A visionary composer, artist and critical-thinker, Mark Fell has carved out a legacy at the frontlines of electronic music innovation that is distinctly his own. Ahead of his Rewire 2019 commission, we’ve highlighted a few of his most definitive works.
First emerging in the mid-90s as part of SND, Mark Fell has since released groundbreaking experiments in algorithmic systems and computational technology like ‘Multistability’ and ‘UL8’, club-oriented music under his solo-moniker Senate Focus and countless collaborations with the likes Gábor Lázár and Errorsmith. All this while developing projects across a spectrum of performative expression, from multi-speaker installations and site-specific interventions to choreographies and curatorial works for art and club institutions alike.
Spanning glitch-oriented deconstructions of club aesthetics to pivotal explorations that breach the confines of minimalism and avant-garde, the Rotherham-based sound artist will channelhis constant inquiry within the realms of programming, computer software and composition into a new, commissioned work for sound, light, kinetic objects and performance at Rewire 2019. To shed light on his extraordinary legacy and practice, we’ve highlighted a few of his most definitive works.
The first EP that introduced the world to the combined efforts of Mark Fell and Mat Steel. With a featherlight sound-palette, Tplay recoded the swing & shuffle of UK Garage and Two-Step within a new minimalist paradigm.
→ https://www.youtube.com/embed/yX8INShBSGY
Multistability is a reoccurring title in Fell’s list of live performances. The piece focusses on the micro-temporal translation of three of his works: Multistability, Manitutshu and Periodic Orbits of a Dynamic System Related to a Knot’. As an ongoing study into the performative nature of Fell’s sound installations and audio studies, Multistability offers an expanding exploration of erratic and non-regular rhythmic patterns.
→ https://www.youtube.com/embed/ATjASx8iCpE
The last release of Fell’s Sensate Focus period combines the spiky beats of 2.5 step with R&B stabs. The record is right in the middle of the intersection of dance music and experimental electronics. Its smooth textures are contrasted with crisp rhythmic elements, leaving the listener with a sense of safety, familiarity and eerie discomfort.
→ https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vam4or3R6Wk
Closing in on the aesthetics of footwork and diving into the field of rave deconstruction, this collaboration with Rewire alumni Gábor Lázár offers a new perspective to Fell’s signature odd rhythms and multitimbral sounds. The 10 pieces shared by this duo focus on ‘the deconstructing of the steadfast preconceptions of dance music through a suite of constantly shifting time signatures’.
→ https://www.youtube.com/embed/SjvF4yOydp8
Commissioned by the Serralves Museum in Porto, Intra consists of rhythmelodic cadences performed with Drumming Grupo De Percussão, a set of six microtonally tuned instruments originally conceived by Iannis Xenakis. With Intra, Fell explores the difference between simplicity and complexity by using electronic triggers to send instructions to acoustic drummers, blurring the seemingly distant line between computer and musician.
→ https://www.youtube.com/embed/uZsvthB1k6w
Mark Fell presents his new, commissioned work for sound, light, kinetic objects and performance at Rewire 2019 on Sunday, 31 March. Learn more about the work atMark Fell.
Rewire 2019 Festival and Day Passes can be purchased atTickets.