The phrase "Live at the Witch Trials" refers to the historic trials and persecution of individuals suspected of practicing witchcraft. Witch trials were a prominent part of European and American history, particularly during the late 16th to the early 18th centuries. During this time, accusations of witchcraft were taken seriously, and individuals, primarily women, were subjected to trials, often ending in execution. The trials were fueled by paranoia, superstitions, and religious beliefs. It was believed that witches made pacts with the devil and used their powers to harm others. These beliefs stemmed from a fear of the unknown and a need for control in a society that was rapidly changing.
These beliefs stemmed from a fear of the unknown and a need for control in a society that was rapidly changing. Accusations of witchcraft were often based on flimsy evidence, such as gossip, personal vendettas, or unexplained phenomena. In many cases, women who did not conform to societal norms or had unusual qualities were targeted.
Live at the Witch Trials
New reissues of the Fall’s first two albums find the band hungry, angry, and taking switchblades to a grim future.
Featured Tracks:
“Industrial Estate” — The Fall Via SoundCloudWhen the Fall’s “Industrial Estate” plays during the closing credits of High-Rise–Ben Wheatley’s new big-screen adaptation of J. G. Ballard’s classic novel–it’s more than a case of similar subject matter. True, the film is about urban malaise, and so is the song. But Ballard’s vision of a tower block turned hermetic, ingrown, incestuous, and cannibalistic unfolds with a clinical exactitude. On the other hand, “Industrial Estate” is a spew of dissonant chaos, fugue-state chants, and malfunctioning carnival organs that inhabits the liminal space between punk and post-punk–just like the rest of album it appears on, the Fall’s 1979 debut Live at the Witch Trials. At the time, the first wave of post-punks were taking Johnny Rotten’s “no future” rant and parsing it like surgeons, laying it bare and reducing it to its components like Ballard. The Fall were no exception but, where many of their contemporaries used anesthetic and scalpels, they packed switchblades.
Witch Trials came out in the spring of 1979, Dragnet in the autumn of 1979. Accordingly, these albums (newly reissued) are very much spring and autumn records, inasmuch as such acutely urban records can have ties to nature. The Fall came together in Manchester in 1976, the year punk conflagrated across England. Its working-class founder Mark E. Smith and his crew immediately hopscotched over punk, delivering an EP in 1978 (Bingo-Master’s Break-Out!) that tapped into everything from the Seeds’ keyboard-slathered garage rock to Can’s elemental clatter.
Witch Trials was both a step ahead and a step back with true punk bangers like “Futures and Pasts,” two-and-a-half minutes of eye-gouging and haranguing that unravels in hyperventilating gasps. That deconstruction quickly morphs from cheeky to sinister. “Rebellious Jukebox”—one of the first self-aware Fall anthems—churns and stutters, thrown into each successive moment by a serpentine bassline that coils like inside-out dub. Smith is all sneers and snarls, delirious as he struggles against and succumbs to rock’n’roll entropy. “We are The Fall/Northern white crap that talks back,” he taunts, chewing the microphone on “Crap Rap 2/Like to Blow.” Soon after, he takes a leap into the cosmic void: “We are frigid stars.” By the time the eight-minute closer “Music Scene” crawls its way into oblivion—en route, beating Public Image Ltd’s similarly distended “Theme” and “Fodderstompf” to the punch by months—the Fall had already established themselves as something far more wobbly and toxic than the emerging post-punk mass.
You can pogo to Witch Trials; you can’t to Dragnet. Where Witch Trials is wiry, Dragnet is weighty. The eight months separating the release of the two albums saw a huge lineup change, setting the pattern of perpetual upheaval that would become the Fall’s constant. Most notably, guitarist Martin Bramah left, and his empty space was filled by existing bassist Marc Riley and new recruit Craig Scanlon. On Dragnet, Riley and Scanlon echo each other just out of sync, rezoning the rhythmic domain of the songs. “Before the Moon Falls”—an eerie track that hints at such contemporaries as Pere Ubu and Swell Maps—jangles with urgency and decay. “I must create a new scheme,” Smith vows, a dirtbag urchin with a brain too big for his skull.
Dragnet can be overwhelmingly dense, folding in viola-like guitar like John Cale’s queasiest recursion (“Muzorewi’s Daughter”) and then Krautrock-leaning funk spiked with garbled demands and harsh glossolalia (“Put Away”). But the heavy hand lightens by “Choc-Stock,” a singsong slice of feral nonsense akin to Syd Barrett with a head cold and a hangover. There’s an answer to Witch Trials’ “Music Scene” in the form of “Spectre vs. Rector,” but it’s nothing like its predecessor; its sludge and subliminal menace practically invented post-rock as an afterthought. The track is visceral, reeking of spilled pints and machine oil, evoking the industrial scum-scape that incubated it.
In a 2011 interview, Smith said that Ballard’s 1962 post-apocalyptic novel The Drowned World was the only book by the author that he liked. Even then, he referred to it only as “that one where the world’s underwater.” Erudition in the formal sense is never what Smith or the Fall were about, and that’s made plain on Witch Trials and Dragnet, where Smith’s loathing of cultured, mannered learning oozes from every fracture. Instead, the albums are celebrations–if not exhortations–of working-class precocity and street-smart intellectualism cobbled together from thrift stores bookshelves and stolen snatches of philosophy. Hungry, angry, and ugly: that’s the post-punk proclamation of the Fall’s first two albums, a flag that would fully unfurl with the release of band’s masterpiece, Hex Enduction Hour, three years later. But for a fleeting few seasons in 1979, in the hands of Smith and his gang of urban mutant malingerers, all that mattered was feeding the future to itself and seeing what got puked back up.
Cherry Red have re-pressed this edition; it's available for pre-order on their website with a street date of March 4th 2022.
The accused were subjected to cruel forms of torture to extract confessions, including being bound, dunked in water, or burned at the stake. The trials were marked by a lack of due process and a disregard for the rights of the accused. Innocent individuals were condemned based on hearsay and the testimony of unreliable witnesses. Once labeled a witch, it was nearly impossible to prove one's innocence, as any denial or defense was seen as further confirmation of guilt. The Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts, USA, are perhaps the most well-known example of these witch trials. In 1692, a wave of hysteria swept through the town, resulting in the execution of 20 individuals, most of them women. Mass hysteria, fueled by fear and religious extremism, led to the wrongful persecution of countless innocent people. The witch trials eventually came to an end as society evolved, superstitions waned, and skepticism took hold. The trials left a lasting mark on history, serving as a reminder of the dangers of unfounded beliefs, the power of mass hysteria, and the importance of protecting the rights of the accused. In modern times, the phrase "Live at the Witch Trials" can also refer metaphorically to the experience of being unjustly accused or persecuted. It serves as a reminder of the potential dangers of mob mentality, prejudice, and the need for a fair and just legal system. Overall, the witch trials are a dark chapter in history that should serve as a cautionary tale for future generations..
Reviews for "Unmasking the Puritan Mindset: Examining the Beliefs and Superstitions of the Time"
1. John - 2/5 - I was really disappointed with "Live at the Witch Trials". The album lacked cohesion and felt like a random assortment of songs rather than a coherent album. The production was poor, with the vocals often getting drowned out by the guitars. The songs themselves were forgettable, and I struggled to find any standout tracks. Overall, I found the album to be underwhelming and would not recommend it.
2. Sarah - 1/5 - "Live at the Witch Trials" was a complete mess. The album lacked any sort of direction or purpose. The vocals were grating and hard to listen to, and the instrumentation was chaotic and lacked any real melody. I found myself skipping through the tracks after a few seconds, unable to find anything that I enjoyed. It's a shame, as I had high hopes for this album, but it didn't live up to my expectations.
3. Mike - 2/5 - I didn't connect with "Live at the Witch Trials" at all. The album felt disjointed and sloppy, with no clear direction or purpose. The lyrics were hard to decipher and didn't resonate with me. The production was also a letdown, with the sound quality being below par. I found it difficult to listen to the album in its entirety and ended up skipping through most of the songs. Overall, I was disappointed with this release and wouldn't recommend it to others.
4. Emily - 2.5/5 - "Live at the Witch Trials" was a bit of a mixed bag for me. While I appreciate the experimental nature of the album, it often felt too disjointed and hard to follow. The vocals sounded distant and muffled, making it hard to connect with the lyrics. Some of the songs had potential, but they were overshadowed by the lack of cohesion and poor production. While there were moments I enjoyed, overall, I found myself bored and uninterested.