Label: Melting Pot Music

Genre: Neo-Soul/Future-RnB

Members: Mar + Szjerdene

Based: Amsterdam/London

Sounds Like: D’Angelo, Dwele, Nneka

Links: Mar Variation/Szjerdene

It’s safe to say that Aphex Twin, possibly the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music, has had a pretty interesting 2011. Kanye West sampled the track Avril 14th off the 2001 drukQs album to make a melancholic love joint with John Legend called Blame Game. Now, Dutch-born RnB/Neo-Soul singer Mar (of Full Crate & Mar) and North Londoner Szjerdene have collaborated to showcase their version of the famous piano track. It’s in keeping with other songs released under Mar’s Variation project, which has him reinventing old songs in his own style, accompanied by some very cinematic visuals. The video for Avril 14th is a bit heavy, (it might even be an homage to Aphex Twin’s notoriously messed up music videos) but we love the new interpretation – AAAAND it’s a free download which you can get here.