2003 - Mountain Energei

13 March: 23rd John Peel Session - Sparta FC, Contraflow, Groovin' with Mr Bloe/Green-Eyed Locoman, Mere Pseud Mag Ed
27 October: Album - The Real New Fall LP Formerly 'Country On The Click'
8 December: Single/EP - (We Wish You) A Protein Christmas

"Dear dope, if you wanna catch us - you need a rod and a line"

I don't know why the group went more than four years without a Peel session so let's just be glad that they picked up the thread they left in 1998. And what a return! Best session since the late eighties/early nineties?

There's a bit more urgency about this version of Theme from Sparta FC which really suits it. "Fantastic", said Peel. He's not wrong. Contraflow is up next. Ben Pritchard's 'choppy' guitar is a massive hit with me, but the backing vocals don't quite work as well as the album version.

Green-Eyed Loco Man is more guitar than synth-driven (nothing wrong with that) and is preceded by about a minute of Groovin' with Mr Bloe. A 1970 number 2 for Mr. Bloe it's an odd choice and a pretty odd rendition! (Does Smith say 'Chewbacca' at one point?)

The session concludes with an oldie - Mere Pseud Mag. Ed. is given a tremendous update. It's faster, harder and dare I say better?

So, with new material sounding excellent and release ready why the seven-month wait for a new album? You probably know this but for the sake of completeness...

Planned for release in April, the Country On The Click album was pulled by MES after it leaked on the internet. Jim Watts had left/been fired by this point too so there's also talk of watering down his work on the record. There is, of course, more on the magnificent You Must Get Them All.

Either way, the remixed/re-recorded/retitled album is a massive improvement to my ears. (Would I have thought that if I'd heard the original version first? Don't know.)

I think The Real New Fall LP would be in my top half-dozen. It's marvellous and I think it's the variety that sets it apart. If you have anyone who asks 'what should I listen to first if I want to get into The Fall'  this wouldn't be a bad place to start. Similarly, anyone who dismisses MES as having a 'shouty drunk' vocal style should be made to listen to his range on this record.

Green-Eyed Loco-Man might give the impression we're in for another 'keyboards and synths' Fall record but, as good as it is, it's not representative of what's to follow. The brilliant Mountain Energei, with Dave Milner's drums doing the heavy lifting behind MES' voice, has my favourite piece of Annotated Fall - the note signed by 'The Fish' is from a 1950 Foghorn Leghorn cartoon.

Theme from Sparta FC and Contraflow both slightly differ from their Peel session versions. Sparta works better with a 'football chant' style group backing vocal, while Contraflow benefits from more stunning guitar work by Pritchard.

Last Commands of Xyralothep via M.E.S. seems like a 'standard' Smith speaking in tongues/list record ("6. Avoid fat aggressive men and handsome aggressive men") but I love Elena's keyboard when it kicks in. Open the Boxoctosis #2 is extremely well put together, each instrument getting its moment at the forefront of the recording while MES runs through what was in the box. It may have been clear to him, it's not to us.

Janet, Johnny + James builds on last year's selection. It's faster in the main part which exaggerates the change of pace late on. Is there anything in the Fall's repertoire like The Past #2? Keyboards, percussion, backing vocals and MES's words ranging between barely able to speak through anger into humour into slurring. Elena's 'one finger keyboard playing' gets a bit of stick from some Fall fans but I'm all for it and it works brilliantly here. (The Fall A-Z have this as a group recording initially with the guitars and bass then removed.)

The instrumental Loop 41 (which sounds like it should be incidental music in a suspense film) appeared on the Susan vs Youth Club remix last year and precedes a cover of Houston, which was written by Lee Hazelwood but made famous by Dean Martin. The group play it pretty straight which is more than can be said of Martin in this clip.

Mike's Love Xexagon again has Milner pinning the beat down while MES apparently takes us through Mike Love's creative differences with Brian Wilson while the group give us some Beach Boys backing vocals.

If you've not had enough proper Smith rants on the album then Proteinprotection can deliver on that front. What he's ranting about though, not a clue. Recovery Kit boasts a funky bass line, some background synth and Smith gives an understated performance. It has the feel of a lost nineties classic, like a track that would bridge between raving and chill-out as the clock ticks towards closing time in a club.

December brought us four more tracks. Proteinprotection and Recovery Kit get a re-working, (We Are) Mod Mock Goth and (Birtwistle’s) Girl In Shop are new (although the music on Girl in Shop was all performed by Spencer Birtwistle who left the group in 2001.)

(We Wish You) A Protein Christmas is not an improvement on the original, (We Are) Mod Mock Goth has a weird double track vocal (the version on Interim is much better), Girl in Shop would have been improved by being a couple of minutes shorter while Recovery Kit seems to have been shipped back another 10 years - either that or it's been 'mashed up' with some Yazoo or Eurythmics synths!

Extraordinary amount to choose from for this year, picking from the Peel session and the LP it would be hard to get it wrong.

Mountain Energei is the choice. The tree could be blocking the creative flow (water) but why the narrator is so naive in what it takes to get a mortgage, catch fish or hire a car is not explained. Nor does it matter.