Depeche Mode, New Order, Erasure, & Dozens More Reinterpret John Cage’s 4’33” On New Box Set
In 1952, experimental composer John Cage released the conceptual composition 4’33”, which instructed performers to not play their instrument for the allotted amount of time and hone in on the environmental sounds that are happening around them. It’s become a landmark work for those who like to nerd out about music, and later this year Mute Records is releasing a box set for 50 artists reinterpreting the composition. Those artists include Depeche Mode, New Order, Erasure, Wire, Liars, Moby, the Afghan Whigs, Ben Frost, and dozens more. Each artist also filmed a visual accompaniment to their performance.
Mute Records founder Daniel Miller had this to say about the box set:
John Cage’s 4’33” has been present in my musical life for as long as I can remember as an important and inspiring composition. When the idea of every Mute artist doing their own interpretation of the piece came up during a conversation with Simon Fisher Turner, I immediately thought this was the perfect way to mark the label’s MUTE 4.0 (1978 > TOMORROW) series.
The collection is called STUMM433 and it’ll be released in May. First up is the 4’3″ performance by Slovenian avant-garde group Laibach. Check it out below.
Here’s a full list of participants:
A Certain Ratio, A.C. Marias, ADULT., The Afghan Whigs, Alexander Balanescu, Barry Adamson, Ben Frost, Bruce Gilbert, Cabaret Voltaire, Carter Tutti Void, Chris Carter, Chris Liebing, Cold Specks, Daniel Blumberg, Depeche Mode, Duet Emmo, Echoboy, Einstürzende Neubauten, Erasure, Fad Gadget (tribute), Goldfrapp, He Said, Irmin Schmidt, Josh T. Pearson, K Á R Y Y N, Komputer, Laibach, Land Observations, Lee Ranaldo, Liars, Looper, Lost Under Heaven, Maps, Mark Stewart, Michael Gira, Mick Harvey, Miranda Sex Garden, Moby, Modey Lemon, Mountaineers, New Order, Nitzer Ebb, NON, Nonpareils, The Normal, onDeadWaves, Phew, Pink Grease, Pole, Polly Scattergood, Renegade Soundwave, Richard Hawley, ShadowParty, Silicon Teens, Simon Fisher Turner, The Warlocks, Wire, Yann Tiersen
STUMM433 is out in May via Mute. More info is available here.