|
Post by sean on Nov 30, 2007 20:30:06 GMT
Right, I'm not the Fall fan Demonik referred to, but I do own around 30 albums by them, and to start things off, here's my top 10 Fall songs:
Music Scene Big New Prinz Various Times New Puritan (Peel Session) Smile Bingo Masters Breakout Auto Tech Pilot Elves Pat Trip Dispenser Paranoid Man in Cheap Shit Room.
Actually, I got round to reading 'The Fall' by Albert's Camel last week...
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Nov 30, 2007 22:29:15 GMT
Great. Now we're here I don't know what to write OK, this is a 2CD set. Running order is as listed. Note nice poppy interlude on disc 2. I still love Brix-era Fall! Three duplicates! Frightened The Classical Realm Of Dusk Elves Hard Life In The Country My New House Gross Chapel/ British Grenadiers Rebellious Jukebox LA Paranoid Man In Cheap Sh*t Room Slags, Slates, Tapes, etc. Petty Thief Lout Time Enough At Last There's A Ghost In My House Bill Is Dead Bournemouth Runner Big New Prinz NWRA
|
|
|
Post by Dr Terror on Nov 30, 2007 22:57:31 GMT
In another life I used to be in a band that covered Mr Pharmacist.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Dec 4, 2007 12:22:02 GMT
What was your band's name then, Mr. Terror?
Is it me, or is there a distinct New Big Prinz/ Glam Racket ness about the elfin ms. minogue's latest with it pop smash?
It's me, isn't it? OK then.
How comes the Fall get so much TV soundtrack action these days? the Spooks trailer has a snippet from I Am Damo Suzuki , Final Score uses Theme From Sparta F. C. and I've heard So What About It? used on Football Focus before now.
|
|
|
Post by pulphack on Dec 4, 2007 12:40:39 GMT
i bet it's because youth of a certain age have now become pre-middle age ad execs - remember the days when you had to really search for things like the dolls, the fall, the stooges, etc etc - i knew the ned times had come when i heard 'gimme danger' being used to trailer the last olympics (or was it the one before?).
on another thread, steve asks why it is that people gravitate to the likes of the fall AND LJ - which is weird, as LJ's son David is my mate (that's how i met LJ), and GUESS who his fave band is...
meanwhile, back on topic - the whole of Slates for me. summer 81 i must have played it at least once a day, the whole way through. i can even get over 'older lover etc' sounding like 'under pressure' (wasn't that afterwards? bet it was bowie who was the fall fan nicking the riff, not freddie).
new face in hell, new puritan, that man, industrial estate (me and the ex-wife used to walk past a sludgy river under the north circ as you hit ilford and always burst into 'yeah, yeah, industrial waste...' ah, you had to be there). it's the early stuff that i love most as that was when they had the biggest impact on me, but the marquis will always be the hip poet MR James of Manc...
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Dec 4, 2007 14:49:59 GMT
"I'm a member of the Arthur Machen Appreciation Society, one of the only musicians in it. He's fucking brilliant."MES in conversation with Marc Baines, Escape # 17, SPRING 1989 (full article here) Would this be what is now the Friends Of Arthur Machen - secretary Mark Samuels? !!! Industrial Estate! I can see I'm gonna have to go for a triple cd at least. I love Slates, in particular Middle Mass and the terrifyingly vicious Slags, Slates, Tapes, and what about the Kicker Conspiracy ep with Wings and New Puritan? Later stuff like Past Gone Mad, Gentleman's Agreement ...
|
|
|
Post by sean on Dec 6, 2007 13:58:52 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Steve on Dec 7, 2007 23:07:54 GMT
"I'm a member of the Arthur Machen Appreciation Society, one of the only musicians in it. He's f**k**g brilliant." There was an interview in The Independent earlier this year where he talked more about Machen and the occult (he's not in the Machen Society anymore apparently); "He's one of the best horror writers ever. MR James is good, but Machen's fuck*ng brilliant... Have you read The Great God Pan? Terrifying."
The (Machen) society's monthly newsletters included excerpts from Machen's unpublished diaries, the source of much of his work.
"It's like another world. Goes to all these places, like, '...I went in this pub, a bloke comes in with a knife in his back'. Like, the real occult's in the pubs of the East End. In the stinking boats of the Thames, not in Egypt. It's on your doorstep mate. Strikes a chord with me."
Strikes a chord with me too, which I'll come back to later. Anyway, bugger me! This choosing your favourite Fall songs malarkey is even harder than choosing your favourite Pan Book of Horror cover or your favourite Peter Haining anthology. By not including anything that's already been mentioned, I think I've managed to get it down to a 3-CD box set though... In roughly chronological order; Part One I must say that I don't listen to the earlier stuff that often anymore. Not really sure why that might be - there's loads of brilliant stuff - it just sort of sounds a bit... well, early. An exception would be the first couple of Peel Sessions which still sound as fresh as (insert your own simile here). We've already mentioned most of 'Live At The Witch Trials', but I'd add one more to the list; "Two Steps Back"To me, this one seems to be a pointer to the way the Fall sound was going to develop. (Oh, and probably "No Xmas For John Quays" as well.) Something I noticed going through my Fall records is how they were always a great 'singles band' pretty much from the off. Sean's mentioned "Bingo Master's Break-out!" (good B-sides too), then you've got "Rowche Rumble", and my next selection; "Fiery Jack"I still remember seeing this on the wall in Streets Ahead, the local independent record shop, and being fascinated by the cover. And the record itself didn't disappoint - any song containing the lines "I sat and drank for three decades, I'm 45... I live on pies..." is a hit in my book. In fact, nearly three decades later, it's starting to seem more and more like the story of my life... More belting singles, "'Elastic Man'", "Totally Wired", etc. then; "Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul"/"Fantastic Life"More great story-telling and social history from MES; "I got no nerves left Monday morning, and I think I'll cut my dick off, the trouble it got me in... I saw turrets of Victorian wealth, I saw John the ex-fox, sleeping in some outside bogs..." And again a great B-side; "Got eighteen months for espionage, too much brandy for breakfast, and people tend to let you down..." 'Slates' has been mentioned a few times, and rightly so. It's all good stuff, but my two favourites haven't been mentioned yet; "Prole Art Threat", "Leave The Capitol""Prole Art Threat" is just such a great noise, the way it rattles and clatters along, and the text (because it is a text rather than a lyric) is a perfect example of the kind of literary levels Smith works on. The experimental form, the language and themes, always put me in mind of William Burroughs. And "Leave The Capitol" ("I laughed at the great God Pan... Pan resides in welsh green masquerades") well, I don't really need to say who that reminds me of. Next stop, have a bleedin' guess... 'Hex Enduction Hour'. Dem's already had "The Classical". "Jawbone And The Air-Rifle" is a great lyric, but the chorus tends to get on my tits a bit if I listen to it any more than occasionally, so I'll go for; "Hip Priest", "Who Makes The Nazis?"Bit surprised nobody's chosen "Hip Priest" yet. I've been quoting a lot of lyrics in this because the man just has this way of making phrases which somehow drill their way into your subconscious, never to leave ("I got my last clean dirty shirt out of the wardrobe"), even if you've got no idea what he's talking about ("I was as clean as a packet of chocolate Treets"). "Hip Priest" bangs these phrases in like nails. "Nazis", with its "Long horn breed" and "Benny's cob-web eyes!" is all a bit Captain Beefheart, free association. It's a strange thing with Smith though, that you can have all these apparently random images and ideas thrown at you, yet you're left with the feeling that somehow... somewhere... on some level... you know what he's getting at. Possibly. I would have had "Kicker Conspiracy" (me and Manchester City have got a bit of a history together...) and "Wings", but Dem's had them again.
|
|
|
Post by Steve on Dec 8, 2007 8:54:38 GMT
I prepared a very long, and very self-indulgent (one might even use the word 'wanky') post explaining the remainder of my choices, but I can't really justify putting it up here.
Anyway, I'll just stick the rest up as a list.
(I will just admit a definite bias towards The Fall's output from 1983-1989 - but as Dem's already declared a weakness for Brix-era Fall, I don't feel like as much of a lightweight anymore!)
Garden (Perverted By Language) Tempo House (Perverted By Language) 2 x 4 (1984 Peel Session) Slang King (The Wonderful And Frightening World Of...) Cruiser's Creek Spoilt Victorian Child (This Nation's Saving Grace) Hey! Luciani Living Too Late Frenz (The Frenz Experiment) Carry Bag Man (The Frenz Experiment) Athlete Cured (The Frenz Experiment) Overture From 'I am Curious, Orange' (I am Kurious Oranj) Van Plague? (I am Kurious Oranj) Bad News Girl (I am Kurious Oranj) Deadbeat Descendant (1988 Peel Session) Squid Lord (1988 Peel Session - this whole session is f'ing brilliant...) Telephone Thing (Extricate) Feeling Numb (Cerebral Caustic) The Chiselers Janet, Johnny + James (The Real New Fall LP) Mountain Energei (The Real New Fall LP) Reformation! (Reformation! Post-TLC)
There's maybe a few odd choices in there (Overture From 'I am Curious, Orange'?), and I'll be happy to try and explain myself if anyone's really that keen to know how my mind works (you probably don't want to know to be honest...).
What I will just come back to, finally, is that comment in The Independent from MES that I quoted in my first post (as it is at least halfway relevant);
"the real occult's in the pubs of the East End. In the stinking boats of the Thames, not in Egypt. It's on your doorstep mate."
I thought this was interesting because there is a strong occult/esoteric vein in a lot of Smith's work, whether it's fairly explicit - "A Figure Walks", "Spectre vs. Rector" (Has anyone else written a song about M.R James?) - or whether it's something lurking uncomfortably in the background. But contrasting this you have the forthright and superficially rather less than magical figure of Mark E Smith himself. If you seen the video for "Reformation!" this comes through really strongly - a sinister, gurning MES conjuring up his band in the seedy upstairs room of dodgy-looking, backstreet 'Fall Motel', by way of arcane incantations ("Black river! Repeats! Goldfish bowl! Arse!). This is some bad Northern voodoo.
Yeah, this was the short version...
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Dec 9, 2007 9:34:16 GMT
It's a strange thing with Smith though, that you can have all these apparently random images and ideas thrown at you, yet you're left with the feeling that somehow... somewhere... on some level... you know what he's getting at. Possibly. Wire are the only other band I can think of who regularly come out with seeming gibberish who I don't dismiss as "pretentious gits". On [the contrary, I've recently been nodding sagely along to Silk Skin Paws without having a clue what they're on about. In drunken moments, Marooned has reduced me to a blubbering wreck ( As the water gets warmer my ice-berg gets smaller .... ) and sometimes I even think I've cracked what Mercy is about. Outdoor Minor is definitely a love song to a leaf insect. On Colin Newman's solo track I've Been Waiting Ages he is apparently troubled by "a chicken leg in my bandoleer". They even refer to their lyrics as "texts". Like, the real occult's in the pubs of the East End. In the stinking boats of the Thames, not in Egypt. It's on your doorstep mate. So tempted to nab that as a signature. pulphack and me were queueing in the bookshop to a backdrop of Bombast and Barmy! How occult indeed!
|
|
|
Post by Steve on Dec 9, 2007 10:48:31 GMT
Outdoor Minor is definitely a love song to a leaf insect. It seems so obvious now you mention it. I'm just a bit worried what exactly it is that he's trying to hide as he lies on his side though... This sort of problem is a lot more common than you'd think. I've had a large chicken tikka kebab with mild chilli sauce and garlic mayonnaise in my shoulder holster for a couple of months now, and can I get it out? Can I f...
|
|
|
Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 10, 2007 7:48:43 GMT
My band supported the Fall (and also Doll by Doll) at the Playhouse in Edinburgh.. Must have been 1981ish. I can report that Doll by Doll's soundman wrecked our sound (usual trick, half volume, bits missed out, no vocals) I regret to say they appeared to be a set of arrogant tossers. Even with the crap sound we blew them off the stage.
On the other hand The Fall were really lovely guys. Their soundman gave us a brilliant sound, reason being I suspect, that they were so good themselves they didn't give a toss about the competition. We had a good chat with them back stage. their lead singer was a star on stage, loads of presence. I loved their performance live. Sadly, never heard them on an album.
Craig
|
|
|
Post by Calenture on Dec 11, 2007 9:34:51 GMT
Clearly I'll have to try listening to The Fall again as it seems to me that so many Vault members cannot be wrong. On the other hand... I did try finding a free taster online the other day, but all I could find was a short piece called The Rebellious Jukebox (I think)... which didn't do anything for me. But recently the very little music I've listened to has been old Mississippi blues and Louis Armstrong!
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Feb 7, 2008 13:50:04 GMT
The Biggest Library Yet #3 (Feb. 1995) Stephen Fall - A Tribute To Leigh Bowery, 1961-94 Stephen Fall - Craig Scanlon and Steve Hanley: They Speak! Odran Smith & Nick Gwent - Datblygu Neil Clarke - Hey! Marc Riley! Martin Dunlop - Interview with Mark E. Smith Steve Heeley - 'You Don't Have To Be Weird ...'
Fall live reviews by Matt Bryden, Stewart Mackarel, Paul Cardie Suitably no-frills Fall-zine, full of lovely grainy photo's. You Don't Have To Be Weird ... is Steve Heeley's personal "ten strangest Fall songs" selection (talk about spoilt for choice). Even better, the interviews with Riley, MES and the lengthy feature on the great, long-suffering Craig and Steve. Here's Mark's explanation of what Wings is all about. "A gentleman, who, in the future, goes into a store which is experimentally selling wings. These have not been tested right. He hits clouds and time warps. By the time he gets home he's changed things too much" Also of note, Smith's reply to "What is the most obscener thing you can think of?" ....
|
|
|
Post by sean on Feb 9, 2008 15:27:04 GMT
Wire are the only other band I can think of who regularly come out with seeming gibberish who I don't dismiss as "pretentious gits". Wire are splendid! There's no faulting the first three albums, absolute gems. Whenever I fancy listening to a bit of Elastica, I always put 'Pink Flag' on... ahem.
|
|