The Fall – Fall in a Hole (2xLP)

The Fall's Fall In A Hole captures the band at Mainstreet Cabaret in Auckland in August 1982, on the final night of their first tour of Australia and New Zealand. Originally issued by Flying Nun in 1983, it documents a particularly volatile moment in the group’s history: the lineup heard around Hex Enduction Hour and Room To Live, with Marc Riley nearing the end of his time in the band and Paul Hanley and Karl Burns driving the set with the formidable two-drummer attack.

That context matters because this is less a tidy live souvenir than a snapshot of The Fall at full strain. Mark E. Smith, Riley, Craig Scanlon and Stephen Hanley tear through familiar songs like “Hip Priest,” “Prole Art Threat” and “The Classical,” while rarer pieces including “Fantastic Life,” “Backdrop” and “Solicitor In Studio” stretch out into feedback-heavy, wiry performances. Chris Knox not only recorded the show but also created the cover artwork, tying the album closely to the Flying Nun scene that first released it.

Superior Viaduct’s return to Fall In A Hole is especially useful for collectors because it marks the album’s first vinyl reissue. It also adds liner notes by Roy Montgomery and draws on digital transfers made from analogue master tapes in the Flying Nun and Chris Knox collections held at the Alexander Turnbull Library, giving this famously ragged live set a properly considered return to print.

Features

• 2xLP
• First vinyl reissue
• Includes liner notes by Roy Montgomery
• Digital transfers made from analogue master tapes in the Flying Nun and Chris Knox collections