Bomb the Bass  

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Bomb The Bass is an electronic/house band created by British musician Tim Simenon. His first single "Beat Dis" from the album Into the Dragon was a number two hit in the UK and was one of the first songs to introduce the mainstream to sampling culture (along with songs by M/A/R/R/S and S'Express). The song "Megablast" took its bassline from the theme music to John Carpenter's film "Assault on Precinct 13", and was also used in the Bitmap Brothers computer game Xenon 2 Megablast. Other early hits included "Don't Make Me Wait" (as a double A side release with "Megablast"), and a cover of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David composition "I Say a Little Prayer".

"Love So True", the first single to be promoted in advance of their second album Unknown Territory, suffered censorship as the outbreak of the First Gulf War prompted UK broadcasters to blacklist a variety of songs and acts deemed potentially controversial due to their content or titles. The band name Bomb the Bass was considered to fall in to this category along with that of Massive Attack. Copies of the "Love So True" single were re-issued credited to Tim Simenon instead of Bomb The Bass, but the resulting confusion may have impeded the single's chart chances.

"Winter in July" from Unknown Territory subsequently went on to be a UK Top 10 hit with the name of Bomb The Bass restored.

Their third album Clear features appearance from Sinéad O'Connor, Jah Wobble, Benjamin Zephaniah and a rare vocal from novelist Will Self.

With the band dormant in the late 1990s, Simenon concentrated upon his work as a producer for other artists (including Depeche Mode, U2 and David Bowie among others). He also owns an Amsterdam-based music label called "Electric Tones", which released the only recent BTB material, the "Clear Cut" EP in 2001. However, in November 2006, news leaked through the Bomb The Bass homepage on Myspace that a new album had been recorded, and was about to be mixed.

Contents

Discography

Albums & EPs

Singles

  • Beat Dis (1987) UK #2
  • Megablast/Don't Make Me Wait (1988) UK #6
  • Say A Little Prayer (feat. Maureen) (1988) UK #10
  • Love So True (1991) (withdrawn, see above)
  • Winter In July (1991) UK #7
  • The Air You Breathe (1991) UK #52
  • Keep Giving Me Love (1992) UK #62 [a re-recording of Love So True]
  • Bug Powder Dust (feat. Justin Warfield) (1994) UK #24
  • Darkheart (feat. Spikey Tee) (1994) UK #35
  • 1 To 1 Religion (feat. Carlton) (1995) UK #53
  • Sandcastles (1995) UK #54
  • Empire (1996) promo only
  • Clear Cut (feat. Lali Puna) (2001)
  • Tracks (2001) 12"
  • So Special (feat. Paul Conboy) (Aug 26, 2008) download
  • Butterfingers (feat. Fujiya & Miyagi) (Nov 4 / Nov 25 (USA), 2008) 12" & download
  • Black River (feat. Mark Lanegan) (Feb 10, 2009) download
  • The Infinites (feat. Paul Conboy) (December 22, 2009) download
  • X Ray Eyes (feat. Kelley Polar) (Jan 20, 2010) download
  • Boy / Girl (feat. Paul Conboy) (Feb 18, 2010) download
  • Up The Mountain (feat. The Battle Of Land & Sea) (Mar 02, 2010) download
  • X Ray Eyes (The Remix EP) (feat. Kelley Polar) (Jun 01, 2010) download
  • Wandering Star (Apr 19, 2013) download
  • Time Falls Apart (Jul 26, 2013) download
  • Just This Universe (Aug 30, 2013) download

Other contributions


Tim Simenon bio

Tim Simenon (born 21 June, 1968) is a record producer famous for his work as UK dance outfit Bomb the Bass.

Early career

He started off his music career in the late 1980s, DJing at London's Wag Club. From his record collection, and experience on a music production college course, he used a basic music production set up, to produce "Beat Dis". "Beat Dis" was a cut and paste record, fusing old school hip hop, funk including the Jimmy Castor Bunch, and samples from 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' and 'Thunderbirds' soundtracks.

The record reputedly cost £500 to make, in between Simenon's then work as a shelf stacker in a supermarket and as a DJ.

The record first appeared on the Mister-Ron imprint, a ruse designed to pretend that the record was a U.S. import, fresh out of New York. The record went straight into the UK singles chart at number two when released by Rhythm King records. Its Smiley artwork, borrowed from the Watchmen comic books, influenced much of the imagery surrounding the 'acid house' and 'rave' scenes.

Success

Simenon went on to follow up the track with three more singles taken from a hastily recorded album Into the Dragon. Into the Dragon acknowledged the debt it owed to the Japanese hip-hop label Major Force, New York producer Steinski, UK artists Massive Attack / Wild Bunch and the 23 Skidoo / Ronin collective.

Alongside production on the album, Simenon also was part of Nation 12, along with John Foxx, a music veteran who had been in various electronic and new romantic bands since the early 1980s. Nation 12's releases enjoyed a measure of success in clubs and raves across the UK.

In the late 1980s Simenon produced the wildly popular single "Buffalo Stance" by Swedish/African artist Neneh Cherry. The song features lyrics which pay homage to Simenon ("Bomb the Bass, rock this place"). The song reached number three on the UK singles chart and number 1 on the US dance chart.

In the early 1990s Simenon changed his sound, to incorporate raw rock guitars, pioneering trip hop on his two albums Unknown Territory and Clear. Unknown Territory was delayed when Pink Floyd refused to allow a piece of "Money" to be sampled on one of the album's tracks. Unknown Territory continued the motif of borrowing from popular culture, with samples from both The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Death Race 2000 soundtracks, and films like Videodrome. Clear was released on the Stoned Heights imprint of Island Records. It was heavily influenced by the writings of William Burroughs, and featured a number of contributors including rapper Justin Warfield, singer Sinéad O'Connor , novelist Will Self and writer/musician Leslie Winer.

Later on

Simenon has remixed, and produced, a wide range of artists including Bjork, Massive Attack, Ash, Seal, rap act Consolidated, French producer Hector Zazou, Gavin Friday and Depeche Mode.

He now lives in Amsterdam, and releases records under both the Bomb the Bass, and Flow Creator monikers. A new Bomb the Bass album titled "Future Chaos" is currently being mixed and features collaborations with Toob, Jon Spencer, Jack Dangers from Meat Beat Manifesto, Justin Warfield and Paul Conboy.

Tim was accused of rape in 2004. However, when the trail came to court, the jury found Simenon not guilty in a reported three minutes, and he was subsequently acquitted on all charges.

More recently Simenon has produced the latest album by the Bangkok based electro clash band Futon, remarking that he'd become addicted to the city of Bangkok, enjoying the pace of life and excellent nightlife.





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