Released in January of this year, this smorgasbord of various electronic styles by new German group Yellow Lazarus probably should not appeal to me as much as it has. However, I tend to try most things Out of Line Music Label puts out, so I gave it a go. There's a lot going on here, style-wise, and it definitely pulls from several electronic styles I've never been into. However there's a catchy aggressiveness to this EP that has really gotten to me, and I've found myself listening to it a lot.
Consisting of 5 tracks, the release is all over the spectrum sonically, pulling influences from everything like dub to hardstyle, ebm, and synthpunk, just to list a few. I think part of it's appeal is that everything is mixed together so well, alternating from one stylistic influence to another seamlessly. The EP also tends to have an aggressive delivery that reminds me a bit of groups like Atari Teenage Riot or Mindless Self Indulgence, however it maintains a poppy catchiness as well. The variations between the three vocalists also keeps things fresh, and mixes melody, growls, and screams wonderfully.
My favorite track is the last one, "Half a Cigarette", though "Dead Slot Machines" is a close second. I really find all of the tracks great though, and have serious respect for how well they've brought various styles together. The EP is melodic, raw, poppy, groovy, fun, catchy, hard, and all around awesome.Honestly my unfamiliarity with many of the electronic styles utilized means my ability to describe the tracks is limited, unfortunately. Which just means you should listen to it!
Their full length was supposedly in the works, however I do not know if there have been delays due to current events. As of January it was slated to be released later this year.
You can pick up the digital album via Bandcamp and probably most other digital music retailers. I don't know of a physical version existing, if it does it would probably be found at Out of Line Music's webstore.
I’ve been super terrible at blogging the books I’ve read. I’ve been having a bad time emotionally so I re-read a bunch of books and just haven’t really been in to, you know, doing things. Like writing. Anyway until I have the motivation here’s what I’ve read since we last checked in:
Station Eleven - Pretty good actually. Another apocalypse story. I thought it was unnecessarily padded with pre-apocalypse flashbacks though.
Green Sky Trilogy (1, 2, 3) - Re-read of my favorite books from when I was 10 or so. They’re actually not too bad of a re-read. I remember why I liked them so much: everyone lives in a (seeming) utopia where no one wants for anything and people have psychic powers. Oh and they all live in trees and can glide through the sky. Some things were a little shady, like for instance, in this utopia, everyone is white.
Gone Girl - I re-read it. It’s still good.
The Dispossessed - One of my all time favorite books. Re-read. I’ve read this book so many times, but I haven’t read it for several years. It is about a man who lives in an anarcho-communist society. Not only is the story good but it is a very cool look into how such a society could be constructed.
The Mark Inside - I had read about half of this a few years ago, finished it this time. This one is non-fiction, true crime actually, about a fellow in the early 20th century who lost a bunch of money in a confidence scheme, and then decided to take revenge. Unfortunately the book is way too long and has a whole bunch of not-very-interesting tangents. I had a hard time finishing it. The first half is gripping though.
The Girl on the Train - UGH. New book. Psychological thriller. It was in this quasi-diary style, and it’s kind of weird that of all the thrillers I’ve read this year, more than half of them have been switching back and forth between the main character’s point of view, and the victim’s point of view back in the past, leading up to when they were killed. Gone Girl kind of played with this apparently very common trope, so when I read it played straight it’s kind of boring. The only saving grace was that the main character was so fucked up I kind of felt better about myself.
Memory of Water - WOW YOU GUYS THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD. I was beginning to despair that there were genuinely awesome books anymore. I loved this book. If you like sci-fi like Le Guin or Atwood, you should read this book. It was on sale on my iPad for like $2.
The band's 2004 indie debut, Static/Crash, was picked up for wide release by MapleMusic, however, despite national airplay and international tours—not to mention a cameo on Ken Finkelman's CBC mini-series At the Hotel—the band struggled to produce a follow-up, and wouldn't issue their second full-length album, Nothing to Admit, until 2011. (In December of that year, The Grid spoke to Levoir about their controversial video for the single "Shots From a Broken Bottle," which was banned by MuchMusic despite being funded by their MuchFACT program.) Levoir's untimely passing is all the more tragic given that he had settled into a fruitful second career as the front-of-house sound engineer at Wrongbar and The Great Hall, and was gearing up for the July release of The Mark Inside's third album, Dark Hearts Radiate White Light.
At press time, the cause of Levoir's death was not publicly known. In tribute, we asked some of his many peers to share their fondest memories of the man.
LEXI VALENTINE (Magneta Lane): I met Chris in 2004. The Mark Inside was the first band Magneta Lane ever went on tour with and, from the moment I met Chris, I knew he would be someone special to me.
Chris was my first love. The kind where you can barely stand next to them because they make you so nervous or when they hold your hand you can barely breathe because your heart's gonna jump out of your ribcage. He was also my first real heartache in the most Romeo and Juliet sense; it was one of the most beautiful memories of my life. We always had a special and natural bond, so we remained in each others' lives through out the years.
He was always there for me to offer his wisdom and unconditional love for the 10 years we knew each other. No matter the years that went by. No matter the separate paths we took. Chris was a true friend. He never expected anything in return, he was a giver. I always looked up to him and admired him. He was a beautiful soul, and a true artist, and the loss of him leaves a hole in my heart. You know the kind of friend that you know is a soul brother? That was Chris for me. I will always remember him as the boy that taught me what it was to really love a person. Unconditional and pure and forever remaining a mark on my heart. Chris you will be missed. See you someday.
WAYNE PETTI (Cuff the Duke): Chris and I first met back in the day in Oshawa. We used to hang out when we were both getting started with our own bands. We'd play each other songs we were working on and talk about making records one day, hitting the road, and playing somewhere other than the Dungeon in the 'Shwa. The integrity and honesty that he poured into his music was second to none. His voice blew me away every time I heard him sing and his passion for music was an inspiration to me then and always will be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp2RjkFU1IA
KIM COOKE (General Manager of MapleMusic Recordings): I can remember The Mark Inside's manager coming to MapleMusic Recordings with a copy of the the band's Static/Crash album and it was an immediate crush for me. I loved the furious and feral blues-inflected stomp of tracks like 'Sweet Little Sister' and 'Dead Already.' And live, on a good night, which was most of them, they left blood on the floor. Chris and the whole band were great to work with. They deserved better, and for Chris to be gone already is just profoundly sad and wrong.
DAN BURKE (booker at The Silver Dollar/Comfort Zone): The first time I saw his band about eight years ago, and I was so impressed by his guitar work and songwriting that I gave some lyrics I'd written and asked him to write some music for them. He was a talent: just ask British producer Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian). He brought The Mark Inside to London for a month-long recording session. Things were going well. I liked him so much, I nicknamed him "Frenchie." Great guy to hang out with, very funny. Then, about three years ago, he was working with me at The Velvet Underground doing sound and a girl he was seeing walked in and I could tell there was something wrong. It screwed things up for him. But that relationship ended and he was clearly doing much better—working at The Great Hall, new record coming out. About a month ago, he played The Silver Dollar and said to me after the show that he wanted to get back in touch with everyone—guys from The Hoa Hoas, the Action Makes. I said, "Sure, but it'll take a little time." Now, the only chance we'll have for that is his funeral. Very, very sad.
YVONNE MATSELL (former booker at the El Mocambo): I saw the first condolence message for Chris on Facebook late Sunday night and immediately felt shock and disbelief. I am still feeling that Monday morning. Chris was a sweet, extremely talented young man who I met about 10 years ago, when he and his band came to play the El Mo, where I was booking. They blew me away—I could see what was lurking under the surface of a young green band from the suburbs. He was shy and reserved; he was possibly unsure about my overly enthusiastic response to their full-on Zeppelin-esque rock set. The band went through some trials and tribulations, but he came to me last year to see if they could play North by Northeast, and I didn’t hesitate [to book them]. He also wanted the band to start playing clubs again, which they did, and I was happy to participate in booking them again—they sounded amazing. My heart goes out to his family, friends, and his band members. Chris is someone who had so much more music in him to make.
ALPHONSE ALIXANDER LANZA III (Azari & III/The Cruelty Party): Chris first came through my studio back when Davy Love was doing recordings for his Magnificent Sevens label with the band Action Makes. He came by to support his friends and check out the scene. Years later, just months ago, I mixed Chris' band's new LP. It was a very positive experience and we were all very excited about it. The vinyl copies just came from pressing recently. He also just mixed front-of-house for my band The Cruelty Party, and that show was the best-sounding show I've ever been a part of. Like me, Chris seemed to have somewhat of an emotional void… I believe he was a casualty of simply trying to cope with the modern age in all its unreliability.
CAMERON JINGLES (The Disraelis, on behalf of the Optical Sounds label): Chris Levoir—a.k.a. "Frenchie" as he liked to be called—was a great friend who also happened to be an electrifying performer who I and many others were privileged to share the stage with. All of us at Optical Sounds are hurting real bad inside. I know I'm not alone when I say I wish you could come back. But I know you can't. And that's not fair.
Perhaps a memory of him would be the one we never got a chance to have. The last time I saw him, I needed his phone number again. We had made plans to hang out, but I'd taken his phone number down wrong and ended up jokingly sexting/texting a complete stranger for several weeks. I think he would have found that funny. We're gonna miss him so.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPzHYe64T1s
NAV SANGHA (Wrongbar/The Great Hall/Riverside Public House): Chris Levoir worked with me at Wrongbar and more recently at The Great Hall. I clearly remember the first show we worked together four years ago. I can't remember who it was, but there was this really high-maintenance band on the stage sound-checking. They were the kind of band that would make your average sound engineer pull out his hair and run screaming from the room. Chris Levoir, however, was not your average sound engineer. I watched as he listened patiently and worked his charm to disarm the four egos on stage. At the end of the night, I immediately asked him to come work with us. Chris was not the most technologically or gear-savvy person I've ever worked with. For the first while we worked together, he actually did not even have a cellphone or internet connection. which meant I would often find myself literally calling his girlfriends, band members, and other venues trying to track him down to schedule him at the club. When I think back, as ridiculous and frustrating as this sometimes was, there was something special about Chris that compelled me to go that extra mile to work with him. I knew that he quite simply, truly, and absolutely loved music. He loved music in that objective manner that all great engineers and producers do. He did not judge. He simply delivered. It would never take long for a band or artist that walked into our club to realize that they were in the hands of someone who was actually going to take the time to listen to them and make them sound great. There have been countless occasions upon which promoters and artists have either specially requested Chris, or taken the time to sing his praises to me after a successful show. He always made a great impression. Chris was also a great artist. So when you put a group of demanding fellow artists on the stage in front of him, it was never a challenge for him to understand them, to see the world through their eyes for a moment, and to take care of them. This is a real loss to our community. I know myself and all of us at The Great Hall and Wrongbar will miss him dearly. Rest in Peace, Chris.
CHRISTOPHER SANDES (Loving in the Name Of/The Big Sound): I will miss Chris Levoir greatly. Chris was an unusually sweet and tremendously graceful man in his personal life and in his professional life as both a front man for a rock’n’roll band and as the front-of-house tech at a large concert venue—two arenas in which most men are found to be wanting on any level concerning taste, decency, understanding, and patience. And that is what is hitting me the hardest right now: the fact that we have lost such a sweet, sweet dude. A man I never heard complain despite the fact that I had him mixing a 27-piece classic-soul band (The Big Sound) with a mixing desk best suited to smaller acts. I have had two events at the Great Hall for years now: Loving In The Name Of and The Big Sound, which both represent a technical nightmare for any tech. I had brought in some world-class touring techs for acts such as Sloan and Feist prior to Chris who all said the same thing: “Nightmare room. Nightmare band.” Chris never complained and was patient and kind throughout the years we worked together. But, I don’t want to define Chris as a tech. He was a musician, a really good musician; it just happened to make him one of the most capable, musical, and beloved techs ever, a beloved guy in a town full of jerks. His absence and our loss will do little to subdue the memory of his kindness. He was amazing because he cared about people. Because he had toured, he took taking care of musicians very seriously. Ultimately, I'm sure he would have preferred to be able to make his own music full-time; he never once seemed embittered about having to be a tech to pay the bills. If he ever did, he hid it well and always seemed to take real pride in having bands and artists leave the club happy, which is no small accomplishment.
JAY ANDERSON (Biblical/Steamboat): I always look forward to the hangs at the Great Hall. Between Loving In the Name of, The Big Sound, and other shows, I can always count on it feeling like a team effort to make it the best night possible. It feels like family between the musicians and the staff. Today, we lost a family member of the Toronto music community. I am saddened to learn about Chris Levoir passing. A true talent and all around great human. It's going to be hard to walk through those doors knowing that he's not going to be there. RIP Chris.
Freedom is nothing soft and sweet, it's beautiful and terrible,
It's admitting everything that I don't want anyone to know,
It's telling people that I love I stole from them when they weren't looking,
It's fucking up so many times that they won't pick up when I call them.
Con men don't change, they break, shatter - explosions of matter in cold interstellar space, drift away in cosmic dust, leave the empty body behind. Hustlers of the world, there is one Mark you cannot beat: The Mark Inside...
