From honey at xxx.org Mon Feb 16 16:44:22 2015 From: honey at xxx.org (honey at xxx.org) Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 16:44:22 +0000 (GMT) Subject: Sinister: It was 18 years ago today (ish) Message-ID: Darlings, I feel like I'm just testing the door to an old room in an attic I forgot was there and wondering if I still have the key. A few people have asked me if Sinister is still working in the light of the new album's appearance - or to be quite honest, told me it's not. So I'm here with my spanners to see if I can make it work again. I'd also like to tell you all about Stuart David's forthcoming book which I can attest is fantastic. But I'll get round to that when I can make this mail successfully negotiate the round trip and return to my mailbox. If any of you have been tentatively pushing at the doors of Sinister to see if it's alive and have received errors or anything I might find useful in my blind stumblings at adequacy please send them to me at this address. Sinister is a very odd thing these days: born in 1997 when the Internet was only there for people with dialup or students with Netscape at University and something that I couldn't bring myself to either remove or update because we all hate it when our favourite pub gets made over with a lunchtime menu and reproduction pine chairs. As such the website stands as a monument to terrible web design and history, and is probably one of the few websites in Europe that doesn't need a cookie consent box because I didn't have a clue what a cookie was when I made it. And the list - contains the formative years of many people's lives along with a broken search engine. I keep meaning to fix that too. If any of you do happen to get this and feel like posting something about the new album, Stuart David or your favourite cheese, please do. Let's just say I'm unlikely to be enforcing list rules in quite the ambitious way I used to in 1997. If any people do show an interest I'll throw my lot in and remove the nursery and the need to send plain text mails, but I promise you I won't be updating the website. Honey +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From keithmatthewwatson at xxx.com Mon Feb 16 21:58:58 2015 From: keithmatthewwatson at xxx.com (Keith Watson) Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 21:58:58 +0000 Subject: Sinister: XFM is rubbish Message-ID: So does this still work, then? Keith. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From ian.halliday at xxx.com Mon Feb 16 22:08:54 2015 From: ian.halliday at xxx.com (Ian Halliday) Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 22:08:54 +0000 Subject: Sinister: XFM is rubbish Message-ID: <201502162225.t1GMPFnd016773@li3-210.members.linode.com> It does indeed, though Gmail gave me a warning that you might not have sent it. Sinister. Good times, scarcely remembered, scarcely forgotten. But I count a some of the people I met here as friends now. Is it really that long? Spending hard earned dollars on the re release of Tigermilk, based only on the recommendation of a bunch of people I had never met. Good to hear from Miss Honey after all this time, now assured that rumours of Honey's demise were unfounded. That's all for now. Ian On 16 Feb 2015 21:59, "Keith Watson" wrote: > So does this still work, then? > > Keith. > +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ > +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ > To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe > send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to > majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister > +-+ "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! +-+ > +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ > +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From iananscombe at xxx.uk Tue Feb 17 00:16:14 2015 From: iananscombe at xxx.uk (Ianjames) Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 00:16:14 +0000 Subject: Sinister: How I LearNed to USe Capital LetTers In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <54E2884E.40308@o2.co.uk> One never knows what one shall find in an attic. Jane Eyre said that. Actually, no she didn't. Its a long time since I read it, and it seemed eaiser to make something up. I'd imagine she would have said something less whimsical...more practical, being good at that sort of thing. She wasn't even fazed when she found out her chap had another wife, locked in a secret room. Well, perhaps a little...but, y'know, she was very down to earth about it. Were they more grounded times? I am imagining the reaction of her facebook chums now ("OMG! Just met Eddie's first wife! What a fucking MENTALIST! So glad he's met someone fabby and hot this time lol" (Blanche Ingram, Jean Rhys and 3 others LIKE your post)). Perhaps a more modern Jane wouldn't have tried to hard to get so know the misogynistic fucker, and would have contented herself with an Etsy account selling hand-woven egg cups. Probably a better outcome, long-term. People will always eat eggs. Except vegans. And even they can find joy in the graceful curve of the bowl, the subtle suggestiveness of a thin-necked stem, and the pleasing solidity of the base. I know vegans that can spend months, years even, staring at a kitchen implement. Yeah, Jane would have stayed focussed. She kept her attic clean. After all, she never knew when she might end up living there. Perhaps the sinister attic looks like Jane Eyre's. I imagine it might be a little different though. Lots of half-forgotten memories, mementos...trunks of random shite... What's in this one? T-shirts.. Did these things ever fit? Were we really so svelte, or did we fool ourselves that our youthful insouciance, devil-may-care frippery and air of wild abandon would allow us to decorate our torsos in any way we saw fit? Neither of the above, perhaps. Wild abandon could be too much like hard work. It can be difficult to be spontaneous when you're staring at your feet. What else is there up here? So many photographs. I'm sure we had some ink polaroids around here somewhere? Maybe later. I'll need my glasses for those. Can we save them somewhere where no fucker can stick them on Instagram? Anything else? Badges, hair-grips, hair-dye, Hello Kitty, Goodbye Kitty, Yknow I've moved on and I don't think its still appropriate that you contact me Kitty, GLO STICKS...(wow - I'll keep these. I still love glo sticks. Though I notice I'm fighting the urge to spell it with a "w"), old worn out suits and shoes, half-digested lyrics, cassettes stretched to breaking point, compilation tapes, corduroy, corduroy and more corduroy. How these hugged our hips. I remember how this pair flared at the heel. And that, for some reason, I saw that as a good thing. Concert tickets. Hopes, dreams, changes, memories. Will you come and visit? Its a little dusty, but there's space for a blanket, a few bottles of wine, maybe there's a box of beer up here... Actually, nope, there's no beer... I can find baby milk, immodium, moist toilet tissue and Regaine. I'm sure at least one of them doesn't belong to me. ----------- So - I sat at the traffic lights this morning, and I thought about Sinister. I know that sounds like the mailing list equivalent of "oh wow, how nice to hear from you! I was just about to call YOU!", but I'm sticking to my story here... I felt a shift towards a happier mental state, and attributed it to a weekend spent with friends, watching bands, being a bit more selective (smug?) about it than I would have been once upon a time, but even so feeling lucky to be around people who would do something as thoughtful as organising such an event. I drove away from Glasgow Green and reflected, as I often do, how strange and unexpected it was that I ended up here...and subsequently wondered, as I often subsequently wonder, if there was something inevitable about it all along. I followed a dream up to Glasgow - love, change, a new life, a grown-up life in a big exciting city (apparently Birmingham wasn't big enough - although 2 million inhabitants might claim otherwise). What a joy a dream can be. What a fucker a dream can be. Who knows how a dream will flow, and change? I hear some dream lucidly - they step into these flights of whimsy, and manage to control them with their Special Clever Minds. Maybe I'll learn that trick one day. Errr...where was I going with that? I'm not sure... Jane Eyre would have stayed focussed. I've never been very good at that. But maybe there are other things I can do that she couldn't. Frankly, I'm a bit sick of Jane Fucking Eyre being so self-congratulatory. If he'd liked you THAT MUCH, HE WOULDN'T HAVE WAITED UNTIL HE COULDN'T SEE YOU, FUCKER!! Oh yes, there was maybe some point to the above...and it seems the point was that there might have been more than one fantasy involved in coming here. Glasgow - home of the aah, the tra-la-la, the "I would like to climb high in a tree, I could be happy. I COULD BE HAPPY!". There are so many stories of this city - set out in songs, whispered at picnics, danced from Minehead to Moseley. I knew much of it was myth. But myths are what we need, sometimes - what's more captivating than a tall tale? And Glasgow is full of them. Sometimes a little too full. I think some of the first that really caught my attenion involved being happy, for a day, in 1975. Or a parrot, on your shoulder, saying everything when you talk. In less mythical stories, as I slump into Easterhouse Health Centre on a Wednesday afternoon, trying my best to look energised, professional, and like somebody who has some idea of how to help others, I ponder on a song about someone coming to Easterhouse because they like the sound of it. My God, what sort of person goes somewhere just because they like the sound of it? Oh...hang on... ------- Back to the attic, then. I'm so pleased we can still get in. I'm wondering who, or what will come through this door. And... Its nice looking at all these memories, but we don't have to stay hidden up here, do we? The dust only irritates my asthma, and I'm careful with that, these days. I reckon a lot of this old stuff still works - we can brush off the cobwebs, take it out into the light. Rumour has it there's a way out of this attic that doesn't involve burning down the mansion and climbing onto the roof. Maybe a question on facebook - "does anyone know how to get out of an attic?".... "If enough people sign this petition, the government will build a staircase. And a few of us will start using capital letters - at the START of sentences. Sometimes." Will you help me get these wicker chairs downstairs? We shall take tea on the lawn, and dream of a time when we are free from all the trouble we're in. Shall that ever happen, my old friend? Can you bring elevenses? Oh, my favourite cheese is a Jarlsberg. It seems that much has remained the same. But how kind of you to ask. Ta Ian +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From eric.brasure at xxx.com Tue Feb 17 18:08:26 2015 From: eric.brasure at xxx.com (Eric Brasure) Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 13:08:26 -0500 Subject: Sinister: Let's try this again... Message-ID: <201502172010.t1HKAXX0002795@li3-210.members.linode.com> What follows was written in January. I have not updated it. Please be aware that the contents of this email cannot be vetted for accuracy. Love each other. Let's see if this works... Hello Sinister. It's been a while. Writing to you feels like shouting into a tin can at the end of a string and not being sure if there's another can at the end. Also the other can is supposed to be in Japan. Anyway, I just wanted to say that NPR has been streaming Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance (Gipwod, why not let's say?) and I like it. Write About Love kind of sounded like an album they made to fulfill a contract but this one is pretty all right. I think you should all give it a listen. Anyway. I don't think about Sinister much anymore, except when a new Belle and Sebastian album comes out, which doesn't happen very often these days, so I hope that whatever people are reading this are having wonderful lives. You are all beautiful and I miss you. Love, Eric -- "Why are the machines so sad?" +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From jonathan.skinner at xxx.com Tue Feb 17 20:23:50 2015 From: jonathan.skinner at xxx.com (Jonathan Skinner) Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 21:23:50 +0100 Subject: Sinister: La Pastie de San Francisco Message-ID: Oh dear God the ghosts of my past are resurrected, and in this case - I like it. I am writing this from a business hotel in Warsaw. I've lived, I've loved and now I am in a career. I started with sinister as a child finding his place in the world, now I'm a 30 year old on a business trip in a cold city, far from my life in the US and still listening to Belle and Sebastian albeit in my hotel room as I try and ignore my jet lag. A lot has happened -finished secondary school, graduated university, worked in IT across three continents and now married to a woman I love. Yet I think fondly of my dear sinister - a penpal, agony aunt and textual comic to my teenage and college years. Every so often, i browse the archives and see what I was and who we were and reflect on what I have become. I like myself and sinister has a huge responsibility for that - i was not alone in my bedroom in Cork, Ireland. I was part of the best internet community that ever was and ever will be - and we have honey to thank for that. I also think a lot of everyone - lives lived in front of me in binary and email address, lives i followed religiously and are part of my fabric but no longer part of my present. Now, I live in San Francisco - happy working for a corporate entity that I know cares little about me as a person but has afforded me and my wife a life that we love in a city that we both call home. If anyone is attending the Berkeley Greek Theater concert....we must have a meet up. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From unpopular at xxx.com Tue Feb 17 20:42:43 2015 From: unpopular at xxx.com (alistair fitchett) Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 20:42:43 +0000 Subject: Sinister: nobody gets to meet The Duke Message-ID: <201502172045.t1HKjecM004487@li3-210.members.linode.com> --Apple-Mail=_A580B840-2C61-40C1-AE18-302DBBD9F73A Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 I=E2=80=99m the Duke of Harringay and I=E2=80=99m an=E2=80=A6 oh no, = hang on, wrong place, wrong time. I=E2=80=99m The Duke of Harringay and although I am 18 (eighteen!!) = years older than I was when I first posted on Sinister I am no less = foolish. Well, perhaps a bit. But only a bit. I must say it=E2=80=99s rather lovely to think that many of the old = names and faces may come creeping out from whatever corner of the world = they ended up in to post amusing anecdotes about their Belle & Sebastian = related antics. Me, well today I ended up driving (I know! The Duke = driving a car!!!!) around for well over an hour, ostensibly looking for = a car wash that was open, but in reality using it as excuse to listen to = much of Tigermilk and most of Sinister for the first time in far too = dashed long. It was glorious. There is something so wonderful in = listening to a much adored record for the first time in a long while and = just luxuriating in the easy familiarity, isn=E2=80=99t there? I also rather liked the new record. Perhaps I will report back about it = at some point if you are all damnably unlucky. Someone else should report back about that filum that Struan made = recently. I=E2=80=99m afraid The Duchess and I found it rather flat, but = there you are. I quite liked some of the character=E2=80=99s glasses, if = that=E2=80=99s any help? Right, I=E2=80=99m off for a refill of the whisky glass. Who=E2=80=99s = next? The Duke xx www.unpopular-culture.com the home of unpopular culture --Apple-Mail=_A580B840-2C61-40C1-AE18-302DBBD9F73A Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 I=E2=80=99m the Duke of Harringay and I=E2=80=99m an=E2=80=A6 = oh no, hang on, wrong place, wrong time.

I=E2=80=99m The Duke of Harringay and = although I am 18 (eighteen!!) years older than I was when I first posted = on Sinister I am no less foolish. Well, perhaps a bit. But only a = bit.

I must = say it=E2=80=99s rather lovely to think that many of the old names and = faces may come creeping out from whatever corner of the world they ended = up in to post amusing anecdotes about their Belle & Sebastian = related antics. Me, well today I ended up driving (I know! The Duke = driving a car!!!!) around for well over an hour, ostensibly looking for = a car wash that was open, but in reality using it as excuse to listen to = much of Tigermilk and most of Sinister for the first time in far too = dashed long. It was glorious. There is something so wonderful in = listening to a much adored record for the first time in a long while and = just luxuriating in the easy familiarity, isn=E2=80=99t there?

I also rather liked the = new record. Perhaps I will report back about it at some point if you are = all damnably unlucky.

Someone else should report back about that filum that Struan = made recently. I=E2=80=99m afraid The Duchess and I found it rather = flat, but there you are. I quite liked some of the character=E2=80=99s = glasses, if that=E2=80=99s any help?

Right, I=E2=80=99m off for a refill of = the whisky glass. Who=E2=80=99s next?

The Duke
xx

the home of unpopular = culture

= --Apple-Mail=_A580B840-2C61-40C1-AE18-302DBBD9F73A-- +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From lawrencemikkelsen at xxx.com Tue Feb 17 23:26:16 2015 From: lawrencemikkelsen at xxx.com (Lawrence Mikkelsen) Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 12:26:16 +1300 Subject: Sinister: Every time I think of you I feel shot right through with a bolt of blue Message-ID: <201502201813.t1KIDn9l022946@li3-210.members.linode.com> So nice to get a couple of Sinister emails through the increasingly disused email door. A week or so I answered some questions for a Frenchman named Lawrence about Belle & Sebastian, Postcard Records and music fandom, and this got me ruminating on those heady days of the late 1990s/early 2000s when every Sinister post was a minor work of art, to be poured over, over-analysed and clutched closely to my heart. Just two weeks ago I caught up with a dear friend, Helen, whose 10+ year trans-Tasman friendship I owe to a Sinister picnic in Melbourne circa 2003. I've also been enjoying baby photos on Facebook from David and Julie - a real life Sinister-relationship-success-story. When I think of Sinister I think of these people, bunking in Niko Ovenden's flat in Edinburgh in 2005, wandering around the Lower East Side with Eric in NYC, etc. These things still mean something to me. Oh, and for anyone who followed my ceaseless moaning 10 years ago, Belle & Sebastian FINALLY played a show in New Zealand a few weeks back, on the St. Jerome's Laneway bill. It was 45 minutes, but it was grand, and it was the first time I've seen them that hasn't involved me having to fly to Australia. Me? I'm turning 40 next week. I have three-year-old twins and I'm no longer some smarmy IT worker. I'm now a bitterly-sarcastic highschool Media Studies teacher with a heart of gold. Life has, for the most part, treated me well. Well, that's enough for today. Hopefully a few others might crawl out of the woodwork. Let the trickle become a flood. Is there any kind of ex-Sinister-mailing-list FB group? Would be nice to hear from a few more familiar names. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From mlobb79 at xxx.com Thu Feb 19 12:50:46 2015 From: mlobb79 at xxx.com (Matthew Lobb) Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 22:50:46 +1000 Subject: Sinister: nobody gets to meet The Duke Message-ID: <201502201815.t1KIFEFZ023366@li3-210.members.linode.com> Maiden post here. Greetings from rainswept Brisbane. Long-time listener, signed up to Sinister only about a fortnight ago. I'm pleased to now be reading a few emails coming in from long-time Sinister members. Lovely emails, I hope there are a lot more to come. Feels like a strange time to join. How long's the list been dormant? After a long, unintended break from listening, I made an effort to back into most of the B&S albums around December, to get my fandom into shape for their recent show at The Tivoli. For a good six weeks, breakfasts were a three-egg milkshake with the blender drowning out 'The Boy Done Wrong Again'. Cheap, spartan lunches (plain pasta and olive oil/cereal sprinkled with protein powder/an old Easter egg) and 'Simple Things' always WAY up, daring the neighbours to call the cops or join the party. Afternoons were so much speedwork in the garage to 'I Fought In A War', before cranking the Discman up and hitting the footpath carefully to 'The Blues Are Still Blue', etc. I thought I was getting fit for an old love, but actually I 'burned out' at the gig. Maybe it's a very Brisbane mistake - getting too worked up before a show. There was nothing except fatigue in my applause for an encore that night - no slur on the concert. Of course, it was great to see them again. The new songs sounded particularly fresh, and the group seemed a lot more keen on them, too, I thought. Best, Matt +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From lazyqueenkara at xxx.com Fri Feb 20 20:37:07 2015 From: lazyqueenkara at xxx.com (Queen K) Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 12:37:07 -0800 Subject: Sinister: Where were you when I king in this part of town? Message-ID: <1424464627.19247.YahooMailBasic@web125303.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> Wow, wow, wow. Belle & Sebastian are back in my life. Is anybody else all signed up for ATP2015? I was one of the lucky ones who attended the first Bowlie Weekender at Camber Sands, traveled down on the Magical Mystery Bus. Back then, in 1999, I was a sad, lonely American teen, studying at the Glasgow School of Art on a semester abroad. I knew nothing. I met Jarvis Cocker. I met a lovely boy called Sean from the Orkneys. I followed the Gentle Waves around on their tour like a psycho. I remember a lot of you lovely folks. We might have traded cassette tapes. Now I'm a happily grown-up lady in her 30's. A librarian. I'm spending the winter knitting cabled afghans and watching old movies. When the weather gets warm again it will be time to put my dancing shoes back on. My wandering days are far from over. xx Kara +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From adrian.evans at xxx.uk Fri Feb 20 19:41:32 2015 From: adrian.evans at xxx.uk (Adrian Evans) Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 19:41:32 +0000 Subject: Sinister: Dear Colostomy Receptionist.. Message-ID: <201502202151.t1KLpKVj030502@li3-210.members.linode.com> It's been three score years and seven since I first stepped into your waiting room (baby) assaulting your somewhat delicate senses and frankly nothing much (about me) has changed. I'd love to update you on that last fifteen years with something wonderfully poetic but that's just not me. I've mostly been on a nostalgia trip, reliving my naughty teens/early twenties in some mid-life crisis. Much to the disdain of Keith, following PWEI and the Wonderstuff like some proper indie kid but more like an embarrassing Dad. Next month I get to go to Bristol with my soon to be 15 year old daughter to play chaperone at some metal core gig. That'll be fun...when it stops. Those 15 years have flown by and I'm a lucky man despite the bollocks life chucks at you. Next up after that B&S at Colston Hall for the first time since Shepherds Bush in when? 1998 maybe? Salad days indeed. I still work for Devon County but no longer have the pleasure of seeing what roadkill has been scraped off the A38 this week. No, nothing is quite as exciting as that these days but I'll take longevity over excitement for now. My proudest achievement in those 15 years (apart from the kids, wife, house etc) is that I have managed to stop watching television. It's amazing how much time I have on my hands to do other dull stuff. On the flip side don't ask me on your pub quiz team! +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From misguidedtrousers at xxx.uk Fri Feb 20 20:37:33 2015 From: misguidedtrousers at xxx.uk (Dean Gillon) Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 20:37:33 +0000 (UTC) Subject: Sinister: Hello kitty Message-ID: <201502202156.t1KLuDoO030909@li3-210.members.linode.com> Hello Sinister. It's been periodical. I went to see them at Sheffield, one of the universities I think, about eight years back, and there was talk of meeting in the pub beforehand. We went there, to the *something* Cat (Cheshire? Squinting?) for some of their huge range of mad continental beers with percentages more akin to wine than ale and to scout the situation. There was a big table of people that I thought must be them, you. Slightly too mismatched to be regular friends, a few people returning the meerkat bar-scanning behaviour looking for likely recruits, you can picture the scene. Anyway, I bottled it and didn't go over, and stayed with my friends and my pint. Clearly I should have made a move. Wasn't there an upside-down badge thing? Anyway, suffice to say, the pub was further from the venue than we thought, and I got a whacking blister on me heel walking there with my new trainers, and the latter half of the gig is a bit hazy (see above). Fun though. I haven't heard the new stuff yet. I hope you're all as well as can be hoped. Dean +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From jenathalie at xxx.com Fri Feb 20 23:14:19 2015 From: jenathalie at xxx.com (Bjort t) Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 15:14:19 -0800 Subject: Sinister: [SPAMm(6.4)] lp? Message-ID: <09693F62-D524-43E2-BB9D-27C5FBC5EA0F@gmail.com> There is a version of This Is Just A Modern Rock Song, that I prefer, it's live..."only lucid when I'm riding buses" instead of "writing songs". Also I know it's from 1996/1995 but what was the show again -.- -N +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From holdingorama at xxx.com Sat Feb 21 07:51:47 2015 From: holdingorama at xxx.com (Alan Holding) Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 08:51:47 +0100 Subject: Sinister: [SPAMm(6.4)] lp? In-Reply-To: <09693F62-D524-43E2-BB9D-27C5FBC5EA0F@gmail.com> References: <09693F62-D524-43E2-BB9D-27C5FBC5EA0F@gmail.com> Message-ID: Hi gang! On 21 February 2015 at 00:14, Bjort t wrote: > > There is a version of This Is Just A Modern Rock Song, that I prefer, it's live..."only lucid when I'm riding buses" instead of "writing songs". Also I know it's from 1996/1995 but what was the show again -.- > I seem to recall that it was on The Tube. Alan, still here after all these years (but living in Paris these days) +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From unpopular at xxx.com Sat Feb 21 14:09:21 2015 From: unpopular at xxx.com (alistair fitchett) Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 14:09:21 +0000 Subject: Sinister: memorabilia Message-ID: <382D2C6B-4099-4617-9481-C8FCC17EA636@mac.com> Looking through my Flickr albums this morning I came across a small collection of old B&S paraphernalia from my Box Of Things. You can view the photos here: http://bit.ly/1FGHPWw Includes old promo photos and a scan of the tape of rarities that I won for being the most prolific poster in the first month of Sinister action. I’m sure there are some other things in the box that haven’t been scanned yet, and I may add to the collection in the coming days, weeks, months… then again I may not. I do have the copy of Select where they had a piece about the fans - I recall doing a ‘phone interview for that whilst standing in my classroom at lunchtime. Gosh, the memories… the memories… As you were. The Duke PS: my boxset of ‘Girls In Peacetime’ arrived this morning. It looks delicious. www.unpopular-culture.com the home of unpopular culture +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From unpopular at xxx.com Sat Feb 21 15:04:35 2015 From: unpopular at xxx.com (alistair fitchett) Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 15:04:35 +0000 Subject: Sinister: is anyone interested in digging over the past? Message-ID: <8F2AF092-2BB0-4358-86F8-E6786747077F@mac.com> So i have rifled through the Box Of Things and there are a number of newspaper cuttings, press releases etc that I had not looked at in years… Is anyone interested in those being scanned? I have no idea if they are the kinds of things already wildly disseminated via the Web… there are a few post-Brits articles for example, from The Scotsman etc. It is quite illuminating reading some of those. Anyway, I have packed things into my bag to scan at work on Monday, unless someone tells me there is already too much evidence of The Past out there, in which case I shan’t bother :) The Duke xx PS: This email was written with the new Public Service Broadcasting LP as backdrop. It’s really rather good you know. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From honey at xxx.org Sat Feb 21 17:16:44 2015 From: honey at xxx.org (honey at xxx.org) Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 17:16:44 +0000 (GMT) Subject: Sinister: How quickly we forget Message-ID: <201502211718.t1LHICRh031558@li3-210.members.linode.com> Lovelets, It's spectacularly nice - and odd - to have you all back in my living room. But after it's odd it's nice again. I think you may have to all post about your mortgages and pension funds in order that we don't create a time tunnel. - List news - Sinister is a cranky old beast and adheres rigidly to technical standards from 1998 - well, 1993 in all probability - and you're all 21st century space travellers now and can't remember how to be 1998. It's easy: you need to tell your mail programs to post in plain text. I know I know, it's so pass?. But the archive don't like it (as indeed they may not like that ?) which is why The Duke came over all EBCDIC as Keef put it elsewhere. Extra "mainframe" points for understanding what he means. So I've edited and forwarded some mails sent in spaceman language that Sinister doesn't understand in order to help it along, but I won't be keeping up with that should this odd and lovely electronic renaissance last more than a week. It won't even tell you that you got it wrong. So please go check your mail program settings and make sure you aren't sending in HTML gubbins doodah or your mails will silently slip under the fridge. I'll also make an attempt to stop that "SPAM" labelling nonsense. You're not spammers, you're just very naughty boys (and girls). Remember you can check the archives at: http://www.missprint.org/archives/html/sinister/2015-02/ for latest posts, which inexplicably still appears to be mostly working. It sometimes disappears, but it does that in order that it can come back again. - Band news - I'm waiting for a song-by-song dissection of the new album from one or more of you, preferably in rhyme form (iambic pentameter would be fine, I'm easy). I'll get you started with the suggestions that Enter Sylvia Plath is all quite Dollar and The Party Line is most definitely a homage the great and dearly-missed Kajagoogoo. - Stuart David news - This is the forthcoming book wot I mentioned: http://www.amazon.co.uk/In-All-Night-Caf?-Stuart-David/dp/140870515X I was lucky enough to read it early and I can't recommend it enough. It doesn't have an ounce of twee other than a good bit on a beach, and is written with a very singular voice: it's more of a story than an attempt to produce one of those dreary blow-by-blow diaries of gigs and tours. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say it ends with the Tigermilk party, which I love. It's mostly about him and Stuart M hanging around and finding out how songs work and how records work. I am dying to tell you some funny stories from it but let's just say "if you want to shag him, you should just ask him out". And the publishers want to give you some early copies I think. They've been in touch and that along with Rachel Apps are the instigators of me making/checking the list is working again. Rachel is now officially joint Marquess of Sinister Renewal, even if it's brief. That depends on you! Oh and Stuart allegedly may pop along here to post about it too, if you're keen. - Duke news - Alistair's kindly offering to post some bits and pieces and I found this to get you started if you're in a nostalgic frame of mind: http://www.missprint.org/sinister/press.html I've decided to leave the Sinister website as a monument to 1998 web technology so most of the links are broken, but that one still works. There's also one of the first band web chats in history which is at http://www.missprint.org/sinister/bandchat.txt It's seat of the edge stuff. It contains barely any useful information for archivists and is by turns funny and traumatising. Famously it's where Stuart David declares Listen, this is pish, I think I'll leave and in so doing questions the very basis of pop stardom in an age of uncertainty. Kim Kardashian should have taken note. Honey +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From honey at xxx.org Sat Feb 21 17:24:38 2015 From: honey at xxx.org (honey at xxx.org) Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 17:24:38 +0000 (GMT) Subject: Sinister: That book again Message-ID: <201502211726.t1LHQsid032131@li3-210.members.linode.com> Stuart David's book seems to have disappeared on Amazon and spontaneously reappeared somewhere else. Evidence if you ever needed it that it's from space. Here it is: http://www.amazon.co.uk/In-All-Night-Caf?-Stuart-David/dp/140870515X Look, it's got an ? in it too. How many list rules did I just break? Honey x +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From honey at xxx.org Sat Feb 21 17:37:41 2015 From: honey at xxx.org (honey at xxx.org) Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 17:37:41 +0000 (GMT) Subject: Sinister: That book again In-Reply-To: <201502211726.t1LHQsid032131@li3-210.members.linode.com> References: <201502211726.t1LHQsid032131@li3-210.members.linode.com> Message-ID: Oh FFS. Try: http://www.amazon.co.uk/In-All-Night-Cafe-Stuart-David/dp/140870515X or use your ingenuity. He also has a website. And let Amazon know that 1998 is not pleased that they use funny French letters in their URLs. I am now banned from this list. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From gummi at xxx.net Sat Feb 21 21:06:06 2015 From: gummi at xxx.net (=?UTF-8?Q?Gu=C3=B0mundur_J=C3=B3hannsson?=) Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 21:06:06 +0000 Subject: Sinister: My inbox is reawakeing Message-ID: <201502212111.t1LLBCMJ006676@li3-210.members.linode.com> Hi all, When I saw these Sinister e-mails piling up I was afraid to open them. First I though they were some kind of spam reminding me about old times but then I started to remember names and it all came back to me. I was glad because now my inbox is actually getting some fun emails instead of the regular mumbo jumbo. It would be fun if this would last. A closed FB group could be fun also if the retro email list is not suiting anymore like someone mentioned before me. All this time has gone by, we have all grown up and are probably doing all kinds of stuff around the worl and even the band that binds us all together has matured in ways I am still trying to digest if I really like or not. I just finished putting my 15 month old daughter to sleep and my 4 year old daughter is practising writing her own name before going to sleep. The wife is abroad and we are listening to Tigermilk like we often do.It=C2=B4s eith= er that or Postman Pat in Icelandic. We have a Tigermilk poster on the wall here, the 4 year old often asks about that poster. She says that the girl is breastfeeding the tiger because the tigers mother was ill and the woman loves the tiger so much and wants it as a pet. Enjoy your weekend gang, Gummi Joh +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From clj106york at xxx.uk Sun Feb 22 19:48:47 2015 From: clj106york at xxx.uk (Chris Jones) Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2015 19:48:47 +0000 (UTC) Subject: Sinister: The Church Upon the Hill is Looking Lovely Message-ID: <1918130553.7312982.1424634527820.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com> WARNING - THIS E-MAIL BREAKS ALL SINISTER RULES ABOUT LENGTH. I'M REALLY REALLY SORRY SINISTERINES! Oh my word...it was only the other day that Sam Walton (of this parish, former member of the York Sinister Massive) and I were reminiscing about Sinister and wondering whether it still worked. Honey must have heard us. I was 15 when I joined this list, a giddy mix of hormones, faux teenage hubris, real terminal shyness and a lust for some mysterious boy/girl duo I first heard on the Evening Session via transistor radio back in August 1997 as I watered my neighbour's garden for the princely wage of £1 per day. They were singing this rousing number about a girl who caught some kind of venereal disease from licking railings. The next day, I caught the bus into Ipswich and purchased the 7" from Rex Records. I still maintain that I can trace everything which has happened in my life back to that balmy summer's evening. Sinister was a window into another world from the wilds of rural Suffolk - I had never met another fan in person. Everything I learned about the band had been through Lamacq and Whiley, Radcliffe and Riley, the NME and something called 'the internet' which cost 1p a minute after 6pm. I used to post under the name 'mummy i've grazed my knee'. I'm 32 now. I can't do that anymore. Onto business though...I have oodles of B&S content. Firstly, that Stuart David book... I have read it. It made me swoon and feel just marvelous. The re-animation of Sinister is very timely, because it will take you on a beautiful nostalgic journey back to those heady late 90s days and make you fall in love with the band all over again. As they creep towards a slick, professional, internationally touring pop behemoth/contemporary cultural irrelevance (delete as you see fit) it was beyond wonderful to be reminded of why we all fell head over heels for them in the first place. I've been listening to the early stuff all over again, supplementing it with the newly learned scraps of joy from Stuart's book, and boy have I enjoyed it. Next up, live... I was lucky enough to see the band play in Manchester Cathedral last year. My first B&S gig was Scarborough 2001 (if memory serves me right, there is a sillustration of the time us York lot all met the band on the beach and I discovered Mick Cooke keeps chocolate in a bag with his shoes). I have seen them over a dozen times since, but there was something slightly magical about this show - it was very small, not overly augmented by auxiliary musicians and felt a bit like the old days. Of course, it was also full of keytar, Stevie Jackson songs that are politely tolerated and overt religious references...but it was warm and lovely. I was slightly concerned as I walked through the door that, after all these years, I might not care any more. I needn't have worried. I'm now terrifically excited to see them in Leeds this May. The album... Isn't it rather brilliant? Eric suggested GIPWOD - I've been using the working Sinisternym GIPPYWAND. Sam Walton wrote a lovely review of it for Loud and Quiet - I'm sure he won't mind me posting the link, and if he does...too late :) http://www.loudandquiet.com/2015/01/girls-in-peacetime-want-to-dance-by-belle-sebastian/ I'm aware that there used to be a rule about spending no more than 15 minutes on a Sinister e-mail because otherwise we all got swamped. I've already broken that rule because I'm just so exited that all this is still working and wonderful people are still out there. Before reading Sam's review, I wrote to him (using something called Facebook - it'll never catch on) to offer my views. With your permission, I'm going to paste what I wrote to him here - it's not all positive, but it's honest. If you are already bored of trawling through all my nonsense, I apologise. There's a documentary rubbishing UKIP on soon. That will cheer you up. "First off...I love the album. It's a brilliantly diverse pop record - the likes of which nobody else is making - and made all the more excellent by some first rate production. Of course I am hugely nostalgic for the three day live take CaVa sound on Tigermilk and the church hall recordings on LLPJ and 369, but pound for pound this is the best sounding record they've made. There are negatives no doubt - all the songs (with the exception of Allie) are at least 30 seconds too long. There's some unnecessary noodling and it's in danger of feeling a bit bloated at times. The final track, no matter how many times I listen to it, remains completely superfluous. I'd hesitate to say it's the worst thing they've done - not because it's a bad song per se, but because it's so bland. And I think therein lies the step up that this album reflects. Write About Love was so freaking dull! It was the sound of a middle aged band trying to get played on Steve Wright's Radio 2 show. Calculating Bimbo, Little Lou...just turgid nonsense. I really had no hopes for this record. I had resigned myself to settling for a superb back catalogue 1996 - 2006 and leaving it at that. Even the songs which verge on the side of nonsense now are rescued by being interesting (and incredibly well produced) - Everlasting Muse, Perfect Couples...even The Party Line (which was written by Bob, apparently). They are fun and different and I love them in their own way...although Perfect Couples has the worst lyrics of any B&S song and I can't stand the way Stuart says 'pop' in The Everlasting Muse. The highs on here are incredibly high though - Nobody's Empire, Allie, Book Of You, Ever Had A Little Faith and the epic Play For Today, which has shot into my all time top 10. Sure, some of the 'electro' direction is a bit hammy - it's like they've tried to out-St Etienne St Etienne on Enter Sylvia Plath - and I will never cease to be astounded that one band has managed to produce two female singers who really just breathe in tune (Dee Dee Dum Dum's vocals on Play for Today really show up Sarah's efforts). It's so much fun though...and the tunes are still there. Massive tunes. Sure the string arrangements are typically naff and OTT, and I mourn the loss of Mick Cooke's trumpet, but it's pop hook after pop hook and I won't complain about that. I'm particularly pleased with ...Little Faith...it is such a beautiful, unexpected treat and the production is perfect - stripped back, loosely played (even to the extent that there appears to be a bum keyboard note towards the end) and absolutely evocative of the period from whence it came, but still in keeping with the remainder of the album. My other major gripe though - and as someone who is 90% about style and tunes I never thought I'd say this - is Stuart's lyrics. Unlike many, I have no issue with the fact that EVERYTHING now has to have a God/praying/faith reference. That's what he's into and it's fine. He's being honest. For those who still want songs about buses, first kisses and municipal pools...they are being created using a different outlet. God Help The Girl is old skool B&S - Stuart knows that at 46(?) he can't get away with singing that stuff, but he can still write those songs and get someone else to sing them. If you yearn for 90s B&S, just hope that he makes another film. Incidentally, I have almost finished reading the proof copy of Stuart David's B&S autobiography... and God Help The Girl is definitely NOT a whimsical work of fiction. It is about the formation of B&S. My problem with the lyrics returns to the issue of blandness. The religion seems to have stopped all the interesting, edgy stuff. There will never be another song about listing your biggest wanks, being into S&M and bible studies, seeing other people, going with boys and girls...all the stuff which totally drew me in first time round. I was transfixed by Stuart's world of Bowlies...but that world has been sanitised now. He hasn't left it behind - it's very much here on GIPPYWAND (I will suggest this to Sinister) - but without all the smut and intrigue that I am presuming his new found religious calling prevents him from singing about. Even the song titles could have been created by a random B&S title generator - but the really interesting vignettes are no longer there. We're just left praying around the old kitchen table when previously we'd have been getting a kicking with a melted toblerone under our dress before popping home to watch Man About The House and play with ourselves. When I saw them in Manchester Cathedral last year, Stuart joked about it, but it was obvious he felt uncomfortable doing the sweary songs in a sacred place. Honestly though, for a band 20 years into their career this is a stonker of a record and bodes really well for the future. The fact that I've been able to read Stuart David's book at the same time has made me fall in love with them all over again - I've been listening to the 90s stuff with a totally fresh view. It's been utterly beautiful and I've found enjoyment in places I never did first time round. It's a great fanboy read - I've been reading it on the bus after work and am so sad that I'll have finished it soon. It's put a bit of much needed indie sparkle back in my life." Thank you for listening Sinister. And thank you for existing and for bringing me joy and whimsy by the bucket load. I'm very happy you're still here. Much love chris x +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From clj106york at xxx.uk Sun Feb 22 20:05:24 2015 From: clj106york at xxx.uk (Chris Jones) Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2015 20:05:24 +0000 (UTC) Subject: Sinister: lp? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1539579621.3511084.1424635524178.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com> It's me again...quickly this time with a public service e-mail The version of This Is Just A Modern Rock Song to which Bjorn refers was from the July 1996 Mark Radcliffe session. For some reason that one didn't make it onto the BBC Sessions album. However, it did appear on the bootleg Bowlie album, which I have a copy of, so if anyone would like to hear it, just let me know and I'll, ahem, play it down the phone to you or some such ;) The song B&S played on The Tube (their first TV appearance) was The Loneliness of a Middle Distance Runner which you can see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_nlGHj8lKY much love chris x ----- Original Message ----- From: Alan Holding To: sinister at missprint.org Cc: Sent: Saturday, 21 February 2015, 7:51 Subject: Re: Sinister: [SPAMm(6.4)] lp? Hi gang! On 21 February 2015 at 00:14, Bjort t wrote: > > There is a version of This Is Just A Modern Rock Song, that I prefer, it's live..."only lucid when I'm riding buses" instead of "writing songs". Also I know it's from 1996/1995 but what was the show again -.- > I seem to recall that it was on The Tube. Alan, still here after all these years (but living in Paris these days) +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From rachelapps74 at xxx.com Mon Feb 23 13:33:44 2015 From: rachelapps74 at xxx.com (Rachel Apps) Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2015 13:33:44 +0000 Subject: Sinister: Allie, what would KEN CHU? Message-ID: Dear Sinisterines, I think it's time for an EPIC SUMMARY of the past week's posts, which I haven't had the honour of positing for many many years! Honey found the key to the old attic door! Also talked about Stuart David's book, and something about cookie consent... Then Keith Watson shouted through the door, "Does this thing still work?" but it may or may not have really been Keith according to Gmail. ...and then Ian H. confirmed that it did, indeed, still work. Also that it may have been an imposter Keith. Also, reminisced about buying Tigermilk and all the friends made on Sinister. Funnily, that message may or may not have been really Ian... Gmail is really suspicious. After that, Ian A. wrote of Jane Eyre and "One never knows what one shall find in an attic" and I liked that because I immediately thought of Jane when Honey mentioned an attic. Now I want to buy a hand-woven egg cup from Jane Eyre's Etsy account. "Wild abandon could be too much like hard work. It can be difficult to be spontaneous when you're staring at your feet." There should be an Easterhouse song just because it sounds good. I will bring elevenses, sing about Easterhouse and take tea on the lawn with you, Ian. Though I have to admit, I have not given up Hello Kitty or hair dye, but I also like a nice bit of Jarlsberg. Eric (the half a bee) then posted what he tried to post in January, which was why we began to discuss whether Sinister worked any more or not, and why I wrote to Honey asking if pretty-please it could be mended. Eric wrote about "Gipwod" being streamed on radio in America and something about a tin can in Japan. Mummy i've grazed my knee (AKA Chris J) expanded on Eric's name for the new album with the name GIPPYWAND, and I like it! Jonathan Skinner posted from a hotel in Warsaw. It is so nice to hear where everyone is now. Jonathan, San Francisco is one of my most favourite cities. It is lovely to hear that you live there now and are happily married. Awww! Lawrence posted that B&S finally played a show in NZ and he also mentioned a Facebook Sinister List Page and that maybe one should be invented. And then he and Eric made one, and so if anyone wants to join that Facebook page they should give a shout. There are about 100 of us on it now. The Duke of Harringay posted about car washes and listening to old familiar b&s, and that he likes the new album but wonders what everyone made of the God Help The Girl film. I have to confess, I've not seen it yet so can't comment. GHTG album didn't really captivate me and so I didn't make it a priority to see the film. I would like to, though. ... and then a post from newbie Matt in Brisbane! Hello Matt! *waves wildly* I think the last post before the latest flurry was in 2013. Adrian then posted about "reliving my naughty teens/early twenties in some mid-life crisis" like some embarrassing dad. I've been doing similar with my undying passion for the band Suede, but my kids are still a bit too young to be embarrassed, I still have all that to look forward to. You're a great dad for being willing to endure a metal core concert with your daughter! Dean posted about being in Sheffield eight years ago in a pub for a meetup and about upside-down badges and meerkats. Bjort T posted about a live version of This Is Just a Modern Rock Song from 1995/96 and Alan seemed to remember it was on The Tube. Mummy i've grazed my knee (AKA Chris J) then said it's from the July 1996 Mark Radcliffe session. The Duke posted a link to his b&s Flickr set which had some interesting artefacts in it. He also found a box o' memorabilia on a shelf and wondered if it would be worth scanning some things to share with us. I'd love to see some more! He also said the Public Service Broadcasting LP is good. As I am rarely exposed to new music, I am going to look for that. Then Honey posted again and even mentioned me by name in helping to resurrect the list! *preens* and also said "I'm waiting for a song-by-song dissection of the new album from one or more of you, preferably in rhyme form (iambic pentameter would be fine, I'm easy). I'll get you started with the suggestions that Enter Sylvia Plath is all quite Dollar and The Party Line is most definitely a homage the great and dearly-missed Kajagoogoo." I'm afraid I'm not up to that challenge, Honey. The many years of sleep deprivation I've endured have turned my brain to slush. I'd like to hear what Ken Chu has to say about it, though. There was also a mention of the bandchat section of Sinister from which Stuart David flounced with " Listen, this is pish, I think I'll leave" Then Honey banned herself from the list by consecutively posting links to Stuart David's book on Amazon using unusual characters in the url. But urged us to use our ingenuity to search for In the All-Night Cafe by Stuart David. Mummy i've grazed my knee (AKA Chris J) has read it and swooned, so I think I will have to get it. Gummi Joh posted about listening to b&s with his little girls and that his four-year-old said about the Tigermilk poster hanging on the wall: "the girl is breastfeeding the tiger because the tigers mother was ill and the woman loves the tiger so much and wants it as a pet." which I think sums up the picture perfectly! Mummy i've grazed my knee (AKA Chris J) wrote an epic post linking to a review of GIPPYWAND that Sam Walton wrote for Quiet and Loud. Then he also posted his own review that he had sent to Sam. I really enjoyed reading that, it's made me think more about how I feel about the album and I really relate to the end bit where you said "Honestly though, for a band 20 years into their career this is a stonker of a record and bodes really well for the future. The fact that I've been able to read Stuart David's book at the same time has made me fall in love with them all over again - I've been listening to the 90s stuff with a totally fresh view. It's been utterly beautiful and I've found enjoyment in places I never did first time round." Now I REALLY want to read that book! An update from me, my LIST CRUSH Ben Apps (Mr B) and I celebrated 12 years of wedded bliss at the New Year. "Now I look at you, you're a mother of two" - we have two "list babies" who are actually grown up little boys in school, the eldest will be eight in June and the youngest will be five in May. We're still living in the London area. Ben and I are both really enjoying GIPPYWAND, perhaps he'll post and say "hi" sometime, too! love, Rachel fruitloop +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From laurelviolet at xxx.com Tue Feb 24 16:24:58 2015 From: laurelviolet at xxx.com (Laurel Violet) Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2015 10:24:58 -0600 Subject: Sinister: Dear Sinister Message-ID: <201502251706.t1PH6AKw031808@li3-210.members.linode.com> All of your emails are making me smile, smile, smile till I think I better stop reading them at work because there is usually not much to smile about while processing people's divorce papers. But it is so good to see some activity on this list again. Reminds me of meetups in Chicago and Ken Chu's autograph and baking a banana bread for the band and getting to sing harmonies. I have often thought about writing and never did. Last summer when I saw Our Band live in Austin for the first time in 10+ years, finding happily that I could still feel all those feelings I felt when I was Young and not at an age that seemed mythical when I first found B&S. When I was embroidering a back patch for my Twee Battle Vest with the B&S fox t-shirt, certainly. And then again when the new album came out -- I waited all day, stubbornly avoiding that it was all already up on Spotify, so I could go to the record store, buy my copy, and listen to it with my full attention in my room at night. I guess this is all to say I am glad that y'all are still here, because I don't have too many friends in the Real World who have this set of feelings. Thanks to Honey for giving us a kick in the pants. Laurel http://dosomethingprettywhileyoucan.tumblr.com +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From laurel.girvan at xxx.com Wed Feb 25 17:20:06 2015 From: laurel.girvan at xxx.com (Laurel Girvan) Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2015 12:20:06 -0500 Subject: Sinister: Dear Sinister Message-ID: <201502252122.t1PLM0je007578@li3-210.members.linode.com> Just as a public service announcement I'd like to clarify that I am not Laurel Violet and I haven't even listened to the new album by whatstheirfaces or frankly anything they've done since FISHYCLAP, which was all right, I thought, as far as it went. I did get to see some youngsters who looked strangely familiar play their instruments and hop around in an overly crowded ampitheatre last year and felt actual feelings on a level I hadn't expected to, since having my heart removed and replaced with gears and levers some years ago has rendered me mostly impervious to human emotion. You never know, I guess. A close approximation of warmth and friendliness to you all, or at least the external manifestations of it, Laurel +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ From iiisecondcreep at xxx.com Sat Feb 28 21:25:44 2015 From: iiisecondcreep at xxx.com (Gayle E. Anderson) Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2015 21:25:44 +0000 Subject: Sinister: You offered and I ran Message-ID: <201503011805.t21I5uY1030464@li3-210.members.linode.com> Sinister, Well, hello there. Isn't this nice? I don't have an awful lot to say, or anything at all, really. Its a Saturday night, I am home alone with a mug of fruity herbal tea listening to an album called 'The Falls' by a band called Snowblind. I'm not sure how long I have owned this album, I estimate four years. This is the first time I have listened to it. Its rather nice. I had heard one song by Snowblind before I bought the album ('Cut') having bought the CD single from a record store in Falkirk called Sleeves. Sleeves would sell CD singles that were second hand or that no one wanted for 40p each, or 3 for ??1. I would visit regularly in my mid teens and splash out on CD singles from the bargain bin/rejects corner. I picked them by their covers. It worked out pretty well. I used to pick library books the same way. That worked out pretty well also. So, you know what they say? Well, they're wrong. Sleeves doesn't exist anymore. The space it once occupied is a butcher shop now. Which is REALLY boring. So, you keep on dancing. GEA +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo at missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+