1992 - Everything Hurtz
15 February: 15th John Peel Session - Free Range, Return, Kimble, Immortality
2 March: Single - Free Range
9 March: Album - Code:Selfish
22 June: Single - Ed's Babe
For the third straight year the first we heard of new recorded Fall sound came in a Peel session. Dave Bush was now a full-time member after providing some of the 'machines' on Shift-Work and the Peel session showed off that keyboard sound on Immortality, Return and Free Range. But the stand-out is possibly the reggae cover version Kimble which is either awful or genius depending on where you stand. I'm with genius!
(Around this time Wimbledon FC had a player called Alan Kimble. When they featured on Sky Sports I would take great pleasure in shouting 'Kimble' in my best MES voice whenever he touched the ball.)
Free Range was the first single of the year. It integrates machines into the Fall's work rather more successfully than Telephone Thing managed. Smith's "first thoughts on the breakdown of the Iron Curtain" you can see it as 'pre-cog' or as a man with an eye for mixing current affairs with a bit of Arthur C. Clarke.
(It was the last Fall single I bought on vinyl and the last but one full stop. A mortgage, season ticket for a soon to be Premier League football team and a relationship toned down my record purchasing significantly around this time.)
Code:Selfish isn't a classic but is a step up on Extricate and Shift-Work. The Smith snarl is starting to return and while there are still more considered songs such as Time Enough At Last and Gentleman's Agreement there's a harder edge coming back in places. In truth, the Peel Session may have given us a glimpse of most of the better tracks on the album.
Ed's Babe was the last release of the year before 1992 was even halfway through. Perhaps I didn't miss much from not having the a-side in my collection but not buying it meant I missed out on the intriguing The Knight, The Devil and Death until recently. A song without MES (Cassell Webb takes the mic) layered guitars and violin sound slowly drown out the vocal. (Three years on from the split with Brix it's interesting that MES still wants a female American taking some vocals and backing vocals in places.)
Free Range is perhaps a little unlucky not to be 1992's choice (I've changed my mind loads of times during the writing of this) but I'm going with Everything Hurtz. Although Smith describes a particularly bad hangover/drugs come down it sounds like he's having fun with it. We can even forgive him the word 'bitches'. The group meanwhile, get on with rocking out (as the young people might say.)
2 March: Single - Free Range
9 March: Album - Code:Selfish
22 June: Single - Ed's Babe
"I've been pursuing the fuel too long"
For the third straight year the first we heard of new recorded Fall sound came in a Peel session. Dave Bush was now a full-time member after providing some of the 'machines' on Shift-Work and the Peel session showed off that keyboard sound on Immortality, Return and Free Range. But the stand-out is possibly the reggae cover version Kimble which is either awful or genius depending on where you stand. I'm with genius!
(Around this time Wimbledon FC had a player called Alan Kimble. When they featured on Sky Sports I would take great pleasure in shouting 'Kimble' in my best MES voice whenever he touched the ball.)
Free Range was the first single of the year. It integrates machines into the Fall's work rather more successfully than Telephone Thing managed. Smith's "first thoughts on the breakdown of the Iron Curtain" you can see it as 'pre-cog' or as a man with an eye for mixing current affairs with a bit of Arthur C. Clarke.
(It was the last Fall single I bought on vinyl and the last but one full stop. A mortgage, season ticket for a soon to be Premier League football team and a relationship toned down my record purchasing significantly around this time.)
Code:Selfish isn't a classic but is a step up on Extricate and Shift-Work. The Smith snarl is starting to return and while there are still more considered songs such as Time Enough At Last and Gentleman's Agreement there's a harder edge coming back in places. In truth, the Peel Session may have given us a glimpse of most of the better tracks on the album.
Ed's Babe was the last release of the year before 1992 was even halfway through. Perhaps I didn't miss much from not having the a-side in my collection but not buying it meant I missed out on the intriguing The Knight, The Devil and Death until recently. A song without MES (Cassell Webb takes the mic) layered guitars and violin sound slowly drown out the vocal. (Three years on from the split with Brix it's interesting that MES still wants a female American taking some vocals and backing vocals in places.)
Free Range is perhaps a little unlucky not to be 1992's choice (I've changed my mind loads of times during the writing of this) but I'm going with Everything Hurtz. Although Smith describes a particularly bad hangover/drugs come down it sounds like he's having fun with it. We can even forgive him the word 'bitches'. The group meanwhile, get on with rocking out (as the young people might say.)
Comments
Post a Comment