Certainly the only ballet soundtrack in my record collection, Kurious Oranj was The Fall's musical accompaniment to a ballet by Englishman Michael Clark (a choreographer who had his lid flipped by Hex Enduction Hour) and his dance troupe. This was Mark Smith's second venture into the theatrical world in as many years (in 1986, a play based on Bend Sinister's "Hey! Luciani" opened to even fewer baffled viewers than IAKO), but I won't burden you with the details of what ultimately sounds like an awfully silly way to spend an evening out.

Although I don't spend a great deal of time playing this LP these days, it's certainly got its fair share of high points. Yes, we're midway through the Brix period, and some tracks are awfully insubstantial and cloaked with production gauze, but this may actually be a better record than Frenz Experiment -- 'New Big Prinz' and 'Wrong Place, Right Time' are more pummeling than nearly any Brix-era material, 'Dog is Life/Jerusalem' has an excellent ranting introduction to a track which could have been left off of Bend Sinister, and Brixie herself gets her showcase on "Overture from 'I Am Curious Oranj," a stab at AOR pop-metal. Plus, you surely wouldn't want to miss The Fall's first ever brush with reggae on the title track. The Beggars Banquet reissue is kind enough to throw on some B-sides which didn't make it on the American release first time around, so why not make this part of your Fall library - if Live at the Witch Trials, Dragnet and Perverted by Language are the foundation of this house, Oranj is certainly solid enough to serve as the back porch.

-Bruce Tiffee