small immunities

"But there was nothing about the little, low-rambling, more or less identical homes of Northumberland Estates to interest or to haunt, no chance of loot that would be any more than the ordinary, waking-world kind the cops hauled you in for taking; no small immunities, no possibilities for hidden life or otherworldly presence; no trees, secret routes, shortcuts, culverts, thickets that could be made hollow in the middle – everything in the place was right out in the open, everything could be seen at a glance; and behind it, under it, around the corners of its houses and down the safe, gentle curves of its streets, you came back, you kept coming back, to nothing; nothing but the cheerless earth."
Thomas Pynchon, "The Secret Integration"

This is Ian Mathers' Tumblr. I live in Canada. I've written about music and other things for Stylus, PopMatters, Resident Advisor, the Village Voice, and a few other places. Hi.

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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor

 

So, inspired by somebody on my dash listening to the whole Peel Sessions box in a couple of sittings recently (I’m going to listen to the whole thing today, I think), and the aforementioned BBC documentary on the band, I’ve dug out my Fall collection. It is arranged here in rough order from favourite to least favourite/haven’t played yet (this is my first time with the box, and embarrassingly enough my CD collection is in such a state that I’d forgotten I owned a couple of these!). The picture quality isn’t great, I know, so here’s the list from top to bottom: Code: Selfish Hex Enduction Hour Bend Sinister The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall The Light User Syndrome Nottingham ‘92 458489 A Sides 50,000 Fall Fans Can’t Be Wrong This Nation’s Saving Grace Extricate Grotesque (After the Gramme) The Frenz Experiment Perverted By Language The Marshall Suite The Infotainment Scan The Complete Peel Sessions 1978-2004 Levitate Middle Class Revolt Now, I love most of these albums (down through Perverted By Language at least; the next two I think I’ve played once apiece and can’t remember well, the last three I’ve never played barring the fact that I’ve got disc one from the box on now). Naturally enough for a Fall fan these records come from a dog’s breakfast of labels, some of them reissues, some of them not (although as a North American Fall fan, almost all of them or maybe all of them feature bonus tracks slipped into the middle of the tracklistings; the Fall is maybe the only band where I welcome and even embrace this practice). I also clearly have some gaps in my collection; like every other sane person, I don’t want everything the group has ever had released, but I’m aware that I’m pretty spotty right at the beginning of their career and of course everything after The Marshall Suite (I’ve heard isolated tracks, but nothing yet that really grabs me). I’ve only ever sold a few Fall discs; I got rid of the b-sides equivalent of 458489 A Sides because I was never going to listen to it, as well as 2G+2 (seemed underwhelming) and the Time Enough at Last box (for redundancy). Most of 458489 B Sides I have scattered throughout the albums I’ve bought since as bonus tracks, and Time Enough at Last is still redundant, but I kind of wish I had 2G+2 back. The version of “The Joke” on it is really good! Also, I know I need to get I Am Kurious Oranj, which for some reason I’ve never seen in person. Unlike most bands, and probably partly as a result of their hideous discography, I’ve never ordered a Fall album; I prefer to buy things I actually physically find in stores (well, mostly; in a moment of impulse I checked the website for the used CD store I used to work at, and now I think I’ve got a copy of Liverpool ‘78 on hold for me). Edit: Because I clearly have a problem, the store now has a copy of Seminal Live on hold for me too. Although I don’t always mention the Fall when talking about my favourite bands, well, clearly that’s an oversight; I’m not sure if I own 18 releases by any other band, even (for example) Low. Part of that is of course the band’s ridiculous longevity and productivity, but part of it is, well… they’re the Fall. So, to any followers who also love this wonderful, ridiculous, unique band… what other Fall releases do I need to own?

So, inspired by somebody on my dash listening to the whole Peel Sessions box in a couple of sittings recently (I’m going to listen to the whole thing today, I think), and the aforementioned BBC documentary on the band, I’ve dug out my Fall collection. It is arranged here in rough order from favourite to least favourite/haven’t played yet (this is my first time with the box, and embarrassingly enough my CD collection is in such a state that I’d forgotten I owned a couple of these!). The picture quality isn’t great, I know, so here’s the list from top to bottom:

  1. Code: Selfish
  2. Hex Enduction Hour
  3. Bend Sinister
  4. The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall
  5. The Light User Syndrome
  6. Nottingham ‘92
  7. 458489 A Sides
  8. 50,000 Fall Fans Can’t Be Wrong
  9. This Nation’s Saving Grace
  10. Extricate
  11. Grotesque (After the Gramme)
  12. The Frenz Experiment
  13. Perverted By Language
  14. The Marshall Suite
  15. The Infotainment Scan
  16. The Complete Peel Sessions 1978-2004
  17. Levitate
  18. Middle Class Revolt

Now, I love most of these albums (down through Perverted By Language at least; the next two I think I’ve played once apiece and can’t remember well, the last three I’ve never played barring the fact that I’ve got disc one from the box on now). Naturally enough for a Fall fan these records come from a dog’s breakfast of labels, some of them reissues, some of them not (although as a North American Fall fan, almost all of them or maybe all of them feature bonus tracks slipped into the middle of the tracklistings; the Fall is maybe the only band where I welcome and even embrace this practice).

I also clearly have some gaps in my collection; like every other sane person, I don’t want everything the group has ever had released, but I’m aware that I’m pretty spotty right at the beginning of their career and of course everything after The Marshall Suite (I’ve heard isolated tracks, but nothing yet that really grabs me). I’ve only ever sold a few Fall discs; I got rid of the b-sides equivalent of 458489 A Sides because I was never going to listen to it, as well as 2G+2 (seemed underwhelming) and the Time Enough at Last box (for redundancy). Most of 458489 B Sides I have scattered throughout the albums I’ve bought since as bonus tracks, and Time Enough at Last is still redundant, but I kind of wish I had 2G+2 back. The version of “The Joke” on it is really good! Also, I know I need to get I Am Kurious Oranj, which for some reason I’ve never seen in person.

Unlike most bands, and probably partly as a result of their hideous discography, I’ve never ordered a Fall album; I prefer to buy things I actually physically find in stores (well, mostly; in a moment of impulse I checked the website for the used CD store I used to work at, and now I think I’ve got a copy of Liverpool ‘78 on hold for me).

Edit: Because I clearly have a problem, the store now has a copy of Seminal Live on hold for me too.

Although I don’t always mention the Fall when talking about my favourite bands, well, clearly that’s an oversight; I’m not sure if I own 18 releases by any other band, even (for example) Low. Part of that is of course the band’s ridiculous longevity and productivity, but part of it is, well… they’re the Fall.

So, to any followers who also love this wonderful, ridiculous, unique band… what other Fall releases do I need to own?

  1. torncurtain answered: uhhh Dragnet definitely. Room To Live and the Slates EP, too. Fall Heads Roll is their best new one. I’ll hafta seek out Code Selfish.
  2. imathers posted this

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