Von Südenfed ‎– "Tromatic Reflexxions" (Domino ‎– WIGCD190) 2007

Who's that on the right, adorning the cover of this electronic underground disco Band? None other than Mark E. Smith, he of The Fall.The other two are in Mouse On Mars apparently? 
Most of the young alt-clubbers who dance to this probably have no clue who the singer is,but thats all part of the fun innit?
Smith always had an interest in cheesy electronic disco,especially like Italian house stuff. I went to see the new, post-Brownies, Fall line up in 1998, and between the groups and before The Fall came on, Mark and his roadies all came out onstage to dance wildly to some cheesy Italo-disco,and seemed to have a wonderful time,as did we. 
He seemed to keep his sense of humour in most situations did our Mark,and i'm sure there's a small element of tongue firmly in cheek with this album too.It's rather good, and one thinks that it would have been better for Mark to have ditched the Guitars rather more often methinks.All those 21st century Fall albums blurred into an over-produced morass of sameness.Ooops,its october, time for another Fall album and tour......although how I wish there was another one coming out in 2020.Would love to hear Marks take on the Coronavirus crisis.
It reminds me of a more drunk and unsexy northern English working mens Gay club version of DAF.....which gives me an opportunity to segue into a Tribute to Gabi Delgado of DAF who died yesterday specifically to join Mark's new EBM band in music Valhalla.To be listened to with a pint of Newcastle Brown ale,or some of paradise brewed local Bitter.

Tracklist:

1 Fledermaus Can't Get It 3:56
2 The Rhinohead 4:16
3 Flooded 4:46
4 Family Feud 4:28
5 Serious Brainskin 3:51
6 Speech Contamination / German Fear Of Österreich 3:59
7 The Young The Faceless And The Codes 4:32
8 Duckrog 2:47
9 Chicken Yiamas 2:36
10 That Sound Wiped 6:05
11 Jbak Lois Lane 2:56
12 Dearest Friends 4:44

DOWNLOAD some flatcap and black pudding gay disco HERE!

Mark E. Smith ‎– "Pander! Panda! Panzer!" (Action Records ‎– TAKE19CD) 2002

A spoken word album of self-penned,like who else is gonna write stuff like this(?) short stories, lyrics, poetry, keyboard and sound effects, and some fragments of Fall songs,mixed as one continuous track......that's the bleeding obvious stuff out of the way.
Our Mark E. Mark only made two solo albums of using,primarily, the power of the spoken word. This forty minute collage is the last one he was to make.I kinds prefer this to virtually any Fall thing from 1991 onwards.
He does in fact mention the great Jimmy Bloomfield,manager of the 1970's version of Leicester City FC, which is a rare thing indeed.
He's a unique combination of comedian and poet,and its a joy to hear him relaxed and enunciating his words almost like it was 1982 again,rather than the slurring pisshead he sadly became.Here he sounds like the kind of popular dinner guest and raconteur that can make your cheese and charcuterie soirée swing.

Tracklist:

1 Pander! Panda! Panzer! 42:55

notes:

includes the following sections: Mount Street Sermon / PPP-The End / Enigramatic Dream [sic] / Life Just Bounces / Copenhagen "Set-Up" / Dissolute Singer / Lucifer Over Lancashire / Lakeland Opus 1 / Sport Duet / Idiot Joy Showland / "plus 5 previously unreleased sentences".

DOWNLOAD Hair! Hear! HERE! 

Mark E. Smith ‎– "The Post Nearly Man" (Artful Records ‎– ARTFULCD14) 1998

Staying in Manchester on the theme of mancunian Poetry....cut to pseudo intellectual skin'ed blogger from near future to explain......
If the kids of the future are still able to read,write and go to school, the works of Mark E. Smith should clearly be on the syllabus. A unique wordsmith was Mark Edward,criminally underepresented in the exclusive spheres of the spoken and written word.
Around the time that seemed to be the end of the Fall around 1998,with the infamous drunken brawl in New York,when the long serving/suffering members of the classic Fall line up walked out on a seriously alcoholic,and abusive Smith. Mark Edward 'S',recruited a new band and created his first solo album,"The Post Nearly Man"; which was a kind of an experimental spoken word collage,primarily featuring Mark's unique style of language and some unaccompanied readings of Fall lyrics.
"Get ahead with your purile slurred word rigmarole and 'purritout('put it out' in English)'", says Mark on "I'm Bobby(part 1)"......And 'Purritout' he did.
"The Post Nearly Man",ironically starts off not with the words of Mark E. himself, but those of fellow initials user, H.P.Lovecraft,and this unnervingly accurate insight into the oncoming New Dark age:

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.”

.....well,I couldn't have put it more bleakly,or accurately myself? Let there be No Light!

After the Lovecraft quote,this CD is a fine work that examines the joy of language,and delivery of therein, which almost becomes an avant-garde tape collage.....(oooooh He'd have hated that pigeon hole!).Frequently used,is that technique that fellow poet,and obvious influence,Don Van Vliet, used on Trout Mask Replica,stopping and starting a cassette recorder or dictophone,to live edit ones parole in real time.
But unlike most 'proper' artists and poets, our Mark, wouldn't waste his and our time explaining himself, its just something he did,and here's the product and the proof.
Question:....Poet, or just drunk bloke doing drunk bloke stuff that we all read too much into, viewed from our pretentious disneylands...ahhhhh!
Personally,in the last ten years or so of the Fall it did sound just like that.A middle of the road post-punk tribute band fronted by a Drunk pub philosopher.......but,indeed,a much missed, Drunk Pub Philosopher......irreplaceable.
From here in The safety of this 'New Intellectual Skin'ed Morass'....RIP MES. 
(read my honest obituary of the great man/drunk HERE!)

Tracklist:

1 The Horror In Clay
2 Shad Segment
3 The Caterer
4 I'm Bobby Part 1
5 The CD In Your Hand
6 Enigrammatic Dream
7 Visit Of An American Poet V 1
8 Segment
9 Visitation Of An American Poet
10 Visit Of An American Poet V 2
11 I'm Bobby Part 2
12 Typewriter
13 Dissolute Singer
14 A Lot In A Name

DOWNLOAD in a post mark e. smith era HERE!