1LP – Import – yellow vinyl

We are happy to announce our reissue ofThe Falls 1989 half-studio/half-live album,Seminal Live. Available on yellow vinyl and digitally, the album has been newly remastered by Kevin Vanbergen. This edition features reimagined artwork, new sleeve notes and a QR code linking to exclusive bonus assets.

Released by Beggars Banquet in June 1989,Seminal Livewas the first of many live/semi-live/pseudo-live albums across The Falls catalog. Its release marks the end of the bands prolific Beggars Banquet era (1984-1989). The albums that precededSeminal Livevia Beggars Banquet –The Wonderful and Frightening World Of,This Nations Saving Grace,Bend Sinister,The Frenz ExperimentandI Am Kurious Oranjare all considered pillars of the bands extensive catalog.

The studio recordings onSeminal Livewere all new songs and make up the first side of the album. The live recordings on side two, meanwhile, are all versions of previously-released tracks. Songs onSeminal Liveare now considered Fall classics. Side one contains Dead Beat Descendant, and their cover of Lonnie Irvings Pinball Machine is in the well-worn tradition of The Falls country covers.

The live side demonstrates the collage-like nature of the LP. Rather than pulling tracks from a single set, live performances were taken from shows in Vienna and Manchester mostly from 1988.Seminal Livefeatures one of the most celebrated line-ups of the band with Brix Smith, Craig Scanlon, Steve Hanley, Simon Wolstencrof, Marcia Schofield and of course Mark E. Smith.

The Falls legendary and notorious frontman Mark E. Smith passed away in 2018 at the age of 60 and left us with a massive output. The amount of Fall releases (and band members) was prolific to say the least. The foundation of their unique sound is a near-cacophonous, amelodic jagged jumble of guitars, sing-speak vocals and keyboards which has had an enormous influence on the indie/alternative scene.