Vanity and Presumption

3 June: 8th John Peel Session - Cruiser's Creek, Couldn't Get Ahead, Gut of the Quantifier, Spoilt Victorian Child 14 June: Single - Couldn't Get Ahead/Rollin' Dany 23 September: Album - This Nation's Saving Grace 7 October: 9th John Peel Session - LA, The Man Whose Head Expanded, What You Need, Faust Banana 11 October: Single -  Cruiser's Creek "I decided to recommence my diary" Listening to this year's output left me wondering if this is the group's most radio-friendly year. The recordings are clean, the singles were accessible but, like the three before and one after, only made it into the nineties in the chart. Once again it's a John Peel Session that sets the tone for the year. The 3 June transmission containing versions of tracks that would be the two singles plus two from the album that arrived in the autumn. The first of those singles landed less than a couple of weeks later. A double a-side, both tracks came in at ar

3 January: 7th John Peel Session - Pat Trip Dispenser, 2 x 4, Words of Expectation, Creep 8 June: Single - Oh! Brother 24 August: Single - c.r.e.e.p. 12 October: Album - The Wonderful and Frightening World of 12 October: EP - Call for Escape Route "Meant well, but it came to nothing" It was a Happy New Year for Fall fans as Tuesday the 3rd of January brought a new John Peel session. Recorded in mid-December (but included here as I go with transmission dates) it shows (with one exception) a move away from the intensity of Perverted By Language. The exception was Words of Expectation - a nine-minute Smith rap/ramble that wouldn't see an official release for more than ten years. Pat Trip Dispenser, 2x4 and creep all display a coming, more accessible, Fall sound. It took a while for that sound to find it's way to vinyl as there was another label change this year - Beggars Banquet were now the home of The Fall. Another independent but one with a bit more cl