The Fall Cup

And so we reach the knock-out stage... Group winners from the second stage are paired with fourth-place qualifiers from a different group; second-place songs are paired with a third-place qualifier from a different group. A1 v P4, A2 v P3, B1 v O4, and so on. Tie 1: New Puritan v Chicago, Now! Steve : An incredibly easy one to start with. Chicago is solid enough, but is surely only here due to the last group being a relatively weak one. New Puritan is a work of towering genius. Eric : Where the general narrative through the first two rounds has been surprise about "Chicago, Now!" advancing, my own narrative has been surprise at that surprise. I think it's a great song, unique in the catalog, strong musically and vocally. In the same way that "I Am Damo Suzuki" feels like a perfect homage to Krautrock, "Chicago, Now!" feels like a perfect homage to the slinky jazzy blues of the City of Big Shoulder. "New Puritan" certainly beats "Chicago&

   Before we embark upon the knock-out phase, here are a few statistics from the second stage of the competition... Highest point totals: The Classical (81) Fantastic Life (80) Winter / Dr Bucks' Letter (72) New Puritan (70) Biggest winning margins: The Classical (33) New Puritan (22) Blindness (17) Fantastic Life (16) Only just missed out: Victrola Time / I Feel Voxish - went out on a tie-break Barmy / Kicker Conspiracy / No Bulbs - by 3 points Lowest points totals to qualify: Slates, Slags, Etc. (34) Glam-Racket / Impression of J. Temperance (35) New Face In Hell (37) Songs that qualified despite getting a zero from one of the panel: New Big Prinz / Leave the Capitol / Shake-Off (bzfgt) Amorator! (Richard) Hittite Man / Chicago, Now! (Lewis) Free Range (Eric) Songs that finished 1st or 2nd in stage 1 but didn't make it through stage 2: Nine Out of Ten (topped its group - all the rest came second) Athlete Cured Barmy Cab It Up! Elves C’n’C-S Mithering Green-Eyed Loco Man An Ol

                         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. And so we reach the final two groups of the second stage, with the panel no doubt relieved that there is far less maths involved from this point onwards! Group O  is made up of the qualifiers from  groups 29 and 30  in the first stage. 'Fantastic Life' cantered through the first stage with a 20-point winning margin, and it did even better here, its total of 80 only being surpassed in this phase by 'The Classical's 81. 'Fortress/Deer Park' was a comfortable second, with even its lowest scorer Eric describing it as 'a juggernaut of spleen and spit.' At the foot of the table we had a few songs that only scraped through their first group and were never likely to progress further. 'Sinister Waltz' has a certain quirky ch

                        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 M  is made up of the qualifiers from  groups 25 and 26  in the first stage. This was a particularly brutal group ('super tough', according to Eric), with some high quality songs inevitably going out.  'No Bulbs' and 'Jawbone And The Air-Rifle' were the two most notable casualties. Both were undone by low/no scores from a judge who just couldn't find the points for them among such a strong field. With 'Jawbone', it was bzfgt ('I know it deserves more); with 'Bulbs' it was me, although I have to say I've always found it a perfectly decent song that's somewhat overrated. 'My New House' was particularly strongly supported by Lewis ('fascinating lyrics and typically Fall-like instrumentat

                       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 K  is made up of the qualifiers from  groups 21 and 22  in the first stage. A generally less contentious group than many so far, with only one sizeable mark for one of the non-qualifiers, and only one zero among the top four. Everyone gave an average of at least ten points to those that went through to the next stage. 'Dr Bucks' Letter' and 'Mister Rode' sailed through some distance ahead of the rest, the former gaining an impressive 72 (only 'The Classical' has beaten that thus far). 'Free Range' was hampered only slightly by a lack of love from Eric: 'It's sort of rote techno-Fall for me, sounding and feeling like a lot of other things of that style and from that era, just not as a good.' 'Slates,

                      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 I  is made up of the qualifiers from  groups 17 and 18  in the first stage. I can't imagine anyone is surprised by the top three here, but some may well be by the fourth place finish for 'Hittite Man' , which Lewis considered to be 'a bit turgid.' He was much more positive about 'Psykick Dancehall' ('a great album opener that conjours up mystical and slightly sinister images'); the song attracted decent marks from everyone except Eric, who once again expressed his aversion to 'the Dragnet sound.' His zero left the track four points short of going through, as was the case with 'Wrong Place, Right Time' , where the roles were reversed, with Eric giving it a hefty 16 ('a great riff, crackling drumwork

                     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 G  is made up of the qualifiers from  groups 13 and 14  in the first stage. In FOF circles, Eric is renowned for his championing of 'Noel's Chemical Effluence' (he regularly posts the meme below - see also this thread ), so his maximum mark was inevitable. Whilst this did help it to top spot, it got plenty of support elsewhere, even if Lewis suggested that 'it doesn't really sound like a Fall song... [perhaps] MES' reason for leaving it off Code Selfish .' 'How I Wrote Elastic Man' and 'The Man Whose Head Expanded' are considered to be classic tracks from a 'golden era'  by most Fall fans, and whilst that hasn't always prevented a such songs making an early exit in this competition, this pair sailed