Mute Records: Artists, Business, History

Mute Records is one of the most influential, commercially successful, and long-lasting of the British independent record labels formed in the wake of the late-1970's punk explosion. Yet, in comparison with contemporaries such as Rough Trade or Stiff, its legacy remains under-explored. This edited collection addresses Mute's wide-ranging impact. Drawing from disciplines such as popular music studies, musicology, and fan studies, it takes a distinctive, artist-led approach, outlining the history of the label by focusing each chapter on one of its acts. The book covers key moments in the company's evolution, from the first releases by The Normal and Fad Gadget to recent work by Arca and Dirty Electronics. It shines new light on the most successful Mute artists, including Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Erasure, Moby, and Goldfrapp, while also exploring the label's avant-garde innovators, such as Throbbing Gristle, Mark Stewart, Labaich, Ut, and Swans. Mute Records examines the business and aesthetics of independence through the lens of the label's artists.

Table of Contents:
List of Plates List of Figures Permissions List of Contributors Acknowledgments Introduction: Mute Records Richard Osborne and Zuleika Beaven 1. 'Let's Make Love Before You Die': 'Warm Leatherette', Boredom, and the Invention of the 1980s S. Alexander Reed, Ithaca College, USA 2. 'One Man's Meat': Fad Gadget's Social Commentary and Post-Punk Giuseppe Zevolli, King's College, UK 3. Fans of Faith and Devotion: Obsession, Nostalgia and Depeche Mode Andy Pope, Independent Researcher 4. "Depeche Mode and Soft Cell": Redefining the Prologue of the Mute and Some Bizzare Record Labels Leon Clowes, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK 5. Throbbing Gristle's Early Records: Post-Hippie/Pre-Punk/Post-Punk John Encarnacao, Western Sydney University, Australia 6. 'Join That Troubled Chorus': Nick Cave, the Bad Seeds, and the Blues Ross Cole, University of Cambridge, UK 7. Mark Stewart: 'Somewhere' Eddie George, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK 8. 'Sometimes, Always': Erasure, Mute and the Value of Independence Brenda Kelly, Independent Researcher 9. Outside Mute? Ut, No Wave and Blast First Ieuan Franklin, Bournemouth University, UK 10. The Mash-up of Aesthetics, Theory and Politics in Laibach's Meta-sound Aténé Mendelyté, Lund University, Sweden 11. 'The Blessed Glow of Labour': Independence, Style and Process in the Music of Swans Dean Lockwood, University of Lincoln, UK 12. Moby, Minstrelsy and Melville Richard Osborne, Middlesex University, UK 13. 'Country Girl': Rural Feminism in the Performance of Alison Goldfrapp Lucy O'Brien, University of the Creative Arts, UK 14. Twist: Goldfrapp's Genre Perversion Glyn Davis, University of Edinburgh, UK 15. Arca: Mute's Mutant Mark Waugh, Anglia University, UK 16. Composing in Circuitry: Sonic Artist Dirty Electronics Lourdes N. Crosby García, Full Sail University, USA Index

About the Author :
Zuleika Beaven is Senior Lecturer in Music Business and Arts Management at Middlesex University, UK. She is Programme Leader for the MA Arts Management, and teaches on the undergraduate popular music and music business degrees. Her research focuses on musician work and identity in the commercial space. Marcus O'Dair is Associate Professor in Music and Innovation at Middlesex University. He is the author of Different Every Time (2014). Richard Osborne is Senior Lecturer in Popular Music at Middlesex University, UK. Prior to becoming a lecturer he worked in record shops, held various posts at PRS for Music, and co-managed a pub. He is the author of Vinyl: A History of the Analogue Record (2012).

Review :
There is plenty here to enjoy ... Among the best chapters by far are those flowing out of the stories of feminism, gay activism and sheer theatricality. An important history of a highly significant British label, this deliciously wide-ranging collection considers an array of key artists approached from always stimulating perspectives: issues of production, promotion and reception in an emerging Depeche Mode, the meaning of noise in Throbbing Gristle's industrial odyssey and the challenging photographic depictions of Alison Goldfrapp, to name only a few. This excellent and innovative collection demonstrates the value of making a record company the basis of investigation into the tangled relations between music, creativity, and business. It helps that the choice of company is one of the world's most adventurous and fascinating record labels. Mute Records is one of independent music's most iconic labels, and with this book it finally gets the scholarly treatment it deserves. Mute Records: Artists, Business, History is a much-needed compendium that makes an important contribution to the industrial history of popular music studies. A delight for fans and scholars, Mute Records explores some of the most exciting and influential music of the past four decades. A record label born in a bedroom, Mute mixed the weird and the danceable, the avant garde and the mainstream, and in the process became a cozy home for platinum hitmakers and obscurantists alike. While upholding staunchly indie principles, Mute pioneered an electronic roots music that stands as a foundation for much contemporary dance-pop. The collection offers smart and passionate analyses of stars like Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Moby and Goldfrapp alongside insightful essays on indie artists who helped shape the synthetic sound of our time. A model of interdisciplinary scholarship, the volume ranges across musicological, industrial, and sociological approaches, with particular attention to the radical gender and sexual politics of key artists. An example of popular music studies at its very best.