Check the Guy's Track Record

Marc Riley paid warm tribute to former gaffer Mark E.Smith on Wednesday evening, when announcing Smith's death on 6Music. Their relationship wasn't always a smooth one (can anyone claim to have had a truly smooth relationship with MES?), but Riley acknowledged that Smith '...taught me a lot about life and he taught me a lot about music. The Fall were my favourite band when I joined and they were still my favourite band when I got kicked out.'

MES could be cantankerous, funny, ornery, mischievous, confrontational, grumpy, chivalrous, obnoxious, uncompromising, charming, single-minded, exasperating.....plus a thousand other things that made him the complex human being he undoubtedly was, but the unique noises he made with The Fall for over 40 years were wonderful, frightening and often utterly gobsmacking, right until the very end. We'll not see his like again.

The Fall - Auto Chip 2014-2016 

The Fall - Couples vs Jobless Mid 30s

Always Different, Always the Same

Three unrelated artists came to mind while I was watching The Fall in concert a couple of nights ago. 1) James Brown. OK, so this comparison isn't between Mr Brown and Mark E Smith themselves, but more so between The JB's and the sterling work of Elena Poulou, Dave Spurr, Pete Greenway, Keiron Melling and Daren Garratt. Both combos so tight that you couldn't get a rizla between them and in each case leaving the front man free to improvise, safe in the knowledge that they'll be right where he left them, when he chooses to reconnect with the groove. 2) Miles Davis. In later years Miles, like Mark E Smith, enjoyed amending the sound and positions of the band while on stage, physically pushing them forward or pulling them back as they played. During 'First One Today' the other evening, Smith pushed Peter Greenaway to the very lip of the stage, turned Dave Spurr's bass amp up so that his playing briefly became a deafening funky rumble and then unaccountably walked off with one of Melling's cymbals. And Number 3? Chuck Berry. Legendary for not overstaying his welcome in the live arena, invariably clocking off within the hour. Similarly, The Fall gave us 59 thrilling minutes and were gone.

The current Fall line-up is the longest serving in the group's 39 year history and is about to release a new LP, 'Sub-Lingual Tablet'. Listen out for the epic centrepiece ' Auto Chip 2014-2016' when the record hits the streets in May. Meanwhile, this is 'Dedication', filmed in concert late last year.