Week 23: 25/04/93 - 14/01/94

It's all slowing down a little now. As we approach the mid 90s the Peel stranglehold and The Fall do a session for the Mark Goodier show: Mark Goodier, Mark Goodier, Mark Goodier.....On Radio 1. And it's super tight: the best version of Glam Racket so far, A non-annoying War, 15 Ways and a furious Past Gone Mad.

And then a whole bunch of weirdo live tracks: Deadbeat Descendant and other old songs (shift work?, Big New Prinz?) the Fall are dredging the back catalogue or someone is on their behalf. This is now the era of Mark being barely coherent when singing live. It's not like he's given up, but more that he's starting to drink too much.

The Behind The Counter was also one of the signs of those interminable, never ending remixes. Whoever realised that by releasing three different formats you gained chart positions should be shot. So many bad remixes from this.

And then, via Oxymoron, the first Glam Racket with Brix! and her rap part. The bible considers the return of Brix to be the kick in the arse that The Fall needed and I'm not one to disagree - she's on fine form on this, all yank snarl. And giving space to a vocalist who isn't Mark seems to ignite the band, maybe they relish the lack of fear.

That would have been the end, if it wasn't for a mistake on my part. I labelled the Nottingham '92 concert as being released in 2014.  To be honest it's largely forgettable, though being of a relatively high standard audio wise. They do And Therein which is, I guess the curveball. The War Against Intelligence never sounded better to be fair though.

Week 22: 04/08/92 - 25/04/93

This is the brass ring. Volume was always a weird little operation - all the tracks were unique to the comps and the book was pretty plush for the price. I had a Prolapse track on the one I owned and they were gurning around in the interview - the whole operation surely can't have made any money? Anyway Arid Al's Dream is on there and it's good.

I remember this Fall session being of the time that I sat by John Peel with my finger on the pause button to record my favourite bits. It's pretty good - Ladybird being a harbinger of things to come. Strychinne (learnt especially for John's Birthday) is a good 'un, Service is largely forgettable and Paranoia Man is a great title and good tune.

And that brings us to the Infotainment Scan. This was the first Fall album I bought that came out when I was into the Fall. I remember thinking it was okay at the time but not nearly a patch on their earlier efforts. The bible rates it highly, and listening to it now, and a few times I can see why - the band are in good form and Mark's not mucking about too much and the things he's singing about have a real weight to them. At the time the music sounded like cheesy crap to me, but in context it all really works together and it actually sounds quite forward thinking in the cold light of day.

And there's a whole bunch of really good tracks: Ladybird sounds vibrant. Lost In Music is an unlikely Fall cover but something about it really works. Glam Racket is onomatopoeia - and has some of Mark's best lines: "Stop eating all that chocolate, eat salad instead - in fact you are a half wit." And then the side ball of I'm Going to Spain (though I've never heard the original) - it's quite beautiful through the Fall Filter. The pace is kept up all the way through, including a fairly furious Past Gone Mad with all the bleep bloopy stuff you wanted. The weird track comes out at the end - it's all lo-fi blah blah but it kind of reminds me of Room 2 Live.

And then Why Are People Grudgeful which I like but I don't much care for. Many remixes of course, being the mid-90s. There's a bass heavy version of Glam Racket and then for no real reason 3 different version of Lost In Music. With each one "Le Money is sur Le Table" becomes more and more sinister. But it's good to see the Fall keeping the pace up and continuing to evolve.

Week 21: 14/11/91 - 04/08/92

So the Fall are slap bang in the middle of a purple patch. This week was largely concerned with Code Selfish and surrounding singles but naturally we begin by mopping up from the receiver compilations - various bits and pieces and alternative versions - like a teaser of stuff to come.

There's a Peel session that kicks off with one of their best singles: Free Range. The lyrics are not quite there yet but that evil synth stab is front and centre: It pays to talk to no-one. And then Kimble, which was the lead single on their Peel Session 12"; I'm not a fan, kind of a dub reggae thing, it doesn't really do much for me. Then a couple of tracks which I didn't know so well from the LP.

Then the LP proper. I guess I heard this when I was into the Fall, I certainly recognise some of it. The Birmingham School of Business wins it on the title alone but it's a good tune too, the reliable Free Range with the "Zagreb, 85" intro intact finally. The album then chugs along, keeping up the pace: the sound is 25% bleepy bloopy, 50% pop lyrics and 25% riffs - it's a really good balance and the band can really play this kind of sound well and there's even some of that good melancholy type sound that they're really good at at this point.

Everything Hurtz underlines what a great double header that single was - the electronic-y bits are borderline Madchester but manage to stay on the right side of the border. Just Waiting is a really oddity (just checking wikipedia and yep, it's a cover) but again it's one of those covers that sounds like a Fall song, almost.

So-Called Dangerous is the stand out track, and demonstrates why there is no-one quite like the fall. Scratchy guitars and tight drumming and Mark just making noises over the top - then he just goes off on one: LIKE MOUNTAIN CLIMBING, or skiing in the alps; Think of it - I don't!. At one point he says "It was a bit of...code selfish" thus doing the best thing you can do on a record - having a song which the title is featured but it is not the title track.

Then a couple more tracks, before Crew Filth. It starts out a heavy electronic version of What About It before disappearing into some lo-fi Mark pissing about type nonsense. Its wondrous in the way only the fall can really do.

Then the Free Range single, which I'd pretty much heard through at this point but there's a tighter version of Dangerous here. A couple of throwaways: Noel's Chemical Effluence which is not listed in the Bible so I don't really know where it comes from, and the bonkers Xanadu which came on Ruby Trax. Totally "let's knock this one out quick lads", Mark is far far out of tune. But the whole thing sort of works.

And lastly, Ed's Babe which I would say is perhaps even better than Free Range, though it's more of a grower. The B-Sides make it: Pumpkin Head Xscapes is all electronics weirdness. The Knight, The Devil and Death is clever and Free Ranger is like a Norman Cook remix of Free Range. Brill.

Week 20: 23/02/91 - 14/11/91

Missed it yesterday as a result of Memorial Day, which is like a Bank Holiday but with remembrance rather than the Banks not having a holiday.

And just one proper release this week. But there's a Peel session, which is largely similar to the album tracks - they're all loud and thunderous. And there's a Mixer, which is one of my favourite tracks from this period and this is a good version.

And then the album proper: Shift Work. Notebooks out Plagiarists. This is a good record but something holds it back for me - there's not a duff song on it but there's not a winner either. Ho Hum. Edinburgh Man is Mark singing proper and being all melancholic again. Book of Lies is straight up adult rockabilly, it sort of works. The War Against Intelligence has their best line: "You think your haircut is distinguished; but it's a blot on the English landscape". This is pretty much the pinnacle of the Fall being a proper band with understandable lyrics and tappable tunes. The Mixer is all bleepy bloopy over violins and is probably the best song on there. Rose is probably about Brix and Sinister Waltz is a weirdo tag on.

Then three remixes of So What About It?. It's on the CD, it's listed in the Bible but not on Discogs. Does this even exist. I don't need three remixes of SWAI anyway.

Onwards and upwards

Week 19: 04/06/90 - 23/02/91

And after the 3 hour playlists, I can't quite believe that this week it's just 55 minutes. This was certainly a lean period for the Fall, just two singles and then some extra bits and bobs.

White Lightning is one of the perfect Fall covers, almost to the extent that I couldn't quite believe it was a cover, it sounds like something Mark just cooked up. Great rockabilly riff driven nonsense. The B-Sides are largely forgettable, but they set the stage for the new Fall sound - a fairly mature mix of electronics and a lighter Fall rhythm. And Mark's pretty much understandable (both in terms of the voice and lyrics).

High Tension Line I like, though mainly for the chorus. Here's where the b-side goes awry. Xmas with Simon is stupid and I love it. A bleep bloopy backdrop, Mark mumbling about Christmas: "Pity the people who had too much desert". "Born in a barn, surrounded by animals, no set amount to the number of diseases". Don't Take The Pizza is another throwaway. My spreadsheet gives my a gift of The Re-Mixer, I love this song on the LP proper and this is a nice melancholic number here. We also get Cloud of Black, which is fully forgettable.

And to round out the hour, some stuff on Receiver comps. The only thing of note is a neat version of Idiot Joy Showland. It sounds a bit live in the vocals, but the music sounds too good for that.

So that was the end of the first year of 1990 - not much activity by the Fall's standards but some moments of joy nonetheless.

Week 18: 13/09/89 - 04/06/90

And we cruise into the 1990s with a healthy Bob James shot in the arm. Telephone Thing has to be one of the all time great Fall singles. Surely Coldcut ripped off Mardi Gras on this, but of course they failed by not issuing a version without the bells HA HA HA. The 90s brought some scary literalism into the Fall and they started doing songs which were vaguely understandable. Hence we have British People In Hot Weather - it seems that Mark is not a fan. Musically they're in a weird place: a blend of rockabilly guitar and 90s cheesy drum machines and electronics. It sort of works but perhaps only because it's been a journey to get here.

A track on a random compilation delivers one of their most menacing tracks in a while: The Theme from Error Orror. Some random tracks from the Receiver catalogue (including a cracking Black Monk Theme) and a full on truck stop version of White Lightening. Peel Session: Chicago Now which should be good but I find it quite tiresome, A very tidy Black Monk Theme (to be covered later), Hilary and Whizz Bang. Out of the context of the record the songs sound a little disjointed - it's a Peel session of some tracks from the record rather than a coherent whole.

I never had Extricate - my good friend Malcolm had it on tape and I dubbed a copy. I remember kind of liking it but thinking it didn't hold a candle to the early stuff (I was an indie kid after all). But actually it's a fairly together record that works as a sequence rather than having any super stand outs (bar one). Sing! Harpy is mildly boring but I'm Frank is a proper rock song through the prism of the Fall. It's got one of those things which might be a middle 8 or whatever too. Bill Is Dead is a slow one (and actually quite dull) but you need it as preparation for the greatest Fall cover of all time: Black Monk Theme. Everything's up at 11 and it almost sounds like a Fall song, they've even got that super cheesy organ going on.

And then with Popcorn Double Feature (another cover) it all comes crashing down, it's a bad song badly covered. Hilary fits but is largely forgettable. Chicago Now is as good as it gets. The Littlest Rebel splits me somewhat. Musically it's probably the best thing on the record but they lyrics are a little cheesy. I imagine it's about Brix though. They end on And Therein... which is super super rockabilly.

They followed this with Popcorn Double Feature as a single. God knows why, it's just terrible. The flipsides weren't really up to much too, though Arms Control Poseur is good (and much better in the spikier mix).

But even better than all of this is the HI-NRG version of "Black Monk Theme Pt 2." Which is basically Oh How To Do Now, with some bonkers over the top organ noises. Genius - there's even a key change which Mark announces. And even weirder, a track called Extricate which surpasses all of the songs on the lp was only on the CD. Full on twiddly bass electronics and shouty Mark. Best

They played live in Zagreb: it was largely forgettable but has been released anyway. Mostly songs from Extricate with a good Telephone Thing. A mistitled Dead Beat Descendant (down as Tuff Life Boogie) has the most offensive organ sound I've ever heard on it. They close on Popcorn Double Feature.

I also cleaned up a few omissions: Mainly the other versions of Hit The North (I wasn't missing anything there). A weirdo studio outtake from the Beggars days (I African Mancunian) which is pretty good. And a live version of Pilsner Trail which ended up on the Levitate CD. Whew.

Week 17: 23/12/88 - 13/09/89

And now the end of the Beggars era. They go out with a bang though, if by bang we mean a contractual obligation album and a contractual obligation single.

Like all the great records I own, I bought Cab It Up from Revolver Records in Bristol - must have been one of the early Fall singles I bought. Cab It Up / Dead Beat Descendant is a good double bill and actually the two live tracks (Kurious Oranj which is a real grower for me and Hit The North which is not) are of a good standard.

Then the "Live" Album. The bible is fairly dismissive of this record, and perhaps rightfully so - it is strung together with the bare minimum of care. But, for me, it was one of the first Fall records I bought and I actually think it's pretty good. Dead Beat Descendant is the Fall at the Indie Disco: it's got hooks and understandable lyrics. Pinball Machine is some stupid American Truck Blues things. It's pretty faithful and actually quite melancholic - I like it a great deal. Then H.O.W. with Mark mumbling over some classic Fall bass and drum stuff. Another great track. Squid Law is shit, Mollusc In Tyrol was recorded in the front room and sounds like it.

Then over to the 'live' side. With a few bonuses this is okay, Frenz is as good as it was. The other tracks are so-so live versions (2x4, Kurious Oranj, Hit The North and the like). Elf Prefix introduces LA - it's classic Mark genius, grating violin with Smith Poetry. The audience are always shouting for Victoria and when they play it there's barely a cheer. It still feels like an odd song for the Fall but it's okay. They include a thumping Pay Your Rates - again a weirdo choice for this album. The album proper ends with Cruiser's Creek. Where this was recorded I have no idea but Bill Grundy of Sex Pistols swear fame goes on about nothing. "Enjoy Yourselves!" he says. The Fall have intro music which leads into Cruisers Creek - a song which works better on paper than on the record - it sounds like a big venue though. The CD version tacks on In These Times which blows away the other songs for 2 seconds and then a no-nonsense PWL organ kicks in and totally ruins it. Like Sonia covering Blob 59 or something.

The only non-contractual song is the version of Race With The Devil, played for Peel's 50th Birthday. The Band are great, Mark is wasted: "We learned this especially for John's Birthday". The band kick in to some serious rockabilly, Mark slurs his way to the end of the song. Classic Fall.