Now-Again » Mr. Chop

Mr. Chop – “Switched On” 2×10″ LP/CD

Now-Again — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:31:13 +0000

We’re pleased to present – in association with Five Day Weekend – Mr. Chops’s Switched On over the course of a 9” single and a 2×10” LP. By now you know all about the man – but, in case you need a primer: Chop is a producer, engineer, multi-instrumentalist and the proprietor of Cheshire, UK based Ape Recording Studios, one of the finest analog studios in the world…. and a repository for vintage synthesizers, guitars, drums and gear sourced from the world over.

Thus, Switched On is a natural album: Chop’s homage to the great Moog-lead albums that proliferated in the wake of the synthesizer’s invention in the late 60s and early 70s. Unlike those records – like Dick Hyman’s Age of Electronicus, which contained one great synth-funk track amidst a series of soft pop hits – this album is all killer, and no filler. Mr. Chop tackles songs by the likes of Can, the JBs, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Smith via a still-futuristic blend of heavy drums by The Heliocentrics’ Malcolm Catto and his own fuzzy guitars and cosmic keys.

LP and CD presented in a thick cardboard “tip-on” sleeve. Colored-vinyl 9” presented in a clear, heavy vinyl jacket.

Buy the album: Mr. Chop Switched On.
Buy the 9″ single: Mr. Chop “Vitamin C/Happy Birthday.”
Download: Mr. Chop “Happy Birthday.”

Announcing: Mr. Chop “Switched On” Album/”Vitamin C/Happy Birthday” 9″ (and a free MP3!).

Now-Again — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:32:23 +0000

We’re pleased to announce that Mr. Chop has teamed up with the 5 Day Weekend label – they behind last year’s For Pete’s Sake album – for another bugged-out excursion into the realms of psych-funk. Switched On – Chop’s Moog-synthesizer driven album of classic funk, soul and rock “breakbeat” covers – comes out on October 11th. The album features Malcolm Catto (drums) and Jake Ferguson (bass) of our Heliocentrics.

Available now is the 9″ (yes, you read that right) single pictured above: Chop’s take on Can’s “Vitamin C” and the Jimi Hendrix/Curtis Knight obscurity “Happy Birthday.” We’re offering a download of the latter – one of our Switched On favorites – below, alongside a sneak peak of the packaging for the CD.

Download: Mr. Chop “Happy Birthday.”

Mr. Chop – Switched On

Now-Again — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:20:37 +0000

Buy it here.

1. Hung Up
2. Root Down (And Get It)
3. Breakthrough
4. Givin’ Up Food For Funk
5. Blow Your Head
6. Deep Gully
7. Greedy G
8. Happy Birthday
9. Vitamin C
10. Cortex

2×10″ LP/CD. 2011. Released in conjunction with Five Day Weekend (there is no NA catalog number for this release).

Produced by: Mr. Chop, Executive Produced by: Joe Mansfield and Egon

Recorded by: Mr. Chop at Ape Studios, Cheshire, UK 2011.
Mastered by Dave Cooley.
Art direction by Errol Richardson

Mr. Chop – Vitamin C

Now-Again — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 20:35:01 +0000

Buy it here.

1. Vitamin C
2. Happy Birthday

9″ Single. 2011. Released in conjunction with Five Day Weekend (there is no NA catalog number for this release).

Produced by: Mr. Chop, Executive Produced by: Joe Mansfield and Egon

Recorded by: Mr. Chop at Ape Studios, Cheshire, UK 2011.
Mastered by Dave Cooley.
Art direction by Errol Richardson

Exclusive Download: Mr. Chop remixes Cherry Ghost’s “We Sleep On Stones”

Now-Again — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 18:33:23 +0000

We’re offering you a special one this week – an exclusive download of Mr. Chop’s remix of Cherry Ghost’s “We Sleep On Stones” – featuring Heliocentrics Malcolm Catto on drums and Jake Ferguson on bass. His remix will be on the first 12″ release from Cherry Ghost’s forthcoming Beneath This Burning Shoreline album on Heavenly Records, and will be in stores in early November.

We were so blown away by the quality of Chop’s work that we had to ask for a dispatch from The ‘Shire. Chop fired back with:

“Cheers! I didn’t have anything in the library suited, so I asked Mal and Jake if they would record a backing track for me. Came at a bad time really as they were just moving out of their studio again, so it was a quick one as they had to move out that day and had just finished mixing their Lloyd Miller record. All the synth parts and effects are mine; I used strings, an odd little piano and guitar hits from the original. Other note drums have been processed through a Moog and Ring Mod.

I let the strings play out at the end as they sound lush. There is another version with Simon’s vocals on, which I think makes a lot sense, but the band preferred the instrumental. Ben, who plays keys, is a top bloke did all the arrangements – and offered his time if anything ever comes up in the future. Its a quartet playing if you are interested in some strings on the Chop album.

Back to my cave.”

Download: Cherry Ghost/Mr. Chop Remix (w/ Malcolm Catto and Jake Ferguson) ““We Sleep On Stones (Instrumental).”

Finally! Mr. Chop and C.L. Smooth 7s in and shipping (… and we’re giving away a free MP3 for your patience!).

Now-Again — Thu, 13 May 2010 20:22:38 +0000

We’re really, really, really sorry – but it’s really a comment on the sad state of the record-pressing industry that we had to recut the lacquer for the Mr. Chop and C.L. Smooth 7″ singles that were supposed to come out alongside Chop’s For Pete’s Sake album what seems like a dozen times.

But now they’re sounding great (when does Malcolm Catto on drums ever sound anything but great?!) and in/shipping over at Stones Throw’s webstore. And we’re giving you the vocal track for “T.R.O.Y. (The Resurrection)” to thank you for your patience.

Download: “T.R.O.Y. (The Resurrection).”
Buy: Mr. Chop and C.L. Smooth: “T.R.O.Y. (The Resurrection).”
Buy: Mr. Chop and C.L. Smooth: “Straighten It Out.“

Mr. Chop Talks DOOM, Pete Rock, Future Of Fuzz Funk In Hiphopdx Interview

Now-Again — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:51:13 +0000

Mr. Chop’s Pete Rock inspired For Pete’s Sake is out now. The man himself explains it’s genesis in this interview with Hiphopdx.com

” Throughout the album, released on November 3, Mr. Chop freaks some Funk of his own with a series of intermezzos. Asked about their genesis, the producer and engineer revealed, “The interludes on For Pete’s Sake are ideas I wanted to throw in there to break up Pete’s instrumentals and help the album flow as a whole. They weren’t intially intended from the start, but after I finished the Pete Rock tracks, it became apparent that something was missing. I had a few ideas, sketches of my own that I made while editing the tracks had become tiresome. I usually do that while working on a edit, something else mutates and I’ll have to side track for a while and capture a potential new piece. This was the beginning of what became seven intermezzos. ‘Intermezzo 3′ was the first idea that bore fruit, I think they create nice little breathing spaces and perhaps the listener who is familiar with the original works of Pete Rock & CL Smooth, can do a little reminiscing of their own.” ”

Link.

Mr. Chop feat. CL Smooth and Malcolm Catto: “T.R.O.Y” and “Straighten It Out” 7″ Singles – Coming Soon

Now-Again — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:03:33 +0000

You can now buy the latest Mr. Chop For Pete’s Sake album – his album of funky psychedelic jazz inspired by producer Pete Rock’s greatest beats – on Stones Throw’s Webstore. The album will hit stores in CD format and see wide digital release on 11.03.09; the album format will be slightly delayed.

Soon, Stones Throw’s webstore will offer an exclusive pre-sale on two 7″ singles related to the album – Mr. Chop, drummer Malcolm Catto and longtime Pete Rock partner CL Smooth’s vocal and instrumental takes on the classics “T.R.O.Y” and “Straighten It Out.” More info coming soon.

Mr. Chop – For Pete’s Sake

Now-Again — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:49:55 +0000

Buy it here.

1. FOR PETES SAKE 6:19
2. GOOD LIFE 4:26
3. INTERMEZZO 1 1:49 (COZ LITTLER / MIKE BURNHAM)
4. T.R.O.Y 4:49
5. INTERMEZZO 2 2:38 (COZ LITTLER / MIKE BURNHAM / GLYN WILLIAMS)
6. MAIN INGREDIENT 4:26
7. INTERMEZZO 3 4:36 (COZ LITTLER / BURNHAM / GLYN WILLIAMS)
8. MECCA AND THE SOUL BROTHER 4:51
9. GET ON THE MIC 4:11
10. INTERMEZZO 4 1:21 (COZ LITTLER / GLYN WILLIAMS)
11. STRAIGHTEN IT OUT 3.32
12. INTERMEZZO 5 2:13 (COZ LITTLER / MIKE BURNHAM / STEVE PARRY / GLYN WILLIAMS)
13. SHUT EM DOWN 3:49
14. INTERMEZZO 6 4:03 (COZ LITTLER / GLYN WILLIAMS)
15. I GOT A LOVE 5:19
16. THE WORLD IS YOURS 4:25
17. INTERMEZZO 7 2:14 (COZ LITTLER / MIKE BURNHAM / GLYN WILLIAMS)

CD and 2 12″ LP. 2009. Released in conjunction with Five Day Weekend (there is no NA catalog number for this release).

Produced by: Mr. Chop, Executive Produced by: Joe Mansfield and Egon

Mike Burnham – Drums, Bass, Guiar, Percussion
Coz Littler – Bass, Guitar, VCS3, Modular Synth, Mellotron
Glyn Williams – Clavinet, Fender Rhodes, Hammond Organ, Piano
Steve Parry – Brass
Floot Bob – Tenor Sax, Colin Lamont – Drums, Dave Spencer – Bass on “T.R.O.Y”

Recorded by: Mr. Chop at Ape Studios, Cheshire, UK 2009.
Mastered by Sean C.
Art direction by Matthew Boyd for Way Shape Form

Download high res cover art here.

Mr. Chop – Lightworlds

Now-Again — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:17:17 +0000

Buy it here.

01. The Infinity Machine
02. Transhuman
03. Zoid
04. Conversations
05. Don’t Try To Think
06. Stark
07. Metropoli Del Ferro

NA 5040 12″ EP and Promotional CD. 2008.

Produced and Recorded by Coz Littler (Guitar, Bass, Percussion, Mellotron, Minimoog, VCS3) at Ape Studios, UK.
Featuring The Heliocentrics.
Executive Producer: Egon

Mastered by Kelly Hibbert for Elysian Masters, Barcelona, SP.
Art direction by Dan McPharlin

Mr. Chop

Now-Again — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 02:36:59 +0000

Coz Littler, aka Mr. Chop, is the proprietor of Cheshire, UK based Ape Recording Studios – one of the finest analog studios in the world, and a repository for vintage synthesizers, guitars, drums and gear sourced from the world over. He is also a multi-talented instrumentalist who records and releases music. His Lightworlds EP, released on Now-Again in 2009, is a futuristic blend of Vangelis-style, cinematic synthesizer prog, psychedelic funk, jazz and musique concrete – and is just a hint at where this enigmatic genius plans to take his growing faithful www.apestudios.com