From martin burbridge Sent Wed, Nov 11th 1998, 12:45
here's the definative rant ... > Just listening to "powderkex" and wondered if a)there are any fans of the > fall out there yes. > and b)if "powderkex" is an abberation or if there fall > releases in a similar style? bit thornier this one. over 20+ yrs the fall style or sound, has changed both beyond recognition and not at all at the same time. they have covered punk, rockabilly, industrial, northern soul, top40 pop, dance, glam rock, techno, disco, drum'n'bass and even ballet among others, while still managing to release exactly the same record, at least 200 times. this is the highest compliment i can think of. general rules of thumb. anything released on the receiver label or live outings can probably only be fully appreciated by regular fall abusers, and those that enjoy the sound of muffled conversations recorded in toilets randomly spliced w/ badly miked snippets of fall music, and or tv shows and radio interviews. please note that this technique can be found on virtually any fall release, but usually takes up less than 50% of the overall running time. if i had to pick quality releases more in the "powderkex" vein (i.e. using similar technology and instruments), i'd go for "levitate" (artful), their latest release (which initially included an ep containing "powderkex") or the earlier "code selfish" (phonogram). although "extricate" (phonogram?) might also get an idm nudge due to the presence of both adrian sherwood and coldcut on a couple of tracks. warning, the vocals on "powderkex" are v. low in the mix in comparison to most fall output. they don't get any more intelligable, just louder. or to be technically accurate 'more shouty'. also most of their stuff you could broadly class as 'guitarica' (fight back, now on. today's weapon of choice - willful ignorance). otherwise, in lance mode personal picks would be: .dragnet/step forward/lp .totales turns/rough trade/lp .grotesque/rough trade/lp .slates/rough trade/10"ep .hex enduction hour/kamera/lp .this nations saving grace/beggars banquet/lp .bend sinister/beggars banquet/lp .code selfish/phonogram/cd .levitate/artful/cd (or 2cd w/ "powderkex" plus others) and the singles compilations .early years/step forward/lp .in palace of swords reversed/cog sinister/lp some re-issued on cd, some out of print at the mo'. resolutely not idm, but i think v/vm and diskono understand. (i don't mind quibbling about any of the above off-line, but as i said its not idm and i don't want to upset aran's tight schmidt) ... hey slates, give us a break. -martin