Listened to this record for the first time in a long time and I’m properly in love with most of it. Obviously tracks 5-6 are very challenging but much of it is absolutely gorgeous. The chord progression in Paperhouse is so lilting and fragile, and then the way the propulsive mid-section resolves back to that is beautiful. You can tell these guys were tight. Jaki is a staggeringly great drummer.
I used to be pretty ambivalent towards Halleluwah but now I release how amazing it is. All these brilliant drum overdubs and weird ambient bits over that insistent drumming. You can definitely hear the influence on Boredoms’ stuff like Vision Creation Newsun- the tribal drums and textures especially. The National Anthem by Radiohead has a similar, angular groove, and the discipline of the instruments playing out such a groove Damo doing his incantations above it is an obvious influence on The Fall, especially tunes like Winter (Hostel Maxi) and, of course, I Am Damo Suzuki (as if the title wasn’t a big enough hint!).
I’ll go for an 8. It’s incredibly influential but still has enough drive, groove and emotional punch to make it much more than a historical artefact. Even if I’ll still have to work on tracks 5-6…
Also, a reminder that Lost Somebody, a beautiful late A Tribe Called Quest song paying tribute to Phife Dog, sampled the relaxing bit in Halleluwah to great effect.
