The Fall play Ashton Witchwood, Manchester (0161 344 0321) on Sun 28 Feb, Mon 1 Mar, Tues 2 Mar. Also London Forum on 14 May.
New LP out on May 14; single on Mar 8 (see below).
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LIFE IS "SUITE" FOR THE FALL
The Fall have survived one of the most troubled years in their chequered history to release a new album "The Marshall Suite", out on May 14 through Artful records.
Blah blah
It looked like the band were due to split, but Smith is back with a new 18-track album.....and has announced a new line-up of The Fall - the 22nd approximately - since the band's 1976 inception.
The Marshall Suite is preceded by a new single Touch Sensitive on March 8. The new line-up features Smith, Nagle on keyboards, Tom Head (sic) on drums and new members guitarist Neville Wilding and bassist Adam Halal (sic), who replaces stand-in bassist Karen Latham. Both new members joined after working as session musicians on The Marshall Suite.
The singer has now "sorted out" his problems with the US courts following his arrest and does not have to return to the US to face charges, a band spokesman said.
Meanwhile, The Fall play Kentish Town Forum on May 14, preceded by a three-night residency at Manchester Witchwood on Feb 28, Mar 1 and 2. Tickets for the shows are available from NME's 24-hr ticketline, 0870 1212 500
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Inch is out. It's billed as "INCH feat. Mark E. Smith" On the Regal label
(REG 27 CD) and consists of:
INCH
INCH LONGER
INCH VAL HOOLIGAN MIX
INCH DOSE REMIX
INCH LONGER DUB
Adam reckons it:
...sounds great. The first track is the "original" Peel white label. The
second is a rad remix which bears great similarity to Bat Den DOSE single
with MES "singing". Third track is a different version bearing little resemblance
to the first two. Tracks 4 + 5 are 100% DOSE (with MES a-barkin) and are
similar to track 2.
Corkin'. Essential companion to Plug Myself In - a must-buy. 30 Mins long too. Lets hope the new Fall LP is as good as this!
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Subject: <fallnet> NME review of Inch
http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19990116184116reviews.html
INCH featuring MARK E SMITH Inch (Regal)
Pugnacious bulldog of a tune which began life when NME pressed up a copy and presented it to John Peel as a birthday prezzie. It opens with a telephone conversation between Smith and Inch, the garrulous Manc recommending they play the drums while sitting on a fookin' table. Then, a cross between industria-hip-hop and art-punk hubris fires up, MC Smith, as ever, yelling like a drunkard with a megaphone, grimacing over things which have been getting on his wick of late. That table must be knackered by now and so are we, as the original version of 'Inch' never offers much charm amid the pandemonium. Turn to the DOSE mix to hear the tune cast in a brighter, bolder light, roaring towards both jungle and Digital Hardcore environs. Unlike the other versions, these six minutes fly by thrillingly.
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THE FALL
The Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit)
Wot, no 'Who makes the Nazis?'? It was an impossible task that Steve Hanley
set himself in compiling these Peel sessions: how do you, as the bassist,
look back on the career of a band whose mission statement has always been
to never look back? How do you appease the obsessive Fall fans (is there
another breed?) who've already bought full, crappy-quality tapes of all these
sessions from Camden Market? Well, Hanley's decided to bypass all that and
just pick his 17 favourite tracks from 20 years of Peel Sessions, and it's
alright. There's a chance to hear their version of the '60s garage blast
'Strychnine' - taut and testy but less deranged than 'The Cramps' - there's
The Fall's first chaotic radio rumblings with 'Rebellious Jukebox', there's
'New Face In Hell', the only Fall song that Pavement directly ripped off
(for 'Conduit For Sale'), there's '2 By 4' and 'Cruisers Creek', the former
ruined by Brix's narked mewling, the latter brilliantly informed by her guitar.
And there's a perfect, stark version of their best song (letters to usual
address, please), 'Winter'. But you're left with two distinct impressions.
Firstly, that The Fall were better when Mark E Smith was more mad/less pickled
and wrote longer lyric sheets; and that the fan would've been better served
with full sessions. Less work for Hanley, more money for The Fall and
comprehensive for the fan. Obvious, really.
7/10
Ted Kessler
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Review from 'Alternative Press" Nov. 1989
The Fall
Seminal Live
Cab It Up (UK 12")
The Fall is one of the most brilliant bands to emerge from the United Kingdom. Led by the visionary Mark E. Smith, the band has consistently crushed the constraints of structure in a way that most bands cannot parallel. The Fall is so incredibly awful that it's amazing they have a record deal. The amateur vocals of Mark Smith will undoubtedly give him new employment opportunities as the replacement voice for the cartoon character Mr. Magoo, in wake of Jim Backus' death. The band plays with as much mobility as a ballet company would if their feet were super-glued to the floor. Confused? well, that's the Fall.
Seminal Live and its companion single "Cab It Up" are the latest documents of a band that can still make peoplesmile, cringe, or do both. "Cab It Up" has a neat hook propelled by Steve Hanley's bass and flourishes from Marcia Shoenfeld's playful keyboards. A remix would have clubs twisting the night away. "Dead-beat Descendant" is the Fall riotingon Sunset Strip, stemming from guitarist Brix' appreciation for sixties grunge. Great tracks. The live B-sides are OK; "Kurious Oranj" runs about three minutes too long and "Hit The North"doesn't pound the way the original single did. I love the two syllable reading of the word "north-a."
The Lp is split into studio/live sides and does affirm the record's title. "Pinball Machine" has got to be from the movie Deliverance with its country blues prodding and vocals that make Shane MacGowan sound like Pavarotti. "H.O.W." sounds like a pointless meandering rehearsal. Dodgy recording on "Squid Law" makes more sense and is far more interesting than a pleasant mix. For pure weirdness value, look no further than "Mollusc in Tyrol," a musique concrete rave-up on top of a Neubauten "Yu-Gung" rhythm track that's been buried alive. As usual, I can't figure out what the Mark S.-man is going on about.
Side two is culled from gigs in Manchester and Vienna recorded last year. the recording quality is a little better than most bootlegs, but not by much. The performances alternate from tremendous ("Cruisers Creek" and "Pay Your Rates(ah)") to pedestrian ("Victoria,""L.A."). I'm glad the Fall is still around because they either fascinate or downright suck wind. That's admirable because I'd rather take an extreme than be bored. (Beggars Banquet/RCA) -Jason Pettigrew
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Recent news....
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990214 not
much
990207 various stuff
990128 Peel Sessions CD review
990118 Uncut pieces, Marcia interview, NZ art
collection
990110 NME LA2 review, modern rock sociology
990103 Manchester Ritz reviews
981220 Bristol F&F and London LA2 reviews,
cut-out-and-keep guide to recent reissues
981214 NME & MM short pieces
981206 Dazed and Confused interview
981130 Nottingham 92 sleevenotes
981123 NME and MM news
items
981116 nothing special
981109 Peel session reactions
981102 Melody Maker singles review, Action Records
details
981026 St Bernadette's Hall reviews, Astoria ticket
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981019 various
981009 NME interview, TBLY #13
981005 F-olding Money lyrics, couple of PNM reviews,
Simon Rodgers' career
980927 Live Various Years details/review, 1994
interview
980920 more snippets
980914 bits & pieces
980907 NME interview, Post Nearly Man reviews,
Mojo's How to Buy The Fall, Something Beginning With O
980831 Inertia tour details
980825 various snippets
980817 Observer interview, Manchester and LA2 gig
reports
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details, previews. Rick.
980802 Spoken word LP press release, Northern Attitude
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Old stuff: Nov 1997 - July 1998
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