good on him for getting up there, crazy old bastard the Fall, doom metal and Flying Nun stuff is pretty much all I listen to these days. The Fall are my staple, go-to band. If I can't decide what to put on I just grab any tape by them. Never disappoints, never get sick of it. somehow I missed the boat on them earlier, only bought my first release of theirs in 2007, at the silly age of 38, took a punt on a $2 copy of Frenz. Holy crap. Carry Bag and especially Oswald Defence lawyer got a massive thrashing and from there, down the rabbit hole I went. Weird how fans are so subjective about them. Some of their vaunted stuff does nothing for me then BAM, "No Bulbs" comes on. Alltime favourite song, by anyone. dunno about everyone else but I seem to follow an established pattern of getting a new one, first listen it's "big deal" then, 5 or 6 listens later, the clouds part, the lotus reveals itself before the serpent, the angels sing in unison, the flat of angles pivots, the metaphors clash, and it's off we go again
Don't feel bad, I was ignorant of them until 2012, at the sillier age of 44; they hit me so hard I started annotating their lyrics: The Annotated Fall
Good to see M.E.S back onstage again, albeit in a wheelchair and not looking so great but sounding good vocally. Pretty spirited. Was worried that London gig in July would be the last one and that these gigs last week as well as the upcoming Glasgow gig on Saturday would be cancelled. Not going this weekend but i hope it is a good show. The new album is pretty good, as was SLT, so i am hoping there is life in the old dog yet.
Thanks, Tonmeister! Yeah, sometimes it can be difficult figuring out what is going on in the lyrics....anyway suggestions are always welcome, every song has a comment thread.
Wise Ol' Man Released February 2016 on Cherry Red Records (CD and 12") 01. Wise Ol' Man (Edit) (Smith/Poulou/Spurr) 3:37 02. All Leave Cancelled (Smith/Poulou/Spurr) 8:19 03. Dedication (Remix) (Smith/Poulou/Spurr) 5:17 04. Wise Ol' Man (Inst.) (Smith/Poulou/Spurr) 3:23 05. Venice With The Girls (Smith/Poulou/Spurr) 4:04 06. Facebook Troll/No Xmas For John Quay (Smith/Poulou/Spurr) 7:30 07. All Leave Cancelled (X) (Smith/Poulou/Spurr) 2:07 Mark E Smith - vocals David Spurr - bass Keiron Melling - drums Peter Greenway - guitar Eleni Poulou - keyboards Produced by: Mark E Smith A well-received EP with reviews praising the title track and the overall quality and like the Remainderer EP the format seems to work for them at this stage.
Good value in this with two new tracks - one well worked, punchy and to the point, the other rambling, discordant. Then a bunch of versions of stuff mostly off Sub Lingual Tablet. I like the cover art too- by Smith’s sister Suzanne, whose art work with the band stretches all the way back to Grotesque, which is kind of cool...
Always nice to see The Fall get some love. The Fall: The Fall - Singles 1978-2016 Album Review | Pitchfork The last thing the world needs is another Fall compilation. The sheer volume of music that Mark E. Smith (and whoever he’s barking orders at) has produced over the past four decades has resulted in so many anthologies and quickie collections that you could build a house out of the jewel cases. But Cherry Red’s new seven-disc Fall box set instantly crushes them all like Godzilla on Bambi.
I was longing for a compilation album of songs of The Fall of this Millenium. That's why my preference would be that Cherry Red had compiled these songs starting from the last great compilation album. Another time disks with the same songs of the BB period is not really what I needed... How are the sonics of this compilation album? (yes, I know I'm asking an odd question when about The Fall ;-) )
It's amazing to have a boxset like that but like many Fall fans I guess I have 99% of it already so it's a waste of money for me.
That's my problem, too. I'd also prefer they'd have put all the A's and B's together chronologically. L.
It is an odd box. I mean, a new fan wouldn't be interested in 6 cds of music. Any long time fans already have most of it. People like me, who really just enjoy their earliest albums, wouldn't want to waste the dime on post mid-80s stuff. Hopefully a "Best New Reissue" on pitchfork might lead to some new fans to stream their stuff.
Yes, had to laugh and spared a thought for JimB when I read that part of the review today... I preordered the 7-disc box—for £40 seemed like a good way to get a lot of the 90s and 00s period material I don’t have, some 80s b-sides too. I’ll probably rip it all immediately and make a playlist.
Oates, I hope you don't mind that I quoted you in my notes, since you explained that so pithily, and have a nice interpretation of the Annabel line to boot (see note 2 for that one): An Older Lover, Etc.
Bingo Masters At The Witch Trials Released April 2016 for Record Store Day on Dandelion/Ozit (CD and LP) 01. Repetition (Smith/Baines/Bramah/Burns/Friel) 6:20 02. Psycho Mafia (Friel/Smith) 2:27 03. Rebellious Jukebox (Smith/Bramah) 3:17 04. Frightened (Smith/Friel) 4:55 05. Steppin' Out (Smith/Friel) 2:47 06. I Like To Blow (Bramah/Smith) 1:46 07. Mess Of My (Bramah/Smith/Goldstraw) 3:26 08. Mother-Sister (Smith/Baines) 3:22 09. Industrial Estate (Friel/Bramah/Smith) 1:52 10. It's The New Thing (Bramah) 3:28 11. Futures & Pasts (Bramah/Smith) 3:02 12. Music Scene (Bramah/Pawlett/Smith/Riley) 4:58 13. Bingo Masters Break Out (The Fall) 2:36 14. Brand New Cadillac (Taylor) 5:28 Mark E Smith - vocals Marc Riley - bass Martin Bramah - guitar Karl Burns - drums Yvonne Pawlett – keyboards Recording of the People's Free Festival, Deeply Vale, 22 July 1978. Tracks 1 to 12 had already been released on Ozit’s ‘Live At Deeply Vale’ CD from 2005. The last two tracks are (I presume) additional tracks from the same performance. The sleeve is a new low, even for the Fall. It looks awful as it is and then when you realise it is just a public domain picture which they have amended it makes it even worse. Here is the original:
I've been living without this after I sold my old twofer cd ages ago but I finally managed to find a vintage copy in a recordstore. You don't want to buy vintage Fall online. Haha and of course I started to play this on 45. I know this record by heart but "Slates" is even better. I was actually surprised how good it is. I was also surprised that Porky etched "Keep shtum" into the deadwax. Similar to "Unkown Pleasures" were one of his groove notations would show up on the band's next album - "This is the way" "Step inside" - "Keep Shtum" would appear on "Hex Enduction Hour"'s "artwork". So either that guy's a prophet or...
When it comes to the world of Beefheart, Dandelion/Ozit, despite their historical connections, are seen as chancers who dupe record shops and buyers into taking on substandard goods. Their stuff is not canon. Their covers are awful, sleeve notes are lacking, titles are wrong and are even sometimes designed to bait people into thinking there are new unheard songs on there, when there aren't. Is this not the case for The Fall. Did MES have anything to do with this front cover? Edit: I've just seen the 'endorsement' on the front cover. Still though. Does he really know what he's endorsing there?
As long as he gets some cash I really think he couldn't care. So much substandard Fall product has been released.
