Max Tundra | |
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Max Tundra in 2007. |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Ben Jacobs |
Genres | Electronic |
Occupations | Musician, Vocalist |
Years active | 1998-(present) |
Labels | Domino Records |
Associated acts | Tunng |
Website | maxtundra.com |
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.
Contents |
Max Tundra was born in the United Kingdom and grew up taking piano lessons, but mostly enjoyed playing television theme songs and music from adverts.[1] As a teenager, he bought a Commodore Amiga 500 and began exploring electronic music with it.[1] Warp Records received one song he recorded titled "Children at Play" and released it as a single in 1998.[1] 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.[2]
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!"[3] Mastered By Guy At The Exchange received positive reviews,[4][5][6] including being named the 12th top album of the year on Pitchfork Media's list of top 50 albums of 2002.[7]
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?",[8] made with his Amiga during 1989. In 2008, Max Tundra toured with Hot Chip for a United Kingdom tour.[9] as well announced his new album, released on October 20, 2008 which he had worked on for the past six years.[1][9] The first single from the album is titled "Will Get Fooled Again" and was released on September 29, 2008.[10]
On the 5th June 2010, Max Tundra effectively announced on Twitter that Parallax Error Beheads You will be the final Max Tundra album.[11] However, in a recent radio interview[12], he mentioned that he was only taking a break in order to focus on his remix and production work.
Year | Title |
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2000 | Some Best Friend You Turned Out to Be |
2002 | Mastered by Guy at the Exchange
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2008 | Parallax Error Beheads You
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Year | Title | Album | Label |
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1998 | "Children At Play" | non-album single. | Warp |
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 |
2008 | "Will Get Fooled Again" | Parallax Error Beheads You | Domino |
Year | Remixed track | Released on | Artist(s) |
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1998 | "Helicon 2" | Kicking a Dead Pig: Mogwai Songs Remixed | Mogwai |
2000 | "Dandy" | Kid 606 and Friends Volume 1 | Kid606 |
"Wow" | "Wow" | Janek Schaefer | |
2001 | "Lilypad" | Altered and Proud | Ruby |
2002 | "Long Distance" | "Long Distance" | Turin Brakes |
"Whindie" | Whindie | Ambulance | |
2004 | "Alone, Together" | "All Hail The Black Emperor" | The Strokes |
"The Owls Go" | A Commemorative Keepsake | Architecture in Helsinki | |
"Mein Nehi Jana" | "Mein Nehi Jana" | Future Pilot AKA | |
2005 | "Decent Days and Nights" | "Decent Days and Nights" | The Futureheads |
"Moonlight in the Afternoon" | "Moonlight in the Afternoon" | Shirokuma | |
"The Effect On Me" | "The Effect On Me" | Mint Royale | |
2006 | "Do You Want To" | "The Fallen" | Franz Ferdinand |
"I'm with Stupid" | "I'm with Stupid" | Pet Shop Boys | |
2007 | "Fledermaus Can't Get It" | "Fledermaus Can't Get It" | Von Südenfed |
"Hold Music" | Like It or Not | Architecture in Helsinki | |
"Bullets" | "Bullets" | Tunng | |
2008 | "Enough About Human Rights" | (forthcoming) | Moondog |