Levitate | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 29 September 1997 | |||
Recorded | Mid-1997 | |||
Studio | West Heath Studios, London Beethoven Street Studios, London PWL Studios, Manchester [1] | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 49:35 | |||
Label | Artful Records | |||
Producer | Mark E. Smith | |||
The Fall chronology | ||||
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Singles from Levitate | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
NME | 8/10 [3] |
Levitate is the 19th album by The Fall, released in 1997 on Artful Records. Levitate became the last album to feature two long-time Fall members, drummer Karl Burns and bass player Steve Hanley (whose playing was once described by Smith as the defining element of the group's music).
The album remained out of print for a long time, as Artful went bankrupt in the early 2000. An expanded, remastered 2CD/3LP version of the album was released by Cherry Red Records in May 2018. [4]
Levitate was recorded amidst a difficult period for the group, described by personnel turmoil and financial troubles due to a VAT bill incurred in the 1980s and early 1990s for nearly £200,000.
Simon Wolstencroft left after a disagreement about the recording of 'Everybody But Myself'; also having received financial advice about the group's VAT bill, he resigned from being a co-director of The Fall business.
Karl Burns was fired in 1995 after the recording of The Light User Syndrome but reluctantly brought back in during the recording of Levitate, after Simon Wolstencroft left.
Julia Nagle programmed computers using Logic Audio software, played guitar and keyboards on most of Levitate, and contributed vocals on songs "Doc Shanley's Quartet", "I'm A Mummy" and "Scareball". Her young son Basil contributed a spoken part on "The Masquerade".
The album was initially going to be produced by Keir Stewart and Simon Spencer (who previously collaborated with Smith under the moniker D.O.S.E. on the 1995 single "Plug Myself In"). Most of the recordings took place at Edwyn Collins's studio in West Hampstead. However, Stewart and Spencer soon fell out with Smith over payments and left after a week, taking most of the tapes with them. The only tracks from these sessions to make the album were "4½ Inch" (allegedly edited out of samples of a rehearsal recording), "Spencer", later re-dubbed by Smith as "Spencer Must Die", and "The Quartet of Doc Shanley". Scottish artist Tommy Crooks joined the group towards the end of recording Levitate, playing guitar.
The album features several covers – "I'm a Mummy" by Bob McFadden & Dor and "Jungle Rock" by Hank Mizell, as well as an interpretation of the song "I Come and Stand At Every Door", based on a poem by Nazım Hikmet and a traditional tune, previously performed by Pete Seeger, The Misunderstood and The Byrds ("Jap Kid" is an instrumental version of this track). Another track, "Tragic Days", is a poorly recorded fragment of a jam session at Martin Bramah's flat back in 1990, when Bramah still played in The Fall.
"Masquerade" was remixed from the album version and released as a single in February 1998 to coincide with the group's leader Mark E. Smith receiving the Godlike Genius award at the NME Awards. [5] It reached number 69 in the UK charts. The "Masquerade" sessions also produced a b-side "Calendar", a collaboration with then-unknown Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy) which came about after a chance meeting when Smith allegedly mistook Gough's car for a taxi outside the pub.
The album was followed by another shambolic tour. Smith sacked the whole group in Ireland in November, although they were re-instated within days. [6] The situation was caused by the group's sudden debt crisis because of the VAT bill, which left Smith and Steve Hanley in danger of their houses being repossessed. It was during the US tour in 1998 that the group essentially fell apart, leaving Smith with only Nagle's support in rebuilding the group for their next album The Marshall Suite .
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Ten Houses of Eve" | Mark E. Smith, Julia Nagle | 3:39 |
2. | "Masquerade" | Smith, Nagle [n 1] | 3:58 |
3. | "Hurricane Edward" | Smith, Nagle | 5:52 |
4. | "I'm a Mummy" | Rod McKuen [7] [n 2] | 2:37 |
5. | "The Quartet of Doc Shanley" | Smith, Hanley | 3:14 |
6. | "Jap Kid" | Nagle | 3:03 |
7. | "4½ Inch" | Smith, Hanley | 3:56 |
8. | "Spencer Must Die" | Smith, Simon Spencer | 4:00 |
9. | "Jungle Rock" | Hank Mizell | 3:11 |
10. | "Ol' Gang" | Smith, Hanley, Simon Wolstencroft | 4:00 |
11. | "Tragic Days" | Smith, Martin Bramah | 1:29 |
12. | "I Come and Stand at Your Door" | Nagle, Nâzım Hikmet [8] [n 3] | 3:31 |
13. | "Levitate" | Smith, Nagle | 2:50 |
14. | "Everybody But Myself" | Smith, Wolstencroft | 4:15 |
Total length: | 49:35 |
The first CD edition came with an additional 5 song disc of outtakes and alternate mixes spanning the group's career.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Powderkex" | Smith, Burns | 3:17 |
2. | "Christmastide" | Smith, Wolstencroft, Craig Scanlon | 3:44 |
3. | "Recipe for Fascism" | Smith | 1:03 |
4. | "Pilsner Trail" (live) | Smith, Hanley [n 4] | 5:20 |
5. | "Everybody But Myself" (live) | Smith, Wolstencroft | 3:04 |
Total length: | 16:28 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Powderkex" (0161 and Levitate bonus disc) | Smith, Burns | 3:17 |
2. | "Christmastide" (Levitate bonus disc) | Smith, Wolstencfroft, Scanlon | 3:44 |
3. | "Recipe for Fascism" (Levitate bonus disc) | Smith | 1:03 |
4. | "Pilsner Trail" (live) (Levitate bonus disc) | Smith, Hanley | 5:20 |
5. | "Everybody But Myself" (live) (Levitate bonus disc) | Smith, Wolstencroft | 3:04 |
6. | "Masquerade" (single mix) | Smith, Nagle | 3:53 |
7. | "Ivanhoe's Two Pence" ("Masquerade" single B-side) | Smith, Burns, Hanley, Nagle | 4:07 |
8. | "Spencer Must Die" (live) ("Masquerade" single B-side) | Smith, Spencer | 2:18 |
9. | "Ten Houses of Eve" (remix) ("Masquerade" single B-side) | Smith, Nagle | 3:44 |
10. | "Calendar" ("Masquerade" single B-side) | Smith, Damon Gough | 1:44 |
11. | "Scareball" ("Masquerade" single B-side) | Smith, Burns, Hanley, Nagle | 2:55 |
12. | "Ol' Gang" (live) ("Masquerade" single B-side) | Smith, S. Hanley, Wolstencroft | 5:22 |
13. | "Masquerade" (Mr Natural mix) ("Masquerade" single B-side) | Smith, Nagle | 7:07 |
14. | "Masquerade" (PWL mix) ("Masquerade" single B-side) | Smith, Nagle | 4:00 |
Total length: | 51:44 |
The Fall
Additional personnel
Technical
The Fall were an English post-punk group, formed in 1976 in Prestwich, Greater Manchester. They underwent many line-up changes, with vocalist and founder Mark E. Smith as the only constant member. The Fall's long-term musicians included drummers Paul Hanley, Simon Wolstencroft and Karl Burns; guitarists Marc Riley, Craig Scanlon and Brix Smith; and bassist Steve Hanley, whose melodic, circular bass lines are widely credited with shaping the band's sound from early 1980s albums such as Hex Enduction Hour to the late 1990s.
Dragnet is the second studio album by English post-punk band the Fall, released on 26 October 1979 through Step-Forward Records. Appearing less than eight months after its predecessor, Live at the Witch Trials,Dragnet established at an early stage two key patterns characteristic of the group's future: that of high productivity and that of a regular turnover of group members.
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The Infotainment Scan is the fifteenth album by The Fall, released in 1993 on Permanent Records in the UK and by Matador Records in the USA. At the time of its release, it was considered the band's most accessible album and came when the band were experiencing unprecedented recognition in the media. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number 9, making it their highest-charting album.
The Marshall Suite is a 1999 album by the Fall, their 20th. The album builds on the techno-influenced beats of its predecessor Levitate (1997), while also returning to a more rockabilly-influenced sound reminiscent of earlier Fall lineups with songs such as the catchy "Touch Sensitive" and the strange, complex, thumping jungle beats of "The Crying Marshal". The album was long out of print, but a new three-disc edition was released in the summer of 2011.
Karl Burns is a British musician best known as drummer for the Fall, featuring in many incarnations of the band between 1977 and 1998.
I Am Kurious Oranj is the eleventh studio album by English post-punk band the Fall. It was released on 10 October 1988 through record label Beggars Banquet.
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Shift-Work is the 13th album by English rock band the Fall, released through Phonogram Records in 1991. The Fall started working on the album in 1990 while touring in support of Extricate. Mark E. Smith sacked guitarist Martin Bramah and keyboardist Marcia Schofield immediately after the Australian leg of the tour, reducing the lineup to four for the first time in band's history. Only one song ("Rose") from the sessions with Bramah and Schofield eventually appeared on the album. Several tracks were released as the Dredger EP in August 1990, including "Life Just Bounces", which would later be re-recorded for Cerebral Caustic. The Fall's first release with a reduced lineup was the single "High Tension Line" in December 1990.
Middle Class Revolt is the sixteenth album by the Fall, released in 1994 in the UK on Permanent Records and in the US on Matador Records. It spent one week on the UK Albums Chart at number 48, a marked contrast to the top 10 debut of their preceding album, The Infotainment Scan. The album's full title is Middle Class Revolt A/K/A The Vapourisation Of Reality. Drummer Karl Burns features for the first time since 1985's This Nation's Saving Grace, having rejoined the band in 1993.
Cerebral Caustic is the seventeenth full-length studio album by English post-punk group the Fall, released in 1995 on Permanent Records. It spent one week on the UK Albums Chart at number 67, 19 places lower than its predecessor Middle Class Revolt, marking the end of one of the group's relatively more successful periods.
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The Twenty-Seven Points is a double album by the Fall, released in 1995. Subtitled "Live 92-95" the album consists of live recordings made in various locations between 1991 and 1995, but also contains 2 previously unheard studio tracks as well as some mildly diverting interludes. Credits on the album are sketchy but the front cover lists the cities in which the tracks were recorded; Prague, Tel Aviv, London, Glasgow, New York City and Manchester.
Simon John Wolstencroft is an English rock drummer, best known for playing with The Fall from 1986 to 1997. He also played with early incarnations of The Smiths and The Stone Roses. His highly praised autography You Can Drum But You Can't Hide was published in 2014.
The Remainderer is an EP by the Fall, released on 9 November 2013. It features five new songs by the group and a medley of two Gene Vincent covers, "Say Mama" and "Race With the Devil". The title track was previously played live. Curiously, "Race with the Devil" is not a new recording, but a live performance recorded at the John Peel's 50th-anniversary concert back in 1989 with the Extricate lineup; this recording had previously appeared on The Fall Red Box Set 1976-2007. The last song, "Touchy Pad" features Tamsin Middleton of Manchester band Mr Heart on vocals. The release was explained as a bridging point by the record company. The vinyl version features earlier mixes that differ from the CD. The release was followed by a number of live-shows.
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A web page with photos, relating to the album Levitate from Invisiblegirl.co.uk