Soi Disantra: SD Hall of Fame: The Fall, Grotesque (After the Gramme)

May 04, 2006

SD Hall of Fame: The Fall, Grotesque (After the Gramme)

For lots of people, picking the best Fall album is a near-impossible task. And I suppose that could be the case. After all, MES and crew have dropped near 30 albums, a good half of which can be described as really good. OK, definitely a third. But there really isn’t that one record everyone can agree on as the high point. Which is part of what makes the Fall so wonderful. And frightening, I suppose. (Actually, what makes that the case is not the sheer volume, but the number of reissues. For example, this album right here has been reissued five different times. Now that’s just fucked up.) But anyway, I think that’s all bullshit. Because it’s simple – the best album by the Fall is Grotesque. End of story.

1. The NRWA – The best Fall song of them all? Quite possibly. Of course, this version isn’t as strong as the live version on A Part of America Therein, but that’s just par for the course for the Fall, making sure they have no such thing as a casual fan, as you have to dig all around to find the best stuff. Like all long songs should, it keeps you engaged lyrically from start to end, even though I’m still not exactly sure what Tony and the Totales are up to. I’ve been ripping off this song for so long.

2. The Container Drivers – It’s a really tough call between this one and the next one. ZR and I were arguing back and forth on IM yesterday about it. Here’s why I’m going with this one. There’s no let up – it starts with a drum roll (which comes back every so often, as should happen in most songs) and from there it’s just three straight minutes of that wonderful c.1980 Fall psychobilly-esque/post-punk sound, which is my favorite sound of the Fall, which is why this album is the easy favorite. Bonus points for being a song that I directly, unabashedly ripped off for one of the first FA songs. (Seeing a trend?) Extra bonus points for the great line, “Communists are just part time workers.” Part Time Workers … that’s a great band name, someone should really use that.

3. Pay Your Rates – ZR prefers this one, and like I said, it’s closer. He likes that it's so agitated, and it's true, it's an especially agitated song even by MES standards. The lyrical simplicity is a welcome change, actually. Instead of fitting in the normal few hundred words, most of the song is just some sort of riff on the title.

4. English Scheme -- I have a love/hate relationship with keyboards. Actually, that's not too accurate. It's more of a hate relationship. Sort of like with LeBron James. Seriously, once again, fuck that guy. He's the best talent to come along in ages, but here's the deal, dude. Everyone gets called for fouls. You don't have whine like a little fucking bitch every time it happens to you. We're still winning this thing. This Wiz team loves being pushed the edge then come roaring back. As for this song, this is how keyboards and guitars should always interact.

5. New Face In Hell -- This one wins barely wins out over "Gramme Friday" for a couple reasons. First off, the squealing manner in which MES delivers the title is very wonderful. And second, it shows us folks who only know two or three chords that we can still jam out. Is that a good thing? Up for debate. Also, wouldn't it be cool if some band would come along and just totally, shamelessly rip this song off so as to set the standard that it is OK to do so with the Fall?

Worst Song -- -- WMC-Blob 59
An obvious and easy call. In fact, I didn't even burn this into my iTunes. Slightly blasphemous? Eh, perhaps. Especially when I have The Marshall Suite on there in its entirety.

Previous Inductees
Bob Dylan, Desire
Beulah, When Your Heartstrings Break
The Wedding Present, Watusi
The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground and Nico

--DM--

May 04, 2006 | Permalink

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Soi Disantra

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May 04, 2006

SD Hall of Fame: The Fall, Grotesque (After the Gramme)

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