SOPHIE: BIPP (Autechre Remix)
On Saturday, the world lost the visionary, treasured and trailblazing artist SOPHIE (aka Sophie Xeon) who passed away aged 34. Back in 2013, the Scotland-born musician’s banger “BIPP” emerged, rejecting trends within electronic music in favor of kick-drums, high-res squeaky sounds (made on an Elektron Monomachine and Ableton Live) and pitched-up vocals, all the while leaving plenty of blank space. Beyond her solo work, SOPHIE was behind Madonna featuring Nicki Minaj’s rambunctious “Bitch I’m Madonna,” Vince Staples featuring Kendrick Lamar’s industrial-inflected “Yeah Right,” as well as a bunch of songs with Charli XCX. While much of her magic existed in collaboration, SOPHIE stated back in 2015 that she never wanted any remixes made of her songs, “unless it’s Autechre.” Just days before her death, Autechre (aka English electronic music duo, Rob Brown and Sean Booth) released their remix of “BIPP” along with a note: “Sorry this is so late.” The pitch-shifted version utilizes a looser, more laidback drum loop, but it still soars—repeating SOPHIE’s promise, “I can make you feel better.”
