Today, Mute’s John Cage tribute album “Stumm433″ is released, and almost their entire roster is involved.
John Cage famously made a song called “4’33′” which consisted of four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence. And this track has now been covered by bands such as Depeche Mode, Nitzer Ebb, Erasure, Fad Gadget (!), Silicon Teens, Einstürzende Neubauten, Laibach, Wire etc etc etc. All in all, 58 different takes on the track with, mostly, various background noises, microphone hisses and nature sounds. You can check out Nitzer Ebb’s contribution below, complete with video.
You can order the box at Mutebank. All profits “will be split between British Tinnitus Association and Music Minds Matter, charities chosen to honour Inspiral Carpets’ founding member Craig Gill who suffered from anxiety and depression as a result of his tinnitus in the years up to his untimely death.”
If you order the vinyl box you’ll also get “candles with the scent of silence”, which seems too good to pass up… This must be the weirdest release of 2019.