Have we done this? If not then let’s do so now. I am working my way through The Fall’s Complete Peel Sessions and what a mighty thing it is. Though I’m not a Peel obsessive, the session from 1983 that marked the end of the Rough Trade years and saw them canter through Smile, Garden, Hexen Definitive/Strife Knot. Three are significantly extended from the versions on Perverted by Language and benefit from the clutter-free studio production. It’s perhaps the perfection of the Krautrock sound they had at this time, that felt like it could go on forever once they hit a groove. So we’re after not just great artists and songs, but where the session versions really hit the spot. Here’s a mighty version of Eat Y’Self Fitter (in comments) featuring the two-drummer line up in all its glory. And one Wikipedia anecdote to whet your appetite: When Peel had first heard the track – in a session the band recorded in March 1983 – he stated on air that he had fainted and his producer, John Walters, had had to resuscitate him. The fact that Peel took this to his Desert Island and I would have guessed he used » Continue Reading.