Cramer K.
cramerica.bsky.social
Cramer K.
@cramerica.bsky.social
Movies and soccer, mostly
31 Days of Mark E. Smith-mas, Day 8: THIS NATION’S SAVING GRACE. If this is your favorite Fall album, I get it. I slightly prefer HEX but it’s just splitting hairs. More fun than most of their records, with a tad more swagger. Brix really came into her own on this one.

youtu.be/3okaBjf9_B4?...
Paintwork (Remastered)
YouTube video by The Fall - Topic
youtu.be
December 8, 2025 at 6:47 PM
31 Days of Mark E. Smith-mas, Day 7: THE WONDERFUL AND FRIGHTENING WORLD OF THE FALL. MES goes pop! Kinda. Brix’s first full record, the end of the two drummers era, and the cleanest production of any Fall record to date. The cassette version (with C.R.E.E.P.) is best.

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The Fall - C.R.E.E.P.
YouTube video by Contraflow
youtu.be
December 7, 2025 at 10:43 PM
31 Days of Mark E. Smith-mas, Day 6: PERVERTED BY LANGUAGE. It’s like William S. Burroughs was fronting Tago Mago-era Can (complimentary). You can almost whistle one or two of these songs. Would’ve loved to have been at The Hacienda when they recorded Tempo House.

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Tempo House
YouTube video by The Fall - Topic
youtu.be
December 6, 2025 at 10:50 PM
31 Days of Mark E. Smith-mas, Day 5: ROOM TO LIVE. Most Fall albums sound slapdash at first blush which belies an incredible thoughtfulness in both music and lyrics. This just keeps sounding slapdash, 40+ years later. The first Fall album that I don’t truly love.

youtu.be/QWRdMYhcdUw?...
Detective Instinct
YouTube video by The Fall - Topic
youtu.be
December 5, 2025 at 3:36 PM
31 Days of Mark E. Smith-mas, Day 4: HEX ENDUCTION HOUR. My favorite Fall album, and favorite album of the 1980s. A monumental, un-fuck-withable album of humor, vitriol, phantasmagoria, and sonic adventure. The addition of a second drummer was a masterstroke.

youtu.be/dx10715hFKo?...
Hip Priest
YouTube video by The Fall - Topic
youtu.be
December 4, 2025 at 9:13 PM
And today’s GROTESQUE, which would be an all-timer if concurrent singles “How I Wrote Elastic Man” and “Totally Wired” were included. As it is, it’s an album that I don’t return to very often. But it’s their first record that doesn’t sound like it was recorded with tin cans.
youtu.be/1DXBR3oxlr0?...
New Face In Hell
YouTube video by The Fall - Topic
youtu.be
December 4, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Then yesterday was DRAGNET, which might crack my personal Top 3 Fall albums? More mature than its predecesor, darker, more inventive, and just fuckin rocks. “They say music should be fun /
Like reading a story of love /
But I want to read a horror story.” Me too, Mark.

youtu.be/ArJ9EMxsf9c?...
Dice Man
YouTube video by The Fall - Topic
youtu.be
December 4, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Kicking it off was LIVE AT THE WITCH TRIALS, which is as fully-formed a mission statement as any band could ever have for a debut album. Literate, irreverent, at times inscrutable, cool as hell. Took me way too long to realize that “No Christmas for John Quays” is a pun.

youtu.be/z6oFtDJ623g?...
No Xmas for John Quays
YouTube video by The Fall - Topic
youtu.be
December 4, 2025 at 12:20 AM
I’m Cramer and I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about Joe-Max Moore.
July 25, 2025 at 8:51 PM