John Peel Archive: F isn't for the Fall...

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Once the John Peel Archive got as far as the first 100 'F's, I reckon most people expected the selection to feature at least some albums by the Fall, but it doesn't quite get that far into the alphabet as nearly half of this lot is dominated by John Fahey (an amazing 25 albums) and Fairport Convention (just one behind with 24 albums). There are six by the Faces and five that feature Jad Fair, so that's 60% of the Fs taken care of.

I'm guessing that a lot of people already know the music of Fahey and Fairport so I will feature a couple of albums that are a bit lesser known and deserving of more attention.

First of all it's Jad Fair and Kramer's Roll Out the Barrel. It is a twisted and rewarding set of left-field pop songs, which does hint at the main bands of both these musicians - Fair's Half Japanese and Kramer's Bongwater - yet there is something very individual about it. It is more of a Kramer record than a Jad Fair one, there are plenty of odd sonic manipulations and not much punk rock. It's also on Kramer's own label Shimmy Disc and features his friend Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller) on a couple of songs. Roll Out The Barrel became a bit of a lost album after Shimmy Disc was wound-up, but happily it has popped up on Spotify and I've embedded it below.


My second choice had to be one of th' Faith Healers albums included. I chose Lido above Imaginary Friend only because I know it slightly better. This lot were big Peel favourites between 1992-1993 and in fact they released a collection of their Peel sessions a few years ago. Guitarist Tom Cullinan went on to form Quickspace, although th' Faith Healers reassembled in 2009 for some ATP festival action. I caught them at the MBV one and they were just fine. Lido was their debut album and is very much a product of the early '90s Camden scene that also gave us Silverfish, Gallon Drunk, etc. I've embedded it below. Imaginary Friend is also on Peel's shelves and also on Spotify if you fancy some more.


There is one more act I wanted to mention, and that is the mid 90s UK hardcore band Fabric, whose 'Body of Water' album is included this week. Happily, I have found an old interview I did with them, so I will upload that as a separate page tomorrow.

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