Mark de Clive-Lowe

Mark de Clive-Lowe’s b-sides and one-offs are better than most artists’ touchstone releases. Nowhere is that more clear than on Leaving This Planet 2.0, an updated, expanded collection of “one-offs, b-sides, collaborations and remixes” just released on Bandcamp.

Bandcamp was made for artists like Mark de Clive-Lowe – a man with a deep and challenging catalog and who has earned an intense following but had to basically build his audience like a jazz band – on the road, one gig and one pair of ears at a time. Mark has the (dubious) distinction of being the first artist I followed on Bandcamp, and also the first non-rock musician I heard of using the platform.

That’s where I originally found this back in 2011. Originally an EP, Leaving This Planet has now been expanded into an LP with the addition of six additional tracks. I noted at the time that the record was more properly authored by “Mark de Clive-Lowe and Friends,” and that the friends included two of the best of the many vocalists that have looked to Mark for beats, arrangement and production: Sharlene Hector and the incomparable Bembe Segue. Bembe is featured here on a cover of Coltrane’s “Naima” and “Dreams,” which was my pick of the EP seven years ago and still can’t be touched. New tracks include “The Calling” featuring Olatunde, the demented brokenbeat of “Games We Play” by Cherie Mathieson, the hazy slow burn of “U Better Run” by Rasiyah and “Hope” by Rahel.

The LP is $10 or less than a buck a track, and as I wrote the first time around: “You have most likely spent far more on far less.”

Mark de Clive-Lowe: Leaving This Planet 2.0
1. Mark de Clive-Lowe: Naima feat. Bembe Segue (02:10)
2. Mark de Clive-Lowe: Koko and Lee Roe (03:15)
3. Mark de Clive-Lowe: Leaving this Planet (feat. Sharlene Hector) (04:48)
4. Mark de Clive-Lowe: Eight (03:36)
5. Mark de Clive-Lowe: The Calling feat. Olatunde (04:35)
6. Mark de Clive-Lowe: Cherie Mathieson – Games We Play (Mark de Clive-Lowe remix) (04:50)
7. Mark de Clive-Lowe: What It Is (03:58)
8. Mark de Clive-Lowe: EP 1 Part III Live at the Notting Hill Arts Club (03:28)
9. Rasiyah – U Better Run (04:29)
10. Mark de Clive-Lowe: Dreams feat. Bembe Segue (06:44)
11. Rahel – Hope (04:02)