The Fall In Fives

  Hey you horror face!  M R James, Arthur Machen, H P Lovecraft Slight change of plan: as last week's list was focused on the music, I thought we'd do a more lyrics-related selection this time. Smith's literary influences are as well-known as his musical ones; the the work of the three gentlemen above, for example, informed his work equally as much as the sound of Can, Captain Beefheart and the Velvet Underground. Here are ten of the best Fall horror stories. The Spotify playlist is here ; the YouTube version is here . Lay of the Land TWAFWO 's opener has a distinct folk horror flavour, reminiscent of stone circles and pagan rituals. Whilst there is a Lovecraft reference (‘eldritch house’), the inspiration comes mostly from Quatermass , The ‘lay, lay’ chant was taken from the 1979 ITV series starring John Mills as Professor Bernard Quatermass, a character who first appeared in 1953’s The Quatermass Experiment . Jawbone and the Air-Rifle More folk horror. Smith's t...

  The 'Session vs Official' League After part one and part two , we find ourselves halfway through The Fall's record-breaking set of 24 Peel sessions. There have been one or two minor hiccups with the scoring, but at this point things stand at: PEEL 21 - 25 OFFICIAL We resume with session #13, which saw Brix gone and Martin Bramah (briefly) returned... Chicago, Now! Peel 1 /1/90  vs  Extricate There's not a huge amount to choose between the two versions of this darkly atmospheric track. The Art of Noise -style synth stabs on the Peel recording detract just a little from its sinister menace, so the vote narrowly goes to Extricate . PEEL 21 - 26 OFFICIAL Black Monk Theme Part 1 Peel 1 /1/90  vs  Extricate The stand-out track from the session. There's nothing wrong with the album take , but - despite the fact that the keyboards suffer the same 'recorded next door' fate as the backing vocals on the  Peel 'Eat Y'self Fitter' ) - the Peel recording i...

  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...