u/pink_mold

I've created an account on a cold october night back in 2006

Almost sure I've used RYM every day since then. Best website ever, best community ever and sharifi doing a god's work. Just typing this to share with you that I hope we'll be able to rate our music for the next 20 years too.

"Number of visits to RYM*: 120431"

Holy shit that's a lot of visits

His post from Facebook group below.

Here it goes:

Although I’m probably gonna get some verbals at my end for breaching an agreed

marketing approach of keeping very quiet about the details behind the forthcoming

album, I am driven to a point of despair and affront by some of the vile comments being aimed

in our direction. People whom I considered friends have now turned their back on me over this

project, citing rumour mill bullshit about source, provenance & credibility. Currently none of you

know any real details about the material on the album and so the most bored, self-important ones

amongst you have made up your own versions and then stated your fantasies as fact or opinion online.

Thank you though, you have helped create more press than we could have ever afforded.

I’m not putting this up as an invitation to ask me for more details, or indeed to put my head on the

block, whilst I expect the regular trolls to cough and splutter, I think release date is looming and having

last night heard the vinyl test pressing, I know the product is good enough to try and subdue

some of the nonsense I’m reading.

1. Where have these songs come from?

You’ll find my name appearing with various degrees of accuracy about my role on 8

of the last 9 albums [not Reformation] and it’s a similar tale when you look at singles and E.Ps

from 2004 onwards. Yeah I played bass for a year, but after that I had a much happier and creative

time around the band being ‘The Fall’s Producer’ . This moniker was given to me by Mark around the

time we were recording FHR and it was backed up by the fact that I am the guy who recorded most, not all

of Mark’s vocal takes from then on, for 12 years ish. That’s a lot of time spent of just me and him

in the studio recording, arranging & producing the music you all debate so heatedly. There were healthy levels

of trust, respect and input in both directions and some of the most challenging demands from artist to engineer

that I have ever encountered and sorely miss.

During these sessions we would often throw down Mark’s freshest ideas away from the tracks that were

the current workload. These were done at Mark’s request to whatever backing he deemed fit at the time,

to a drone; to a drum beat; to something I had on the go; accapella; down a corridor to check the acoustics;

to him playing guitar - all sorts of ways. They were often just for fun or to catch a moment. They would get saved

and re-loaded at intervals and more stuff would get thrown at them. Some of these then moved on to the band

for development and some were dropped. A small number however, went to a different place, they didn’t fit the

required vibe at the time and went into a ‘vault’ with phrases like ‘Put that one in the safe for now” or “ you can

do what you like with that one cock”.

I’d never had the time to ‘do what I like’, or check the ‘safe’ and Post Script provided an opportunity for these

loose ends to be tied up. Ed and I found some gems in there that were just needing some fleshing out and arranging

up to help them realise a full potential. We did this with love and total respect and perhaps most importantly, the

approval of Mark’s family.

2. It’s not the last lineup , It’s not The Fall !!

I only agreed to attempt this album at the 3rd time of asking . It had been way too soon and I was

not at all confident that we would end up with a quality product. It was only the constant re issuing of albums

that made me want to get involved and try. When we started I had every door open for me to remain

anonymous or walk away if I thought we were doing Mark an injustice or just polishing turds.

That, coupled with knowing the history of the songs and that no band members had been involved in the conception

or recording of the ideas made it an easy decision to keep it all in-house with just me and Ed.

Neither of us are attempting to be the last lineup, The use of the word final in the original statement was meant to

indicate it will be the last studio LP of unheard recordings, as I’m pretty sure Ed And I are the only people with such

material. The last recorded album by The Fall was and always will be New Facts Emerge.

Is it The Fall? Well, I know that when Mark was delivering his vocal takes and directing me in what he wanted,

he was being Mark , from The Fall. He was in charge and being The Fall in his demands and expectations.

I thought long and hard about this and agreed to it because MARK IS The Fall. Even if you played with him

for years and years, the only constant was Mark . So,yes, these are Fall songs and to some degree whoever

else was involved is irrelevant.

3. Who’s on Drums?

If you really need to know, the drums were recorded by several different session drummers and sculpted

into place. The drummers did not know what it was the recordings were to be used for as we were being secretive.

We captured specific beats we wanted and then made them fit the music and vocals as we progressed.

Ultimately no one played the full beats you hear on a track just sections that have been restructured and

built upon. That, plus I played a bit and didn’t want crediting.

Also , just so you know there is no AI employed at all - I hate it !!! .

That’s me done now with what I wanted to say. At the end of the day its a record and it doesn’t come with a compulsory

purchase order. I was won over during it’s conception and am very pleased with what we achieved, If you’re not convinced,

don’t buy it.

Let's make this a show off thread. Show me or tell me about all the crowning achievements of your qotsa-related collection. You've got original blue Man's Ruin S/T press? Or maybe Gamma Ray 7"? Maybe you were lucky to receive your own Fun Machine signed single? Maybe you grabbed Peace Love & Death on vinyl when it came out? Or maybe you have original Sons Of Kyuss record? Show it and prove it!

Why are you still here? Still have A24 fanpages liked on social medias? Still subscribed to their channels? Still paying for their services? Be a moral and conscious consumer that boycotts incoming AI-slop era and give A24 a middle finger they deserve.

I know that things can get stale and repetitive while the band is on hiatus (or even completely finished and broke up), that's absolutely normal. But I can't really agree with someone saying that Ween fandom sucks and we are toxic or whatever. I've tried to get into literally hundreds of fandoms of various bands, ranging from mediocre to godlike, and I can't really remember a community that had such a high sense of self-irony, open-mindedness and supportiveness as Ween's. Literally everyone is invited to the party, and Weendom has been a safe haven for every kind of freak, queer, trans, disabled person, minority, junkie, religious nut, deranged outcast and outsider practically forever. We even have a dedicated semi-alcoholics anonymous support group for God's sake. The levels of social inclusiveness are literally on the same high level as they are in Ween when it comes to choosing a music genre - everything's allowed and everything's got it own, amazing sides to look at. I know that this kind of truly subversive and alternative crowd can be a magnet for some scummy types, and well, yeah, after 25+ years of following the band I can tell that the biggest junkies, schizos and deranged people I met in my life were mostly Ween fans, but still, I guess they'll either find a light, God or Boognish, so I can't write them off forever. I won't even start writing on how thousands of us treat Ween in a fanatically religious way, closer to a cult than to a band. That also makes every random Ween interaction so great. I can assure you that every random person I've met who knew and loved Ween ultimately became my kindred spirit and I still have contact with them to this day. I'm sorry to read that Mickey regrets coming out to the fans so openly and I know that a lot of people can be abusive and they don't have any fucking class on how to handle a social interaction with a "celebrity", but I want to believe that's the noisy, shitty minority who makes the biggest buzz and leaves the bad taste. I still think that Ween fans are the craziest fucking bunch of most lovable people who ultimately want to do good and can be insanely passionate about pretty much everything that deserves it.

I mean, just fucking imagine how shitty The Strokes or Muse fandoms must be (they are).