This week starts with a good Peel Session: M5, the awful Behind The Counter, Reckoning and the finally recorded Hey! Student!
And then Middle Class Revolt which was something of a nothing record. It's all part of the Fall story though, listening to these records is something like a long hike (as they call 'walks' in the US), it's never bad and sometimes you realise that it's not great but it's always interesting.
MCR is interesting, 15 Ways is an odd one, I'm not sure what Mark's trying to tell us here. The Reckoning is the gem, a song in Edinburgh Man vein - melancholy abounds. The tracks are good, electronic. Something like Surmount All Obstacles is great, all bloopy bleep with Mark hollering over the top. It's all very bland. You're Not Up To Much is the track of the album, chanting and misery combined into a glorious whole. Symbol of Mordgan is the weirdo track, Craig Scanlon ringing John Peel to talk about the football. With a delicious reveal: it was him! all along on Australians in Europe, talking to the preacher!
They sure as hell save the best till last: as out of nowhere comes the third Monks cover, and they do Shut Up!. It's utterly glorious, the Fall pulled through the garage.
The single tracks (and infinite remixes) are tedious: the world does not need a shitty house remix of Middle Class revolt that goes on for 7 minutes. And it sure as hell doesn't need another one. And it definitely doesn't need a Surmount All Obstacles remix. Pah. Those Castenskiold sleeves though. Myself and my good friend Malcolm spent a summer afternoon painting the 15 ways one onto my bedroom wall. When my parents painted over it when I moved out, my Dad painted over the heads and then took a picture of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment