Mark Bell (British Musician)
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Mark Bell (22 February 1971 – 8 October 2014) was a British DJ, record producer, and member of the pioneering
techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...
group LFO. He recorded on
Warp Records Warp Records is a British independent record label that specialises in Electronic music, electronic, indie rock and experimental music. It was founded in Sheffield in 1989 by Steve Beckett, Robert Mitchell and Robert Gordon. It has released recor ...
, and also collaborated with artists such as
Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
and
Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...
.


Biography


Early life

Mark Bell's early musical influences came from three specific sources. One was an art teacher in school who taught art and played music by
Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the Electronic music, electronic, Ambient music, ambient and New-age music, new-age genres, and is known for organising out ...
and
Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...
, an older sister who played
disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
,
funk music Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mi ...
and electro from her bedroom, and a music shop in
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
Mark described as having "arcade games like '' Tempest'' and '' Defender''" and that it would play "loads of early hip hop like
Schoolly D Jesse Bonds Weaver Jr. (born June 22, 1962), better known by the stage name Schoolly D, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Biography Schoolly D was born Jesse Bonds Weaver Jr. in West Philadelphia and raised in Philadelph ...
. I remember feeling this is mine and my friend’s place". Bell's first experiments in electronic music involved him making a deal with his girlfriend's father who made his musical ballads listened to despite disliking them. Bell convinced him he required a real backing band and purchased his drum machine from him. Bell went to college to study photography and graphic design, where he met the West Yorkshire DJ Martin Williams and
Gez Varley Gerrard Varley is a British electronic musician and DJ, who was member of LFO during the 1990s and later released his solo works under the moniker G-Man. Life Varley founded LFO in 1990 with Mark Bell, whom he had known since 1984.
. With money from Varley's grandmother, Bell had access to a bedroom full of equipment. In 1988, Varley, Bell and Martin began to play gigs as LFO, named after the low frequency oscillator, a function of many synthesizers.


LFO

LFO were performing at the Warehouse, a club in
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
, when Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell arrived and noticed the positive reception club goers had to the track "LFO". Beckett and Mitchell were the original creators of the
Warp Warp, warped or warping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and comics * WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher * ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!'' * Warp (comics), a D ...
record label, but had not officially created the label yet. Despite this, Beckett and Mitchell offered to put out a 12-inch single, which was expected to sell about 2,000 copies but eventually became a Top 20 hit. The label released their first studio album ''
Frequencies Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...
'' in 1991. Following the album's release, Bell continued to release singles for other independent labels such as
Carl Craig Carl Craig (born May 22, 1969) is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980 ...
's Planet E. While working on a follow-up album, Bell began his partnership with
Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
before the release of her album ''
Post Post, POST, or posting may refer to: Postal services * Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal s ...
''. Bell gave her a cassette of LFO demo material allowing her to use what she wanted for a future release. Björk chose a track that would later become her song "I Go Humble", which would show up again in instrumental form as "Shove Piggy Shove" on the LFO album '' Advance'' in 1996. When asked about the long gap between records, Bell stated “It’s not intentional...It's easy doing your first album as you have all the first part of your life to express. The second one is harder unless you're going to repeat yourself... and repetition bores me a bit, it's a complete wasted opportunity to be creative." After the release of ''Advance'', Bell and Varley parted ways, with Bell retaining rights to the name LFO. Bell continued to perform under the LFO moniker. Bell released one more LFO album, '' Sheath'' in 2003.


Production work

Bell worked on almost every Björk album until '' Biophilia'' in 2011. Björk had initially wanted Bell to contribute to her albums ''Debut'' and ''Post'', however, he started a real collaboration with her on the album ''
Homogenic ''Homogenic'' is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 22 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell (British musician), Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dra ...
''. Bell was credited for the majority of the album's production, including the songs "
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
", "
Alarm Call "Alarm Call" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for her third studio album ''Homogenic'' (1997). It was released as the fourth single from the album, peaking at number 33 in the United Kingdom. The sped-up radio edit of the song was us ...
", and the bassline in "
Jóga "Jóga" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer, songwriter and actress Björk for her third studio album, ''Homogenic'' (1997). An electronica song, "Jóga" fuses these elements with Baroque music, baroque and Classical music, classical styles. ...
". Björk stated that she "trusts and respects what
ell An ell (from Proto-Germanic *''alinō'', cognate with Latin ''ulna'') is a northwestern European unit of measurement, originally understood as a cubit (the combined length of the forearm and extended hand). The word literally means "arm", an ...
does for me. If I were to say who has influenced me most it would be
Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...
, Kraftwerk,
Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...
and Mark Bell". Bell would also produce Björk's '' Selmasongs'', the soundtrack to the
Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (né Trier; born 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. Beginning in the late-1960s as a child actor working on Danish television series ''Secret Summer'', von Trier's career has spanned more than five decad ...
's film ''
Dancer in the Dark ''Dancer in the Dark'' is a 2000 musical psychological tragedy film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to p ...
''. Bell also produced
Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...
's '' Exciter''. Bell commented that he found working with the group fun but strange, stating he had listened to the group when he was 12 and found the band asking him for days off or for "what they should eat".


Other collaborations

Other collaborations included contributing to
Deltron 3030 Deltron 3030 is an American hip hop trio composed of producer Dan the Automator (as the Cantankerous Captain Aptos), rapper Del the Funky Homosapien (as Deltron Zero/Deltron Osiris), and DJ Kid Koala (as Skiznod the Boy Wonder). They also c ...
's self-titled album.


Death

Bell died on 8 October 2014 at the age of 43. His death was reported on 13 October 2014 due to complications after surgery.


Select Discography


Albums

*''Surge'' (R&S, 1996), as Speedjack


Singles

* 1994 "Storm", as Speedjack * 1994 "C.T.C.", as Speedjack * 1994 "Blue Bossa". as Speedjack * 1995 "Lofthouse", as Clark * 1995 ''Klip EP, a''s Fawn * 1996 "Jigsaw", as Counterpoint


Production

* 1997
Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
– ''
Homogenic ''Homogenic'' is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 22 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell (British musician), Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dra ...
'' * 2000 Björk – '' Selmasongs'' * 2001
Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (; born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Ma ...
- ''
Perfecto Presents Ibiza ''Perfecto Presents Ibiza'' is a DJ mix album by Paul Oakenfold. Track listing Disc 1 #Nat Monday - "Waiting" ( John Creamer Remix) # Jan Johnston - "Superstar" ( Bill Hamel Mix) #The Realm - "This Is Not a Breakdown" #Flash - "Megatron" #Elektr ...
'' * 2001
Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...
– '' Exciter'' * 2004 Björk – ''
Medúlla ''Medúlla'' is the fifth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 30 August 2004 in the United Kingdom by One Little Independent Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. After the release of her ...
'' * 2005 Björk – ''
Drawing Restraint 9 ''Drawing Restraint 9'' is a 2005 film project by visual artist Matthew Barney consisting of a feature-length film, large-scale sculptures, photographs, drawings, and books. The Drawing Restraint series consists of 19 numbered components and rela ...
'' * 2007 Björk – '' Volta'' * 2011 Björk – '' Biophilia'' * 2012 Björk – ''Bastards''''''


Composer

* 2003
Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...
- ''Back to Mine'' * 2008 Björk – ''
Declare Independence "Declare Independence" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic singer Björk. It was released on 1 January 2008 through One Little Indian as the third single from her sixth studio album, '' Volta''. Björk's dedication of the song to variou ...
''


References


General references

* * * * * * * * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Mark 1971 births 2014 deaths English DJs English record producers English techno musicians English male musicians British electronic dance music DJs Musicians from Wakefield Place of birth missing Place of death missing 20th-century English musicians 21st-century English musicians 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians