close

Mark Stewart is keeping the dream alive with new album and 2012 UK tour - tickets on sale Tuesday 7th Feb

Posted: 12 years ago
Primal Scream

'Uncompromising' carries a definition that states 'feeling or showing no willingness to compromise or back down' - also known as Mark Stewart. Treading a fine line between embittered brain-shattering music, political message and cynical observations, the Bristolian has been a source of inspiration since the late '70s.

His first band epitomized the very essence of 'do-it-yourself' and the ethics of punk, with scratch-funk tracks such as 'We Are All Prostitutes' and 'Where There's a Will There's A Way'. Calling themselves The Pop Group only added to the ironic taste in the mouth, created by their unnerving and confrontational lyrics and less-than-accessible atonal funk. But within those walls of discord, lay a latent imagination from the man who clearly wasn't done when the group folded (they did regroup last year for some ATP Festival action, however).

His next stop was the iconic dub/reggae/fusion/breakbeats label On-U Sound, a maverick imprint founded by producer Adrian Sherwood in the '80s and home to artists such as Tackhead, Little Axe, Little Roy, Singers and Players and the bargain-priced compilation series, 'Pay It All Back'. With his projects New Age Steppers and latterly, The Maffia, Stewart used bone-cracking hip-hop beats and distorted samples to make a rather glorious racket - his re-reading of 'Jerusalem' has to be heard to be believed.

After a few years and the classic album 'As The Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade', Stewart found solace with Mute Records and filled the mid-'90s with more of the same with boosted electro influence, before working on various other projects including documentaries and compilations. 2012 will see Stewart return with a collaborative album with the likes of Primal Scream, Lee Scratch Perry and many more. 'Autonomia' will be the lead-off 12", issued with various underground dubstep mixes (one from Pinch for example) and featuring Bobby Gillespie on vocals. You can view it above.

In order to catch Mark Stewart live in concert, you'll need to head to Glasgow on 26th March, Manchester on 27th or London on the 28th. We will have tickets tomorrow morning (Tuesday 7th February), priced at £12.50 (£13.50 for London). You may even get a special guest or two...

Paul Pledger