Description
[studio album by The Fall recorded during the summer of 2002. The Fall have released over 30 original albums and a host of compilations. They formed in 1977, were a bit like punks (but not really), have gone through numerous line-up changes and are led by singer and songwriter Mark E. Smith. It seems he is the lynchpin of the whole project. The opening track (“”Jim’s The Fall””) features the murmured refrain ‘We are the New Fall’. Up next is the rumbling rock swagger of “”Bourgeois Town””. Mark sounds bemused to be in middle class locale; but it certainly doesn’t stop him sounding arrogant and sexy. ‘Crop Dust’ is a bleaker track. A pounding ‘Velveteen’ bass line drives “”My Ex-Classmates Kids””. This would be good track to drive to, if you own a car. The next track (“”Kick the Can””) is the best and most energetic song of the album and next up we get the cover of blue-eyed soul star R.Dean Taylor’s “”Gotta see Jane””. Apparently the band had a hit in the eighties with his Wigan Casino classic “”There’s a Ghost in My House””. Next comes the Krautastic (in length at least, it goes on for nearly 10 minutes!) “”Ibis Afro Man””. It’s a weird and funny track. In fact it seems to be two tracks, which occasionally bump into each other-there’s also an extended section of chimp squawking. “”The Acute”” and “”Hollow Mind”” are pleasant enough, quite gentle and ruminative. The album ends up on the wilfully subjective, very long titled, stop start antics of “”Reprise: Jane-Prof Mick-Ey Bastardo””. Hilarious This is the original UK release CD and it is factory sealed November 2001 (CD) Cog Sinister via Voiceprint
Tracklisting:
01. Jim’s “”The Fall”” (Smith/Watts) 3:18
02. Bourgeois Town (Leadbetter, arr. Smith) 3:57
03. Crop-Dust (Birtwistle/Smith) 3:30
04. My Ex-Classmates’ Kids (Smith/Blaney) 3:47
05. Kick The Can (Smith/Pritchard) 5:18
06. Gotta See Jane (R Dean Taylor) 2:17
07. Ibis-Afro Man (Smith/Watts/Pop) 3:21
08. The Acute (Smith/Fanning) 5:36
09. Hollow Mind (Smith/Blaney) 4:55
10. Reprise: Jane – Prof Mick – Ey Bastardo (Birtwistle/Blaney) 1:05
SAMPLES: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/recsradio/radio/B000F3T80A/ref=pd_krex_dp_a
(LP – Side 1: tracks 1-5; Side 2: tracks 6-10)
(CD: tracks 1-10)
Personnel:
Mark E Smith – vocals
Ben Pritchard – guitar
Jim Watts – bass, guitar, vocals
Spencer Birtwistle – drums
Brian Fanning – guitar, vocals
Ed Blaney – guitar, vocals
With:
Julia Nagle – keyboards (track 7 live portion)
Other credits:
Produced by: Mark E Smith, Ed Blaney, Spencer Birtwistle and Jim Watts
Engineered by: Steve Lloyd
Cover artwork: Steve Lee
Recording info:
Recorded at Noise Box, Manchester mid 2001.
Notes:
The CD was sold at live gigs from 8 October 2001, about a month before its official release. The composition credit for track 2 was incorrectly given as R Johnson on the cover. A portion of track 7 is a live recording from the Mean Fiddler, London on 23 April 2001 – it includes Julia Nagle on keyboards (not credited on the album).
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5.0 out of 5 stars their best
Like the majority of Fall Albums, this get’s better and better the more you listen to it. They are one of the best bands to listen to loud so if you’ve got understanding neighbours, turn up the volume.
The album positively screeches into the opening track with Jim’s ‘The Fall’ and continues in the same vein with Bourgeois Town, both are trademark Fall tracks, sneering vocals from Mr Smith and great guitar sounds.
I am not a great fan of ‘Crop Dust’ but other Fall fans may like this considerably depending on their taste, but for me ‘My Ex- Classmate’s Kids is a bloody classic’, possibly one of the best Fall tracks ever and is followed by the rockabilly ‘Kick The Can’ a riff not dissimilar to ‘Hot Runes’ from ‘The Unutterable’ album.
The second half of the album is not as good, the tunes, although wholly listenable are more laid back and not quite so substantial as the first half. Nonetheless ‘Ibis-Afro Man’ (especially the second half of it) is a stormer (don’t be put off by the screeching chimpanzees, as after a couple of listens the track hangs together pretty well).
Not quite at the top of the Fall pantheon but nonetheless a decent abum supplemented by some extra Fall tracks, most notably the plaintive (Rude) All The Time.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
The raw, seething, essense of The Fall distilled into wonderful Riff McNuggets. ‘Crop-Dust’ has a brutal Western-theme guitar hook, which you will not be able to get out of your mind. The cover of Iggy Pop’s ‘Ibis Afro Man’ is teeth-hurtingly intense. Even the lengthy closing number, dismissed as ‘filler’ by some daft septics, is dazzlingly hypnotic (and highly amusing). An improvement on The Unutterable, which has muddy sound and much filler.”
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