R.I.P. Mark Stewart of The Pop Group, 1960-2023

Sadly, Mark Stewart of The Pop Group has passed away at the age of 62. He'll be greatly missed. 

LINKS

The Guardian Mark Stewart, Pop Group frontman, dies aged 62

Dennis Bovell's 80s reggae classics get a "repulse"

Dennis Bovell meets Dubblestandart – Repulse "Reggae Classics" is out October 8th via Hamburg's Echo Beach label. 

Here's the scoop...

Dennis Bovell, from Barbados, based in London, England, is a legend - a bass player legend (band leader of the legendary Linton Kwesi Johnson Band) - a producer legend (The Slits, Fela Kuti, Bananarama, Madness, Joss Stone, a.o.). He produced the soundtrack for the critically highly acclaimed movie Babylon and the hit song "Silly Games" by Janet Kay. In recent years his works regained interest, also due to the recent rerelease of the '80s movie Babylon and his participation in Steve McQueen's drama series Small Axe about the real-life experiences of London's West Indian community, set between 1969-82.

In 2019, Vienna's Dubblestandart produced a limited selection of reworks of reggae classics of Dennis Bovell's 1980's band Matumbi, Steel Pulse, Burning Spear, Twinkle Brothers, Culture a.o., focusing on works that have been pivotal for the inspiration of Dubblestandart's bandleader Paul Zasky. Nicolai Beverungen, dub reggae label headman of Echo Beach outta Hamburg, invited Dennis Bovell to "repulse" the album at Robbie Ost's GoEAST Studio. 

Dennis felt inspired, loved the idea, re-voiced the songs, added a couple of guitar lines and also re-dubbed the album. Repulse "Reggae Classics" features Dennis Bovell on vocals and as a dub producer in co-operation with Robbie Ost from Dubblestandart, mixing on a legendary E-6000 solid state mixing board (taken over from Tears For Fears' studio in London), using selected vintage outboard analog equipment, developing a distinctive dub reggae sound for this release. 

What do songs like "I'm No Robot", "Babylon The Bandit", or Matumbi's "Hypocrite" have in common? All of them were written during the 1980s of the last century, but never lost their contemporary accuracy, still perfectly criticizing and analyzing the "pulse" todays political leaderships and societies controversial points of view, have, while entering the digital age.

Pre-order a limited-run vinyl copy of Dennis Bovell meets Dubblestandart from Rough Trade right  here. Listen to "Babylon The Bandit" followed by Dennis Bovell's epic dub mix of the Pop Group's classic "She Is Beyond Good 'n' Evil" from The Pop Group's forthcoming Y in Dub album (available here) and a 2017 interview with Dennis Bovell below. 

Mute and Nick Smash host a Toronto release party for "Y in Dub" at The Piston on October 31. More info here. 

Pop Group releasing dub version of their classic debut album

The Pop Group's "Y in Dub" is due out digitally via Mute on October 29th with a vinyl version to follow.  

Here's the scoop...

Following the announcement that The Pop Group and dub maestro Dennis ‘Blackbeard’ Bovell MBE will perform the worldwide premiere of Y in Dub as part of Terry Hall presents Home Sessions for Coventry UK City of Culture 2021, this clash of titans have now announced the album release of Y in Dub, the dub reinterpretation of Y, one of the era-defining releases of the post-punk period.

Check out the dub version of “Words Disobey Me” (below) adapted into an uncanny reckoning of expanded off-key noise and ricocheting song remnants. 

Y in Dub will be released by Mute on CD and digitally on October 29 (pre-order it here: http://mute.ffm.to/yindub) with the LP release set to follow at a later date, due to ongoing worldwide production issues with vinyl. CD copies will be available for the Toronto release party with DJ Nick Smash at The Piston (937 Bloor West) on October 31. See flyer below for details. 

Mirroring the track listing of their 1979 debut, Y in Dub is a 9-track collection of heavyweight dub versions that match the prodigious intensity of their source material, reflecting the enterprising originality of the dub and reggae music that inspired The Pop Group, as well as the legendary ingenuity of their longstanding collaborator Dennis Bovell, who recently was awarded an MBE for his services to music.

After celebrating the 40th anniversary reissue of Y – released by Mute in 2019 – The Pop Group enlisted Bovell to reinterpret the album after his extraordinary appearance at Rough Trade East in London for the band’s ‘Salon Y’ event series the same year. The event saw Bovell perform live versions of ‘She Is Beyond Good & Evil’ and ‘3.38’, based on the deconstructive principles of dub. With Y In Dub, Bovell reprises his role at the controls.

Testifying to the legacy of the original yet also signifying a new, alternate triumph, Y In Dub sees The Pop Group and Bovell explore latent possibilities within the fabric of Y. Here they amplify shadows and echoes, intensively accentuating the resonance of each element. The original material is submerged and prolonged, shattered, splintered, and sculpted into turbulent, contrasting forms which deviate from the original tracks in compelling, unexpected ways.

For more info on the 'Y in Dub' release party with DJ Nick Smash, check the Facebook page right here.