[peel] Digest Number 706

[Phyll@...]

Personally i really enjoyed the festive fifty this year. Lots of good stuff there.  Yes loads of perenial 'Peel Favorates' but nicely devoid of fashion too - last years 50 had loads of Strokes stuff - none (suprisingly) this year, it seems Peels audience have moved on with him yet again. 

And those bands who do come back year after year?  The Fall have ploughed a lonely furrow these last 25 years, they've chaged a little, but they've always been the Fall.  I can't see that they've really developed as a band much.  But the point is that there is no-one else out there being the Fall (or at least not doing it well) so they're still relevent.  Perhaps the nearest band to the Fall is HMHB - to dismiss them as merely a laugh is to miss the point entirely, they are to be sure flippant about their art, but they are no means one dimentional. As for the 'Underarms' (perhaps listening to a bit more HMHB would improve your punning skills) i was really impressed, i'd assumed that they were going to be a sad shadow of their early selves (which i think they'd managed to become in their origonal incarnation by the end) but no, this but of fat middle aged blokes had pulled out some really dynamic and origonal tumes - from what i heard in the 50 (i've not heard the record) (similarly the Buzzcocks are a band i expected to be a shit pub band when they reformed - but no their music is really new, fresh and stylistically a million miles from their origonal sound, but still really good.)  I didn't like B&S's makeover, but they are at least moving on.  
I thought the 50 was great this year - and that the mix was probibly better than usual (i don't actually like most of the 'dance music' that Peel plays, but i love the variety anyway) - it's sad, but there's never been much of his reggae or african music playlist in the FF. 
By the way - does anyone know where i can get hold of Diblo Dibale records? any recomendations?
Phyll   x.
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