Customer Reviews

From Severe to Serene

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Many enter the ranks of ex-members of The Fall, fifty more and counting at present. Fewer of them still make music that gets any sort of a hearing in the record world. This is the first such effort.

This spin-off of Fall keyboardist Una Baines and guitarist Martin Bramah, began, as here documented, seemingly barely able to play despite or maybe due to their tenure under the fearsome control of Mark E Smith as he took over what had been an actual band, The Fall. Now, they are one of my top-five favorite musicians, but any true fan will agree they've dredged up a lot of dreck along with the diamonds over the decades. For The Blue Orchids (named by John Cooper Clarke, who should bring a wry smile to those who know the post-punk Manchester scene), their incompetence continued the raison d'etre of The Fall and of the punk movement, even as they shared their peers' ambition to move into more diverse musical terrain, and even, as you begin to hear halfway through this odds-and-sods collection, command over their instruments and, thankfully for anyone who has to listen to Bramah's earlier songs here, a degree of vocal ability.
Let's just say few postpunk-era singers make you admire MES by comparison.

So, the mingled affection and bemusement that I feel for The Fall I also have for Blue Orchids. There is also an anthology of studio tracks, "A Darker Bloom," as well as other expanded versions of their small recorded legacy. This From S to S collection's very uneven, but there are three of the four songs from their rare side project in turn the Thirst ep that suddenly snap the band into shape wonderfully. These can stand against their peers. The Unknown, Let Go, and Riding the Times all are memorable, catchy, and well-arranged ditties. After that, Una drifts off, the band undergoes many changes in line-ups and seems to shrink, Fall-like, to its founding co-leader, and Bramah seeks to become akin to a softer pop sound, reminiscent of peers now like the Postcard label from Scotland, such as The Associates or Orange Juice.

This spin-off of Fall keyboardist Una Baines and guitarist Martin Bramah, began, as here documented, seemingly barely able to play despite or maybe due to their tenure under the fearsome control of Mark E Smith as he took over what had been an actual band, The Fall. Now, they are one of my top-five favorite musicians, but any true fan will agree they've dredged up a lot of dreck along with the diamonds over the decades. For The Blue Orchids (named by John Cooper Clarke, who should bring a wry smile to those who know the post-punk Manchester scene), their incompetence continued the raison d'etre of The Fall and of the punk movement, even as they shared their peers' ambition to move into more diverse musical terrain, and even, as you begin to hear halfway through this odds-and-sods collection, command over their instruments and, thankfully for anyone who has to listen to Bramah's earlier songs here, a degree of vocal ability.
Let's just say few postpunk-era singers make you admire MES by comparison.

So, the mingled affection and bemusement that I feel for The Fall I also have for Blue Orchids. There is also an anthology of studio tracks, "A Darker Bloom," as well as other expanded versions of their small recorded legacy. This From S to S collection's very uneven, but there are three of the four songs from their rare side project in turn the Thirst ep that suddenly snap the band into shape wonderfully. These can stand against their peers. The Unknown, Let Go, and Riding the Times all are memorable, catchy, and well-arranged ditties. After that, Una drifts off, the band undergoes many changes in line-ups and seems to shrink, Fall-like, to its founding co-leader, and Bramah seeks to become akin to a softer pop sound, reminiscent of peers now like the Postcard label from Scotland, such as The Associates or Orange Juice.