Excavate!

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 country's 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 book 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.


About the Author
Stanley, Bob: - Bob Stanley is the author of Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop (Faber, 2013), and Too Darn Hot (Faber, forthcoming), and has written for the Guardian, The Times, NME and The Face. He is also a filmmaker, and founding member of the group Saint Etienne. He was Writer in Residence at the British Library in 2017. Tessa Norton writes regularly about art, books and music for various publications including The Wire, and for exhibitions and events including Liverpool Biennial and The Tetley. Throughout 2018 she was an artist in residence at Wysing Arts Centre in Cambridgeshire, where she was commissioned to write The Fields are Full of Ghosts.