The Fall Cup: Last 64, Ties 29-32
Tie 29: Fantastic Life v Jerusalem
Steve: Jerusalem is fabulous, especially where the music builds in intensity as MES delivers his rant about the government. But Fantastic Life is just a complete joy.
Eric: No contest here, which is quite impressive given how very good "Jerusalem" is, nominally the final cover standing in this contest, if playing and desecrating a national hymn in the public domain counts as covering it. It's the last non-original in the mix, in any event, and it is glorious, and probably worthy of advancing deeper in this contest. But, alas for "Jerusalem," it has had the misfortune to come up against "Fantastic Life," the very best of the very many B-side and other obscurities that often stand among the finest moments in the wild and wooly Fall catalog. One of the finest studio performances by one of the most accomplished Fall line-ups, a gem by any measure.
bzfgt: Jerusalem is not quite the titan for me that it seems like it wants to be. Fantastic Life is one that really stands out as something no one else would have done; when something is that close to not working, it works even better than it works.
Richard: Jerusalem is a great clash of two visionary writers prone to diagnosing the nation's ills, as well as being an indie banger and a great joke, but Fantastic Life truly is one of the very best tracks the group ever recorded, and I'm not even going to comment on it, so confident am I that I will be able to do so in the next round.
Lewis: This is another that will torment me forever. I think Jerusalem is the highlight of IAKO, or rather IAAPAO without the daft Dog intro. I don't know if WB is turning in his grave at what The Fall has done, and I don't care, I think it's amazingly updated and performed. Of course it would probably be of less note without the "discarded banana skin" section and the subsequent attack on the government, that alone is worth the price. But then we have Fantastic Life, as noted several times before I put this b-side above the a-side and anything off Slates, in other words the best of 1981. Loud and relentless, and played by many Fall fans as a signature tune to his life when MES departed I'd guess. Another listen decides it, I just thought I'd tell you, it's a swine.
Result: Fantastic Life 5 - Jerusalem 0
Tie 30: Fortress/Deer Park v 4½ Inch
Steve: For me, this has possibly been the most tortuous decision of all. You can't deny the sheer force of Deer Park's onslaught of hypnotically jagged noise and fury. And yet I absolutely love 4½ Inch as well - as I said in the book, it 'captures perfectly the overall spirit of Levitate: bleak, chaotic, punishing and yet exhilarating.' In the end, I'm going to let a powerful memory choose: I was away with work the night I heard MES had died, and was working on the entry for Deer Park at the time; I ended up listening to the 20/8/82 live version on a loop while drinking a couple of large glasses of red.
Eric: An interesting pair here, with both songs featuring lo-fi/shambolic intros that morph into powerful, near maniacal storms of sonic shrapnel and sour tones. Both good and noisy juggernauts, pleasing and off-putting in equal measure, but I'm going to lean heretical here and go with "4½ Inch" from Levitate, which has been pleasing me greatly over the past couple of months of re-spinning it. While it hasn't often turned out to be a winning play for me to vote against Hex Enduction Hour cuts in this contest, it seems all but certain that '82's legendary long LP will be amply represented by cuts greater than "Fortress/Deer Park" in the final throes of this thing, while Levitate will likely be leaving the building sooner rather than later. I'm going to applaud it while I can.
bzfgt: 4½ Inch is such an uncompromising and classic track, and although it shows the influence of something or other I should know better than I do, it still strikes me as pretty unique. There’s little in music more exciting than the Hex version(s) of Fortress/Deer Park, though. Interestingly, like Mister Rode, Deer Park rocks harder in the studio, and is more subtly mesmeric live.
Richard: The clatter of Inch is exhilirating, and sounds as though someone has described jungle to Steptoe & Son and asked them to replicate it, but Deer Park's organ drone will not be beaten (though admittedly I'm a little less excited by Fortress).
Lewis: No brainer really, though the crushingly heavy industrial electro Hanley bassline lead 4½ Inch thoroughly deserves to have got this far. Sadly it can't compete with yet another golden oldie and the LBB feelings are back. Deer Park in particular is Hex Enduction Hour in top gear and full flow, driving and relentless and with that majestic bass amp tweak midway through. In fact Steve Hanley has a field day with both these songs, but I'm going for the oldie. Any song that includes Good King Harry f*cking Jimmy Savile has to be worth a vote, as lyrically also F/DP trounces 4½ Inch's admittedly wonderful ecstatic midges.
Result: Fortress/Deer Park 4 - 4½ Inch 1
Steve: There's lots to admire about Hip Priest, in particular the control of dynamics, with the group achieving explosiveness without the use of effects pedals - it's as much attitude as it is volume. But, to rely on the memory banks again, TNSG was the first Fall record I bought, and the sheer, joyful disbelief that I experienced when hearing Damo for the first time is a moment to be cherished.
Eric: I just sort of have it in my head as a verity that "Hip Priest" is an awesome and epic and important Fall cut, but I've been finding myself wanting to hit the "skip" button when it comes up on my playlist of these final 64 cuts. Which sort of surprises me, honestly, especially given how much I've been enjoying its later and punchier progeny (about which more below). So I'm going to go with "I Am Damo Suzuki" for the winner in this tie, appreciating how deftly MES and Crew evoke Can's krautrock, then elevate it into something distinctively Fall-like, and equally distinctively fine. I prefer this sort of homage to the groups Mark loved far more than I do most of the knock-about cover versions that have been left bleeding by the side of the road in earlier rounds of this race.
bzfgt: Tough one; both I love, and neither are quite as central for me as they are for others. I will be happy with either as the victor; currently, I’m more in tune with the Hex track. Although IADS is not devoid of humor, the falsetto on HP gives it a slight, provisional edge.
Richard: That syncopation in Damo is oddity personified, and Priest is rhythmically atypical. Arguably the latter is the more significant song in the canon, but right now, this second, I want to hear some bastardised Can.
Lewis: Another no brainer hopefully, one of the few "classic status" songs that seems to have outstayed its welcome a bit, Hip Priest was undoubtedly a thing of wonder in 1982 but it's become a bit dull 40 years later I'm afraid, at least in its original form. No one could ever accuse Damo Suzuki of being dull, not the person nor this tribute song. I have to say that MES and Funky Si made Can sound more exciting and thrilling than they actually were. A top 10 Fall track for me - I'll have to try and realistically create a top 10 one day.
Result: I Am Damo Suzuki 4 - Hip Priest 1
Tie 32: Spectre vs. Rector v New Big Prinz
Steve: A close one. On first hearing, Spectre provoked a similar 'just what the hell am I listening to' feeling to I Am Damo; and in addition to the almost impenetrably abrasive noise, there's a rich and complex lyric to unravel. But sometimes, the simpler things can be better, and the bouncing glam stomp of Prinz has always brought me a lot of joy.
Eric: Probably another heresy, but the clear choice for me in this contest is to go with the crack-addled bastard son of "Hip Priest." I've not been shy about my distaste for Dragnet's production, though I've also fairly noted that "Spectre" is the one song that's teeth-grinding enough to survive the shrill sonic substrate of its source album. While the merger of disparate noisy and straight-forward bits in various Fall songs often works for me, I don't think the introductory half of "Spectre" is sound or short enough to make it enjoyably worth enduring to get to the far superior second segment, which punches above its weight class. "Prinz" is short, simple, does its job, washes its hands, and goes home, happy with its work. Sometimes that sort of conciseness and directness is appreciated, indeed.
bzfgt: Like Sparta, NBP is a ton of fun but I don’t need it to win any contests. Spectre seems in tune with certain trends in heavy metal around its time, or maybe even a year or two later. It’s kind of confounding musically; it would be a bit puerile if it weren’t so humorous.
Richard: People often ask what track to play people who've never heard The Fall, and I say, play them all Spectre and let God sort them out. Prinz is a wonderful - and surprisingly sexy - shimmying stomp, sanding the shine off a Gary Glitter rhythm, but the murk is victorious.
Lewis: This is how Hip Priest should sound, big and brash and full of glam stomp, not dull and overlong with occasional blasts of angst. Having said that I do enjoy the IAAPAO live from the ballet version where they play NBP mashed up with the studio Hip Priest which must have upset the chin stroking theatre-goers no end. Spectre vs Rector can't compete imo, one of those essential moments in Fall history, but a bit amateurishly concocted in hindsight, although the creepiness does work very well as do MES' screams on some versions.
Result: Spectre vs. Rector 2 - New Big Prinz 3
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