Steve Albini – Didn’t We Deserve a Look at You the Way You Really Are
Link: Steve Albini – Didn’t We Deserve a Look at You the Way You Really Are by Steve and Paul Hanley. Published 14 Mar 2022.
There are some great Fall podcasts around at the moment, slowly building our understanding of just how important the band were, and what they meant.
Like Henry Rollins in series one, Albini ends up questioning the Hanley brothers. This unearths an interesting aspect of The Fall – in contrast to a similarly minimal, sparse band such as The Ramones, Albini notes how Smith kept mistakes in the final song mix.
Most groups polish their songs to produce a final, complete artefact. Albini reckons showing the mistakes and decisions draws the listener into the process; I’d add it makes an anti-musicianship statement. Fall songs aren’t about production or skill, but ideas, words, mood and Smith’s persona.
(Linked to this thought: at their best, Can were stellar musicians playing simple music, while The Fall were decent musicians led by a genius getting them to play Can-like apparently simple music.)