Mark Bell (British musician)

Mark Bell (22 February 1971 – 8 October 2014) was a British DJ, record producer, and member of the pioneering techno group LFO. He recorded on Warp Records, and also collaborated with artists such as Björk and Depeche Mode.

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 and Kraftwerk, an older sister who played disco, funk music and electro from her bedroom, and a music shop in Leeds Mark described as having "arcade games like ''Tempest'' and '' Defender''" and that it would play "loads of early hip hop like Schoolly D. 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. 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, 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 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'' in 1991. Following the album's release, Bell continued to release singles for other independent labels such as Carl Craig's Planet E.

While working on a follow-up album, Bell began his partnership with Björk before the release of her album ''Post''. 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''. Bell was credited for the majority of the album's production, including the songs "Pluto", "Alarm Call", and the bassline in "Jóga". Björk stated that she "trusts and respects what elldoes for me. If I were to say who has influenced me most it would be Stockhausen, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno and Mark Bell".

Bell would also produce Björk's ''Selmasongs'', the soundtrack to the Lars von Trier's film ''Dancer in the Dark''.

Bell also produced Depeche Mode'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 "what they should eat".

Other collaborations

Other collaborations included contributing to Deltron 3030'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.

Discography

as Speed Jack

Albums

*''Surge'' (R&S, 1996)
*''Sheath'' (Warp, 2003)

Singles

* 1994 "Storm"
* 1994 "C.T.C."
* 1996 "Blue Bossa"

as Clark
* 1995 "Lofthouse"

as Fawn
* 1995 ''Klip EP''

as Counterpoint
* 1996 "Jigsaw"

Production

* 1997 Björk - ''Homogenic''
* 2000 Björk - ''Selmasongs''
* 2001 Depeche Mode - '' Exciter''
* 2004 Björk - ''Medúlla''
* 2005 Björk - ''Drawing Restraint 9''
* 2007 Björk - '' Volta''
* 2011 Björk - '' Biophilia''

References

General references

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External links

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