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.<ref name="HawkinsScott2012">Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref name="warp-bio">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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".<ref name="warp-bio" /> 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.<ref name="warp-bio" /> Bell convinced him he required a real backing band and purchased his drum machine from him.<ref name="warp-bio" />

Bell went to college to study photography and graphic design, where he met the West Yorkshire DJ Martin Williams and Gez Varley.<ref name="warp-bio" /> With money from Varley's grandmother, Bell had access to a bedroom full of equipment.<ref name="warp-bio" /> In 1988, Varley, Bell and Martin began to play gigs as LFO, named after the low frequency oscillator, a function of many synthesizers.<ref name="warp-bio" /><ref name="rs-death">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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".<ref name="warp-bio" /> Beckett and Mitchell were the original creators of the Warp record label, but had not officially created the label yet.<ref name="warp-bio" /> Despite this, Beckett and Mitchell offered to put out a 12-inch single,<ref name="warp-bio" /> which was expected to sell about 2,000 copies but eventually became a Top 20 hit.<ref name="rs-death" /> The label released their first studio album Frequencies in 1991.<ref name="warp-bio" /> Following the album's release, Bell continued to release singles for other independent labels such as Carl Craig's Planet E.<ref name="warp-bio" />

File:Björk at Cannes.jpg

Mark Bell would perform production duties on all of Björk's albums between Homogenic and Biophilia.

While working on a follow-up album, Bell began his partnership with Björk before the release of her album Post.Template:Sfn Bell gave her a cassette of LFO demo material allowing her to use what she wanted for a future release.Template:Sfn 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.<ref name="warp-bio" />Template:Sfn 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."<ref name="warp-bio" /> After the release of Advance, Bell and Varley parted ways, with Bell retaining rights to the name LFO.<ref name="warp-bio" /> Bell continued to perform under the LFO moniker.<ref name="warp-bio" /><ref name="rs-death" />

Bell released one more LFO album, Sheath in 2003.<ref name="warp-bio" /><ref name="rs-death" />

Production work

Bell worked on almost every Björk album until Biophilia in 2011.<ref name="rs-death" />

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.<ref name="rs-death" /><ref name=milkfactory>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bell was credited for the majority of the album's production, including the songs "Pluto", "Alarm Call", and the bassline in "Jóga".Template:Sfn Björk stated that she "trusts and respects what [Bell] does for me. If I were to say who has influenced me most it would be Stockhausen, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno and Mark Bell".Template:Sfn

Bell would also produce Björk's Selmasongs, the soundtrack to the Lars von Trier's film Dancer in the Dark.<ref name="warp-bio" />

Bell also produced Depeche Mode's Exciter.<ref name="warp-bio" /> 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".<ref name="warp-bio" />

Other collaborations

Other collaborations included contributing to Deltron 3030's self-titled album.<ref name="rs-death" />

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="RIP Mark Bell">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Select Discography

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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, as Fawn

• 1996 "Jigsaw", as Counterpoint

Production

• 1997 Björk – Homogenic<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• 2000 Björk – Selmasongs<ref name=":0" />
• 2001 Paul Oakenfold - Perfecto Presents Ibiza<ref name=":0" />

• 2001 Depeche Mode – Exciter<ref name=":0" />
• 2004 Björk – Medúlla<ref name=":0" />
• 2005 Björk – Drawing Restraint 9
• 2007 Björk – Volta<ref name=":0" />
• 2011 Björk – Biophilia<ref name=":0" />
• 2012 Björk – Bastards<ref name=":0" />

Composer

• 2003 Underworld - Back to Mine<ref name=":0" />
• 2008 Björk – Declare Independence<ref name=":0" />

General references

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External links

• {{#if:Mark Bell|Mark Bell discography at Discogs|{{#if:Template:Wikidata|Template:Wikidata Mark Bell discography at DiscogsTemplate:EditAtWikidata|Mark Bell discography at Discogs}}}}