Hex Enduction Hour
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Hex Enduction Hour is the fourth studio album by the English post-punk band the Fall. Released on 8 March 1982, it builds on the low-fidelity production values and caustic lyrical content of their earlier recordings. Frontman Mark E. Smith establishes an abrasive Northern aesthetic built in part from the 20th century literary traditions of kitchen sink and magic realism, backed by music largely written by Fall bassist Steve Hanley. Smith described the album as an often-satirical but deliberate reaction to the contemporary music scene, a stand against "bland bastards like Elvis Costello and Spandau Ballet ... [and] all that shit."
Initially intended as the group’s final album, recording for Hex began during a 1981 three-concert visit to Iceland, where Smith was inspired both by the otherworldliness of the island's landscape and the enthusiasm of an audience unaccustomed to visiting rock groups. The Fall recorded "Hip Priest", "Iceland" and non-album single "Look, Know" at the Hljóðriti studio in Reykjavík, and the remaining tracks in a disused cinema in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. The album peaked at 71 on the UK charts and attracted the attention of several record labels.
"Hip Priest" was re-recorded in 1988 in a glam rock style as "Big New Prinz" for the album "I Am Kurious Oranj". An excerpt of "Hip Priest" was used in 1991 in the climactic end scene of Jonathan Demme's film The Silence of the Lambs.
