| Author | Message | ||
     skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1471 Registered: 10-2008 |
I know I'm biased, as are the pollsters, but its a no-brainer in favour of The Fall isn't it? http://invisionfree.com/forums/thefall/i ndex.php?showtopic=1896 | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2777 Registered: 03-2005 |
Thank you for the fun Beatle-bashing thread Kevin. As I know I've said on here, I'm not really averse to the Beatles per se but people should be fair. They recorded a LOT of formulaic dross in their time that is only listenable if you are a fan and the now nearly universal elevation of them to their hollowed status merely demonstrates complete ignorance of everybody else who was making records at the time. I'll cite one example. I picked up a copy of "Pet Sounds" which includes the new stereo mix (which I prefer, it's very well done). Brian Wilson writes in the liner notes that he felt that he had to do something to beat "Rubber Soul." The seemingly cohesive album known to Americans as "Rubber Soul" is actually two of the best and most modern songs from the U.K. version of "Help" appended to the best non-45 songs from the U.K. version of "Rubber Soul." It's a shorter album than the U.K. version which is actually a typical Beatles pile of not-very-coordinated songs. Brian Wilson hunkered down to create a masterwork by competing with something that didn't really happen! As for the Fall, they're the anti-Beatles. To appreciate them you have to be looking for things which are entirely absent from the Fab Four's records. I can't imagine very many Fall lovers being able to listen to the Beatles or vice versa. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2778 Registered: 03-2005 |
Oh, by the way, I agree "Smile" is remarkable. The main disc makes a fantastic music cycle. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1472 Registered: 10-2008 |
I recently came across a Fall messageboard, its an astonishing site. It seems to have been going since 2004 and according to the stats on the home page it has had 1,266,191 posts. That is incredible, how many other bands websites have that amount of posts. They are poll crazy on this messageboard, here is a link http://z1.invisionfree.com/forums/thefal l/index.php?showtopic=3848 Below is a link to a table which shows their favourite albums after they voted in some kind of weird album vs album system,hard to argue with the top 10, which includes 2 albums from the 2000's which gives short shrift to the theory they have done nothing of note for 15-20 years http://209.85.62.23/66/133/upload/p11112 261.gif | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1473 Registered: 10-2008 |
They also had a competition where favourite Fall songs were voted on, and the two overall best were then voted for in a "head to head" battle. It was agonisingly close, and the results are below http://z1.invisionfree.com/forums/thefal l/index.php?showtopic=17773 I would have voted for Garden in that head to head I must admit. Despite obviously being aware of the song as part of the Perverted by Language album since 1983,I had a bit of an epiphany with that song earlier this year and played it regularly for a month or so. For the record, my favourite Fall song is on a rolling basis either Rowche Rumble, Totally Wired, The Classical, Free Range or Dr Buck's Letter. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1474 Registered: 10-2008 |
Randy, I know you are referring to The Beach Boys Smile up above, but it has just reminded me that The Fall song Smile is one of their greatest ever. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1475 Registered: 10-2008 |
I really can't overstate how good the new Fall album is. Of the ten tracks there are only two that I would class as average. They are I've Seen Them Come which has a pounding beat over a song that doesn't really go anywhere, and the bizarre heavy metal riffed Greenway, an eccentric train wreck of a song which is fascinatingly poised between brilliance and mediocrity. Ultimately this song fails to hit the mark for me, but it's still The Fall y'know. The rest range from good to excellent. The band is shit hot, the production is crisp and dynamic, and MES just does what he does over the racket. I really believe that Monocard is up there with the best Fall tunes, its probably not top 20 or anything like that (thats a tall order), but its not far short and is possibly my favourite rock song this year. This may not be the best album this year, but having already played it over a dozen times and still nowhere near tired of it I have no doubt that by the end of the year it will be amongst my most played albums, and I haven't felt that way about any Fall album since the 90's. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1476 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Fall website highlights some reviews of the new album, even the negative ones! Reviews of the new album are starting to come in: The Wire, November 2011 by Marc Masters: Mark E Smith spends most of The Fall's 29th album with his snarl turned up to ten. "I had to wake up the cat to feed the fucking dog," he growls like a bitter grandfather over the hard rock riffs of "Greenway". The anger of those words is actually a rarity; most of the lyrics on Ersatz GB are playful and even comic, full of random observations and absurd interjections. But they're all delivered with spittle-filled vitriol, as if someone knocked Smith's teeth out right before the session and he could only spill blood and phlegm all over the microphone. Such bilious delivery makes even the goofiest songs on Ersatz GB shake with urgency. One of the best, "Nate Will Not Return", appears to be about a character in the American teen soap opera Gossip Girl. I'm baffled that Smith knows so much about it (presuming his couplets are accurate), but I'm even more fascinated to hear him bite so hard into them, grinding his jaw and swilling saliva until he has forced almost every line to rhyme with "Nate". That drool dribbles into "Mask Search", wherein he rants at everything (including Snow Patrol) with a sinister gurgle. Some might find the group's repetitive grooves too smooth a match for all Smith's spewing. But his bark infects everything around it, giving the music a nervous, vibrant edge and turning potentially slick songs into serrated mantras. By anybody's standards, "I've Seen Them Come" is sandpaper-rough, while the metal-clanging "Age of Chang" is all skin-piercing pound. I don't hear a bum note on Ersatz GB - except perhaps "Happi Song", sung too robotically by Elena Poulou - and its peaks thrust it toward the upper end of The Fall's daunting discography. Louder Than War website by John Robb - 9/10 - link Mojo, November 2011 - 4/5 stars Uncut, November 2011 by Gavin Martin - 2/5 stars: When considering the new Fall album, the allusion to the decline in the nation's craftsmanship in the title is painfully ironic. Stool Pigeon, issue 34 - 4/5 pigeons: If you include truncated 10" release Slates as an LP, then pre-eminent rock and rhythm combo The Fall have made it to their 29th album with Ersatz G.B. And if the barrelling pace of opener Cosmos 7 is anything to go by, they're speeding up, not slowing down. There's Stoogian bluster on Greenway, which along with Blindness is one of the sludgiest, heaviest things they've done to date, and includes Smith sounding like Fenriz from Darkthrone. Elsewhere his vocals are crystal clear, making lyrics easy to decode as the wind whistles pleasingly round his loose dentures, meshing beautifully with the hissing layer of cymbals alredy on offer. The Skinny website by Simon Fielding - 4/5 stars - link The Arts Desk website by Bruce Dessau - 3/5 stars - link Clash Music website by Ben Brill - 7/10 - link The Guardian, 10 November 2011 by Rob Fitzpatrick - 2/5 stars - link The Times, 12 November 2011 by Neil Gardner - 3/5 stars: The Fall's 29th studio album finds Mark E. Smith on particularly vituperative form, directing his ire at the shoddy state of the nation and at targets such as Snow Patrol in his familiar asthmatic wheeze. Having miraculously maintained the same line-up for three consecutive albums, the band seem happy to go with him, rocking it out on the metallic Greenway and adding an off-kilter rockabilly strut to Nate Will Not Return, while Mrs. Smith, Elena Poulou, sings Happi Song in the manner of a strangely upbeat Nico. A curious mixture of the slapdash and the inspired, The Fall remain as strange, esoteric and infuriating as ever. Financial Times, 12 November 2011 by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney - 4/5 stars - link NME, 12 November 2011 by Ben Hewitt - 8/10: "I'm so sick of Snow Patrol/And where to find Esso lubricant." growls a phlegm-riddled throat atop of a riff so caustic it could corrode asbestos. And there's not even the faintest chance that such a stonking non sequitur could have germinated anywhere but the noggin of Mark E Smith. For while lesser mortals still pilfer from The Fall's handbook, he remains forever several pages ahead. Of all the things that could be deemed ersatz - a German word for "substitute" used mockingly by British POW's in WWII for the piss-poor imitations of bread and coffee they received in captivity - The Fall are not among them. Like 2010's Your Future Our Clutter, Ersatz GB sees Smith and co perpetually moving forwards. The rumbling riffs of Mask Search and Taking Off are fall-like, yet elsewhere they continue to lob the occasional hand grenade into the mix and revel in the resulting chaos - just witness Greenway, which sees aimless piano explode into mushroom cloud-heavy guitar, while Smith blindly chokes through billowing fogs of brown smoke. Yet it's his words that are truly inimitable - jumbled images with snatches of meaning floating amidst the din, with disparate nods to gum-healing ointment Bonjela (Taking Off) and US teen drama Gossip Girl (Nate Will Not Return). Perhaps most oddly of all, on Greenway, he's confronted with his own doppelganger staring back at him from a Danish TV screen before he surreally barks: "I had to wake up the cat just to feed the fucking dog." It's hard to decipher fact from fiction; or, as he grumbles on Laptop Dog, "Life was there but life disappeared/Searches all the bins", the remnants of lucidity buried amongst the litter. But then, there's really only one salient truth about Ersatz GB - the The Fall, even at nearly 30 albums old, still stand alone and aloft. Sometimes, however much you meddle with the ingredients, you can't improve upon the original. Kicking Against The Pricks, issue 14 by Patrick Glen - 8.5/10 - link Sunday Times, 13 November 2011 by Stewart Lee: The Fall's 29th studio album in 35 years finds Mark E Smith fronting a kind of amphetamine-drone rock band. The 2011 model grooves on two or three cord riffs, pounding bass booms and Eleni Poulou's retro keyboard blips, like some ancient krautrock legend, but pin-eyed with punk intensity, spattered with Smith's keleidoscopic shards of dog-growled observations and serrated throughout by Pete Greenway's stuttering guitar skree. When Polou takes the mike to intone, Nico-style, over the bittersweet Happi Song, it's one of the Fall's mist successful changes of mood. Dear me. Now all other rock music suddenly seems rather silly. The Fall remain our most vital group. Independent On Sunday, 13 November 2011 by Simon Price - CD of the week: Never changing but never dated. Never alarming but never stale. It's a hell of a trick, but one which The Fall have pulled off for over three decades. Their 29th album arrives at an unusual time, in that they have a relatively stable line-up. Always prolific, they are now in a period of consistency unparalleled since the mid-1980s, and Ersatz GB is a fine addition to an excellent recent salvo. The highlight is "Nate Will Not Return" - a shaggy dog tale in the vein of "Athlete Cured" - but throughout, Mark E Smith is on top grumpy old man form, whether as the scourge of idiotic internet warriors on "Laptop Dog" or bemoaning the experience of modern shopping on "Mask Search", with the never-more-pertinent couplet "I'm so sick of Snow Patrol/ And where to find Esso lubricant". And if he doesn't snarl "I had to wa*k off the cat to beat the fucking dog" at one point, then it sure sounds like he does. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 780 Registered: 05-2005 |
Silly question really...for both camps. I'm going back to my cave.... | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 170 Registered: 05-2005 |
Saw them last week in Brighton and it was a blistering show -one of the best of the c50 times I've seen them in past 30 years. I'm not quite as sold as you Kev on the new album - I thought your future our clutter was better, but it is growing on me. By the way - there is an offer of 150 free tickets for their show tomorrow night at Indigo2 in London on the web site. And for the record The Classical, Wings and Paintwork maybe my top 3 but they change every week. And of course they're better than that bunch of scousers. | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 171 Registered: 05-2005 |
Free tickets here: http://www.visi.com/fall/news/fallnews.h tml | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1477 Registered: 10-2008 |
My God, I forgot about Wings. Utterly fantastic song, and it was a b-side too. Or was it a double A, my memories failing on this one? Whatever, Kicker Conspiracy was always given more focus than Wings on that release. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2779 Registered: 03-2005 |
I have a particular preference for the pop Fall numbers so "Totally Wired" and "Wings" and "Leave the Capitol" have always been favorites of mine. It seems I shall have to get the new album. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 673 Registered: 04-2005 |
Personally it's Gerry and The Pacemakers for me every time... Randy, I'm one of those people who can listen to both the Beatles and the Fall. They do exist. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2269 Registered: 10-2004 |
It's really difficult to rank favorite Fall songs, but Garden and Leave the Capitol would definitely be among them, as would English Scheme, CREEP, Wings, Spoilt Victorian Child, R.O.D., and Slang King. See, there's no way I could narrow it down any further. For the record, I am a lover of the Fall and yet I like the Beatles. I'm not a huge Beatles fan, I don't listen to them very often, but I do enjoy some of their music. I suppose that puts me in a minority inhabited by very few other people! | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1479 Registered: 10-2008 |
Played today and last night: The Light User Syndrome 458489 B-Sides (so much better than the A-Sides album) The Infotainment Scam Ersatz GB From Quietus, surely the website of the year, the latest ramblings from MES http://thequietus.com/articles/07465-mar k-e-smith-interview-the-fall | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 257 Registered: 05-2005 |
No If you post 'No" then you get the following message: "Error Your message is too short. It must have at least 2 words that are at least two letters long. Your message had only 1 such words." | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 674 Registered: 04-2005 |
> the latest ramblings from MES Entertaining stuff and got me wondering again whether I was right in stopping my mum from asking for his autograph many year ago in a Chinese restaurant on Leith Walk in Edinburgh. "Look over there, it's that Smith man that your brother likes. Should I ask for his autograph ?" Obviously from the personal safety of my mum I did a good thing in telling her it probably wouldn't be a good idea. But on the other hand it could have led to an interesting rant ! | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 172 Registered: 05-2005 |
Take your pick from Blindness, The Man Who's Head Expanded, Mere Pseud Mag Ed. and the still extraordinary New Face In Hell. Listened to those today out on a run! | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 173 Registered: 05-2005 |
Here's a way to decide A Day In The Life - The Beatles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_-8B5P0M R0 or The Fall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-Q9D4dcY ng No contest really. Now which Fall song would the Beatles have covered if they could have? 50 Year Old Man instead of When I'm 64? | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2781 Registered: 03-2005 |
I never heard that Fall cover, C Gull. It's priceless! The fade is a hilarious touch. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 781 Registered: 05-2005 |
I've never minded the Fall and have generally liked most of which I've heard, which is miniscule. They were always one of those bands I was going to catch up on. The stuff I have heard is tuneful and so I always suspected it would be up my alley. I actually really like their/his version of Day in the Life. The thing I find the most funny though, Randy, is the ridiculous hyperbole of the Fall fans making their comments about it and the Beatles in particular. Something has gotten right up their noses hasn't it? So where is a good place to start? I was going to start with Hex Enduction Hour. One at a time at the moment! I know they have a back catalogue like a library! | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1486 Registered: 10-2008 |
Geoff, I must admit I find your tastes really hard to gauge most of the time(which may or not be a compliment, but it's not meant as an insult :-)). So anyway,given all that I would say Hex and Grotesque are my two favourites but I wouldn't recommend them to a Fall virgin. I would suggest a 3 pronged attack. For an older album I would start with This Nations Saving Grace, for a newer album I would plump for The Real New Fall LP, and for a compilation I would go for 458489 A sides (this is an inferior comp to 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong, but a good indicator to their pop side). Whatever you go for, happy listening, and if you get hooked there is no turning back! | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 175 Registered: 05-2005 |
Randy - if memory serves correctly it was on a cover of Sgt Pepper in aid of a children's charity. Seem to remember The Wedding Present doing a good version of Getting Better too. Geoff - agree This Nation's Saving Grace is a good starting point but the first four tracks on Hex are MES at his most vitriolic and not to be missed! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2785 Registered: 03-2005 |
Geoff, I have lots of quibbles with 458489 A Sides but I think it's probably the best place for you to start. It focuses too tightly on their mid-80s period but you have to start somewhere. 50,000 Fall Fans is a wider overview, covering far more years but that might also make it more challenging for a first encounter. I should probably just make up a comp for you and send it song by song (because I think I know how to reel you in, if the Fall will ever appeal to you). If you go for one regular album, yes, This Nation's Saving Grace is the most likely pick. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2288 Registered: 01-2005 |
The Fall certainly have had a nice, long career. They were pretty inflential and performed live throughout there career. The Beatles were around for less then 10 years, and stopped performing live for the last four years or so. A better comparison might be The Fall verses the Rolling Stones. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1487 Registered: 10-2008 |
I just played 458489 A-Sides earlier this evening, what a belting comp it is when you haven't played it in ages. Its pure pop, albeit Fall pure pop, highlights for me are Dead Beat Descendent,and Living Too Late, and Could't Get Ahead, and Cruisers Creek, but there's not really a duff song really. And this just goes to show what a magnificent comp the B-Sides companion piece album is cos I rate it even higher. Interested to know what your quibbles are Randy - too pop? | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2786 Registered: 03-2005 |
Kevin, my issue is that it doesn't cover enough of their career. My thought for Geoff is to show their long-time pop instincts. So I figured range from "Totally Wired" up to "Boxoctosis" (remember I don't have the new album). I started pulling together what might make a decent intro, focusing on things that aren't too anarchic sounding and which use recognizable pop elements without being cover tunes. Tentatively I came up with: New Big Prinz Dktr. Faustus Totally Wired Disney's Dream Debased I'm Frank Wings Boxoctosis The Steak Place The League of Bald-Headed Men Leave the Capitol Barmy Gramme Friday High Tension Line Pat-Trip Dispenser Spinetrak Cyber Insekt Van Plague? Cruisers Creek I figured I would go through and make sure I don't have too many tracks of the same type but emphasize the tight rhythmic stuff. I considered "Living Too Late" for its classic post-punk Manchester feel but decided that the little interruptions that occur might be off-putting to the new initiate. ("Bend Sinister" was my first Fall album and will always have a special spot for me.) I personally think it's a bad idea to put things in chronological order. The early tracks have relatively crappy sound by modern standards so stir them around. I wanted the whole thing to tear right along and end with the bit "hit." | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2787 Registered: 03-2005 |
But you know how hard it is to pick Fall tracks. I decided against "Spoilt Victorian Child", "Carry Bag Man" and "Fit and Working Again" but not because I don't think they measure up. I steered away from "No Bulbs" and "Garden" because of their sheer length. This also cut out the great "Slippy Floor" which also has the fault of taking too long to get going. I considered "Going to Spain" very seriously--let's have an MES ballad!--but decided not to go with any outside material. "Edinburgh Man" was an obvious choice but ultimately I decided not. Some albums need to be revisited by me for possible contributions, "Code: Selfish," "Cerebral Caustic," "Middle Class Revolt," "Marshall Suite" and, well, I refuse to consider "Levitate" at the moment. It's a fun exercise. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1488 Registered: 10-2008 |
Randy, regards your issue with 458489 - not sure how aware you are of what labels the Fall recorded for (and lets face it there have been dozens!), so on the long shot that you are not aware, and for the benefit of those who definitely don't know, the 458489 comp is totally devoted to the Beggars Banquet output between 1984 and 89. I think these days its a bit easier to put out all emcompassing comps that include tracks from various labels that a band recorded for (look how long its taken REM to put out a full career retrospective!!), but when 458489 came out on the Beggars Banquet label I reckon it could only include stuff released on Beggars. Anyway at that time I'm sure thats all that BB were interested in selling/marketing. I wouldn't argue with anything you suggest for Geoff, and I could easily come up with 3 or 4 completely different variations without a dip in quality. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2271 Registered: 10-2004 |
I love 458489, and it was one of my first Fall purchases (the very first thing I bought was Palace of Swords Reversed). It does a great job of summing up the Brix years, although it has a few weak tracks kind of in the middle. But then, just buying Bend Sinister, Wonderful and Frightening World, and This Nation's Saving Grace (in that order, and the CDs with all the contemporaneous non album a and b sides) are all safe bets for exploring that particular era of the band's career. As for making a comp for a neophyte, that would be exceedingly difficult. Of course, I'm kind of a snob and wouldn't find much from their post-1990 output that I would enthusiastically include on said comp, but that's just me. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 782 Registered: 05-2005 |
Just let me get to long service leave next week and I'll be hitting up iTunes. Thanks for all of the suggestions. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 783 Registered: 05-2005 |
Oh, and C Gull, the compilation was "My father knew Sgt Pepper". Came out in the 80's (NME?). I have it on vinyl but would never play it anyway. Some terrible bands (The Christians...I mean f'christ sake what a god aweful name for a band!) and BORING takes on the songs. It also had the Triffids doing "Good Morning, Good Morning!", which despite me being a Beatles AND Triffids fan, is completely ordinary. Dare I say, the Fall version of "Day in the Life", to use the venacular, "shites" all over any of that album. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4133 Registered: 05-2005 |
No ... | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2789 Registered: 03-2005 |
I pulled out Levitate last night. It no longer makes me angry like it used to. It still seems exceptionally weak though. The cover (I'm a Mummy) remains my favorite track. That's pretty sad. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2274 Registered: 10-2004 |
So, I've never been much of a fan of Pitchfork - I'm mighty ambivalent about them at best - but man, they really slagged the new Fall album: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/1608 1-the-fall-ersatz-gb/ | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2275 Registered: 10-2004 |
But what I forgot to add was that I actually agree with some of this reviewer's less flattering characterizations of the Fall's more recent output. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1489 Registered: 10-2008 |
I don't mind Pitchfork to be honest, they seem an enthusiastic bunch and they do know about "old" music which you dont get with NME for example. The review is fairly accurate in parts I guess, but I do like this album a lot, and don't care for The Marshall Suite which he says is a "great, challenging record"! Thats The Fall for you I guess. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2790 Registered: 03-2005 |
Thanks for the link, Jeff. It was fun to read. I'll still get the record. And I enjoyed reading the other Fall reviews linked to it. I was particularly interested in the review of the Fontana box. I always liked "Extricate" regardless of its big-budget sound. It's a great eventful album full of clever touches, a classic new-record-label rejuvenation album. I disagree with the reviewer about the respective merits of "Shift Work" which I've always regarded as a very good second-tier Fall album and "Code: Selfish" which struck me as a more routine Fall album (however great "Free Range" and "Two-Face" are). I pulled it out tonight to check that old impression: yep, that's still how I hear these two albums. I was so put off by the dreadfulness of "Reformation Post" that I didn't even notice the release of "Imperial Wax Solvent" which I'll probably end up getting. I remember "Marshall Suite" being pretty uneven but I don't remember hating it so I'll pull it out for a listen soon. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1492 Registered: 10-2008 |
Y'know, over a period of over 20 years now I have consistently thought my favourite Fall album was either Hex or Grotesque. I am now edging towards Perverted By Language. Any album that has Eat Yerself Fitter, Garden,and Smile has got to be a career high. Astonishing to think that the three albums I just quoted came back to back between 1980-83, in a period which also saw the release of the mini albums Slates and Room To Live, as well as the "non album " singles How I Wrote 'Elastic Man, Totally Wired, Lie Dream of a Casino Soul,Look Know, Marquis Cha-Cha, The Man Whose Head Expanded and Kicker Conspiracy. The b-sides were sometimes better than the a-sides to boot! | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 179 Registered: 05-2005 |
Interesting Kev, I recall when I was about 15 going into a record shop vaguely having heard of The Fall, seeing Hex in the racks. The cover with 'Have a Bleedin' Guess' scrawled on it was enough to entice me to buy it. I then saw them at The Venue with the two drummer line up playing Eat Y'Self Fitter and Garden and was hooked by such a different band. The clincher for me was the Peel session with those Perverted by Language tracks. So it is definitely that period for me that lured me. The Peel sessions is something we have n't mentioned before - the set is a great history of The Fall from good to bad and generally in a more raw and often more intersting version than the albums. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1493 Registered: 10-2008 |
The Peel sessions box set is an essential artefact for the Fall fanatic, but like C Gull says it ranges from good to bad. I think I will always edge towards the studio versions, although the version of Blindness is one that trumps the album version and is probably the best thing they ever did for Peel. I've just played The Frenz Experiment, and I tell you what, for an album that never gets trumpeted its a cracker. Carry Bag Man, Guest Informant, Bremen Nacht, The Steak Place are all excellent and the rest isn't exactly filler! The current poll on the Fall message board is to vote on which decade is the best between the 80's, 90's and 00's. It's early days yet but so far there isn't that much in it, and the comments so far have people expressing preferences for each decade. From what I can see of perusing that messageboard and its many polls its clear that there is loads of support for albums from each decade, and I don't think there are many bands of any longevity whose fans feel this way. The range of opinions is astonishing, fans of most bands generally agree on which album is a bands classic, or at least pin it down to 2 or 3 albums. Not this lot,there are probably about a dozen albums vying for the term "classic"!! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2795 Registered: 03-2005 |
I agree about the Peel box. It's just a dauntingly huge thing to take in and I've only heard it through once. The 80s tracks are pretty reliably excellent and sometimes blistering. Frenz Experiment seemed like a step down at the time but since it was their first new album after I discovered them (with "Bend Sinister") I played it a lot back when it was new. It has a confident looseness to it. I'm a great fan of Smith's story songs (in fact, that's probably the thing most seriously lacking in the newer Fall material) so I've always loved "Athlete Cured." I am talking about the CD version as that's the only way I ever experienced the Fall. In addition to the ones you name ("Guest Informant" is a stomping classic!) and "Athlete" I'm quite keen on the title track, "Oswald Defence Lawyer" and "Hit the North." I picked up copies of "Slates" and "Dragnet" this morning. Surprisingly, the shop didn't have "Hex" which I'm embarrassed to admit I have never had. Mind you, some of the songs on these early albums show up on "Palace of Swords Reversed" and "Hip Priest & Kamerads" both of which I've owned since the 80s. "Slates" is surprisingly great and "Dragnet" is not nearly as murky in terms of sound as I was expecting. Great opener on that one. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4149 Registered: 05-2005 |
Eat Y'self Fitter by The Fall = Where's Me Jumper by The Sultans Of Ping = complete rip-off by the Corkmen. I'm amazed no-one else (eg Mark E. Smith) seems to have spotted this. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2798 Registered: 03-2005 |
On the second listen I am simply loving "Dragnet." I can't believe I've never heard this record or any of the songs except for the few which went onto "Totale's Turns." I think it's Brian Edge's book "Paintwork" that dissuaded me from ever getting this album. It's terrific and quite a step from "Witch Trials" (though as I reported somewhere above, I'm finding I like that better now than I did when I first got it however long ago). The only track with truly obscure sound is "Spectre Vs Rector" and that's only for the first half. And "S Vs R" is brilliant. It's got cowbell! I might rate "Dragnet" higher than "Grotesque." | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2276 Registered: 10-2004 |
Slates is awesome and in my opinion is every bit as essential as Grotesque. They were really on a roll there. I probably rate Perverted By Language as my favorite of all the pre-Beggars Banquet albums. Even slightly above Grotesque, Slates, and Hex. All of these albums are wonderful, though. The only less than great album from the early 80s era is Room to Live. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1497 Registered: 10-2008 |
Randy, the problem(if that is the right word)myself and most people had with Dragnet when it was issued was the sound. Everybody knew the songs were terrific, but the sound was,ahem,unique(even for an indie band, and I'm not sure that term even existed then!). It was recorded in 2 days, and from what I remember of the vinyl it sounded very lo-fi. Somebody recently posted on the Fall messageboard that the production was "Victorian", which is a fantastic description. I also recall at the time of the expanded cd version that came out in the 00's that the sound was a vast improvement on the original cd which in turn was an improvement on the vinyl. I assume you have the expanded version Randy (includes Rowche Rumble, Fiery Jack etc) I still love it, but my teenage self never got over the disappointment of how it sounded. Of course if I was to hear it today for the first time I'd be all over it! A Figure Walks was one of the "paranoia" songs that MES excelled at, and is probably my favourite along with Flat of Angles, Dice Man and Your Heart Out. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1501 Registered: 10-2008 |
... and just think Randy. Now that you have Dragnet you can marvel at how similar Sing! Harpy! from Extricate is to the song A Figure Walks. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1502 Registered: 10-2008 |
Interesting choices on The Fall messageboard where people were invited to pick their top 10 Fall albums. The albums from the first decade obviously poll high (see below - its not formatted very well but its album title, followed by year of release, followed by amount of votes for the album, followed by % of vote ), but interestingly the last two albums outscore the 9 albums released between 1988 and 1999. The voting only started yesterday and already 301 votes have been cast, will be interesting to keep an eye on this one, especially to see if Ersatz GB falls away. From my perception of that board 50% love it and 50% hate it! Top ten choice for real Live At The Witch Trials (1978) [ 8 ] [2.66%] Dragnet (1979) [ 19 ] [6.31%] Grotesque (1980) [ 20 ] [6.64%] Slates (1981) [ 23 ] [7.64%] Hex Enduction Hour (1982) [ 21 ] [6.98%] Room To Live (1982) [ 9 ] [2.99%] Perverted By Language (1983) [ 18 ] [5.98%] The Wonderful & Frightening World Of The Fall (1984) [ 15 ] [4.98%] This Nations Saving Grace (1985) [ 18 ] [5.98%] Bend Sinister (1986) [ 12 ] [3.99%] The Frenz Experiment (1988) [ 6 ] [1.99%] I Am Kurious Oranj (1988) [ 6 ] [1.99%] Extricate (1990) [ 7 ] [2.33%] Shift-Work (1991) [ 8 ] [2.66%] Code:Selfish (1992) [ 4 ] [1.33%] The Infotainment Scan (1993) [ 8 ] [2.66%] Middle Class Revolt (1994) [ 4 ] [1.33%] Cerebral Caustic (1995) [ 2 ] [0.66%] The Light User Syndrome (1996) [ 3 ] [1.00%] Levitate (1997) [ 11 ] [3.65%] The Marshal Suite (1999) [ 8 ] [2.66%] The Unutterable (2000) [ 18 ] [5.98%] Are You Are Missing Winner (2001) [ 1 ] [0.33%] The Real New Fall LP (2003) [ 15 ] [4.98%] Fall Heads Roll (2005) [ 3 ] [1.00%] Reformation Post TLC (2007) [ 5 ] [1.66%] Imperial Wax Solvent (2008) [ 5 ] [1.66%] Your Future Our Clutter (2010) [ 14 ] [4.65%] Ersatz GB (2011) [ 10 ] [3.32%] Total Votes: 301 | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 853 Registered: 04-2006 |
to make it short: lp: dragnet song: wings and i love the peel box! cheers, andreas | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1524 Registered: 10-2008 |
Excellent interview Sacked for ordering a salad!! http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entert ainment/music/features/life-lessons-mark -e-smith-on-bullying-the-occult-and-why- stalin-had-the-right-idea-6260036.html | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1531 Registered: 10-2008 |
Just played Grotesque (After The Gramme), what a blinding record this is, wish the Fall had done more on the acoustic side of things, really suits some of these songs. I've just realised that I could play a different Fall album (including comps and Peel sessions)every day of the month and never hear a duff record. That is astonishing! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2813 Registered: 03-2005 |
Playing "Grotesque" now. For a long time the only early Fall I had was this, "Witch Trials," "Totale's Turns" and "Palace of Swords Reversed." Oh yeah, and "Hip Priest and Kamerads." In that group "Grotesque" definitely stood out since it was one of only two actual albums. I just never imagined how prolific the Fall were during these years and also didn't realize that the entire "Hip Priest and Kamerads" program was inferior versions of what could be gotten on some of the later-reissued early albums (which I passed up because I figured I already had most of it). I still can hardly believe that "Who Makes the Nazis" has moved from being one of the Fall numbers I tolerate to one that I really like, all because of the differences between the live version and the studio one that I finally heard for the first time a couple weeks ago. I still enjoy the album, especially "New Face in Hell," "Impressions of J. Temperance," "Gramme Friday" and "The N.W.R.A." But the other albums have put "Grotesque" in perspective. At the moment I'm getting a lot of pleasure out of the surprisingly delicate and imaginative guitar parts on many tracks on some of the other albums (including "Witch Trials"). "Grotesque" has guitar parts like that on "J. Temperance" and "Gramme Friday" and "The North Will Rise Again" but not on most of the numbers on what would have been Side One. This means that for the moment, "Grotesque" steps back a bit in favor of "Dragnet" (which I think will end up one of my all-time favorite Fall albums) and even some of the better tracks on "Witch Trials." | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2814 Registered: 03-2005 |
Moving on to "Totale's Turns" now. I have the 1992 Dojo CD version. I bought it around the time that it was released. Until this late 2011 season, this was the only way I had any of the songs on the program except for "John Quays." Because of this it was an awesome live album. But like most live albums the sound (on my 1992 disc anyway) is crap. I don't know how often I'll listen to "Totale's Turns" now that I have the studio versions. It's still a hell of a demonstration of the density of greatness in a Fall playlist at the beginning of the 1980s. It's also impressive how closely they recreated the studio guitar tones and sounds on some of the numbers such as "Muzorewi's Daughter" and "In My Area" which has long been a Fall favorite for me just on the strength of this live version. I have to comment on "In My Area" which is a first-rank Fall classic, both for its fantastic dual guitar attack (could its extended guitar break "fade" have been an inspiration for the extended guitar break fade on the Go Bees' LP version of "Man 'O Sand"?) and for MES' brilliant social commentary lyrics. I seldom hear MES being so pointed in his lyrics nowadays. "Are you doing what you did two years ago? Yeah, well don't make a career out of it." | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1537 Registered: 10-2008 |
Having just the crappy 10 track original CD of Grotesque I decided the time was right to splash out on the Sanctuary expanded edition. Hoping for better sound quality (it's not obvious!), but more to the point it has 5 extra tracks - How I Wrote Elastic Man, City Hobgoblins, Totally Wired, Putta Block, plus a throwaway MES interview. City Hobgoblins and Putta Block never seem to feature on most comps so they are welcome here, probably haven't heard them since spinning the 7inch singles 30 years ago gulp! Nice sleevenotes as well from Daryll Eslea of Record Collector magazine. This album is probably the most English-centric album lyrically, and I always wonder what non UK Fall fans make of the words to the songs, given that especially in the 80's MES was always referencing obscure English towns, characters, magazines, football cliches etc. I always find that with American bands I can usually relate to what artists sing about because the UK is in so many ways the 53rd state of the USA and its almost like we live there at times! | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1538 Registered: 10-2008 |
Randy, MES is a proper comedian at times with his lyrics - the one you quote is a prime example. Another favourites of mine is From The Classical "I just left the Hotel Amnesia, I had to go there Where it is I can't remember, But now I can remember...now I can remember" | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2815 Registered: 03-2005 |
Kevin, I assume that I only get 20% of what MES is on about. Even so, he's very entertaining and a great observer. He's always seemed like a big comedian to me, so much so that I'm never quite sure what people are talking about when they call him angry. He's the ultimate curmudgeon. Last night I listened to Hex Enduction Hour on the headphones (except I admit that I ditched "And This Day" which I've never had much use for). I have a decent 30 year old set of Stax phones. It's really impressive how artfully they used the multitrack capability of the studio. The Fall were brilliant at making something sound like it was thrown together haphazardly when it was in fact carefully coordinated. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2284 Registered: 10-2004 |
Kevin - to answer your question about what non UK Fall fans make of the words to MES songs, as someone who is basically a California native, I always chuckle at the "Californians always think of sex/Or think of death" line from Grotesque's "C'n'C-S Mithering." In general, I often couldn't tell you what a typical MES song is about, but the humor and bizarre images he conjures in his lyrics are endlessly entertaining, nonetheless. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1551 Registered: 10-2008 |
Some nuggets from The Fall messageboard The idiot that is Bono on MES - "that man has been kicking against the music industry for too long" MES on U2 - "If Jesus had seen U2 he'd have been very mad indeed. Jesus would throw bottles of piss at U2" And apparently On Suicide Bridge by The Fatima Mansions has a sample of Spectre v. Rector by The Fall. Anybody vouch for this? | ||
| cosmo vitelli Member Username: Cosmo Post Number: 384 Registered: 05-2005 |
Athlete Cured is a dead ringer for Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight by Spinal Tap | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2829 Registered: 03-2005 |
That is hilarious, cosmo! I just checked out the Spinal Tap number on youtube. It is definitely not a coincidence. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gESFElAO pQ&feature=related | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2295 Registered: 10-2004 |
Yeah, I'd always kind of wondered if that was a coincidence. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1580 Registered: 10-2008 |
Played Bend Sinister tonight and it sounded fantastic, The Fall were really on a roll in the 80's. Bournemouth Runner, Riddler, ROD, Dktr Fautus all amazing, the last three in particular. Living too Late tops them all and didn't even make the original album. Read a thread tonight on The Fall messageboard which says that this album was mastered from MES chrome cassette copy of the album which was mastered at the wrong (too slow)speed. This isn't some urban myth, there are quotes from pissed off producer John Leckie to that effect, he concluded with "we haven't spoken since". Can't say it spoils the songs for me although I have nothing to compare and contrast with, sounds like another piece of off the cuff genius from MES. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1605 Registered: 10-2008 |
Played The Light User Syndrome this morning and it sounded pretty ace. This is an album that I dismissed as Fall by numbers when it came out in the 90's, consequently it was gathering dust in the "albums that probably won't get played much if ever again" pile. However it's well worth a listen, the band sound tight and muscular, lots of different little musical tricks going on behind the standard gtr,bs,drms, and MES and BES seem in good form vocally. There is a school of thought on the Fall messageboard that reckons that this album only gets a bad rep because of its awful cover. Most agree it is a 90's highlight, I think I agree. Certainly more listens coming up in the next few days. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2865 Registered: 03-2005 |
I've already commented that I rate Light User fairly highly. There's a pop straightforwardness to it. "Bend Sinister" is probably my favorite single Fall album, though in my case it must be the CD version with "Living Too Late" since that's the only way I've ever experienced the album. It's funny to read that the album was mastered slower than intended by Leckie. Perhaps that's one of the reasons that it has its distinctive "dark" sound. So many numbers on here have a doom-infested feel and the lighter numbers like "Shoulder Pads" and "Mr. Pharmacist" and "Dktr. Faustus" serve to pace the rest of the record. This album always seemed the most "Manchester" to me, on the shelf with Joy Division and Magazine. I associate tracks like "R.O.D.", "Gross Chapel"--a great favorite of mine, "Living Too Late", "U.S. 80s - 90s", "Bournemouth Runner", "Riddler!" and the harrowing "Auto-Tech Pilot" with cold concrete intensity of those other bands. The serious feel even managed to suppress the usual playful cheeriness of Brix. "Bend Sinister" really stands alone among Fall albums. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2323 Registered: 10-2004 |
I still don't think I've heard Light User Syndrome. My Fall listening gets really selective after somewhere around Cerebral Caustic. Bend Sinister is definitely in my top three of favorite Fall albums. It's an incredibly strong record. It does have a darker feel to it, which is probably why it appeals to me as well. I'd heard the rumor about it having been mastered from a cassette, but I reckon quotes from Leckie confirm it. I can just imagine MES thinking it sounds a little too "clean" or whatever, and at the last minute ditching the master and bringing in his cassette copy. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1607 Registered: 10-2008 |
Banana !! | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1608 Registered: 10-2008 |
Ok, so lets do a Fall top 5. This is mine as it stands today, as always with these things it could be different tomorrow, but probably only the order I have ranked them. 1. Grotesque 2. Hex Enduction Hour. 3. Perverted By Language 4. Bend Sinister. 5. The Real New Fall LP (aka Country on the click) Dragnet, The Unutterable and This Nations Saving Grace just missed out on 5th place. Extricate and Your Future Our Clutter are also stellar albums. If Slates had not been a mini album it would have probably made the top 3 with PBL moving down one place. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2325 Registered: 10-2004 |
I always assumed Brix's "banana!" is a Kevin Ayers reference. (On Kevin Ayers' debut Joy of a Toy, he unobtrusively says the word "banana!" in every song). My Fall top 5: 1. Bend Sinister 2. This Nation's Saving Grace 3. Perverted By Language 4. Wonderful and Frightening World (but only the CD with all the totally essential period bonus tracks) 5. Grotesque Runners up: Hex Enduction Hour and Slates (I know, it's an EP). Also, I'm guessing we want to avoid comps, but I just want to point out that the Fall have released several stellar comps, like Palace of Swords Reversed, Early Years, 458489 A Sides, and Hip Priest and Kamerads. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1610 Registered: 10-2008 |
Jeff, top choices and you can't go much wrong there, but I must admit I think WAFW can be a frustrating listen at times, especially the original album without the bonuses. I have the version you have, and I also bought the recent box set which has the original album on disc 1, the singles on disc 2, BBC sessions on disc 3 and a live performance on disc 4. Disc 2 is better than disc 1 - it has Oh Brother, c.r.e.e.p, God Box, Pat Trip Dispenser, No Bulbs, Draygos Guilt, Clear Off and some rough mixes of 4 songs from main album. The main album is a good album by anybody elses standards, its just not brilliant by Fall standards. Do you and Randy have The Real New Fall LP? If you don't I would urge you both to get it, its an essential Fall record. The band are cooking, MES is on top form, its got a great production and the songs are catchy as hell, in a Fall catchy way of course. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2327 Registered: 10-2004 |
Kevin, ultimately I agree, that these songs: Oh Brother, c.r.e.e.p, God Box, Pat Trip Dispenser, No Bulbs, Draygos Guilt, Clear Off, would probably make a stronger album than the actual WAFW. It's just difficult for me to separate the two, because I've always had the CD with all the bonuses, and when I first bought it, I wasn't paying close attention to which tracks were on the original album and which weren't. They all seemed to work very well together. I later bought a US pressing of the LP (on PVC), which also included a few extra tracks (C.R.E.E.P. and No Bulbs), so I've never really experienced the UK track list as it was originally intended. No, I don't have the Real New Fall LP, but I think Randy might. He's been better about keeping up with their post-2000 material than I have. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1617 Registered: 10-2008 |
Listening to Room To Live tonight. Always disregarded this album as a stop gap, released hot on the heels of Hex. Only 7 tracks, so maybe an inferior Slates. But it actually is a solid Fall record, especially the version I have which tacks Fantastic Life and Lie Dream of A Casino Soul onto the back of the 7 songs. Any record that includes Joker Hysterical Face, Marquis Cha Cha, Room To Live and Solicitor In Studio has got to be ace hasn't it? Meanwhile over at Fall central, the top 10 albums 1. Hex Enduction Hour 2. Perverted By Language 3. Grotesque 4. Slates 5. This Nation's Saving Grace 6. Dragnet 7. The Real New Fall LP Formerly C.O.T.C. 8. The Wonderful And Frightening World Of... 9. The Unutterable 10. Bend Sinister Hard to disagree with any of this, maybe just the order. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 2331 Registered: 10-2004 |
Room to Live is good. It definitely contains some amazing tracks, but to me the whole never seemed to equal the sum of its parts. It just doesn't cohere the way albums like Perverted by Language and Hex Enduction Hour do. I'm not surprised Hex made it out on top. That always seems to be the favorite of most Fall diehards. It's nice to see Perverted slotting at second, as I've always felt that that's an utterly mind-blowing album that doesn't quite seem to get the attention it deserves. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1704 Registered: 10-2008 |
"I'm not big on heroes. I'm a big Fall fan. I never wanted to be Gene Vincent or Elvis. I didnt want to be Damo Suzuki. I dont want to be anybody else, and I think thats why people respect The Fall. You see all this stuff on television about people wanting to be singers, but I'm not going on the X factor. I've never wanted to be anybody else, ever , except for maybe Napoleon. I dont fcuking like anybody - thats why The Fall exist" The above is a quote from the legendary Mark E Smith in this weeks NME. Its an issue devoted to the current crop of "rock stars" meeting their older idols. Mark E Smith meets The Mystery Jets John Lydon meets The Horrors Graham Coxon meets The Vaccines Mick Jones meets The Maccabees Paul Weller meets Miles Kane. So basically, some really talented musicians/singers meet some fly by night, forgotten by next year, bargain bin rockers. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4458 Registered: 05-2005 |
You're being a touch harsh on at least three of the above Kevin. I have albums by The Horrors, The Maccabees and Miles Kane and like all of them. They may not be remembered in 30 years time, but they are hardly fly-by-nights. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1708 Registered: 10-2008 |
Padraig, My daughter loves Miles Kane. She has been to see him twice. Inhaler is ok I suppose. Maybe I was a bit harsh, but lets be honest the five older guys are legends (whether you like their records or not), Lydon and Jones have appeared on albums that some consider to be in the top 10 albums of all time. These new bands will be lucky to be playing pub venues in 2 or 3 years time. Just my opinion. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4465 Registered: 05-2005 |
Have you heard the The Last Shadow Puppets album Miles Kane did with Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys? It's great. Very Scott Walker-ish. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1722 Registered: 10-2008 |
Nope, but my daughter has it, might give it a listen. She is also a big Arctic Monkeys fan, wonder what happened to them? - they used to be quite good!! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 4468 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yeah, I'd be more excited if Alex Turner did another Last Shadow Puppets album. I loved Artic Monkeys at first. In fact, I'm pretty sure I wrote the immortal words "believe the hype" about them somewhere on this blog. You (or someone similar) replied "don't believe the hype". | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1725 Registered: 10-2008 |
"I got into music really weirdly, at 14, straight into it, as opposed to other people who were, like, into The Beatles and all that other shit" A man after my own heart! http://thequietus.com/articles/08568-the -fall-mark-e-smith-record-collection | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2924 Registered: 03-2005 |
Hooray for him, he names the Seeds' "Web of Sound." | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1730 Registered: 10-2008 |
More celebration of Record Store Day from Quietus, with three Fall related entries, one from MES. http://thequietus.com/articles/08539-rec ord-store-day-my-favourite-vinyl In the build up to Record Store Day tomorrow, I have decided to check out some of my vinyl. Playing just now - Best Dressed Chicken In Town by Dr Alimantado. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1732 Registered: 10-2008 |
Next vinyl played David Bowie - Station To Station. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1893 Registered: 10-2008 |
http://frankieteardrop.tumblr.com/post/2 1730633377/babiesthatlooklikemarkesmith- tumblr-com | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1894 Registered: 10-2008 |
From Quietus http://thequietus.com/articles/09277-mar k-e-smith-nick-cave-shane-macgowan-nme-i nterview | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1908 Registered: 10-2008 |
http://www.visi.com/fall/news/pics/2012- 07-13_irish-independent.pdf | ||
| peter ward Member Username: Peter_ward Post Number: 179 Registered: 06-2005 |
Those Mark E Smith Baby photos are hilarious Kevin, I sent them on to my brother earlier who is expecting his first child this weekend, may he be blessed with a Mark E Smith baby! I only own a 12" of FreeRange and the 50,000 Fall fans compilation, I must delve deeper at some stage, I always watch out for his interviews though as he is usually an entertaining read. I remember reading the NME one above at the time. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1922 Registered: 10-2008 |
Football Songs Cup Final. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblo ....ship-2012-final | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1993 Registered: 10-2008 |
I think they have the order just about right http://z1.invisionfree.com/thefall/index .php?showtopic=8747 | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 2015 Registered: 10-2008 |
MES Interviewed from 1990. I remember this programme was on weekly, ran from mid to late 80s if I remember rightly and featured stuff like MBV, Pixies etc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8snXmUw-j 3Y&feature=related | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 2016 Registered: 10-2008 |
And here are MES and Marc Riley being interviewed on Australian TV in 1982. Not exactly rivetting TV but still worth a viewing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpQv8r7-A MA&feature=related | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1724 Registered: 08-2006 |
This is funny: http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx? news=793734&affid=100055 | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 3165 Registered: 03-2005 |
I don't know if that's MES taking the piss so to speak but I agree with the assessment. I could never muster the same enthusiasm for "Ersatz GB" as I have for "Your Future Our Clutter." It's much better than the execrable "Reformation Post" though. |