the fall

[user_3]

Hex is pretty available (and awesome).

HEY THERE FUCKFACE-UH

[sevenarts]

yea its easy to find, and so amazing. i havent heard much fall yet (something i need to correct soon) but i can't imagine much topping hex.

[ImprovSpirit]

I've been listening to the Fall quite a bit of late due to a Fall thread on another blog that blew up & got some really interesting debate going. I've always liked them, but there were records I hadn't heard, particularly from the last decade or so. I figured it couldn't hurt to check 'em out. Well, not only didn't it hurt - I've discovered that some of the best Fall records are fairly recent ones.

Following what seems to have been a period of (relatively) sub-par releases in the '90s (more-or-less), the Fall has rallied to release fantastic discs like The Unutterable & Imperial Wax Solvent.

I've also discovered that there are no Fall albums that I DISlike.

[ReverendLove]

It might be uncool to say this, but my favorite Fall album is still the A-Sides compilation.

OK, I guess I am nearly as uncool as you, but I have the Rough Trade Singles Box. And 'How I Wrote 'Elastic Man' 'is my all time Fall favourite.

[J.F.]

I love this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuuwgmT3STM
("Smile" from 1983)

And... I checked out a CD-box compilation of I believe BBC-recordings, and there was one 78/79-line-up with organ - I believe with Smith's then girl-friend playing it... that added something I liked.

[ImprovSpirit]

I love this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuuwgmT3STM
("Smile" from 1983)

And... I checked out a CD-box compilation of I believe BBC-recordings, and there was one 78/79-line-up with organ - I believe with Smith's then girl-friend playing it... that added something I liked.

Yes, that was prolly the Peel Sessions box, which is pretty much unfuckwithable.

[carlos]

"Lie Dream of Casino Soul"- had this on 7" single many years ago- great tune, non-LP, i think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89ms1VqJ0sY

[leroysghost]

"Lie Dream of Casino Soul"- had this on 7" single many years ago- great tune, non-LP, i think?

yup. it was added to the 2004 Slates CD reissue though.

it may be true that their albums are hard to dislike, but damn i wish Mark would just get a decent backing band already. plucking random people off the street and using them as tools to make music seems like a good idea at first but all they ever really seem to do is mimic the stuff that is around them. so to me all Fall albums in recent memory have just sounded like warmed-over brit-pop and electronica regurgitations, and are only really good for a half dozen listens apiece. though maybe this opinion is partially formed by me checking out these more recent albums after i went to seem them live on the strength of the Blindness Peel Session back in 2006 (my interest had fallen off with the decline of the band/the rise of The Shadow Ring in the 90's). it was a storming live set with the blink-and-you'll-miss-em American band and none of the albums have come anywhere near capturing the sound and energy of it. i DO like Elena Poulou on keys and electronics however.

the word on the street is that the new album is the best one since _______. anyone heard it yet? i see there is a Wanda Jackson cover song on it (always a good sign).

[ImprovSpirit]

"Lie Dream of Casino Soul"- had this on 7" single many years ago- great tune, non-LP, i think?

yup. it was added to the 2004 Slates CD reissue though.

it may be true that their albums are hard to dislike, but damn i wish Mark would just get the word on the street is that the new album is the best one since _______. anyone heard it yet? i see there is a Wanda Jackson cover song on it (always a good sign).

The new Fall rekkid is quite good. I don't know about the "since" thing because I really liked Imperial Wax Solvent which was from just a couple of years ago... But yeah - its terrific & Fall fanatics do seem to be trumpeting it as a return to form, so it might be a good re-entry point for folks who got disillusioned with 'em at some point.

[Stevo]

would reccommend various Fall books especially The Fallen, the writers onsessive quest to talk to all 200 ex Fall members.
& Renegade Mark e. smith's autobio.
plus Mick Middles book and the User's Guide to the Fall.

There's a fansite that has most of the lyrics up too, though I'm too tired to find it right now. Slight revelation on what was actually being sung after hearing other things for 2 decades.

I like Rough Trade compi, Hex Enduction, Dragnet, b-sides and stacks of live stuff collected from torrent sites over last couple of years. Live early 80s especially, there's a video from Nottingham in '82 that's pretty great and I think an official one from Leeds '83.

[ImprovSpirit]

Thanks for the recommendations on Fall books. I was wondering what was available.

[leroysghost]

i've only read User's Guide to the Fall, which i thought was pretty weak, and if Mark E. Smith and the rabid fall fans are to believe, Mick Middles book is a poorly written sack of lies and bullshit (though they weren't much kinder to Renegade...it's kind of cool how fractured and disgruntled the fandom is).
the lyrics parade (http://fall.byethost13.com/lyrics.html) is nice but it is little more than an amalgamation of the most common stabs in the dark (which i also think is cool, it's much more fun to make up your own interpretation from misheard and misremembered lyrics).

[ImprovSpirit]

Recently (I think) released book that may also be of interest. : http://www.amazon.com/Mark-E-Smith-Fall ... 880&sr=1-6

[ImprovSpirit]

"50 Year Old Man" is an absolutely amazing song!!

[Dohol]

[Stevo]

Yeah. the wonderful & Frightening world of Mark e Smith BBC4 documentary from about 5 years ago. Should have mentioned this since it's pretty great. another good BBC4 doc, there have been several on various subjects.

[leroysghost]

[smithy]

Recently (I think) released book that may also be of interest. : http://www.amazon.com/Mark-E-Smith-Fall ... 880&sr=1-6

I'm reading that one at the moment. A mixed bag as you'd expect but still worth a look. The Fallen was the most interesting book on the band I've yet read. Simon Ford's Hip Priest is also a pretty good, if by the numbers, book.

You can watch the BBC documentary The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E. Smith.
Starting here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-Ff-7ui9BY

I like all the Fall albums, even the bad ones.

Someone mentioned the A-Sides compilation earlier. I'd say the B-Sides is much better and a perfect representation of the Beggars Banquet years with almost no duds. For a double album at around 140 minutes it has no business being as good as it is. The first two Beggars albums will be getting the reissue treatment very soon with The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall being released as a 4CD set soonish (Aug/Sept).

Tracklist for TWAFWOTF
CD1 The Wonderful And Frightening World of The Fall
Lay Of The Land
2 By 4
Copped It
Elves
Slang King
Bug Day
Stephen Song
Craigness
Disney’s Dream Debased

CD2 Singles / Rough Mixes
Oh! Brother
God-Box
O! Brother
c.r.e.e.p.
Pat – Trip Dispenser
C.R.E.E.P.
New Fiend (2 By 4)
No Bulbs 3
Slang King 2
Draygo’s Guilt
Clear Off!
No Bulbs
Lay Of The Land (Rough Mix)
Pat – Trip Dispenser (Rough Mix)
New Fiend (Rough Mix)
Slang King (Edits Version 1)

CD3 BBC Sessions
Creep (BBC Peel session)
Pat – Trip Dispenser (BBC Peel session)
2 By 4 (BBC Peel session)
Words Of Expectation (BBC Peel session)
God Box (BBC Jensen session)
Lay Of The Land (BBC Jensen session)
Oh Brother (BBC Jensen session)
Creep (BBC Jensen session)
No Bulbs (BBC Long session)
Draygo’s Guilt (BBC Long session)
Stephen Song (BBC Long session)
Slang King (BBC Long session)
Copped It (BBC Saturday Live)
Elves (BBC Saturday Live)
Fortress / Marquis Cha Cha (BBC Saturday Live)

CD4 Live at Pandora’s Music Box Festival – VPRO Radio
Lay Of The Land
Craigness
2 By 4
Draygo’s Guilt
No Bulbs
Kicker Conspiracy
Stephen Song
Copped It
Pat – Trip Dispenser
Middle Mass

It will be nice to have the original album separate from the singles etc on the first disk.

I think that Dragnet through to Perverted by Language is the peak of The Fall albums. However some Fall albums not mentioned yet that I really love.

Code : Selfish
The Infotainment Scan
Levitate (top 5 for me)
The Marshall Suite
The Unutterable
Austurbaejarbio (A very good live album recorded in Iceland with the two drummer line up in 1983)
I listened to Fall Heads Roll only yesterday and it was much better than I remembered it. I also really like Imperial Wax Solvent and Your Future Our Clutter.

Here's a very nice version live of Blindness from 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpYfjBB9pfQ

I love this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuuwgmT3STM
("Smile" from 1983)

Yes, Smile is one of my favorite Fall songs.

What's the procedure for embedding Youtube videos. Nothing I tried worked.

[leroysghost]

just copy the code from whoever posted a video last, i'm pretty sure that's what everyone else is doing at this point.


this is a good example of what i was saying w/r/t Eleni.

more evidence here:



this is almost identical to my memories of when i saw them live. the "What About Us?" from this gig is also the best recorded version i've heard. i'm surprised someone isn't mining this stuff for a really great live album, 27 Points style.

[ImprovSpirit]

I think that Dragnet through to Perverted by Language is the peak of The Fall albums. However some Fall albums not mentioned yet that I really love.

Code : Selfish
The Infotainment Scan
Levitate (top 5 for me)
The Marshall Suite
The Unutterable
Austurbaejarbio (A very good live album recorded in Iceland with the two drummer line up in 1983)
I listened to Fall Heads Roll only yesterday and it was much better than I remembered it. I also really like Imperial Wax Solvent and Your Future Our Clutter.

I'm in a Fall phase at the moment & I think this list is spot-on. Great stuff, though I'm not sure I'd rate Code : Selfish as high as the others & I have heard the Iceland recording. Reformation! Post TLC is about the only Fall release I have trouble with, but I wouldn't say anything they've done is "bad."