“That seemingly boring thing which gives us all the magic of music, with its repeats inside repeats.” That’s how Max Cooper describes Repetition - a piece of pulsing minimalist electronica designed for escaping the fast flurry of the world, social media and short attention spans. As Max says, it needs a few minutes to work and is best listened to with headphones and your eyes closed. Give it time and space - this one is the equivalent of a massage for the ear drums – intimate and expansive.
Repetition was written for a video chapter of Max’s new work Yearning for the Infinite which he will be performing at a sold-out show at the Barbican in September.
Max Cooper - Repetition
Earlier this year you may remember that I posted an astoundingly good remix by Max Cooper of the Poppy Ackroyd track Paper which I described as a ‘calm banger’. Now it’s role reversal time because Poppy has re-worked Max’s track Lovesong, which is the closing track of Max’s album One Hundred Billion Sparks Remixed, out now.
Max’s original was a gentle electronic comedown, as if the doors were closing and everyone was going home. Yet it seems that someone had left a grand piano in the room and Poppy was there hiding, waiting for her chance to sit in front of the keys and coat the track in subtle pitter-patter rhythms as if it was raining outside, the small splashes in the forming puddles creating something bigger. I’ve always thought that if you are going to do a remix you should very much leave your mark on the music – the new track should be identifiably the work of the remixer - and for anyone familiar with Poppy’s work you’ll hear her signature all over this lovely piece.
Max Cooper - Lovesong (Poppy Ackroyd Remix)
