Levitate (The Fall album)

Levitate
Studio album by The Fall
Released 29 September 1997
Recorded mid-1997
West Heath Studios, London
Beethoven Street Studios, London
PWL Studios, Manchester[1]
Genre Post-punk, electronic
Length 49:35
Label Artful Records
Producer Mark E. Smith
The Fall chronology
The Light User Syndrome
(1996)		 Levitate
(1997)		 The Marshall Suite
(1999)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
NME (8/10)[3]

Levitate is an album by The Fall, released in 1997 on Artful Records. The first edition came with an additional 5 song disc of outtakes and alternate mixes spanning the group's career. A single, "Masquerade", was recorded from the album version and released in February 1998 to coincide with Mark E. Smith receiving the Godlike Genius award at the NME Awards[4] and reached number 59 in the UK charts. The album is out of print as Artful went bankrupt in the early part of 2000.

Levitate received mixed press. Brix Smith had quit the band during their 1996 tour and longtime drummer Simon Wolstencroft left before recording was complete. Julia Nagle's electronics are to the fore throughout and she co-writes 6 of the album's 14 tracks. The album was followed by a shambolic tour, Smith sacking the whole band in Ireland, although they were re-instated within days.[5] It was during the US tour for this album that the group finally fell apart, leaving Smith with only Nagle's support in rebuilding the group for their next album The Marshall Suite.

Contents

Track listing

  1. "Ten Houses of Eve" (Mark E. Smith, Julia Nagle)
  2. "Masquerade" (Smith, Nagle)
  3. "Hurricane Edward" (Smith, Nagle)
  4. "I'm a Mummy" (credited to "unknown")
    • A cover version of "The Mummy" by Bob McFadden & Dor, composed by Rod "Dor" McKuen
  5. "The Quartet of Doc Shanley" (Smith, Steve Hanley)
  6. "Jap Kid" (Nagle)
  7. "4½ Inch" (Smith, Hanley)
  8. "Spencer Must Die" (Smith, Simon Spencer)
  9. "Jungle Rock" (Hank Mizell)
  10. "Ol' Gang" (Smith, Hanley, Simon Wolstencroft)
  11. "Tragic Days" (Smith, Martin Bramah)
  12. "I Come and Stand At Your Door" (credited to "Anon/Nagle")
  13. "Levitate" (Smith, Nagle)
  14. "Everybody But Myself" (Smith, Wolstencroft)

Limited edition bonus disc

  1. "Powderkex" (Smith, Karl Burns)
  2. "Christmastide" (Smith, Wolstencroft, Craig Scanlon)
    • A remix of "Xmas With Simon", a b-side from the 1990 single "High Tension Line"
  3. "Recipe For Fascism" (Smith)
  4. "Pilsner Trail" (Smith, Hanley)
    • A live recording from 1983. A studio version of this song was released in 2005 on the expanded reissue of Perverted By Language. Credited to Mark E. Smith and either Steve or Paul Hanley, both of whom where members of The Fall in 1983. On the Perverted by Language reissue, the song is credited to "The Fall".
  5. "Everybody But Myself" (Smith, Wolstencroft)
    • Live recording

Personnel

The Fall

Additional personnel

The Fall
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
Former members
Collaborators
Related articles

External links

A web page with photos, relating to the album Levitate from Invisiblegirl.co.uk

References

  1. ^ "Levitate". The Fall Online. http://www.visi.com/fall/discog/data/album20.html. Retrieved 2010-08-13. 
  2. ^ Allmusic review
  3. ^ NME review
  4. ^ FallNews - all mud and witches
  5. ^ FallNews
  6. ^ Tommy Crooks interview in Reformation Post TPM