Real New Fall Heads Roll
In case you haven't noticed, the last two albums by the Fall have both been near masterpieces. Where was Fall Heads Roll on all the 2005 year end best of lists? Who do you people (myself included) think you are? I guess when you put out more than one album a year for twenty-some-odd years people have a right to be a bit sceptical but, trust me, these two albums are the real shit. And Mark E. Smith has easily put together the best Fall backup band in almost two decades.
The Fall - Ride Away
If you didn't know better, I bet you could mistake this for a recording of your favourite drunken uncle ad-libbing Karaoke songs at your sister's wedding because he's too sauced to read the prompter. You could probably imagine him brilliantly roasting the entire extended family while he bobs around the stage, spilling scotch all over his ill-fitting suit, and while the wedding party continues their annoying conga-line, oblivious to how much better this song is than all of the oldies that have been playing all night.
But you do know better. It's Mark E. Smith singing and he's an angry genius. While his slurred delivery makes this sound effortless it's, like most good Fall songs, built on the kind of lyrics that are carefully crafted to sound like stream-of-consciousness improvisation. While maybe the song goes on for 1 or 2 minutes too long, the jaunty bass line, the ska-like guitars, and the high-pitch synth interludes are near perfect in my humble opinion.
[Buy Fall Heads Roll]
The Fall - Portugal Tour (alt. v)
Mark E. Smith is a notoriously difficult man, so it's pretty hilarious for him to write a song like this. From what I can gather, it seems to be just excerpts from letters the band received from an angry booking agent as ingeniously read by the band members atop some quality grinding guitars and the repetition of the phrase "for the record". While I think it speaks for itself, it's even more funny when you look at it in print so here's some excerpts.
The Fall - Ride Away
If you didn't know better, I bet you could mistake this for a recording of your favourite drunken uncle ad-libbing Karaoke songs at your sister's wedding because he's too sauced to read the prompter. You could probably imagine him brilliantly roasting the entire extended family while he bobs around the stage, spilling scotch all over his ill-fitting suit, and while the wedding party continues their annoying conga-line, oblivious to how much better this song is than all of the oldies that have been playing all night.
But you do know better. It's Mark E. Smith singing and he's an angry genius. While his slurred delivery makes this sound effortless it's, like most good Fall songs, built on the kind of lyrics that are carefully crafted to sound like stream-of-consciousness improvisation. While maybe the song goes on for 1 or 2 minutes too long, the jaunty bass line, the ska-like guitars, and the high-pitch synth interludes are near perfect in my humble opinion.
[Buy Fall Heads Roll]
The Fall - Portugal Tour (alt. v)
Mark E. Smith is a notoriously difficult man, so it's pretty hilarious for him to write a song like this. From what I can gather, it seems to be just excerpts from letters the band received from an angry booking agent as ingeniously read by the band members atop some quality grinding guitars and the repetition of the phrase "for the record". While I think it speaks for itself, it's even more funny when you look at it in print so here's some excerpts.
"You were abusive/way beyond what anyone would reasonably have to deal with."[Buy The Real New Fall LP]
"Both myself and the crew were subjected to verbal and physical abuse."
"Words fail me at how offensive a human being you are."
"You never actually did the interview/it will have a negative impact on you and your band."
"This is becoming unbearable."
posted by ian at 3:27 PM
1 Comments:
i think i am going to have to agree with you
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