This has been out a couple of months by the time you’ll read this. Do we worry about release cycles any more? I’m not too worried. Though there’s a strong chance that the core Fall fan, especially the sort to salivate over studio slurry, probably does worry. Bless his male-pattern CAMRA farts heart.
Speaking of salivating over slurry, here’s the latest iteration in “the new normal”. This is the bit that involves a re-issue of something by The Fall, rather than the bit where fascism just draws a whacking great cock and balls over everything. Every cloud has a Fall re-issue associated with it.
But at least we’re in the realm of canonical Fall. Something I’ve always avoided, as someone who’s proven incapable of not liking stuff by the Fall, is the live album, the bootlegs, the b-sides collections and that. Production values are choppy enough without going into records that sound like rubbing a cardboard box against a drain near a venue the Fall may have been playing in. I mean, they’re necessarily choppy — Reformation Post TLC isn’t the record to demonstrate it (it’s actually a pretty nice sounding record), there’s plenty in the catalogue to demonstrate Mark E Smith‘s capacity for delivering a kind of pan-fidelity — crappy dictophone hotpotches mixed with crisply recorded drums or whatever. Anyway, it’s big boxset, there’s lots to cover, I don’t want keep you too long, I’m sure you’ve got plenty to be getting on with.Disc 1 – Reformation Post TLC
Where does Reformation Post-TLC sit? It’s at one of those points of changing over members, which is usually a good sign. It was a time of the pan-Atlantic bands, which probably isn’t that far away from pick-up bands. That is, there was an American Fall and a British one, depending on where the gig was. Didn’t last that long. Explains the presence of speed and trucking classic “White Line Fever”. There’s also a jammy song with some slinky slap bass. Yep. I was surprised, but it’s literally there. It’s called “Insult Song”, and seems to involve Smith affecting some sort of accent he may believe to be American. “We thought they wore masks / until we asked them to take them off / they took the trout replica a bit too far / […] they were a bunch of twats”.I wonder now if there isn’t a couple of things that come up here that became staples of what you might call late-phase Fall. The kind of willful opacity and lyrical playfulness of a Joycean modernism (“following their leader blindlessly”). The dog-training thing of letting off the leash a bit with some more open, jammy forms, choking back on Fall standards (garage-y numbers “Systematic Abuse” and “Reformation”).
I’ve no real idea of her influence, but it seems like the record where Elena Polou was front-and-centre — “The Wright Stuff” has her detailing some surreal story of what I like to assume is Matthew Wright and his “… false plastic women’s bosoms under his TV desk and dressing room”. And the obtuse staccato electronic whirling of “Das Boat” strikes me as somehow very Elena. Oh, also there’s a weird thing where references to Captain Beefheart keep popping up — “Insult Song” mentioning Trout Mask Replica, “Scenario”‘s quoting “Veteran’s Day Poppy”. It also references “Pal Of My Cradle Days”, which is an Irish housewife’s favourite.Long and short of it is that it’s largely opaque even by Fallian standards. What allusions are discernible give nothing away. If it was a weather front it’d consistently Fall with patches of fuckry.
Disc 2 – Alternate Mixes
Well… you’ve heard most of this already. Not to say there isn’t value in a longer version of “Das Boat”, but this is largely alternate mixes. “Fall Sound” has Elena much higher in the mix and is probably a bit more like the live version, and IMO preferable. Really, this CD has “completist guff” written all over it. I like completist guff myself, but you may not be unwell to such a degree that you’ll soak up vestigial silage.Disc 3 – Early Rough Mixes 2006
Well if it isn’t my old friend, alternate mixes. Fuck’s sake. Look, I’m not going to say that I don’t appreciate the insight into a Smith-less band, given that these largely are prototypical instrumentals. But this is well into the realm of the worst sorts of balding corners of Falldom.
I should say, given my aggravation as studio slurry, that this isn’t by any means a cheap cashgrab — the liner notes are copious and offer plenty of insight. I just need to be clear that if you’re looking to get this album and you’re not up for a lot of marginally different takes on the same songs, it’s probably worth steering towards a second-hand copy of the original CD. If you do fancy filling your boots with that stuff, then you’re probably not going to wait for this review to spend your hard-earned on this disc.Disc 4 – Live at Hammersmith Palais April 1 2007
Ah. So yeah in fact I did say earlier that I’m not that about live shows, but this is a banging live show. It’s well-recorded. The set covers a fair range of material — evergreens like “White Lightning” and “Wrong Place, Right Time”, a fair amount of twentieth century classics (“Blindness”, “Theme From Sparta FC”), and a few from the album du jour, which is Reformation Post TLC. You see? It all fits together thematically.
I’m not really in a position to judge live albums, but this isn’t shitely recorded, Smith isn’t pissing about excessively, the band are on point. No bones with this existing, innit.Yeah, so basically there’s a couple of ways to look at this — if you think a twentieth century live show and a re-issue are worth it, this is your boy; if you like out-takes and that, may G_d have mercy on your soul, you sick fuck. It’s a banging record, but most of them are. For my money it’s not got much in the way of surprises — I’d stick with Levitate — but you do you, babe. You’re worth it. I believe in you.
-Kev Nickells-
