I Am Kurious Oranj Rar
I Am Kurious Oranj (1988) The Frenz Experiment (1988) Bend Sinister (1986) This Nation's Saving Grace (1985) The Wonderful And Frightening World Of (1984) Perverted By Language (1983) Room To Live (1982) Hex Enduction Hour (1982) Slates (1981) Grotesque (1980) Dragnet (1979) Live At The Witch Trials (1979) ©.
| I Am Kurious Oranj | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 10 October 1988 | |||
| Recorded | 1988 at: Suite 16 Studios, Rochdale, England; Edinburgh Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 57:01 | |||
| Label | Beggars Banquet | |||
| Producer | Ian Broudie, Mark E. Smith | |||
| The Fall chronology | ||||
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| Singles from I Am Kurious Oranj | ||||
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I Am Kurious Oranj is the eleventh studio album by English post-punk band the Fall. It was released on 10 October 1988 through record label Beggars Banquet.
The album's release came at the end of a relatively successful year for the group, which had also seen the release of an 'accessible' album, The Frenz Experiment, and a handful of singles in the UK charts. However there was internal strife within the band; Smith was increasingly dependent on alcohol and speed, and his marriage to Fall lead guitarist, song writer and vocalist Brix Smith was coming to an end. Although she wrote many of the most acclaimed songs on the album, including 'Overture From Kurious Oranj', 'Van Plague?' and 'Bad News Girl', she was excluded from the writing and publishing credits.
Considered one of the Fall's strongest albums, I Am Kurious Oranj was intended as the soundtrack for the ballet I Am Curious, Orange, a collaboration with the dancer Michael Clark. The music was mostly pre-written by Brix Smith and bassist Steve Hanley. A live version was recorded during an Edinburgh Festival performance of the ballet, and issued in 2000 as I Am as Pure as Oranj.
- 3Track listing
Background[edit]
I Am Kurious Oranj was intended as the soundtrack for the ballet I Am Curious, Orange, produced by contemporary dance group Michael Clark & Company, and loosely based on the 300th anniversary of William of Orange's ascension to the English throne. The album combines studio recordings with tracks recorded live during performances in Edinburgh in August 1988.
The opening track 'New Big Prinz' (as well as its alternative version, 'Big New Priest') is based on 'Hip Priest' from the group's 1982 album Hex Enduction Hour; the original track was also used in the ballet as a backing tape. 'Jerusalem' is an adaptation of William Blake's hymn using Hubert Parry's original music (although Parry does not appear in the credits). 'Last Nacht' is a remix of 'Bremen Nacht' from the group's previous album, The Frenz Experiment.
'Dead Beat Descendant' was written for the ballet and performed live, but did not make the album. It was later re-recorded and released as a track on the Seminal Live compilation.
I Am Kurious Oranj's title is derived from Swedish director Vilgot Sjöman's films I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967) and I Am Curious (Blue) (1968). It appears as I Am Kurious, Oranj on some packaging formats.
Critical reception[edit]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | [1] |
| Robert Christgau | A–[2] |
| NME | 8/10[3] |
| The Village Voice | favourable[4] |
I Am Kurious Oranj was critically well received at the time. NME wrote '[The Fall have] retained the power to surprise, to provoke and occasionally outrage that only The Smiths could pretend to possess in the '80s.'[3] A later review of the album by AllMusic, however, is more indifferent, opining, 'As a cohesive Fall album it fails [...] I Am Kurious Oranj would have been more interesting to see than hear.'[1]
Track listing[edit]
As with other Fall albums released through Beggars Banquet Records, I Am Kurious Oranj featured a different track listing across the various formats on which it was originally released. In addition to extra tracks 'Guide Me Soft' and 'Big New Priest', the UK CD featured several alternative and extended versions of songs (tracks 3, 5, 7, 8 and 12). In 2013, Beggars remastered and reissued the album on CD as a part of the 5 Albums box set; the new edition used the CD mixes sequenced according to the vinyl track order, with extra tracks and alternate vinyl mixes added as bonus tracks.
Original UK CD/cassette version[edit]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 'New Big Prinz' | Craig Scanlon, Marcia Schofield, Mark E. Smith, Stephen Hanley | 3:25 |
| 2. | 'Overture from 'I Am Curious, Orange' | Brix Smith | 2:48 |
| 3. | 'Dog Is Life/Jerusalem' | William Blake, M. Smith | 8:54 |
| 4. | 'Kurious Oranj' | Hanley, M. Smith, Simon Wolstencroft | 6:20 |
| 5. | 'Wrong Place, Right Time' | M. Smith | 2:52 |
| 6. | 'Guide Me Soft' | M. Smith | 2:15 |
| 7. | 'C.D. Win Fall 2088 AD' | M. Smith, Schofield | 4:41 |
| 8. | 'Yes, O Yes' | B. Smith, M. Smith | 3:25 |
| 9. | 'Van Plague?' | B. Smith, M. Smith | 4:56 |
| 10. | 'Bad News Girl' | B. Smith, M. Smith | 5:22 |
| 11. | 'Cab It Up!' | M. Smith | 4:54 |
| 12. | 'Last Nacht' | M. Smith, Simon Rogers | 3:56 |
| 13. | 'Big New Priest' | Hanley, Scanlon, Schofield, M. Smith | 3:08 |
- Note: 'Van Plague?' is listed as 'Van Plague' on the cassette edition.
Vinyl version (also original US CD/cassette version)[edit]
| 2013 CD (5 Albums box set)[edit]
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Personnel[edit]
- The Fall
- Mark E. Smith – lead vocals, production
- Brix Smith – electric guitar, vocals, percussion, bass guitar on track 2
- Craig Scanlon – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
- Steve Hanley – bass guitar
- Simon Wolstencroft – drums
- Marcia Schofield – keyboards, percussion
- Technical
- Ian Broudie – production
- Cenzo Townshend – engineering
- C.J. (Chris Jones) – engineering
- Dian Barton – engineering
- Stu (Stuart Hawkes) – mastering
- Kevin Cummins – sleeve photography (band photos)
- Richard Haughton – sleeve photography (stage photos)
References[edit]
- ^ abMills, Ted. 'I Am Kurious Oranj – The Fall : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic'. AllMusic. AllRovi. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
- ^Christgau, Robert. 'Robert Christgau: CG: The Fall'. robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
- ^ abBrown, Len (1988). 'Outspanding'. NME. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
- ^Eddy, Chuck (17 January 1989). 'End of the Line'. The Village Voice. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
External links[edit]
- I Am Kurious Oranj at Discogs (list of releases)
I Am Kurious Oranj Rar Free
So, how to shake things up, how to make life interesting? Why, record the music for a ballet of course. I mean, what else are you gonna do? One thing it did do was give The Fall an actual reason to record an album, other than out of habit. As a result, although not everything here works, a good half of it works magnificently, and the rest is never less than interesting. 'New Big Prinz' opens the whole shebang and The Fall sound more wired and alive than they had for a good couple of years, at least. A couple of years for The Fall being a long time, you understand. 'Big New Prinz' is stomping, storming, hand-clapping, the works. Mark E Smith sings and shouts, the guitar is catchy as the catchiest thing ever, and there you have it. A winner. The 'Overture' is a solo Brix tune, sung by her as well. It's a very pretty guitar tune, pretty of course not being a usual Fall descriptive word, but then, this isn't a usual Fall LP. 'Dog Is Life' marries William Blake and Mark E Smith in a seemingly bizarre coupling but it works fantastically well. First of all we have Mark E Smith spitting out the 'Dog Is Life' rant after which 'Jerusalem' announces itself with strong drums and deep bass notes. When the guitar comes in, when Mark E Smith starts singing, you realise this is a close cousin to the opening 'Big New Prinz'. In actual fact, together with 'Big New Prinz' and 'Wrong Place, Right Time', 'Jerusalem' was issued as part of a three song EP by the group. All three of these songs are great, but 'Jerusalem' is particularly entertaining for the lyrical content when Mark E Smith starts to get all political on us. 'Kurious Oranj' deserves a special mention. It's a song that's been known to disgust non Fall lovers I've played it to, though I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because the lyrics are completely daft and make no sense whatsoever. Perhaps it's because of the simplistic bass groove. It's an addictive bass groove though, once you get into it. It's a 'humorous' bass groove in line with the 'daft' nature of the song in the first place. Well, for all I know, the lyrics are dead meaningful. The end result is just sheer entertainment however, and that's alright by me. We have a number of softer, sweeter guitar songs on the second half of this record. 'Guide Me Soft' is a single exposed guitar with bare percussion and Mark E Smith half singing / half speaking. 'Yes O Yes' is the kind of song that wouldn't have sounded out of place on 'Bend Sinister' but it also shares the grinding, repetitive nature of certain songs from 'The Frenz Experiment'. 'Yes O Yes' isn't particular a highlight here but it works in context. 'Van Plague?' on the other hand just works, full stop. A greatly underrated Fall song, it's not often spoken of by fans but this is one of the sweetest Fall songs I can think of and also one of the best 'straight' Mark E Smith vocal performances. 'Bad News Girl' isn't particularly noteworthy being a tuneless dirge, 'Last Nacht' is a lively dance experiment and the closing 'Big New Priest' merely an alternative mix of the albums opening cut. I'll mention 'Cab It Up!' as well. 'Cab It Up!' isn't original, the melody is obvious and goes round and round. It's a lively track though, and Mark E Smith is particularly lively vocally. When he shouts out 'cabbing it uptown, UPTOWN!' it's a great Fall moment, for me at least. And, there you have it. 'I Am Kurious Oranj'. Difficult to come to a definite conclusion about the whole thing, other than it's entertaining. But, entertaining is good.