MUTE – and specifically the influential independent British label’s founder, Daniel Miller – has never been one for looking back. The label has always sought ways to celebrate all of its varied artists, but there has never been a focus on just the label.
MUTE 4.0 (1978 > TOMORROW) is not about to change that, but it has prompted the idea of creating a series of special events and releases that will go further than 2018 with plans for 2019 and beyond.
MUTE 4.0 (1978 > TOMORROW) acknowledges the launch of a label that started out of necessity rather than design (to release the 7” single by The Normal, “T.V.O.D.” / “Warm Leatherette,” recorded by Daniel Miller on a KORG 700S keyboard with a TEAC four-track recorder), and marks the past 40 years, but crucially, looks forward to the label’s many years to come as it travels unapologetically into tomorrow.
A whole host of special events and releases are planned – with more to be announced – stretching over 2018 and beyond.
Forthcoming releases that tie in with Mute 4.0 include artists from across Mute’s catalog as well as newer signings to the label –
A Certain Ratio’s
ACR:SET, which is out on October 12, features two new tracks from the band.
Barry Adamson’s
Memento Mori (Anthology 1978-2018), released October 26, features a brand new track and
Yazoo release
Four Pieces, a four disc box set collecting their two albums alongside remixes, rarities and their BBC Sessions together for the first time. More releases will be announced in the coming weeks.
A special series of reissues on limited edition colored vinyl are planned for October including “probably the world’s first teenage electronic pop group,”
Silicon Teens, and their one and only album
Music For Parties, Mute’s first signing,
Fad Gadget and their album
Fireside Favourites,
Josh T. Pearson’s lauded
Last Of The Country Gentlemen,
Apparat’s
The Devil’s Walk, the debut album from Vince Clarke and Martin Gore’s project
VCMG,
Ssss, and
A Certain Ratio’s
The Graveyard & The Ballroom. Pearson will be pressed on gold vinyl, Apparat on violet and the rest will be on very limited Mute 4.0 orange vinyl. Preorder
here.
Further releases to be announced include
Mute Synth 4.0, the third handheld analog synth collaboration between Mute, Adrian Shaughnessy and
Dirty Electronics.
This month, Mute will be at
Sea Change festival in Totnes, England on August 24 and 25 alongside Mute artists
Josh T. Pearson,
Chris Carter,
Daniel Blumberg, Can’s
Damo Suzuki and
Lost Under Heaven, who are all performing live. Additionally,
Cosey Fanni Tutti, will be in conversation with Emma Warren.
On Saturday October 13, Mute will take over
Rough Trade East in London for a whole day of performances, including a lunchtime modular set from
Chris Carter plus shopscapes from
Simon Fisher Turner. In the evening,
A Certain Ratio and
Lost Under Heaven will play live, and
Maps will be DJing. The bar will be open, and everyone’s welcome!
In addition,
Alt-Classic Album Playback will present a playback of
Swans’s 1996 album,
Soundtracks for the Blind, recently reissued on vinyl for the first time on Mute. Nick Soulsby, author of
Swans: Sacrifice and Transcendence, will be guest speaker at the event taking place on September 23 at Shacklewell Arms. Future playbacks will include a series with
Pitchblack Playback. Details to be announced.
“
From The Port To The Bridge,” a retrospective exhibition of the work of
Thomas Leer and Robert Rental, is at the Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock, Scotland from October 2-28. The exhibition will
include a new film about Leer and Rental featuring interviews with Daniel Miller, Chris Carter,
Cosey Fanni Tutti, JD Twitch (Optimo), family members and more. Their groundbreaking work was a huge influence on early ‘80s synth pop and the independent music scene in the late ‘70s. Daniel Miller met Robert Rental at a Throbbing Gristle performance and then went on to work with Rental (releasing
Live At West Runton Pavilion, 6-3-79 on Rough Trade in 1980) and released music by both Robert Rental and Thomas Leer. Robert Rental's classic double A-side single “Double Heart” / “On Location,” was Mute's 10th single in 1980.
Mute and Thames & Hudson recently worked together on
Mute: A Visual Document, a visual history of the label. One of Uncut and Rough Trade’s Books of the Year, it was described by the shop as “beautifully bound, this book is as iconic and dynamic as Mute's musical past.” Learn more about the publication
here.
New Mute merchandise will be launched in the coming months, and future announcements will include a specially commissioned release as well as unique events and evenings.
MORE ABOUT MUTESince its launch in 1978, the label has grown from Miller’s one-man bedroom operation into an a global entity that encompasses Mute, the recently revived label NovaMute, Mute Song (publishing), Noviton (booking agency) and Mute Management, with offices in London and New York.
Running parallel to its strong commercial track record, the guiding spirit behind Mute has always been one of artistic freedom and creative adventure. Mute has nurtured, grown up with and worked with artists as diverse as Depeche Mode, Laibach, New Order, Goldfrapp, Erasure, Swans, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Ben Frost, Throbbing Gristle, Liars, Mick Harvey, Irmin Schmidt and Can.
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