Single of the Week: Mophono “A Love That Has No Past”
Eight months is an awfully long time between Single of the Week posts, but I’m back at it with a renewed enthusiasm to share my vinyl obsessions.
In part one of Peter Jackson’s celebrated Get Back documentary series, much screen time is dedicated to The Beatles’ evolving arrangement of “Don’t Let Me Down.” The tune is one of their most passionate love songs. Huddled together in a relatively small space amid the vastness and colored mood lighting of Twickenham Studio, John’s rough sketch is eventually shaped into a full-bodied arrangement by bandmates McCartney, Harrison, and Starr. Keyboardist and longtime Beatles friend Billy Preston adds color and soul with his electric piano.
Bay area producer Mophono very recently applied his signature beat-heavy style to “Don’t Let Me Down.” He leaves the Beatles’ arrangement and performance largely intact. But pushes McCartney’s bass to cavernous dub levels and adds extra kick to Starr’s drums. The result is an 80bpm head-nodder that you can’t help but shout along to.
Available now under the title, “A Love That Has No Past” (and credited to Not Beatles), Mophono rounds out the release with a dub rework of “Modern Love” (credited to Not Bowie). The original’s jumping tempo is halved and stretched out, relying entirely on bass and David Bowie’s impassioned vocals to drive the song forward. A welcome reinterpretation from Bowie’s early 80s commercial zenith. Both are available on Mophono’s Bandcamp page in digital and a very limited 7″ vinyl release on Change the Beat Records. Recommended!
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