Seven days before Glasgow

So I hear that Radiohead were absolutely brilliant at the Leeds festival. The performance made a fan out of the aforementioned friend. It's hard to talk about a band like this when the twee sound of The Boy With The Arab Strap by Belle & Sebastian emanates from my record player.

That's right I said it, The Boy With The Arab Strap is twee. It's hardly a bad thing, but other fans of Belle & Sebastian would spear me for using such labels. I wouldn't call the band twee in general, but songs like Sleep The Clock Around and Is It Wicked Not To Care? are just so bloody precious. It's probably my least favourite B&S LP as a result of it, but still a great album regardless. As Stevie Jackson puts it, although it doesn't feature their best work, the album works as a whole. Chickfactor is awful though (Sorry Stevie).

Here, have a Dirty Dream Number Two music video:


Sarah Martin - Now she's an under appreciated member of Belle & Sebastian. She's been kind enough to answer some of my questions directed at the band, such as my latest query:

Q.I'm travelling to Glasgow in less than a month to visit the University. The problem is, I'm doing it alone and I've never been to this vast city before. Any recommendations on what I could get up to and where all the free/affordable places are? I've got an entire day to kill. Also, is it worth paying a little extra to spend the night at Queen Margaret Residence as opposed to Cairncross House? Thank you, and keep up the great music!

A. I'll tell you this much: Cairncross house (where Chris and I both spent our respective first years in Glasgow) is way closer to the action than Queen Margaret. In fact, it's right next door to a little venue called the 78 which has its moments. and it's a couple of minutes' wander from kelvingrove park, and the museum - both of which are of course free. the Doctor Who exhibition is still on i think, if that floats your boat, though you have to pay for that. If you do stay in Cairncross house, say hi to room 233 for me?

Unfortunately Cairncross House was fully booked, so I had to settle for Queen Margaret which is three miles from the city centre. I'm not going to lie to you, but I'm quite nervous about this, particularly after all the violent Glasgow rumours you hear about the city outskirts.

As for University, the excitement builds as the date for Fresher's week draws nearer. I'm selling off the crap I wish to dispose of in exchange for money to be spent on clothes, vinyl and general University requirements. I've already decided that I'm going to set up a society at the Student Union called the IFS (Independent Film Society). If there's one thing I dislike about Lincoln it's the fact that there's not enough culture in regards to museums, galleries, arthouse cinema etc... Hopefully starting up the IFS might give students the chance to view films by independent and foreign filmmakers.

I'm not going to review a film in full, even though I've seen a few since my last post. I will say that I certainly enjoyed David Fincher's The Game which I had always been meaning to see. Another film that surprised me somewhat was Krrish, a Bollywood romantic comedy action sci-fi superhero movie. It's ridiculous, but it has its moments.