The Fall Cup: Stage 2, Groups C-D

                 

The panel must award a total of 78 points to the songs in these groups; no song may receive more than 20 points, and they must give points to at least 8 of the 12 songs. The top 4 go through to the last 64.

Group C is made up of the qualifiers from groups 5 and 6 in the first stage.

'Amorator!' demonstrated that its first-round victory in group 6 was no fluke, topping this one by ten points. Lewis would have given it 15 'had it not faded out so soon,' although Richard was less impressed: 'a brilliant sound, like a transcription of a long uncertain growl from a tipsy dog, but there's not quite enough musical material here for me.'

'Two Librans' got a clear nod from everyone, Eric for example calling it 'titanic... one of the best rocking riff-based songs they ever produced.' There was not so much of a consensus with our other two qualifiers, however. 'Paranoia Man In Cheap Sh*t Room' was blanked by Eric and Lewis felt that it was 'a brilliant song, but average by Fall and in this case Infotainment Scan standards.' Lewis also remained unconvinced re the merits of 'Paintwork': 'I really don't get the fascination.'

'Copped It' only managed 6th place in the first stage and was way off the pace here, even is Richard appreciated 'the way the serrated guitar vies for space with the huge rolling bass.' 

The remaining tracks all collected some decent marks but were undone by a negative reaction from one or two of the panel. In the case of 'Mike's Love Xexagon', Lewis thought that it was let down by TRNFLP's 'one fault.. the over-reliance on blokey backing vocals.' 'Pat-Trip Dispenser' was scuppered by bzfgt's low score. The strong support for 'Athlete Cured' from Richard and Lewis ('just a magnificent track') was not echoed elsewhere. Richard dismissed 'Rainmaster' as a 'fun, but ultimately inconsequential, rectilinear stomp.' 'Oh! Brother' might have made it further if I didn't find it overwhelmingly twee and fluffy. Richard was largely responsible for ending 'Sons Of Temperance's campaign ('an indie chant by rote'); he was much keener on 'Rebellious Jukebox' - a good deal more so than Lewis and me.

Group D is made up of the qualifiers from groups 7 and 8 in the first stage.

No surprise that 'The Classical' topped the group, but its winning margin of 32 points was pretty startling - it would have been one greater as well, if Lewis hadn't had to 'dock one point because I needed it elsewhere.' Late-era favourite 'Dedication Not Medication', despite being way behind the winner, was a comfortable qualifier. Lewis called it 'a stunner in almost every incarnation,' but directed particular praise at the remix on Wise Ol' Man and this live version:

Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising outome was 'Hurricane Edward' taking third place here (despite only managing 5th place in its first-stage group). Lewis thought it 'mad even by Levitate standards... I do like it but it's a bit too off the wall to progress.' Strong support from myself, Richard and in particular Eric ('a sublime disaster of murk and skuzz') proved him wrong.

The frantic electronica/drum & bass of 'A Past Gone Mad' was a slightly more conventional choice for the final qualifying slot, a song that Lewis has found 'to be becoming more epic with every listen.'

Three tracks came fairly close. Monkees 'borrow' 'Barmy' and 90s chugger 'Return' both fell just short despite hefty marks from bzfgt. (He was the big outlier in this round. awarding an average of just 6.8 points to the qualifiers; unusually, Eric was at the opposite end of the scale, his average of 13.5 being by far the highest.) 'Nine Out Of Ten' was also in touching distance of progressing, but Lewis remained unmoved by its poignancy: 'Almost feels disrespectful to award this such low points, but at the end of the day it's a bit crap.'

Among the also-rans were RPTLC tracks 'Over! Over!' (a favourite of bzfgt) and 'Coach And Horses' ('a charming miniature' thought Richard; 'can't quite fathom what this piece of half baked tedium is doing in the second round,' pondered Lewis). 'The Aphid' is a solid garage rocker, 'but,' noted Richard, 'nobody's conception of the greatest Fall song, one suspects.' Although I only gave it a single point, I feel 'Pacifying Joint' (described by Lewis as 'an enjoyable romp') is a little unfortunate to find itself propping up the table. 

The faller that will probably cause most disappointment is 'Industrial Estate'. It got a decent mark from both Richard and Eric, the latter commenting that 'the only truly "punky" Fall song that I like that much, perhaps because it shows that the group COULD have done that sort of thing ad nauseum, and done it well, but they CHOSE to go off in radically different directions after they'd mastered the basic rudiments of the musical movement that inspired and birthed them.' I found myself agreeing with Lewis though: 'I appreciate its place in Fall history, but it's not much more than a two minute punk thrash.' 

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