An Organ Thing of The Day: Well, ahead of the release of The Fateful Symmetry, Mark Stewart’s eighth solo album, completed shortly before his untimely passing, Mute have shared a new track, Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime (Bébe Durmiendo Cumbia Bootleg)…
“With a melodica-driven, Cumbia-influenced rhythm provided by producer Elijah Minnelli, Stewart’s heavyweight rework of The Korgis 1980 hit Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime transforms the original into a masterstroke of soundsystem militancy, as mighty as a lost dubplate by Yabby You, one of Stewart’s many heroes. Mixed by studio acolyte and On-U Sound originator Adrian Sherwood, it’s a remake steeped in Stewart’s transformative methods: “I grew up doing montages; I did this collage of Ronald Reagan’s head on this gay porno cowboy. In fact, I’ve never really grown up at all. I’m still trying to put round things into square holes.”
Watch the animated video for Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime (Bébe Durmiendo Cumbia Bootleg, with images by long-time collaborator Peter Harris, created by Katie King right here…
Two events have been announced for July, in conjunction with the release of the album. Both events will exhibit Mark Stewart and Peter Harris’ collaborative BombArt series, described by Stewart as “an embassy for the imagination”. The events will also feature unseen art pieces and archival material by Mark Stewart, as well as previously unseen photos by legendary Bristol photographer Beezer and more.
London’s Farsight Gallery will be hosting the exhibition at their central London space on 4 Flitcroft Street WC2H 8DJ from 16 -18 July (16 July from 6-9pm, 17 – 18 July from 12-6pm – free entry). Tickets for the Private View on 16 July are available here.
Bristol will then host the exhibition at the “Mad Max meets The Good Life” setting of Rockaway Park as part of a weekend of musical and artistic homages to Stewart from 25 – 27 July. Musicians from Bristol taking part are DJ Milo [aka DJ Nature], Smith & Mighty, Pinch, Tessa Pollitt of The Slits, and Janine Rainforth of Maximum Joy, with more to be confirmed. The event will be on a donation basis, with proceeds going to Help Bristol’s Homeless charity, whose flagship project converts shipping containers to a secure accommodation for those sleeping rough. More information on the event here.
The new track follows Neon’ Girl, and Memory of You. Neon Girl was co-produced with Youth (Killing Joke) and features backing vocals by longtime affiliate Gina Birch (The Raincoats). On it, Stewart’s eloquent, singular lyricism is as prescient as always, and evermore poignant now: “His arms were too short to box with God (sorry the irony’s lost on me)”. On the album opener ‘Memory of You’, also co-produced with Youth, and featuring backing vocals by Hollie Cook, Stewart unfurls a propulsive, post-disco torch song, a surging neo-noir of yearning vocals (“I could’ve wrote a love song”) and sleek, imposing synthesis, representing one of Stewart’s most dramatic and affecting performances.
Across an illustrious career of pioneering music with The Pop Group, Mark Stewart & Maffia and as a solo artist, Stewart has produced a seminal body of work, galvanised by the DIY ideals of punk, radical politics, protest movements, theory, philosophy, technology, art and poetry. With The Fateful Symmetry, Stewart’s abiding legacy as a ‘revered countercultural musician’ (The Guardian) is sustained, with an album as fearless and visionary as his best work. Testifying to Stewart’s prolific, unrelenting ingenuity, and signifying one of his most intimate, empowering statements, The Fateful Symmetry is an astonishingly expressive and innovative record; a fierce and beautiful manifesto for a better world. The inimitable, titanic Mark Stewart: never normalised, always extraordinary.
Mark Stewart – Official website /Facebook
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