Are You Are Missing Winner

by The Fall

Overview

After a winning streak that stretched clear through the last half of the '90s, Are You Are Missing Winner represents a rare misstep for the mighty Fall. Mark E. Smith sounds curiously lackluster on this ten-track set; the accompaniment, usually unhinged, is much more pedestrian than on late masterpieces like The Marshall Suite and The Unutterable. The real problem, however, is the production and engineering; with a few shining exceptions, the sound is soft and muddy, whereas a great Fall LP continually pushes the red line. One of the bare few highlights is "My Ex-Classmates' Kids," with Smith summoning some much-needed venom and the band sounding a bit more inspired. (It comes complete with a hilarious aside from Smith at the end: "Up your nose! Aftershave! Like little twigs! Twigs.") A promising cover of the obscure Motown nugget "Gotta See Jane" (originally by R. Dean Taylor) turns out to be a back-and-forth rockabilly snorefest, and the "avant" (or just difficult) piece "Ibis-Afro Man" (Iggy Pop's "African Man") is pretty difficult to take as well -- it all breaks down when Smith begins dueting with what sounds like an enraged monkey, then starts back up again with five minutes of live recording of the same song which is radically different enough to register as a separate composition. Frustrating, bizarre, confusing (in a bad way), and pasted together with the same haphazardness of the innumerable cut-rate albums that constantly aggravate Fall collectors and fans. ~ John Bush

Product Details

Release Date:	08/12/2003
Label:	Cog Sinister
UPC:	0604388497720

Tracks

1. Jim's "The Fall"
2. Bourgeois Town
3. Crop-Dust
4. My Ex-Classmates' Kids
5. Kick the Can
6. Gotta See Jane
7. Ibis-Afro Man
8. The Acute
9. Hollow Mind
10. Reprise: Jane - Prof Mick - Ey Bastardo

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Fall   Primary Artist
Jim Watts   Bass,Guitar
Bernard Fanning   Guitar,Vocals

Technical Credits

Lead Belly   Composer
Julia Nagle   Composer
Ed Blaney   Composer
Carl Belew   Composer
W.S. Stevenson   Composer
Mark E. Smith   Arranger,Composer
Huddie Ledbetter   Composer
Spencer Birtwhistle   Composer
Ben Pritchard   Composer
Thomas Murphy   Composer
Jim Watts   Composer
R. Dean Taylor   Composer
Tom Murphy   Composer
Les Fisher   Composer
Alan Lomax   Composer
Tommy Blake   Composer
Brix Smith   Composer
James Osterberg   Composer
Iggy Pop   Composer
Helal   Composer
Karen Leatham   Composer
Tom Head   Composer
M.E. Smith   Composer
Jeff Nowlen   Composer
Steve Hitchcock   Composer
Adam Helal   Composer
Grant Cunliffe   Composer
Neville Wilding   Composer
Brian Fanning   Composer
Julia Adamson   Composer
Steve Lloyd   Engineer
Spencer Birtwistle   Composer
Ronald Miller   Composer
Steven Sharples   Composer
Martin Beddington   Composer
Tony Blake   Composer