Excavate ! : the wonderful and frightening world of The Fall

**This is a book about Mark E. Smith and The Fall - or more precisely, their ever-influential world. The Fall were so many things, so many worlds; if you got it (and not everyone did), they represented everything.** 'To 50,000 Fall Fans: please buy this inspired & inspiring, profound & provocative, beautiful & bonkers Book of Revelations, choc-stock-full of loving Acts by true Apostles, simultaneously both the scrapbook you wished you'd kept and a portal to futures & pasts, known & unknown, & a Fantastic Celebration of this Nation's Saving Grace.' **DAVID PEACE** 'Mind blowing . . . there is so much to enjoy in this brilliant book.' **TIM BURGESS** 'A container sized treasure trove bursting at the hinges with strangeness and wonder . . . I strongly advise you to buy it.' **MAXINE PEAKE** __This is not a book about a rock band. This is not even a book about Mark E Smith. This is a book about The Fall group - or more precisely, their world.__ Over a prolific forty-year career, the Fall created a world that was influential, idiosyncratic and fiercely original - and defied simple categorisation. Their frontman and lyricist Mark E. Smith spun opaque tales that resisted conventional understanding; the Fall's worldview was an education in its own right. Who wouldn't want to be armed with a working knowledge of M. R. James, shipping-dock procedures, contemporary dance, Manchester City and Can? The group inspired and shaped the lives of those who listened to and tried to make sense of their work. Bringing together previously unseen artwork, rare ephemera and handwritten material, alongside essays by a slate of fans, __EXCAVATE!__ is a vivid, definitive record - an illumination of the dark corners of the Fall's wonderful and frightening world. '[__EXCAVATE!__ is] an insane hardback fanzine of found items from one of Mark E. Smith's carrier bags and essays by a really fascinating variety of people . . . this whole book is the most wonderful, unashamedly intellectual, pretentious, ridiculous, exciting hymn to this incredible group.' **ANDY MILLER, __BACKLISTED__** **__'__**[The Fall have] already piled up much in the way of memoirs and analyses, as if in an attempt to exhaust and deflate it. __Excavate!__ is testament to the power such an effort sets out to rationalise, domesticate and destroy, placing The Fall in the hidden heart of the last 40 years of contemporary art.' **__THE WIRE__** 'This wide-ranging anthology of scholarly essays, sleeve artwork, lyric sheets and other ephemera is a satisfying reminder of Smith's scabrous wit, unique visual style and rich literary hinterland.' **CLASSIC ROCK** 'A thoroughly engrossing, insightful and immersive trawl through the wonderfully strange Fall-world' **__RECORD COLLECTOR__** A definitive insight into the ever-influential world of Mark E. Smith and The Fall , featuring never-before published essays and ephemera from fans, collectors and the artist and band themselves. 'They are always different; they are always the same.' John Peel Over the course of their prolific forty-year career The Fall were consistently one of the most influential and unique groups Britain has ever produced, with frontman Mark E. Smith hailed as one of the countrys sharpest lyricists. Following Mark E. Smith's death in January 2018, there was an outpouring of tributes from a surprising spectrum of admirers. With contributions from Adelle Stripe, Dan Fox, Elain Harwood, Mark Fisher, Ian Penman and others, alongside never-before seen artwork, photographs, and hand-written material from Smith and the band, Bob Stanley and Tessa Norton unpack and make sense of the strangely fascinating landscape of The Fall . Illuminating their reference points, lyrical concerns and influences, from shipping dock procedures to Manchester City and contemporary dance to German experimental rock, this book cements their worldview as a vital contribution to British culture. Excavate!: The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall is the definitive atlas to help you navigate The Fall 's idiosyncratic world. "A definitive insight into the ever-influential world of Mark E. Smith and the Fall, featuring never-before published essays and ephemera from fans, collectors and the artist and band themselves. Over a prolific forty-year career, the Fall created a world that was influential, idiosyncratic and fiercely original - and defied simple categorisation. Their frontman and lyricist Mark E. Smith spun opaque tales that resisted conventional understanding; the Fall's worldview was an education in its own right. Who wouldn't want to be armed with a working knowledge of M. R. James, shipping-dock procedures, contemporary dance, Manchester City and Can? The group inspired and shaped the lives of those who listened to and tried to make sense of their work. Bringing together previously unseen artwork, rare ephemera and handwritten material, alongside essays by a slate of fans, EXCAVATE! is a vivid, definitive record - an illumination of the dark corners of the Fall's wonderful and frightening world"--Publisher's description