Thanks for all the hints, inspiration, quotes, music and points of view to Mark Stewart who sadly passed away. Many words have been written about The Pop Group, The Maffia and his collaborative works with others. His influence can hardly be understated from Bristol to the rest of the world. From Nick Cave to Gary Clail, Massive Attack to Nun Gun, Adrian Sherwood to Daniel Miller. He never stopped exploring, experiencing and questioning the status quo.
Find some of his musical legacy via Mute, On-U Sound or via Mark Stewarts own page and associates.
‘Pull up! This is the new style.
Flip the script.
This one’s for the inmates.
The process, the process, the process church of the final judgement.
Like my life these tunes are crunked, chopped & screwed.
A deep listening reflection on this processed world we live in.
No sleep till Bristol.
As Prince Jazzbo said ‘one step forward, two step backward.’
Let the drums of defiance ring across this land.’
Not brand new but nonetheless worth listening. For tracklist and dl see secret thirteen, always worth a visit.
So with a deep look back in time (36 years now) here is an exciting Reissue I’ve been looking forward to since I read about it. Not just another Collection of b-sides and new mixes but a whole Compilation of unreleased outtakes is included now with the Maffia debut album before the classic Wimbish / McDonald / LeBlanc trio aided Mark Stewart.
See a newly made Video for “Liberty City” here.
The regularly over-used term ‘groundbreaking’ is finally used for once justified on this album which was/is a mutant melting of dub, industrial, anarcho free-style attitude with a singer who could sing but choose not to and lyrics which where not pretentious but worthy to chew upon years after years.
The original version of “The Paranoia Of Power”:
(from “The Lost Tapes” Compilation)
>> Mark Stewart himself perceives The Lost Tapes as a document that now possesses a storied significance: “It was a real adventure discovering this forbidden history, a twisted tale of Muswell hillbillies, French pirates and a Dutch schizophrenic doctor doing psychic archaeology.” Whilst Adrian Sherwood describes these works as characteristic of a distinct primitivism: “[The Lost Tapes represent] the early childhood of the songs before Mark and me conducted frenzied, scorched earth, slash-and-burn, twenty-hour mental, manic editing sessions at Crass’ studios that led to birthing the finished album.” <<
Info from Mute.com
There is also an Vinyl 2LP Edition, in black or clear with DL Code available directly via mutebank . Digitally the lost tapes are also available on it’s own via iTunes or Amazon.
