The Fall Cup: The Final, pt 3

                

And so, after six months, 51 posts and thousands of words, we finally reach the end of the road and announce the winner of this Fall Cup...

But before we get to the final result, a few thanks:

- To those on the Facebook groups Mighty Fall and It's Not Repetition... who liked and commented (often incredulously!)

- Similarly, to those who did likewise on Twitter, especially Paul Garratt, who reliably gave his verdict on pretty much every tie.

- To the good folk on the Fall Online Forum, who contributed over 1300 posts to the 'Fall Cup' thread and never hesitated to express their views in their inimitably frank way!

- And finally, of course, to Eric, bzfgt, Richard and Lewis, whose thoughtful, entertaining and perceptive commentary made this both an enjoyable read and a pleasure to run. Thanks for your good company guys.

Right, on with the results...



Scores after the second round:

25 Winter
22 Dr Bucks' Letter
20 New Puritan
13 Last Commands Of Xyralothep Via M.E.S.

Round 3

As I mentioned in the first round of the final, Lewis gave an overall commentary on this last stage rather than on a tie-by-tie basis. Here's what he said:

Basically, at this point and given the choices, I want New Puritan to win. I don't agree with this talk of it not getting an official album release as The Fall did things differently, so along with NP were several other well known songs that never got the official status, ie. Backdrop, Words Of Expectation, Mess Of My and Eric's baby, Noel's Chemical Effluence. There's probably more. 

Of the others, and all are worthy (and pleasingly alternative) contenders, Xyralopthep and Dr Bucks' Letter are the biggest surprises. Few would have thought these would be in the final when we started this, experts included. I place Xylralothep on a par with Winter in terms of points earned, both pleasing me equally despite being totally different beasts. This leaves Dr Bucks' Letter which is obviously a tremendous song to get here, though to my lugs not quite the best from the Unutterable album. 


New Puritan v Last Commands Of Xyralothep Via M.E.S.

Steve: 4-0
My voting record and comments so far should make this result no surprise to anyone.

Eric: 0-4
This is the only 0-4 score I'm giving in the final round, the case where I like everything about "Last Commands" more than I like anything about "New Puritan." Heresy, I know. But I'm sticking with it.

bzfgt: 4-0

Richard: 1-3
Poor old Puritan, the only track to get 3 defeats from me - but being last out of the top 4 is no shame.

Lewis: 3-1


Winter v Dr Bucks' Letter

Steve: 1-3
If ever I am asked for my favourite Fall song, I always respond that that's an impossible question to answer, but then I generally go on to say something like, 'At the moment, it's either x or x or x.' In that list of three, 'Paintwork' is often there, as are 'Blindness', 'Proteinprotection' and a handful of others. But DBL is always there, which I guess might actually make it my favourite. But 'Winter' is too good not to trouble the scoreboard, so 3-1 it is.

Eric: 2-2
A long, stately song built primarily around traditional instrumentation, vs a long, stately song built primarily around grinding electronic pulses. A super-fine "original" lyric, vs another super-fine lyric that incorporates a sublime example of MES's patented magpie approach. I can't say I even slightly favor one over the other, so this is a true draw result for me, and I'm glad I don't have to pick one over the other.

bzfgt: 4-0

Richard: 2-2
Alright, screw it, I give in. These 2 tracks are so incredibly different, but both basically perfect to my mind, there's nothing I would do to change either, and so I'm calling it a draw. Let someone else make the decision.

Lewis: 3-1


The final scores:

37 Winter
32 New Puritan
30 Dr Bucks' Letter
21 Last Commands Of Xyralothep Via M.E.S.

Therefore, Winter is crowned as the champion of this competition.


[There have been some issues with people being unable to post comments on the blog, which I have hopefully fixed - so feel free to share your views!]

Thanks again to everyone who got involved. 

All the best,

Steve




Comments

  1. Nick EvansMarch 1, 2024 at 9:34 AM

    Thanks so much to all the panel for a hugely entertaining, informative and well-run cup. Really enjoyed and appreciated

    ReplyDelete

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