smithsocksimon

During a trip to Appenzell in 2009 I took four photos of Museum Liner, the elegant building that houses the art collection of the late Carl August Liner. Designed by Annette Gigon and Mike Guyer and completed in 1998, the museum stands in marked contrast to the painted wooden houses that comprise the heart of this beautiful town at the foot of the Swiss Alps.

Of the four, the least popular — if the number of views is a reliable indicator — is this one, taken as I turned back for one last look. But popularity be damned; it’s one of a handful of personal favourites among the 1,632 photos that I’ve posted, to date, on Flickr.

The Light User Syndrome was the nineteenth studio LP by The Fall. Released in 1996 it includes this cover of a Gene Pitney song from 1964. Both the title of the song and the LP seem particularly apt, both in respect to the photo and the band, which fell apart during the tour that followed the record’s release. Of course that didn’t deter Mark E Smith, who went on to record another 10 LPs with a series of new line-ups and who thankfully shows no signs of stopping.

The Fall :: Last Chance to Turn Around

And this is the original.