------------------
added 17 December
The Fall at #1 on The Festive 50 Pie Chart.
------------------
added 18 December; updated 19 December
The latest installment of Noisey's "The British Masters" series: two-part Mark E. Smith interview with The Quietus's John Doran. Suitably bonkers.
------------------
added 14 December
Friday, 13 December 2013 Week-End #3, Stadthalle, Cologne
Amorator / Hot Cake / Strychnine / Jet Plane / Sir William Wray / Chino / The Remainderer / Theme from Sparta F.C. / Mister Rode / Cowboy George // Psykick Dancehall / I'm Not from Bury // White Lightning
Daren Garratt on drums while Keiron on paternity leave. Reviews on the forum. Thanks to Mark for the setlist.
------------------
added 14 December
What I See in the Mirror: Mark E. Smith (The Guardian, 13 December 2013)
I haven't looked at myself much this year. I don't in general. My wife's Greek relations say I've got nice apple cheeks, and I think I've got blue eyes and brown hair. I looked at my teeth two months ago and they were 50% black at the bottom. It was bad. The dentist was a genius. He sorted it out for a couple of hundred quid. Now they are yellow like my top ones. The bottom ones are my own, the top ones aren't – they were knocked out.
The way I look has stood me in good stead: I can clear bars with a look, and people still cross the road in town. I am 55, but I like getting older. I formed the Fall when I was 18, so we were always trying to look older than we were to get work. I don't think a lot of groups would have got very far with the style standards they have now; today, some idiot would be telling the Kinks what shoes to wear.
I am 6ft 1in, and I've always had a bit of a stoop. I've got osteoporosis; it's in the family. A few years ago, I broke my right hip: it took months to recover. Then I was in hospital in Germany for something else and I broke my other hip going for a fag. I had to perform in a wheelchair. I have a steel plate in each now and I've stopped jumping on stage.
I only really look in a mirror before I go on stage, in case I've got anything on my face. I've got a comb. It's good to look a bit straight: a clean shirt and all that. And I've started to wear underpants and I clean my teeth now and again. But that's about it.
The Remainderer EP by The Fall is out now.
------------------
added 30 September; updated 12 December
(new) The vinyl edition of The Remainderer is, I think, the same as the promo version of the CD; i.e. not the same as the standard CD edition. The title track and Mister Rode in particular are different.
(earlier) Finally some news about that six-song EP MES mentioned six weeks ago. Now titled "The Remainderer", it'll be released on 11 November 25 November 9 December on 10" vinyl (£13.95) and CD (£9.95).
Side 1:
The Remainderer
Amorator!
Mister Rode
Side 2:
Rememberance R
Say Mama / Race with the Devil
Touchy Pad
------------------
added 12 December; updated 16 December
There's a Fall night at The Void Til Two Club in San Diego on Boxing Day.
------------------
added 12 December
Fame at last. Although a credit in his book would have been nice. Thanks, Tony Millionaire.
------------------
added 30 November
Friday, 29 November 2013 Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Amorator! / Hot Cake / White Lightning / Jet Plane / Sir William Wray / Chino / The Remainderer / I Am Nate / Mister Rode / Theme from Sparta F.C. / Cowboy George / I'm Not from Bury // I've Been Duped / Reformation // Psykick Dance Hall
Daren Garratt formerly of The Nightingales shared the drum kit; I hear he will take over when Kieron goes on paternity leave. Reviews on the forum and thanks to Little Frank for the setlist.
------------------
added 29 November
Thursday, 28 November 2013 Le Guess Who?, Tivoli, Utrecht
Amorator! / Hot Cake / Strychnine / Jet Plane / Sir William Wray / Chino / I Am Nate / The Remainderer / Mister Rode / Theme from Sparta F.C. / Cowboy George / I'm Not from Bury // What About Us? / Reformation
Tim Presley on second guitar for the encore. Reviews on the forum. Thanks to the Soul Representative for the setlist.
------------------
added 28 November
That Fall panel at the Louder Than Words festival in Manchester on 17 November. Not much said about Steve or Simon's books but some good stories nevertheless.
part 1:
part 2:
part 3:
------------------
added 16 November; updated 19 November
Friday, 15 November 2013 Clapham Grand, London
Amorator! / Hot Cake / Strychnine / Jetplane / Sir William Wray / Chino / The Remainderer / Theme from Sparta F.C. / Mister Rode / Cowboy George / Reformation // What About Us? // 15 Ways
Reviews on the forum. Thanks to Mark for the setlist and Stan Mission for the video.
------------------
added 12 November
The Wire are publishing a tribute to Lou Reed in their Nov. 2013 issue with contributions from Irmin Schmidt, Alexander Hacke, Reinhold Friedl, Bruce Russell, Ulrich Kreiger, Alex Neilson, Carla Bozulich, Byron Coley, Alan Licht, David Keenan, Lydia Lunch, Merzbow,
and Mark E. Smith, who sent in:
At 14 when some bikers in town told me
I could score at this horrible gig in Sth. M/CR,
Lou Reed was a constant in my life.
The support group was 'Lou Reed & The Tots'.
By 73 I was a criminally devout Velvet Underground fan.
Not a 'Velvets' or 'Lou Reed' fan.
Or Johnny cum latelys.
About 87 when my mother was moving out,
I stood in the front room and looked at the stereogram
I'd listen to "Sister Ray" on full blast, 14 years back.
I opened the curtain and Nico walked past the house.
On the 'Gorillaz' tour,
Lou Reed must've been the only person I didn't talk to.
I bowed and he nodded.
The Velvet Underground group live and on vinyl of 1969–70
excels over 'pop & rock' of yesterday, tomorrow,
this, last and next week.
The Remainderer.
"WHEN ARE YOU GONNA LEAVE,
YOU FUCKIN TRAMPS?"
LOU REED
Manchester. 'Rock N Roll' Animal tour 1974
------------------
added 5 November; updated 6 November
The release date for The Remainderer E.P. has been changed so many times on the Cherry Red site that it's hard to say when it will actually be in the shops. As of this morning there is no release date listed on their site for either the 10" or the CD but I expect they'll sort it out eventually.
Now they say 9 December.
Still no release date listed for The Fall Live. Not out til next year anyway.
------------------
added 1 November
Thursday 31 October 2013 Soy Festival, Maison de Quartier de Doulon, Nantes
Many thanks to Alexis for the setlist.
------------------
added 1 November
From Louder Than War:
The Fall are a riddle wrapped inside an enigma wrapped inside pub wrapped inside an arcane alcove of lyrical genius or something…
How do you write about a band like this?
On the weekend of Nov 15/17 we bring together a panel who have made various attempts in books printed or about top be printed…
A very special panel with
Steve Hanley- former Fall bassist who is finishing his autobiography (it’s very good what we have read so far) who details a lot of his misadventures of the band he was such a key part of for so long.
Simon Wolstencroft – Funky Si- the drummer who invented the whole Manchester late eighties grovve was once in the Stone Roses, the Smiths and then spent ten years in the Fall where he wrote some of their best known songs- he too has an autobiography out soon detailing his years on the musical frontline…
Dave Simpson- the best Guardian music writer, Yorkshire resident Dave a still writes great live reviews for the paper and wrote the famous Fall book – The Fallen- one of our favourite rock books in which he tracked down all the ex members of the Fall.
Mick Middles- Manchester’s premier music journalist who hjs written many books and written about the Fall many times will chair…
This will be a fascinating discussiion- tickets for this event and for the whole weekend available from the Louder Than Words site
------------------
added 31 October; updated 5 November
Wednesday, 30 October 2013 La Gaîté Lyrique, Paris
Amorator! / Hot Cake / Jet Plane / Strychnine / The Remainderer / Hittite Man / Muzorewi's Daughter / Sir William Wray / Chino / I'm Not from Bury / Kinder of Spine / Mister Rode / 15 Ways / Reformation / What About Us // White Lightning
Reviews on the forum and thanks to José Raúl for the setlist.
------------------
added 27 October
R.I.P. Lou
------------------
added 21 October
Cherry Red also release "The Fall Live" on 25 November: "This live album has been collated from various gigs over the last three years".
Cherry Red says the tracklisting is
Advert Morgue / Damflictors / Wings / Wolf Kidult Man / Strychnine / 50 Year Old Man / Sir William Wray / Remainderer R / 15 Ways To Leave (Your Man) / What About Us / The Steak Place / Container Drivers
while Amazon suggests
Advert Morgue / Damflictors / Wings / Wolf Kidult Man / Strychnine / 50 Year Old Man / I Rush / Chino / What About Us / Pacifying Joint
------------------
added 14 October
Friday, 12 October 2013 Out.fest, Barreiro, Portugal
Reviews on the forum. Thanks to Little Frank and Facebook for the setlist.
------------------
added 20 September
Article about Brix with lots of Fall content in the New York Times last Wednesday (18 September).
------------------
added 20 September
Pixies have been opening shows on their current tour with Big New Prinz. E.g., in Los Angeles:
------------------
added 29 August
Finally.
Here's the link to get the Peel sessions for £2.99. Only works for UK IP addresses, apparently, but that's easily managed with a proxy server like Tunnel Bear.
------------------
added 17 August; updated 19 August
Dublin's Phantom 105.2 reports that The Fall have a six-song EP, possibly called "The Remainder", out soon.
Here's the phone interview with MES. "We don't do festivals."
------------------
added 18 August
Saturday, 17 August 2013 Button Factory, Dublin, Ireland
Set included 15 Ways with Rob Barbato on lead vocals. Lots of photos by Fergus Kelly on Flickr. Thanks to Michael Stanley and Maurice for the setlist.
Reviews on the forum and by Stephen White in The Journalist:
Legendary post-punk poet Mark E. Smith took to the stage at the Button Factory in Dublin with his band the Fall, playing a blistering set of pulsating music.
Swaggering onto the stage, Smith held the crowd in the palm of his hand from the beginning as he gave sermon, growling his lyrical musings to the distorted wash of the Fall’s energetic raw sound. The avant-garde vocal delivery echoed and cut through the harsh tones and harmonic unison of the band’s wailing music.
Lurking and stalking around the band’s equipment and incorporating them in his nihilistic, improvisational performance style that created a chaotic spontaneity and constant shift in visual and sonic focus, Smith directed and challenged the group to follow his artistic thesis.
Using great swells and dynamic stabs of screeching feedback, rumbling overdrive and syncopated rhythms that shattered and shook the venue, the Fall’s ability to maintain order and a keen sense of musicality amid the anarchy and conceptual weight of Smith’s approach can not be overlooked or understated.
The pulsing fuzz laden synth and thrashing guitar of ‘What About Us’ brought the show to an expectant crescendo of call and response crowd participation. A swirling noise aesthetic engulfed the Button Factory as the Fall audibly built the tension to a visceral culmination of sound.
An experience of artistic realisation, the Fall’s performance was a palpable sonic balance of style and concept that resulted in a show of unmistakable individuality. Almost forty years in existence Mark E. Smith’s the Fall remain vital and uncompromising.
------------------
added 17 August
Friday, 16 August 2013 Kilkenny Arts Festival, Set Theatre, Kilkenny, Ireland
Victrola Time / Hot Cake / Strychnine / Over! Over! / Hittite Man / Sir William Wray / I've Been Duped / Jet Plane / Psykick Dancehall / Chino / Kinder of Spine / Theme from Sparta F.C. / Blindness / Mr. Pharmacist / I'm Not from Bury // Container Drivers
Setlist TBD. Rob Barbato on bass for both Irish gigs. Thanks to marvell78 for the set and johnniejukebox for the video. Reviews on the forum.
------------------
added 16 August
The Fall are not playing the Salford Music Festival next month, despite rumours to the contrary.
------------------
added 16 August
There's a good graphic novel out called "Black Charity" by Bal Speer; it features characters based on Mark E. Smith and Nick Cave as hit men working for someone who looks a bit like John Peel.
Here's an interview Speer did for BBC radio recently, talking about the book.
Clicking below will get you larger images.
------------------
added 16 August
"Error 500", that Mutation LP (Ginger Wildheart, Shane Embury, Jon Poole et al.) with a track featuring MES, is due out 28th October on Ipecac. You can hear samples on this page, or download the album early for £10.
------------------
added 15 May; updated 16 August
16 August update: This box set is shipping now, at least from Action Records. £14.40+shipping, if you include the 10% Fallnet discount (enter "Fallnet" in the promotion code box).
Beggars Banquet has announced the tracklisting for that 5-disc archive box mentioned here a couple of months ago.
- expanded The Frenz Experiment
- expanded I Am Kurious Oranj
- Hit the North Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & Instrumental
- Singles 1987 - 1989
- Seminal Live - same track list as CD vesion
Which leaves Bend Sinister for a future reissue. Here's what Beggars said in reply to comments on their site:
All people on the Fall forum – you’re right, Bend Sinister deserves a separate release and a careful consideration of what speed it should play at [ !! ]. There should be sufficient material for a two disc set. The 5 album set is a way to keep the 3 main albums available on a physical format that sounds better than mp3 and it’s a chance to digitise some of the more obscure tracks. Actually I really enjoyed listening to the ‘Hit The North’ CD – it works better than it should.
Much has been re-mastered from analogue tape. Sadly we only have parts of ‘Kurious Oranj’ on analogue. I tried transferring the (digital) vinyl master but it just didn’t sound as good as the CD due to the extra compression, so the different vinyl mixes have been added to the end while keeping the vinyl sequence.
There is still some final work to be done comparing versions of ‘Wrong Place, Right Time No.2’ and ‘Bad News Girl’ – if they are different they will be included. Also I believe Victoria is the same on single and album. Seminal Live hasn’t been re-mastered, just adjusted to match the other CD’s. I’m hoping for a July release.
@fallnews on Twitter
