The Fall Cup

          Tie 3: Blindness v Leave The Capitol Steve : It has been pointed out on the Fall Online Forum that LTC won a similar competition around 15 years ago, and, according to one member, 'has been widely regarded as the best Fall track ever.' Be that as it may, my personal view is that, despite its obvious strengths, Capitol is not even the best song on Slates (I'd certainly put 'Prole Art Threat' above it, and possibly ' Slates, Slags, Etc.' as well). I'm still going for Blindness, based on the Peel/Palais versions. Eric : I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if asked to give a curious newbie just a single song to help them understand what the Fall were like, I'd pick "Leave The Capitol," as the perfectly emblematic and representational example of all the elements that make The Fall so weird and wonderful (and occasionally frightening), boiled down into one dense dose of greatness. "Blindness" is a spectacular, ...

         Tie 1: New Puritan v Bury Steve : Something may come along at some point and swipe my vote for the furious torrent of ideas that is NP, but Bury - as much as I love its joyful stomp and council of bad knaves - is not quite it. Eric : In the first round, I awarded "New Puritan" four of a possible 12 points, and in the second round, I gave it three of a possible 20. I picked "Chicago, Now!" to beat it in the Round of 64, and "Shake-Off" to beat it in the Round of 32. I find its original "studio" version (it's not, really) to be of pisstake quality, and while various live versions are more intriguing, none of them seem particularly special or magical to be. I continue to believe that this one has elements of "you had to be there to see it performed live in its time" for it to carry such heft and import, and I wasn't there, so I don't feel it. And therefore I'm voting for "Bury" (I like the "Parts 2+4...

     As we're down to so few songs, there's only a small amount of stats to share. Firstly, here's a round-up of the results: New Puritan 3 Shake-Off 2 Bury 3 Couples Vs Jobless Mid 30s 2 Fiery Jack 3 The Container Drivers 2 The Classical 3 Dedication Not Medication 2 Blindness 5 All Leave Cancelled 0 Garden 2 Leave The Capitol 3 Noel's Chemical Effluence 2 How I Wrote 'Elastic Man' 3 Winter 4 Neighbourhood Of Infinity 1 Gross Chapel–British Grenadiers 2 Weather Report 2 3 Mountain Energei 3 Wings 2 Dr Bucks' Letter 4 I'm Into CB 1 Lie Dream of a Casino Soul 2 Theme From Sparta FC 3 The N.W.R.A. 2 Crop-Dust 3 Last Commands Of Xyralothep Via M.E.S 4 Smile 1 Fantastic Life 2 Fortress/Deer Park 3 I Am Damo Suzuki 4 New Big Prinz 1 It's probably a mark of how difficult these decisions were that 11/16 ties ended in a 3-2 result. The year-by-year distribution of the songs that made it to the last 16 is interesting... Last 16 By Year: The Panel: The numbe...

           Tie 13: The N.W.R.A. v Crop-Dust Steve : Oh God, how to seperate these two? Taken from two very different periods in Fall history, it's challenging to compare them. NWRA is lyrically outstanding, and like Garden and Winter, find the group ploughing a wonderfully repetetive furrow whilst MES pours forth ideas that he can barely contain. Crop-Dust rips off another song, is murky to the point of incoherence, and contains some brutally jarring edits - and yet, with repeated listens to this pair of songs, it has been the defiant, in your face don't give-a-sh*t-what you think arrogance of Crop-Dust that has won me over. Eric : "Crop-Dust" is without question the highlight of the weedy AYAMW, and it's a song that I almost always enjoy hearing, in both passive background and active focus modes. But we all know that the musical components, so important to its appeal, are (along with "Over! Over!") probably the most heinous act of intellectual propert...

          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 ...

         Tie 5: Blindness v All Leave Cancelled Steve : Much as I love the unhinged anarchy of "Leave", it can't stand up to the Peel or Palais versions of what my wife calls "that one that goes 'dung-a-dung dung-a-dung'." Eric : As with the "Bury" vs "Couples" match-up above, this pairing features an stompy, accessible, tight number against a big sprawling assemblage of weirdness. And as in the prior case, I'm going to pick the punchier of the pair. It's delightful that a super-strange b-side like "Leave" has advanced this far, but it's hard for me to embrace it as one of the final Sweet Sixteen entries. bzfgt : I just voted three times in a row for what may be the weaker track. This time I’m going with the blue chip.   No, f*ck it, ALC is cranking right now and this cracked quasi-psychedelia is the Fall I love the most at this moment. Put this in the books with Couple vs Jobless, I’ll own it.  No, I can’t do it...

        Tie 1: New Puritan v Shake-Off Steve : Shake-Off is a glorious mess that encapsulates the defiant, belligerent spirit of TMS , an album whose very existence was a bit of a miracle. But New Puritan was such a seismic shift, a key moment in the group's history, that it simply has to go through. Eric : This feels a bit like a weak match-up to encounter this deep in the contest. So I think I will open with a heresy vote, favoring the final Marshall Suite survivor over the gnomic and interstitial "New Puritan," given the latter's transient recorded existence as a bit of piss-take demo-quality studio fare and a punchy Peel cut, among other live incarnations. I suspect I might be more fond of "Puritan" had I actually experienced it in concert in its time, but based on checking the guys' recorded track record, I've gotta go with "Shake-Off." bzfgt : New Puritan. The Peel version is, musically, probably the best thing they’ve ever done. The ...