, or knew you felt. And that's a good thing.

If the book does challenge anything, it's in the way that Stuart David's
own notions of how to be in a band and how to 'make it' in the music
industry are challenged and shaped by meeting Stuart M - and in itself
it feels like this is a document that kind of lays out the blueprint for
how an 'indie' scene could/would be established in the nineties and
beyond. The sense of having a clear vision and being pretty
uncompromising in chasing that vision, regardless of what 'experts'
might think you should do. That tension between assuredness and shyness
that Belle & Sebastian records certainly seemed to embody comes over
well, I think.

There is a charming warmth that pervades the book, and the characters
are sympathetically drawn. The ones you think you know feel like you
think they ought to, and the ones you don't feel like one' s you at
least kind of do. It helps that Stuart is a Proper Writer too.  He'd
make that previous sentence of mine make sense.

I think the Tigermilk launch party is absolutely the right time to end
the story because you do sense that because this is Stuart David's
story, it is inevitably just about to head off in other directions. Not
that it's about to get messy or anything, but you know the rest of the
story is going to be more about the history of a Pop Group, and I know
some people love those kinds of things, but personally I find them a wee
bit dull.

Finally, maybe it's just me, but I couldn't help but hear the two
Stuart's voices reading the text to me in my head.  That's a good thing
too.

It's officially released (do books have release days like records?) the
day the day after my birthday and even though I have this proof copy
I'll happily spend some of my birthday money on a copy of the hardback.
You should to*. I think you'll enjoy it.

The Duke

*it doesn't have to be birthday money

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 +-+       "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper           +-+
 +-+  "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+
 +-+    "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000     +-+
 +-+  "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000  +-+
 +-+  "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001   +-+
 +-+               Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa                 +-+
 +-+               Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut!                +-+
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