Harman Patil (Editor)

The Infotainment Scan

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Released
  
26 April 1993

Artist
  
Label
  
Permanent Records

Recorded
  
Suite 16, Rochdale

Release date
  
26 April 1993

The Infotainment Scan httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaencc0The

Length
  
40:36 (LP & cassette)50:08 (CD)

The Infotainment Scan(1993)
  
Genres
  
Rock music, Post-punk, Alternative rock, Alternative dance

Similar
  
The Fall albums, Rock music albums

The fall ladybird green grass


The Infotainment Scan is 15th album by The Fall, released in 1993 on Permanent Records in the UK and by Matador Records in the US. At the time of its release it was considered the band's most accessible album and came when the band were experiencing unprecedented recognition in the media. It entered the UK album charts at number 9.

Contents

The fall lost in music


Track information

The album features covers of the Sister Sledge disco track "Lost in Music" and of Steve Bent's "I'm Going to Spain", an obscure song which Bent performed on the British talent show New Faces in 1974 (Bent's version was included on The World's Worst Record album, compiled by disc jockey Kenny Everett in 1978). The CD edition of The Infotainment Scan also includes "Why Are People Grudgeful?", the only track to be released as a single (albeit in a different version). It is based on two reggae songs: "People Grudgeful" by Joe Gibbs and "People Funny Boy" by Lee "Scratch" Perry.

Of the original compositions on The Infotainment Scan, "Glam-Racket" drew much attention for its alleged criticism of Britpop band Suede, with the lyric "you are entrenched in suede". At the time, Suede were regarded as a "nouveau glam rock" band. "The League of Bald-Headed Men", meanwhile – identified variously as a "jokey conspiracy theory" and a "diatribe against gerontocracy" — appears to borrow its riff from Led Zeppelin's "Misty Mountain Hop", despite claims by Fall front man Mark E. Smith that he had never heard the band's music. A remix of "The League of Bald-Headed Men", retitled "League Moon Monkey Mix", is also included on the CD edition.

"Paranoia Man in Cheap Shit Room" adapts its title from Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room, an episode of The Twilight Zone. Smith had previously borrowed episode titles What You Need and Time Enough at Last (and would later use Kick the Can).

Reissues

The Infotainment Scan was reissued by Artful in 1999 with the same track listing as the original CD editions. It was remastered and expanded to a 2xCD set by Castle Music in 2006 in slightly amended artwork. The first disc followed the original CD album programme, while the second added B-sides, demos, alternate versions and radio sessions.

Legacy

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Personnel

  • Mark E. Smith – vocals, tapes, production (2,10)
  • Craig Scanlon – guitar
  • Steve Hanley – bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Simon Wolstencroft – drums
  • Dave Bush – keyboards, programming, backing vocals
  • Additional personnel

  • Rex Sargeant – production (1,4-9,11)
  • Simon Rogers – production (3,12)
  • Pascal Le Gras – cover art
  • Songs

    1Ladybird (Green Grass)4:01
    2Lost in Music3:50
    3Glam Racket3:14

    References

    The Infotainment Scan Wikipedia


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