Max Tundra
Encyclopedia
Ben Jacobs, more commonly known by the stage name Max Tundra, is an English multi-instrumental musician, singer and music producer. His work is predominantly electronic music
but incorporates non-electronic styles and instruments. Other than his full length albums, he has also done remix work for bands of varying genres including Franz Ferdinand
, Architecture in Helsinki
, Kid606
and the Pet Shop Boys
.
and grew up taking piano lessons, but mostly enjoyed playing television theme songs and music from adverts. As a teenager, he bought a Commodore
Amiga 500
and began exploring electronic music with it. Warp Records
received one song he recorded titled "Children at Play" and released it as a single in 1998. Following this single his debut album Some Best Friend You Turned Out to Be was released by Domino Records in the United Kingdom in 2000.
The instrumental record was followed up with Mastered by Guy at the Exchange
which was his first album to use vocals. Max Tundra explained "When I was writing Some Best Friend, I thought of all sorts of weird and wonderful machines and instruments I could use to make noises, but singing never occurred to me. I had never considered using my voice on any Max Tundra record ever, but hey, I like to keep things varied, so this time round I figured what the hell!" Mastered By Guy At The Exchange received positive reviews, including being named the 12th top album of the year on Pitchfork Media
's list of top 50 albums of 2002.
In 2006, Max Tundra released a new single as part of Tomlab records
"Alphabet Series" for the Letter M. The single included a cover of The KLF
's "What Time Is Love?
", made with his Amiga during 1989. In 2008, Max Tundra toured with Hot Chip
for a United Kingdom
tour. as well announced his new album, released on October 20, 2008 which he had worked on for the past six years. The first single from the album is titled "Will Get Fooled Again" and was released on September 29, 2008.
On the 5th June 2010, Max Tundra effectively announced on Twitter that Parallax Error Beheads You will be the final Max Tundra album.
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
but incorporates non-electronic styles and instruments. Other than his full length albums, he has also done remix work for bands of varying genres including Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand (band)
Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...
, Architecture in Helsinki
Architecture in Helsinki
Architecture in Helsinki is an Australian indie pop band which consists of Cameron Bird, Gus Franklin, Jamie Mildren, Sam Perry, and Kellie Sutherland...
, Kid606
Kid606
Kid606 is the stage name of Miguel Trost De Pedro, an electronic musician who was born 1979 July in Caracas, Venezuela, raised in San Diego and later moved to San Francisco...
and the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
.
Biography
Max Tundra was born in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and grew up taking piano lessons, but mostly enjoyed playing television theme songs and music from adverts. As a teenager, he bought a Commodore
Commodore International
Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore Business Machines , the U.S.-based home computer manufacturer and electronics manufacturer headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which also housed Commodore's corporate parent company, Commodore International Limited...
Amiga 500
Amiga 500
The Amiga 500 - also known as the A500 - was the first “low-end” Commodore Amiga 16/32-bit multimedia home/personal computer. It was announced at the winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1987 - at the same time as the high-end Amiga 2000 - and competed directly against the Atari 520ST...
and began exploring electronic music with it. Warp Records
Warp Records
Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music....
received one song he recorded titled "Children at Play" and released it as a single in 1998. Following this single his debut album Some Best Friend You Turned Out to Be was released by Domino Records in the United Kingdom in 2000.
The instrumental record was followed up with Mastered by Guy at the Exchange
Mastered By Guy At The Exchange
Mastered by Guy at the Exchange is the second studio album by Ben Jacobs under his stage name of Max Tundra. Released on September 2, 2002 through Domino Records in the United Kingdom and by Tigerbeat6 Records in North America, making it his first album to be distributed in North America...
which was his first album to use vocals. Max Tundra explained "When I was writing Some Best Friend, I thought of all sorts of weird and wonderful machines and instruments I could use to make noises, but singing never occurred to me. I had never considered using my voice on any Max Tundra record ever, but hey, I like to keep things varied, so this time round I figured what the hell!" Mastered By Guy At The Exchange received positive reviews, including being named the 12th top album of the year on Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's list of top 50 albums of 2002.
In 2006, Max Tundra released a new single as part of Tomlab records
Tomlab
Tomlab is a German record label based in Köln. It has released works by bands such as The Books, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Deerhoof, Thee Oh Sees, Les Georges Leningrad, and acts associated with Blocks Recording Club, such as Final Fantasy, Ninja High School, and The Hank...
"Alphabet Series" for the Letter M. The single included a cover of The KLF
The KLF
The KLF were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s....
's "What Time Is Love?
What Time Is Love?
"What Time Is Love?" is a song released, in different mixes, as a series of singles by the band The KLF. It featured prominently and repeatedly in their output from 1988 to 1992 and, under the moniker of 2K, in 1997...
", made with his Amiga during 1989. In 2008, Max Tundra toured with Hot Chip
Hot Chip
Hot Chip are an English electronic indie band. They have released four studio albums—Coming on Strong, The Warning, Made in the Dark and One Life Stand.-Formation:...
for a United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
tour. as well announced his new album, released on October 20, 2008 which he had worked on for the past six years. The first single from the album is titled "Will Get Fooled Again" and was released on September 29, 2008.
On the 5th June 2010, Max Tundra effectively announced on Twitter that Parallax Error Beheads You will be the final Max Tundra album.
Albums
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Some Best Friend You Turned Out to Be
|
| 2002 | Mastered by Guy at the Exchange Mastered By Guy At The Exchange Mastered by Guy at the Exchange is the second studio album by Ben Jacobs under his stage name of Max Tundra. Released on September 2, 2002 through Domino Records in the United Kingdom and by Tigerbeat6 Records in North America, making it his first album to be distributed in North America... Tigerbeat6 Tigerbeat6 is a San Francisco and Berlin based independent and electronic record label run by Kid606. The name reflects Kid606's obsession with cats, which also comes to light in the catalogue numbers, all of which start with MEOW, and is also a loose reference to the top-selling teen magazine,... |
| 2008 | Parallax Error Beheads You Parallax Error Beheads You Parallax Error Beheads You is the third studio album by Ben Jacobs under his stage name of Max Tundra. The album was released on October 20 2008 through Domino Records. Tundra has worked on the album for the past six years.-Release:... |
Singles
| Year | Title | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | "Children At Play" | non-album single. | Warp Warp Records Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music.... |
| 2000 | "Cakes" | Some Best Friend You Turned Out to Be | Domino |
| "Ink Me" | |||
| 2001 | "QY20 Songs" | non-album single. | |
| 2002 | "Lysine" | Mastered By Guy At The Exchange | |
| 2003 | "Cabasa" | ||
| 2006 | "Alphabet Series: M" | non-album single | Tomlab Tomlab Tomlab is a German record label based in Köln. It has released works by bands such as The Books, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Deerhoof, Thee Oh Sees, Les Georges Leningrad, and acts associated with Blocks Recording Club, such as Final Fantasy, Ninja High School, and The Hank... |
| 2008 | "Will Get Fooled Again" | Parallax Error Beheads You | Domino |
Remixes
| Year | Remixed track | Released on | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | "Helicon 2" | Kicking a Dead Pig: Mogwai Songs Remixed | Mogwai Mogwai The word mogwai is the transliteration of the Cantonese word 魔怪 meaning "monster", "evil spirit", "devil" or "demon".-Mogwai/Mogui in Chinese culture:... |
| 2000 | "Dandy" | Kid 606 and Friends Volume 1 | Kid606 Kid606 Kid606 is the stage name of Miguel Trost De Pedro, an electronic musician who was born 1979 July in Caracas, Venezuela, raised in San Diego and later moved to San Francisco... |
| "Wow" | "Wow" | Janek Schaefer Janek Schaefer Janek Schaefer is a London-based sound artist, musician, and composer born in England to Polish and Canadian parents in 1970. He is known for his innovative work with sound and installation art... |
|
| 2001 | "Lilypad" | Altered and Proud | Ruby Ruby A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum . The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires... |
| 2002 | "Long Distance" | "Long Distance" | Turin Brakes Turin Brakes Turin Brakes are a modern folk duo, comprising Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian, hailing from Balham, London. They had a UK top 5 hit with their song "Painkiller ".-1999–2003:... |
| "Whindie" | Whindie | Ambulance Ambulance An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient... |
|
| 2004 | "Alone, Together Alone, Together "Alone, Together" is a song by the Danish dance-pop duo Infernal. It was announced to be the second single off their fifth studio album, Fall from Grace, in August 2010.-Track listing:-Release history:-External links:*... " |
"All Hail The Black Emperor" | The Strokes The Strokes The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti .... |
| "The Owls Go" | A Commemorative Keepsake | Architecture in Helsinki Architecture in Helsinki Architecture in Helsinki is an Australian indie pop band which consists of Cameron Bird, Gus Franklin, Jamie Mildren, Sam Perry, and Kellie Sutherland... |
|
| "Mein Nehi Jana" | "Mein Nehi Jana" | Future Pilot AKA | |
| 2005 | "Decent Days and Nights Decent Days and Nights Split single -In popular culture:* Appears on the soundtrack to Burnout 3: Takedown.* Appears as a downloadable song for the Rock Band series.-Personnel:* Barry Hyde: lead vocals, guitar* Ross Millard: guitar, backing vocals... " |
"Decent Days and Nights" | The Futureheads The Futureheads The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland. consisting of Ross Millard , Barry Hyde and David "Jaff" Craig... |
| "Moonlight in the Afternoon" | "Moonlight in the Afternoon" | Shirokuma Shirokuma Shirokuma is Mark Corrin, a musician, performer and producer based in Manchester and signed to local label Valentine Records. His music is diverse in style, drawing on elements of electronica, folk rock and psychedelic music. Shirokuma has featured several guest vocalists and musicians... |
|
| "The Effect On Me" | "The Effect On Me" | Mint Royale Mint Royale Mint Royale is a big beat electronic music act from Manchester, England. They were originally founded by the duo Neil Claxton and Chris Baker in 1997; the latter left the band in 2004, but Claxton continues to produce music using the Mint Royale name.-Career:... |
|
| 2006 | "Do You Want To Do You Want To "Do You Want To" is the lead single for Franz Ferdinand's second album, You Could Have It So Much Better. It was released 19 September 2005 and charted at number four in the UK Singles Chart . The video, directed by Diane Martel, was released on August 23 and was played every hour on MTV2 on the... " |
"The Fallen The Fallen / L. Wells "The Fallen" and "L. Wells" are songs by Scottish Post-punk revival band Franz Ferdinand. "The Fallen" is taken from their second album You Could Have It So Much Better, while "L. Wells" was, at the time, a newly recorded track by the band... " |
Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand (band) Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in... |
| "I'm with Stupid" | "I'm with Stupid" | Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards.... |
|
| 2007 | "Fledermaus Can't Get It" | "Fledermaus Can't Get It" | Von Südenfed Von Südenfed Von Südenfed is a collaboration between Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner , and Mark E. Smith, leader and vocalist of The Fall.-History:... |
| "Hold Music" | Like It or Not | Architecture in Helsinki Architecture in Helsinki Architecture in Helsinki is an Australian indie pop band which consists of Cameron Bird, Gus Franklin, Jamie Mildren, Sam Perry, and Kellie Sutherland... |
|
| "Bullets" | "Bullets" | Tunng Tunng Tunng are an experimental folk band from the United Kingdom.The band is often associated with the folktronica genre due to the electronic influences evident in some of their work.-Biography:... |
|
| 2008 | "Enough About Human Rights" | (forthcoming) | Moondog Moondog Moondog, born Louis Thomas Hardin , was a blind American composer, musician, poet and inventor of several musical instruments. Moving to New York as a young man, Moondog made a deliberate decision to make his home on the streets there, where he spent approximately twenty of the thirty years he... |