HYPE_1991-02003 2Today the world of electronic music was shocked by the news that Mark Bell sadly passed away. Mark formed with his partner Gez Varley the super-influential duo LFO, one of the first acts on Warp Records and  creators of classics like “We Are Back” and “LFO”. Especially their self-titled hit track created the bass and bleep genre in 1990 from scratch, destroyed sound systems all over the world with it’s earth-shaking bass break and was always one of my favorite techno tracks ever.
I remember when Tekknozid founder Wolle XDP joined Love Parade 1991 with a float only equipped with bass cabinets (the notorious “Magic Bassline” system), came to my studio and asked to produce a DAT only with bass breaks on it. He wanted to make a statement about bass in club music and of course we used that famous LFO break. I also happened to do an interview with them for Berlin based !HYPE magazine in February 1991. I met young Marc and Gez at “Schwangere Auster” (now “Haus der Kulturen der Welt”), walked and talked with them and was amazed by their modesty and charme.
Another good memory is a dinner we had together in November 1995 with Laurent Garnier, Richard D. James and of cours emy dear friend Toby Izui, organized by the good people from Frogman Records, Kengo Watanabe and Dai Sato.
Marc moved on to become a producer for acts like Björk or Depeche Mode, while Gez kept producing Techno as G-Man and other aliases.
With Marc Bell the world of electronic music has lost one of it’s leading figures.
According to Rolling Stone Magazine he dies of complications after a surgery, which is totally unacceptable.
My condolences go to his LFO partner Gez Varley and Mark’s family and friends. May they keep him in their best memory. And we will always have his music.
P.S.: the photo was taken by the late Carlos Alberto Heinz, who also sadly passed away many years ago.
R.I.P. too and thanks for the Cohibas.

UPDATE: Here’s a list  by The Guardian of Mark’s classic tracks which helps you dive deeper into this artist’s great legacy.

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