Mark Stewart

Control Data (Mute)
by Joshua Brown

The new album’s title can be interpreted in two ways. On the one hand, it refers to the potential of multinational data kingpins that control the information presented to the public. On the other hand, Control Data is a command, a warning to people living “alternative lifestyles” (people who would be more apt to pick up a Mark Stewart album) to seize power of the information superhighway while the opportunity is still there. A native of Bristol, England, Stewart has been an inextricable element in forward-thinking music since 1978. He has never seen the limelight of adulation and idolatry, but has done a lot of pioneering work “behind the scenes.” From ’78 to ’82 he was in the art-punk band, Pop Group, whose recordings caught the ear of dub producer Adrian Sherwood, who has produced Mark Stewart’s work ever since. The first collaborative project of Sherwood and Stewart was the New Age Steppers, with members borrowed from Public Image Limited and the Slits. Stewart’s next four solo albums, including Control Data, use the three musicians collectively known as Tackhead (Skip McDonald on guitar, Keith LeBlanc on percussion, and Doug Wimbis on bass) as the backup band. These three were also the rhythm section for early rap and hip hop recordings on Tommy Boy and Sugar Hill Records. Aside from his recent solo work, Stewart co-wrote Tricky’s first single, “Aftermath,” and has been a benefactor for fellow Bristol groundbreakers like Massive Attack. Control Data uses techno devices, “second wave” industrial dance grooves, and processed vocal sampling to advance his political message. The musical experience of Control Data is, however, dulled substantially by its author’s heart-in-the-right-place attempt to take the weight of society’s future on his own shoulders. The message is a convincing one, but, sorry to say, the music is very boring in its nearly pedagogic tone. So while the subject matter is of infinite importance, the approach is dated.