The Fall Cup: Stage 1, Groups 5-6

  

Group 5

Hark The Herald Angels Sing, Service, Age of Chang, Oh! Brother, There’s a Ghost in My House, Pat-Trip Dispenser, Two Librans, Detective Instinct, Mike’s Love Xexagon, Paintwork, The City Never Sleeps, Kurious Oranj, Anecdotes + Antidotes in B#, Paranoia Man in Cheap Sh*t Room, Wise Ol’ Man

The Fallen

An error on my part meant that the list I originally sent to the panel omitted 'Hark The Herald Angels Sing'. I think it's safe to say that its pointless performance was not a result of my carelessness. Like many others, I imagine, I laughed out loud the first time I heard it, and then never wanted to hear it again (Richard: 'I fear that this is a joke I don’t get'). I felt pretty much the same regarding 'The City Never Sleeps', only without the laughing part: for me, it's possibly the nadir of the whole back catalogue and Richard's description of it as merely a 'clunky cover' is overly generous. Still, Eric thought it worth a couple of points.

'Anecdotes + Antidotes in B#' is possibly a little unlucky to finish in such a lowly position: I would have liked to have rewarded it more highly, and bzfgt thought it 'deserves way more, but I'm all out of points!' Richard described it as 'less a song, more a pitched pile of rubble... I like it, actually, but not enough'.

My three points for the driving, abrasive, 'Age Of Chang' were all it got. bzfgt couldn't say any more that 'I don't hate it'; Lewis commented that it 'isn't a bad song but the production is appalling, any musicianship of note is lost in the sludgy mix'. Richard also had some sympathy ('the vocals sound as though they’re played from a musty cassette found in the vestibule of some eldritch monastery, which is a vast tick in the Pro column'), but not enough for any points.

It may have achieved The Fall's highest ever placing in the UK charts, but the panel had little love for 'There's A Ghost In My House'. 'Detective Instinct' may have made it through in a weaker group, but here it only got significant support from bzfgt, who somewhat gnomically remarked 'maybe should be rated higher (or lower)'. He was also a fan of 'Service'. I've always found it overly lethargic, and Lewis classed it as no more than one of the 'slightly less poor ones', but bzfgt hears 'something magical' in it. 

Having awarded it eight points, I was disappointed to see 'Wise Ol' Man' make an early exit. Lewis found himself revisiting it with positive results: 'I placed it lower but having listened again, it's pretty good, Pete's guitars are really chiming and I was always a fan of Eleni vox.' Alas, Richard considered it 'forgettable' and bzfgt described it as 'a minor effort', so we have to bid it farewell.

Although it's perhaps one of the better-known of this set of Fall tracks to the casual Fall listener (thanks to Stewart Lee and Richard Herring), 'Kurious Oranj' fell four points short of qualification. bzfgt thought it 'catchy', and Richard and I both gave it a healthy mark, but Lewis thought it 'too long' (a not unreasonable criticism, to be fair) and Eric blanked it altogether.

The (Are You Are Missing) Winners

It was tight at the top, with only two marks separating the top three. Unlike some other groups, none of them received consistent support across the board, each failing to secure a 10/12 mark from more than two of the panel. Eric, for example, thought that 'Paintwork' has 'a consensus reputation that outweighs its actual performance', while Lewis, although a fan of the 'cracking riff', is not enamoured of 'all that dodgy tape recorder nonsense'. 

'Pat-Trip Dispenser' (an example, Lewis thought, of The Fall's 'obsession with sticking the better song on the b-side') was generally well regarded (bzfgt's four was another example of him 'running out of points'). For Eric, 'Mike’s Love Xexagon' is a 'highlight of latter-day Fall weirdness... a masterfully odd cut on a tremendous album', but whilst there is general agreement amongst us that RNFLP is a very strong album, not all of us are convinced that this one of the album's best tracks.

The last qualifier was 'Oh! Brother', which recieved solid support from everyone but me (I find it irritatingly twee and flimsy).

Group 6

Tragic Days, Amorator!, Pilsner Trail, Tom Raggazzi, Athlete Cured, So What About It?, You Haven’t Found it Yet, Pumpkin Soup and Mashed Potatoes, Job Search, The Ballard of J.Drummer, Rebellious Jukebox, Copped It, Hungry Freaks, Daddy, Sons of Temperance, Rainmaster

The Fallen

I can't imagine that anyone is surprised to see 'Tom Raggazzi', a half-arsed stab at reggae that MES seems to have little interest in, not make it past the first hurdle. However, readers might be somewhat shocked to see it be beaten into last place by 'Tragic Days' and 'The Ballard of J.Drummer'. The former is often cited as the worst ever Fall track (only rivalled by 'Outro'), a view with Richard concurs: 'There is no musical or non-musical reason for this to exist'. Eric, however, gave it four points, something I felt moved to query. His response: 

'I like it as a small bit of near industrial noisy Fall, closer to some Throbbing Gristle or Neubauten stray loop than much of anything else in the canon. I suppose I will also be the only one giving it points.'

As for 'Ballard', I know that many consider it amongst the very worst Fall songs, but whilst I admit it's a little weak, it's not that bad is it? It's not even the worst song on that album, and I'd rather listen to it that 'Oh! Brother' any day. That said, Richard does a pretty thorough and convincing demolition of it:

'A pervading myth in Fall criticism is that Mark was a great story-teller. In fact, he was mostly pretty poor at linear narrative, though he could sketch a great lysergic vignette. Sadly, as well as being a barely coherent Western exemplum and/or spot of half-arsed Burns-baiting, this track is also musically valueless.'

Lewis was a lone voice in describing The Fall's version of Zappa's 'Hungry Freaks, Daddy' as a 'superb cover'; Richard thought it saw 'The Dudes take a bludgeon to a cornerstone of counter-culture rock'. We all gave 'Job Search' some points because we like the idea behind it, but Lewis probably summed it up best: 'A lovely gesture for Peel's 65th birthday and I'm sure he appreciated it, but it's just a bit of a f*ck about in the studio isn't it?'

I think Richard captures the panel's collective thoughts on 'Pilsner Trail' succinctly: 'Like a sketchbook for ideas that would reappear in different songs, this is interesting, but was rightly discarded by the group.' 'Pumpkin Soup and Mashed Potatoes' was more divisive. Eric thought there was 'something perversely appealing about MES doing cocktail jazz', but other than Richard (who gave it an eight) the most positive comment was bzfgt's 'not terrible'.

I find the melancholy lope of 'You Haven't Found It Yet' strangely appealing, but am clearly in the minority. It comes from Shift-Work, an album of which Lewis is not a big fan: he begrudgingly gave 'So What About It?' a single point on the basis that it is 'not quite as tedious' as the rest of the LP. Only bzfgt was excited by the track: 'kind of a pop song, I love it'.

The (Are You Are Missing) Winners

According to bzfgt, 'Amorator!' is 'perhaps the one track that embodies Fallness most'; he went to say that he was 'already upset that this won't do as well as I want'. His fears were groundless, the track topping the group by one of the biggest margins so far. Lewis is also a fan:

'The Remainderer was possibly the peak of the last line up's career... 'Amorator!' romps along at a hell of a pace bristling with fun from the group and attitude from MES. And it's not even the best from the EP.'

'Athlete Cured' and 'Rebellious Jukebox' progressed with predictable ease. The often overlooked 'Rainmaster' made a strong showing, and there was consistent support from all for 'Sons Of Temperance' and 'Copped It'.

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