The Fall Cup: Last 32, Ties 9-12

         

Tie 9: Gross Chapel - British Grenadiers v Weather Report 2

Steve: A relatively easy choice for this stage of the competition. Lots to like about the dark, moody Chapel, but Weather Report is so poignant and inventive that it's a clear winner for me.

Eric: The fact that I'm actually having to think hard about this one offers a fine example of how this project is altering the warp and weft of the tapestry of my Fall Beliefs, because going into it, I'd have made a no-brainer vote for "Weather Report 2" here, hands down, easy. But after living with repeated spins over the past couple of months, "Gross Chapel" is among the surviving songs that has risen the most in my enjoyment and estimation, so I am finding this an actually tough decision. I'm still picking "Weather" in the end, but with more wistful regret than I would have believed possible.

bzfgt: I think I’ve voted against GC a couple times now, and it’s time to give it it’s due. Both are great, though. 

Richard: Bulletins from the realm of dusk, both, but it's the offputting melancholy of Weather Report, even when the lyrics are absurd, that wins out - yes, even over the word "porterage".

Lewis: Bend Sinister being the first Fall LP I bought is always going to be a favourite, I was fond of that brief Goth style even though a lot of the album wasn't Goth at all. In fact as much of Dragnet was in similar vein, and no one ever calls that Goth. And MES was wearing a long black coat and a bit of make up back in late '83. Still, Gross Chapel is the highlight of BS and is certainly of the genre. Weather Report is not Goth by any means, it is a fine piece of atmospheric electronica which despite that plus point I find a lesser song than Chino which does the job properly imo. It's a little bit slushy too. Gothy Grenediers takes this one. 

Result: Gross Chapel - British Grenadiers 2 - Weather Report 2 3

Tie 10: Mountain Energei v Wings

Steve: Another relatively straightforward one for me. Wings is full of driving, crackling energy, but I've always thought it a tad overrated. Mountain - especially in its extended live versions - is a clear winner to these ears.

Eric: This is a much easier choice. I like "Wings" well enough, and it certainly fits into various core Fall narratives about dodgy song placement and such, but "Mountain" is just such a fine and tight bit of Fall fare, odd and engaging in equal measure, one of the tent-poles upon which the excellence of Real New Fall LP's brilliant canvas hangs. That line-up was short-lived for sure, but boy did they click and make magic during their ephemeral existence. 

bzfgt: Previous rounds make me suspect I may be on the losing end this time. Wings is one that exemplifies for me what makes the Fall so uniquely brilliant, whatever that is. How could you write such lyrics? It makes me admire the universe itself for containing such a thing.

Richard: Dear dope, Energei is outstanding, but the threadbare goth guitar and twisted history lecture of Wings still wins.

Lewis: We all dig repetition so I shall say it again, Wings is slightly overrated. It's also a bit relentless and the short change of tempo midway through doesn't solve the tedium. It's the drumming I think, bang f*cking bang. Obviously it's still classic Fall, just that I don't care for it much. Mountain Energei on the other hand is a joy. Seemingly full of fun despite the subject matter, some sort of MES rant about his finances. But unlike Wings, there's lots of subtlety here, not least from the bouncy drums which do not bang f*cking bang, and a pleasing tune from all other instruments. Easy win for Blairstowe and Partridge over the flabby bird. 

Result: Mountain Energei 3 - Wings 2

Tie 11: Dr Bucks' Letter v I'm Into CB

Steve: CB has a brilliantly evocative lyric and deploys the '3Rs' to great effect. But Letter is simultaneously moving, hilarious and sonically thrilling and should definitely be in the last 16.

Eric: Another easy choice for me, with the swirling synthetic gurgle of "Bucks" easily trumping the angular snare-heavy jangle of "C.B." I do have to doff my cap to both numbers as fine examples of MES lyrical humor and fun, and I almost always appreciate when Mark brings those elements to the fore, but the fact that Mark spends "Bucks" gently laughing about himself, while spending "C.B." less-than-gently skewering others makes the Unutterable cut the more appealing. My opinion may be biased at having spent a lot of my childhood riding around in my grandfather's pickup truck, complete with C.B., so I'm probably less prone to mock that cultural touchpoint than others might be.

bzfgt: One of the hardest, yet I didn’t hesitate to vote DBL. I would credit both with the kind of uniqueness that is commonplace at this stage of the competition (i.e., not just different, but in a revelatory way!). DBL vibrates with creative soul. Every great Fall song reveals the mundane to be magical, and this one does that as much as any. CB has a great sound and groove and funny lyrics, and deserves to have come this far. 

Richard: Letter is the sound of a dot matrix printer drifting into alcoholic melancholy, whereas CB is the sound of a manual typewriter dong calisthenics in a bad mood.  Both of these things are obviously essential, but the former is essentialer.

Lewis: Dr Buck's Letter, as one of the first nine tracks on The Unutterable, is a thing of greatness, a deep rumbling bass, Pritchard's first stand and a strange tale from MES. I've generally been kind with Unutterable tracks, have been with this one over the weeks, but now I have to dump it. It's landed I'm Into CB, this means it has virtually no chance of a vote from me as CB is a definite Top 10 Fall song of mine. Everything about it, the discordant instrumentation and the story (always love a MES story), it's just Fall perfection. One day I will have to list that Fall Top 10. 

Result: Dr Bucks' Letter 4 - I'm Into CB 1

Tie 12: Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul v Theme From Sparta FC

Steve: Perhaps the toughest tie of this set for me, but I'm voting for the crisp, exuberant garage rock of Sparta.

Eric: Another relatively easy choice for me. "Lie Dream" is a truly wonderful early single, rich with many wonderful early Fall sonic trademarks, but it's not particularly unique for just that reason. "Sparta," on the other end, is really quite unparalleled in the canon, with its interesting (and fun!) lyrical conceit, the delightful Greek backing vocals from Eleni, and the punch-in-the-face immediacy of the engaging and accessible music. Plus, without "Sparta," would we have had a delicious joy of hearing Mark announce football results? I think not

bzfgt: Lie Dream: another I’ve voted against that I finally get to vote for. As I said before (I think), Sparta is their Touch of Grey—a wonderful pop song one should love, but not a contest winner. 

Richard: Sometimes, no matter how glorious your glamcore yobstomp is, it cowers before one of the best opening lines The Fall ever produced.

Lewis: A singles battle, and a curious one at that. See one is brilliant but has an awful b-side while the other is a bit average but has a classic b-side. And so I can now say that on this occasion the live version of My Ex Classmates Kids beats Fantastic Life hands down, you don't hear that very often. Lie Dream is fine of course, but to me seems a bit throwaway as early Fall songs go, while Sparta is superbly executed as a single through version #2. Oh and the Peel session Sparta is the definitive one while the Peel session Lie Dream is a bit meh.

Result: Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul 2 - Theme From Sparta FC 3

Home page