The Fall In Fives

  The 'Session vs Official' League A quick summary of part 1 : it was a close-run thing so far, with 'official' tracks (i.e. those that appeared on albums, singles, etc.) leading the Peel session versions by one point. Official victories went to:  Mother-Sister! Rebellious Jukebox Put Away Like To Blow Jawbone And The Air-Rifle Middle Mass Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul Hip Priest Look, Know Winter Smile These Peel versions were winners:  Futures And Pasts Industrial Estate No Xmas For John Quays The Container Drivers New Face In Hell Deer Park Who Makes The Nazis? Garden Strife Knot Eat Y'self Fitter I declared C'n'C - Hassle Schmuck / C'n'C-S Mithering to be a draw (much to the derision of some of the more militant voices on the Fall Online Forum !) and of course Mess Of My  doesn't have an 'official' version to compete against. I have had, however, a change of heart regarding New Puritan though (it's my blog, I can do that sort of thin...

 Fall Monday Playlist #09 - The 3 Rs We dig repetition Repetition on the drums and we're never going to lose it. This is the three Rs The three Rs: Repetition, Repetition, Repetition Although ' Repetition ' (from 1978's Bingo-Master's Break-Out! ) felt like a statement of intent, it wasn't actually a particularly repetitious song. Throughout their career, however, The Fall frequently used repetition as a strategy. Here are ten of the most notable examples... The nature of the selections means that this is the lengthiest playlist yet, so you'll need to set more than an hour aside to do it justice.  The Spotify list is here ; the YouTube version is here . Reformation It's easy to see how this became one of the few Fall songs to be played live over a hundred times. Its simplistic structure frees the group to lock onto the mammoth groove and leave Smith to contribute as, when and how he sees fit. There actually is a Falls Motel in Black River Falls, Wisconsi...

  The Fall recorded more Peel sessions ( 24 ) than any other artist. The Complete Peel Sessions  box set is an essential purchase for anyone with even a passing interest in The Fall. These two facts are indisputable. The way that the sessions were recorded often captured a spontaneity and freshness that was to some extent diminished in the final studio version; there were also occasions where the session version was a rough, undeveloped idea upon which the group would later improve. This is where it all gets a bit more disputable… ‘I prefer the session version’ occasionally feels like shorthand for ‘I have a more in-depth knowledge of the back catalogue than you’. That doesn’t mean it isn’t often true, however… The 'Session vs Official' League I'm not entirely convinced that 'official' is the correct word to use, but it's hard to settle on the most appropriate terminology. What I mean by 'official' is the album equivalent - or, if it wasn’t released on a...

I have elected to move to this platform as WordPress has become simply impossible to use! This week's playlist captures Smith's self-referential moments... The Spotify playlist is here . The YouTube playlist is here . Hip Priest It’s often challenging to assess whether Smith’s lyrics are being delivered from a first or third-person perspective; here, as was frequently the case, it swings between the two: ‘he’ is not appreciated; ‘I’ can teach. He described the song as 'a bit personal at times. Maybe a bit too personal…' This is the sprawling, nine minute Peel session version. Big New Prinz An extension of or elaboration on ‘Hip Priest’ (‘drink the long draught for big priest’ who is still ‘not appreciated’), 'Prinz' was a long-standing feature in the setlist from 1988 to 2006, clocking up an almost unprecedented 212 performances. This version is from the excellent live album Nottingham '92 . Just Step S'ways 'This is an important aspect of Big Pries...