With STUMM433, the Mute box set which forms part of the label’s 40-year anniversary celebrations in 2019, set to arrive post-summer, the label has now shared label boss Daniel Miller’s contribution to the release under his The Normal guise. You can hear it above.
The box set sees more than 50 Mute artists – past, present and future – all offer up their own interpretation of John Cage’s famed composition ‘4’33"’, and Miller’s is the second of those to be unveiled by the label following on from Laibach’s effort. The track marks Miller’s first work as The Normal since the very first Mute release in 1978, 7" single T.V.O.D. / Warm Leatherette.
Miller apparently recorded his tribute to Cage’s composition at the North London site of Mute’s original offices: 16 Decoy Avenue. "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," Miller says. "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."
Amongst the other acts to have contributed their own interpretations of ‘4’33"’ are Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Liars, Yann Tiersen and Irmin Schmidt. You can find out more about the release, which is due out on October 4, here.