The Fall - Live In London 1980: The Legendary Chaos Tape (2023)

A resurrection of a cassette-only live release on the Chaos label back in 1980, this artifact features the Fall in an Acklam Hall, London, gig. The D.I.Y. aesthetic of the Fall has somehow spawned many a release mastered from old vinyl and cassette (bad quality just part of the package, you see) and this is no exception the opening minutes are very dodgy indeed, full of tape hiss and dropouts. The performance is vintage Fall, with Mark E. Smith's frequent trips into a high-pitched scream to emphasize a point ("An Older Lover," "Container Drivers," and "Pay Your Rates") and finishing with two of their scariest songs, "Spectre Versus Rector" and "Impression of J. Temperance." Call it past glories covered with a patina of analog distortion.