THE FALL – SEMINAL LIVE LP – Nr MINT UK INDIE PUNK

The Fall – Seminal Live
(Beggars Banquet Records  1989  BBL102)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Sleeve & Vinyl in Nr MINT condition

The Fall were an English post-punk group, formed in 1976 in Prestwich, Greater Manchester. They underwent many line-up changes, with vocalist and founder Mark E. Smith as the only constant member. The Fall’s long-term musicians included drummers Paul Hanley, Simon Wolstencroft and Karl Burns; guitarists Marc Riley, Craig Scanlon and Brix Smith; and bassist Steve Hanley, whose melodic, circular bass lines are widely credited with shaping the band’s sound from early 1980s albums such as Hex Enduction Hour to the late 1990s.

First associated with the late 1970s punk movement, the Fall’s music underwent numerous stylistic changes, often concurrently with changes in the group’s lineup. Nonetheless, their music has generally been characterised by an abrasive, repetitive guitar-driven sound, tense bass and drum rhythms, and Smith’s caustic lyrics, described by critic Simon Reynolds as “a kind of Northern English magic realism that mixed industrial grime with the unearthly and uncanny, voiced through a unique, one-note delivery somewhere between amphetamine-spiked rant and alcohol-addled yarn.” While the Fall never achieved widespread success beyond minor hit singles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they have maintained a strong cult following.

The Fall have been called “the most prolific band of the British post-punk movement.” From 1979 to 2017, they released thirty-two studio albums, and more than three times that number when live albums and compilations (often released against Smith’s wishes) are taken into account. They were long associated with BBC disc jockey John Peel, who championed them from early on in their career and described them as his favourite band, famously explaining, “they are always different; they are always the same.” Smith’s death in 2018 effectively put an end to the group.

Seminal Live is a 1989 album by British rock band The Fall, recorded partly in the studio and partly at live performances in 1988. The album was the last to be released by the group through Beggars Banquet Records, and as such is often seen as a “contractual obligation” album. It was also the last Fall album to feature Brix Smith, former wife of lead singer Mark E. Smith, until her return for 1995’s Cerebral Caustic.

The studio recordings on Seminal Live were all new songs and make up the first five tracks of the album—side one on the original vinyl release. The live recordings on side two, meanwhile, are all versions of previously-released tracks.

In a 2006 interview with The Pseud Mag fanzine, keyboardist Marcia Scofield called Seminal Live “the worst piece of shit I have ever worked on […] Talk about exhausted and out of ideas. It was one of those-we’ve just come off tour and have to make a record so what shit covers can we bung on it?-album”.

Track listing

Vinyl version

Side one (Seminal)

1. “Dead Beat Descendant” (Mark E. Smith, Brix E. Smith) – 2:25
2. “Pinball Machine” (Lonnie Irving) – 2:53
3. “H.O.W.” (M. Smith) – 4:18
4. “Squid Law” (M. Smith, Steve Hanley, Craig Scanlon) – 3:42
5. “Mollusc in Tyrol” (M. Smith, Craig Leon) – 5:10
   • A home recording of Mark E. Smith singing over “Donkeys Bearing Cups” from Leon’s Nommos LP)

Side two (Live)

1. “2 × 4” (M. Smith, B. Smith) – 3:55
2. “Elf Prefix”/”L.A.” (M. Smith, B. Smith) – 5:02
3. “Victoria” (Ray Davies) – 2:57
4. “Pay Your Rates” (M. Smith) – 3:52
5. “Intro/Cruisers Creek” (M. Smith, Simon Rogers) – 6:58

Personnel

• The Fall:
  • Mark E. Smith – vocals; violin on “Elf Prefix”
  • Brix Smith – guitar and vocals on “Dead Beat Descendent”, “Squid Law” and live tracks only
  • Craig Scanlon – guitar
  • Steve Hanley – bass guitar; banjo on “Pinball Machine”
  • Simon Wolstencroft – drums
  • Marcia Schofield – keyboards
• Bill Grundy – voice on “Intro” (uncredited)