The Fall Cup: Stage 2, Groups I-J

                     

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, snappy Hanley bass, MES in fine and full fettle, and great lyrics') but Lewis only giving it a two: 'doesn't do it for me. It works better in the confines of the album and play, but not a standalone track. Quite a few on IAKO have proved to be like this.'

At the foot of the table, 'The Crying Marshal' got some recognition from myself and Eric, but little from everyone else. Richard: 'A gold-plated example of a track that works excellently on its album, but feels featherlight in isolation.' It was joined by 'The Chiselers'. 'Oddball in a charming way,' thought bzfgt, but the general feeling was captured well by Richard: 'loses points because we didn't really need so many versions where the same sections are just shuffed into different orders.' Eric had no time for it at all: 'among a pretty small number of "proper" Fall songs... that I have an active aversion to... I don't like the vocals and the whole "Pink Floyd are short" lyric and related such nonsense, delivered with such seeming serious urgency = ugggh.' Lewis suggested that it was 'best enjoyed on the Peel session which has no techno bit or Mike bloody Bennett vox.'

The remaining four songs all recieved a reasonably respectable score in the 20s. 'Brillo De Facto' and 'Stephen Song' both got some points from everyone. With the former, Richard enjoyed the 'excellent vocals... a superb example of the late MES strangle-gurgle delivery,' but felt that 'the riff doesn't stand out from the crowd.' As for the latter, Lewis found it 'subtle' and praised the way that 'the interesting sounds build gradually as it trundles along,' although he also suggested that the song could be improved by 'getting rid of Gavin bloody Friday' (whose vocals bzfgt compared to Axl Rose).

'Black Monk Theme Part I' is one of The Fall's more popular covers, but it divided opinion here: Lewis rated it highly ('one of The Fall's greatest covers... a real stomper') but bzfgt gave it nothing, and Richard only went one better, although he did comment that 'the dizzying fiddle encompassing Mark's deadpan vocals are a nice touch.' Lewis was the least keen on 'The Past #2': 'just seems a bit half arsed.'

Group J is made up of the qualifiers from groups 19 and 20 in the first stage.

Like group I, there was a much narrower spread of marks here than has been the case with many of the other groups. 'Mountain Energei' comfortably claimed top spot, getting double figures from everyone but Richard, although he did describe it as a 'gorgeous repurposing of The Passenger, for which I wish I had more points.' 'Wings' is generally regarded as classic Fall, and bzfgt certainly had no problems with its reputation: 'The music, the lyrics, the riff - as good as The Fall gets.' Lewis was a little more circumspect: 'It's brilliant lyrically, but it's just a bit overrated.'

'Chino' received 14 marks from Lewis ('MES' mournful and slightly angry account of his hospital experience that at the time we were unaware of... powerful and thrilling throughout') and picked up decent marks from everyone else. I find 'Cyber Insekt' lively and engaging enough, but was quite surprised to see it claim fourth place. Richard was also unconvinced, but the other three all considered it worth double figures, Eric, for example, describing it as 'a beautiful swoony shuffle.'

I was disappointed to say goodbye to 'C'n'C-S Mithering' and 'Ten Houses Of Eve', both of which I thought were more deserving of a place in the final 64 than 'Cyber Insekt'. 'C&C' got a solid eight from everyone other than Lewis, who, despite commenting that the 'lyrics are genius', only gave it five. 'Ten Houses' was largely scuppered by a zero from Eric: 'the skittery trip-hop beats leave me cold.'

Richard and Lewis were strong supporters of 'Before The Moon Falls', but bzfgt, although he thought it 'musically great,' found MES' performance 'a little immature.' Eric championed 'H.O.W.' ('one of those classic Fall bits to be found in unlikely places...  I like the spaciousness of the arrangement, with the various instruments (including Mark's voice) seeming to not fall into agreement in terms of when they should playing and when they shouldn't, leading to unexpected dropouts and overlaps'). 

I gave high marks to both '50 Year Old Man' and 'Solicitor In Studio', but found myself out of step with the rest of the panel. With '50YOM', it was Lewis who had the most contrasting opinion: 'Lose the f*cking banjo, separate the three parts and place them strategically around the album. As it is, bloody awful.' With 'Solicitor', it was Richard: 'Some good lines, and a nice tortured glam feel to the music, but it lacks the cohesion and power of so much other 1982 material.'

Although I didn't give it one of my highest marks, I was quite surprised to find 'Bremen Nacht' in such a lowly position. Lewis felt that the full-length version was 'much too long, to the point of tedium'; Eric found 'a cheesy show-music vibe about it, a sense of trying to curry an excitement that may not actually be justified by the contents therein.' Lewis thought that 'Words Of Expectation' was 'an awesome nine minutes', but it was Eric that captured the prevailing view: 'striving to become another one of those great long-form Fall epics where inexorable instrumental passages are topped with Mark in fine lyrical fettle. It doesn't succeed, alas.'

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