The single features "Face To Faces" a raw alternate version of a track featured on the forthcoming Sleaford Mods new album, and "Nations," a track taken from Citizen Zombie, The Pop Group's critically acclaimed first new studio album in some 35 years.
The Pop Group have just returned from the first leg of their world tour which took in Japan, New Zealand, Australia and North America, culminating at three incendiary performances at SXSW. The band will soon resume its tour with dates in the UK ahead of European gigs. See tour dates for both bands below.
The Pop Group's upcoming UK shows:
MAY
5th - Brighton - The Haunt
6th - Norwich - Arts Centre
8th - London - The Dome, Tufnell Park
9th - Sheffield - Plug
10th - Glasgow - CCA Arts Centre
11th - Liverpool - Kazimier
JUNE
12th - Birmingham - Supersonic Festival
21st - Ramsgate - Ramsgate Music Hall
27-29 - Glastonbury - Glastonbury Festival
Sleaford Mods also have a run of UK dates starting in May. Their dates are as follows:
Some day here...both the Pop Group (who have played here but not extensively), and Ride (the Creation band who are just reforming after nearly 20 years apart, but played here a bit during their initial go 'round) both announced US dates for next year. I'm happy to hear about them both!
Via the Ride mailing list comes this:
UK, European and North American Dates in 2015 including Field Day and Primavera Festival Headliner Performances. Tickets on sale Friday 21 November.
Ride will play a UK tour that will kick off at Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom on Friday 22 May 2015 and will also include Manchester's Albert Hall and The Roundhouse in London, before heading to Europe to play Amsterdam, Paris and Barcelona's Primavera Festival on 29 May. The band will then head across the Atlantic to play Toronto and New York - and then back to the UK to headline Field Day on Sunday 7 June.
Tickets are on sale Friday 21 November from www.RideMusic.net (for the UK shows, tickets on sale from 9.00am).
Tour Dates:
22 May 2015 Barrowland Ballroom Glasgow, UK
23 May 2015 Albert Hall Manchester, UK
24 May 2015 Roundhouse London, UK
26 May 2015 Paradiso Amsterdam, Holland
27 May 2015 Olympia Paris, France
29 May 2015 Primavera Festival Barcelona, Spain
02 June 2015 DanForth Music Hall Toronto, Canada
04 June 2015 Terminal 5 New York, US
07 June 2015 Field Day London, UK
And a couple of months prior to Ride's NYC show, the Pop Group will be over for their busiest US trip ever. This includes 2 NYC shows, as well as Austin for SxSW, and a handful of major market stops:
Its pretty surprising to be typing these words in 2014, but then again, maybe it isn't? The Pop Group, who have played a few reunion gigs over the last couple of years, seems to really be back...lets hope they don't frighten the kiddies. Not only is there a new video (see below), but there is a reissue of the incredible We Are Time (originally released in 1980), and a new collection of rarities entitled Cabinet of Curiosities.
Here's the scoop:
We Are Time, named after one of their most infamous onslaughts and originally released on vinyl in 1980, has been remastered from original tapes and is one of two albums being released on October 21st spearheading the reissue program. Of the early live and studio recordings that comprise We Are Time, frontman Mark Stewart says “The Pop Group was mutating so fast right from the start that it was crucial to document those first experiments with this compilation. We Are Time is really ‘the’ teenage Pop Group album. It’s full of defiance and the material demonstrates the band's staunch independence and our really early DIY ethic before the studio became another instrument.”
Guitarist Gareth Sager explains that the band was “trying in an inexplicably naive manner to combine Patti Smith’s Rimbaud ramblings, James Brown, the Stooges, Roxy Music, T. Rex and classical aleatoric music. You can hear the results of this on tracks ‘Genius Or Lunatic,’ ‘Colour Blind,’ ‘Trap,’ ‘Sense Of Purpose,’ ‘Kiss The Book’ and ‘We Are Time.” He goes on to say “soon after this the band were bringing in other influences, Ornette Coleman, King Tubby, Funkadelic, Debussy, Jacques Brel, Fela Kuti, Steve Reich and then you get ‘Thief Of Fire.’”
Also being released in October, Cabinet Of Curiosities is a brand new, nine-track compilation which kicks off with the fractured future-funk single “Where There’s A Will,” originally released as a double A-side shared with The Slits in 1980, and described by Sager as “The group’s best attempt to mix a message with a groove plus some real free playing. If you are really unhinged you may be able to dance to this.” Next up is the unheard, original Andy Mackay (Roxy Music) produced version of “She Is Beyond Good And Evil,” probably the band’s most infamous song (covered by St Vincent on the Jimmy Fallon show and throughout her Strange Mercy tour).
Cabinet Of Curiosities continues with BBC John Peel session tracks “We Are Time” and “Words Disobey Me,” and rounds up previously unreleased songs, “Abstract Heart” and “Karen’s Car,” and other alternative versions. Of “Karen’s Car,” recorded in Finland, Sager recalls “appropriately our final stand with just Stewart, Sager, Smith and Waddington left. This is the sound of paranoia, groove and noise at its height. There was nowhere left to go”. Mark Stewart describes Cabinet Of Curiosities as being of similar status to a lost Pop Group album.
Their original missives, which Mark Stewart describes as “an index of possibilities”, still explode with an incandescent spirit and energy, which has influenced numerous musicians throughout the years.
"Colour Blind" (in the video below) is a very early recording of The Pop Group from We Are Time which will be available for pre-order from 18th August on iTunes. "Colour Blind" will be delivered immediately as an instant gratification track from the same date. Visit iTunes for the pre-order: http://smarturl.it/WeAreTime-iTunes.
“It’s one of those moments when the cogs of your mind shift and your life is going to irreversibly change forever” - Nick Cave on hearing The Pop Group for the first time.
“Without The Pop Group I don’t know what The Minutemen would have sounded like” - Mike Watt
Both albums will be available on all formats individually and also packaged together as a limited CD box set accompanied by memorabilia and an extensive 36pp booklet.A UK tour is planned to accompany the first wave of reissues.
Its time for this week's edition of Stupefied, and we're lucky to have the top 20 from Mr. Mark Stewart - Pop Group vocalist, leader of the Maffia, and occasional solo artist. I feel pretty safe in saying its the most "out" list I've run yet, and I love it.
March of this year saw the release of Stewart's latest album, The Politics of Envy, co-produced by Youth, and which features guest appearances from the likes of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Keith Levene, Kenneth Anger, Richard Hell, Massive
Attack’s Daddy G, Primal Scream, Tessa Pollitt of The Slits, Gina Birch of the Raincoats, and Douglas
Hart of the Jesus And Mary Chain. There was so much great stuff recorded, Stewart decided to release a dub version of The Politics..., entitled Exorcism Of Envy, which is now available thanks to Future Noise Music.
Big thanks to both Mark, and Shirin, for the list!
And for those of us who dig the post punk vibe...whatever that may mean...we also have new albums out, or coming very soon from Mark Stewart (Pop Group), Public Image Ltd, and Killing Joke! Interesting year so far for releases...
Check out a sampler of cuts from the new Mark Stewart album, The Poilitics of Envy, here.
Order the new album here or on Amazon
Visit his official website - http://www.markstewartmusic.com/
Autonomia will be released through Future Noise Music on February 20th, a dense agit-protest superfunk monster with sirens and Bobby Gillespie's frenetic 'keeping the dream alive' call-and-response chant with Mark Stewart who explains the story behind the song - "I'd written this song about Carlo Giuliani, who was killed at the G8 demonstrations in Genoa. At that point, it was a protest song... afterwards I started getting on with Bobby and I asked Adrian [Sherwood] about doing it. It's important that people hear about the story, it's the message and the atmosphere as much as anything.'
Directed by Douglas Hart (founding member and bassist of The Jesus and Mary Chain) with Dominic Lee & Chiara Meattelli, the video exhibits a raw, riotous & feverish vivacity infused with the artists' trademark punk rock ethos to convey the song's deep political message.
"Starting out as a teenager in the late 70s with the Pop Group and thru the 80's with the Maffia up to his new solo record, Mark Stewart has led the attack on conformist reality. Mark is a constant inspiration and a true Thief of Fire. A poet of paranoia and a great laugh. What a guy." -- Primal Scream
Joining Bobby Gillespie and Primal Scream on the album is cult film-maker Kenneth Anger, original Clash/PiL guitarist Keith Levene, NYC punk innovator Richard Hell, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Gina Birch of the Raincoats, Slits bassist Tessa Pollitt, Jesus And Mary Chain bassist Douglas Hart, Factory Floor, and Daddy G of Massive Attack.
"Nothing Is Sacred" is a new track from Pop Group & Mafia vocalist, Mark Stewart, and it sounds amazing. It has the pop & funk of the more accessible Pop Group material, and retains the fire and thought provocation of his usual lyrical subject matter. Watch the video above, or stream/download from Soundcloud below.
His new album will be released in 2012, and includes guest shots from Kenneth Anger, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Richard Hell, The Raincoats' Gena Birch, Primal Scream and Clash/PiL guitarist Keith Levene, and perhaps others.
"It was good to be reminded of how singular and beautifully abrasive the Pop Group could be, and how dreadfully conservative most rock music since sounds in comparison." - Sean O'Hagan in the Guardian
ONE OF THE SETLISTS:
We Are All Prostitutes Words Disobey me Colour Blind Thief of Fire Trap She’s Beyond Good and Evil Sense KISS THE BOOK ***** Forces of Opposition We Are Time
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I'm a little tardy with this, but here we go...my friend Daisy flew over to London to catch the recent Pop Group shows at the Garage in London, and was kind enough to file this report. Take it away Daisy:
I’ve yet to talk to anyone who didn’t go home from The Garage on the weekend to marmite on toast and gallons of something rehydrating thinking, "Oh shit, will I ever get my hearing back?” I was waiting for my full English this morning with the French tourists and I couldn’t hear “pass the marmalade.” MAN they were fierce. I’m talking about The Pop Group.
The Pop Group had 5 dates on this (hopefully warm up) tour. 6th September they played Le Moulin de Rouge in Paris. Then to Italy where they played after Patti Smith, and then on to London UK. With no dates in New York, I had to fly. I HAD too.
I got tickets for both nights. And booked a B&B in Kings Cross close to the Cathedral that is St Pancreas station. Back in the day that place was a spooky goth hall that video-makers got for a discount. Costa coffee and a swanky upscale restaurant I couldn’t care less about because I was taking the tube, like a magic carpet, one stop to Highbury.
I thought I was going to relive being 17 again. I thought I was going to be blasted with memories that I had forgotten but it didn’t happen like that. The closer it got to show time, the more my heart was bouncing up and down.
I have to admit that I did see Bruce Smith drumming for PiL in New York’s Terminal 5 in May. When Johnny Rotten asked us to “clap along because I need help keeping time” it was like a dart flew out of my head and pointed at Smith. THAT’S WHY YOU HAVE BRUCE SMITH. He plays like he's riding 3 horses at once, and I left that gig so super happy I can’t tell you. Suddenly all the records in my minds record collection, all the boys sofas I sat on Saturday afternoon after trekking round record shops, all the Tuesdays tuning in to the Top Twenty on Radio one, all the bunking off school on Wednesdays to go to the Kings Road to get the NME to find out who was playing - it all made sense. When Johnny was singing “Anger is an energy” I was swaying in the crowd full of Love. I hate to say it. Love. Yes. Like a hippy. I LOVED HIM. I loved him. I loved Bruce. I loved the guitarist with the pointy nose. I loved the bass player wearing a kilt and a PiL t-shirt. All my punk past made me ME.
My friend Kath came with me to the show on September 11th, 2010. A Bristol gal with good recall, her Bristol of the late 1970’s was going out as often as she could to any pub or club she could - when every night was band night. And going to parties when Gareth Sager and Mark Stewart would turn up wearing paper bags on their heads with faces drawn on them a-la Saul Steinberg. And it was, you know, “oh – there’s Gareth. He’s in a band. He’s being arty.”
She went to school with Bruce Smith’s sister and told me his was a wild and beautiful Bristol home with a room of African masks and bohemian parents. An American painter father. He was an artist painter not a house painter. His mother offered you cigarettes and coffee.
And Mark Stewart’s bedroom floor back then, when you stopped in, was covered in photographs he’d ripped from books – photos of Artaud and Rimbaud and Nazis and evil men and poets and Patti Smith. You had to watch how you crossed the room that you didn’t slip on the glossy pages. And lots of singles and a portable record player. And American singles with no centers to them. Imports.
There was always a thirst with this band. An interest in the word. In the world. In that noise. That slap. That bang. That tap. An interest in things political and visual. A reverence for Patti Smith holding up a book of Blake, holding up a mirror, picking up your jacket. Mixing it all up. You didn’t walk down the street listening to your mix on your iPod blocking out the world. You blended with it. And Bristol bands were doing that. There was funk. There were white boys playing it. There was Rock against Racism. There was black and white together. And we opened the door from the mini bar into the main room at The Garage – there it was – that old familiar reggae. I almost turned round to ask Vivien Goldman what it was.
The venue holds 600 people and I believe it was sold out on Saturday. With no starter band we were going to get a pure experience.
Crowd:
Beardy blokes, some grey hair, some young boys with young girlfriends hanging on their arms checking their msgs & Apps. A young lad in a suit who I asked “what brings you here?” And he told me he’d got a naughty download but he’d also bought a Pop Group record and liked it. I saw Viv and Tessa from The Slits but not for long as Viv headed straight to the front to start the dancing. There were some laser looks of love as you scanned the room. I recognized a glint in the eye here and there. If not the face.
9:15PM: The violin strings of “Somewhere my love” – is that the theme to Dr Zhivago? Bruce Smith was first on the stage in his white jacket. My hero, as you’ve gathered.
There was a third young lad on guitar I didn’t recognize. No Underwood. No Waddington. And we got no introductions or name checks from the stage. [Is it true Simon Underwood is playing with Lily Allen these days?] Dan Castis followed Bruce on - now tough and muscley in his red Warhol t-shirt.
There was a guitar tech with blonde dreads against the wall on the far side. He tuned and paused with a guitar for Gareth Sager who headed straight to an electric piano and started playing it like a man sweeping dust off it left from last century. Then Sager took his guitar. And then he put the needle in the grove and caused friction. Out flashed the beginning riff to "We Are All Prostitutes," and Mark Stewart flew into the mic with the lyric. They were here with that familiar haunted house yell and roller coaster clatter.
The set went from LOUD to LOUDER – I don’t know if there are even knobs on the board these days but whatever he was doing, Tony the Soundman got it right. It might hurt, but their sound was tunneling through rubble from the past 30 years and brought them to the surface FAST maaaaan. Fierce, exciting, measured. After a while you’re not sure if the music is inside or outside your head. You have to let go. The Pop Group rattles you. You can’t be afraid.
Highlights:
In the powerful version of Saturday’s "Thief Of Fire" Mr Stewart took the mic away from his mouth and stood with his mouth open allowing the dub vocal to make it appear that his words were still rolling out. Kath saw an old angry landlord. I had a flashback to a painting by Francis Bacon of a Pope having a tantrum.
"FORCES OF OPPRESSION" - Gareth stole the Pere Ubu clarinet and strangled till it squeeled to be let go and back to his guitar. Sager often played like his strings were too hot and or like he was trying to set them on fire by rubbing his strings and his plectrum together. Yeah, he looked a little older, but old is the new Alive, isn’t it. That’s premium gallons of rhythm and action in the man. He often appeared to fly to the front of the stage but in the manner of a caged bird, and he’d be pulling his strings at us rather than pull his hair to pull out. Sometimes he turned his back while Mark was pacing or bouncing or boxing or bending double screaming or (Sunday) singing straight into an audience CCTV cameras.
Bruce's coat came off soon into the set. He looked like he was enjoying himself so much. I can't tell you what a joy it is to watch him. Such a joyful catch-you-out pay-attention drumming style. It’s well rehearsed and it’s in control but then an odd parra-diddle smack won’t throw you off exactly, it’ll just wiggle you sideways. The last song I was dancing from the inside out. He makes it look like he’s going to play til he can’t do it any more. And he sings too.
Half way through the show the lad in the suit got me and shook me by the shoulders "YOU ASKED ME WHY I’M HERE! IT’S THIS! YOU DON'T HEAR MUSIC LIKE THIS ANYWHERE EVER!" He was very excited. Or maybe we were dancing. Kiss The Book.
The finish line was 10:30.
On Saturday I managed to grab the young guitarist who was first onto the dance floor from the dressing room at the end of the show to ask his name. Jason, he told me. I asked him "How are you feeling?" He was in a sort of ecstasy. He said, “I’m playing with legends. They are legends in their own time.” And you’re playing along side them.
The Pop Group is a band that rattles you. You feel in danger. You tense up. That won’t help you.
Saturday the room was packed. The crowd expectant. The band totally present. And the encore was transcendant. Bruce and Dan together on drum and bass – adding Jason, adding Gareth, crowned by Stewart. Giddy making. Sunday – Mark cajoled the crowd. I would say the crowd was boozier and there were more CCTV cameras - every time they were held aloft, Stewart would sing RIGHT INTO THEM. Sunday my highlight was KISS THE BOOK when Stewart became full of visuals for me again. I don’t know how that happens. Suddenly he was an Angry Catholic Dad, or an evil maniac scientist. I can’t help mentioning here that the Pope is supposed to visit London this upcoming weekend. KISS THE BOOK.
Mark Stewart (Pop Group) and Dick O'Dell (Y Records founder and current manager of Bat For Lashes, pic courtesy of Daisy)
********************************
Thank you so much, Daisy! I wish I could've been there with you, Martin, Gary, Dick & the others. Here's a playlist of several videos from the shows:
It's nice to see things are getting serious in the newly reunited Pop Group camp. They've recently launched a new website, and there some goodies there to check out. Even though I've already posted about this, here's a reminder about their initial plans, and it sounds as if they're leaning towards continuing into 2011 which is excellent news.
The Pop Group return after nearly thirty years to play an four small club dates to "blow the dust off the old songs and pick up where we left off”
These initial dates serve as a brief introduction to a new generation of the band's signature caustic Molotov dub funk that manifested itself into only two albums that went on to sporn a whole genre.
Formed in Bristol in 1978, The Pop Group were for many the first and the last après punk band. After two seminal albums ‘Y’ and ‘For How Much Longer Must We Tolerate Mass Murder’ the group split in 1981.
"There was a lot left undone,....we were so young and volatile....Let's face it, things are probably even MORE fucked now than they were in the early 80's.....and WE are even more fucked off !.
The 2010 line-up features all original members, Mark Stewart (vocals), Gareth Sager (Guitar, Keys, Sax), Bruce Smith (Drums) and Dan Catsis (Bass).
LIVE DATES: SEP 09TH LOCOMOTIV CLUB 9, BOLOGNA. ITALY SEP 10TH SPAZIO 211, TURIN , ITALY SEP 11TH THE GARAGE, LONDON SEP 12TH THE GARAGE, LONDON
As previously mentioned way back in May, the Pop Group will be performing for the first time in about 30 years in the UK and Italy in September. Tickets for the two London shows are now available here. Here's the full itinerary:
Sept. 9: Locomotiv Club, Bologna, Italy Sept. 10: Spazio 211 Club, Turin, Italy Sept. 11: The Garage, London, UK Sept. 12: The Garage, London, UK
The line-up will feature Mark Stewart (vocals), Gareth Sager (guitars, keyboard, sax) and Bruce Smith (drums), and Dan Catsis, who replaced original bassist Simon Underwood in 1980.
UPDATE: Mark Stewart has confirmed this story. We will stay tuned for further details.
From 'one of the last bands I'd expect it from' department comes the news that, according to the AV Club, seminal skronky, funky & political UK post punk band, the Pop Group, will be reuniting for some gigs (possibly revolving around ATP), as well as a new album called The Alternate. Their new manifesto: "Deny the politics of envy. Taste is a form of personal censorship. Technique is the refuge of the insecure. We are The New Banalists."
Details of original members involved, or dates, are hopefully forthcoming. I'd imagine drummer Bruce Smith is a bit busy with PiL these days. I'll try to do a little investigating to confirm this story.
This Thursday in Los Angeles there will be a screening of "ON/OFF: Mark Stewart from The Pop Group To the Maffia." Does anyone know if this will be screening in New York? I had mentioned this a year ago, and the DVD was supposed to be released last November, but I haven't heard anything since...if anyone knows anything please leave a comment or email me.
"This one's a must for all post-punk junkies! The name of singer/industrial hip-hop pioneer Mark Stewart may not be instantly familiar, but his influence is felt the world over. From his early days with confrontational post-punk pioneers The Pop Group to his myriad collaborations with acts like Trent Reznor, Massive Attack and Primal Scream, Stewart has provided ghostly beats and haunting vocals for over thirty years, and shows no signs of stopping.
German filmmaker Tøni Schifer, who followed Stewart with a camera for three years, has crafted a detailed, intimate portrait of the artist, supplemented by interviews with Stewart himself, his Pop Group co-horts Dan Catsis, Gareth Sager and John Waddington, Keith Levine (P.I.L.), Janine Rainforth (Maximum Joy), Douglas Hart (The Jesus & Mary Chain), Fritz Catlin (23 Skidoo), Daniel Miller (Mute Records), Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Massive Attack and many others, plus some terrific never-before-seen vintage performance footage. Plus, the scenes of the wildly eccentric Stewart interacting with his mother are not to be missed! Straight from Berlin, director Tøni Schifer will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A, and Part Time Punks DJ Michael Stock will be on-hand throughout the night to spin a heavy dose of post-punk history!"
From August 2008, the documentary "ON/OFF: Mark Stewart - from the Pop Group to the Maffia," by Tøni Schifer, will be gracing selected cinemas and film festivals.
The film retraces the singer's steps and paths from the early days of The Pop Group right up to the present. Schifer, who followed Mark around for a full two years, has crafted a detailed, often intimate portrait of the artist, supplemented by interviews with Mark Stewart himself, Adrian Sherwood, Daniel Miller (Mute), Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Doug Wimbish, Skip McDonald, Keith LeBlanc, Douglas Hart (The Jesus & Mary Chain), Fritz Catlin (23 Skidoo), Jon Spencer, Gareth Sager (The Pop Group, Rip Rig and Panic) and many others, plus live recordings and music clips. The DVD will be released by Monitorpop in october/november 2008. www.monitorpop.de
