mark stewart first made his presence felt as the front man for the pop group in the late 1970s. they were pioneers of the post punk dance sound and had success with singles such as >she is beyond good and evil<, and >we are all prostitutes<. when the band split in 1980, mark joined the emerging on u sound crew as a part time member of the new age steppers. he then went on to form his own band with keith leblanc and doug wimbish, the rhythm section of the sugar hill gang, and guitarist skip mcdonald. with adrian sherwood and his production magic at the controls, the maffia unleashed an awesome mix of styles that sounded like bootsy collins jamming over a bootleg jah shaka tape in an urban warzone. this incredible mix of funk, dub and electronic overload pre empted techno and drum & bass by years. mark stewart, often copied, never bettered. the film retraces the singers steps and paths from the early days of the pop group right up to the present. schifer, who followed mark around for a full 3 years, has crafted a detailed, often intimate portrait of the artist, supplemented by interviews with a. o. mark stewart himself, adrian sherwood (on.u sound), daniel miller (mute records), nick cave, mick harvey, doug wimbish, skip mcdonald, keith leblanc, douglas hart (the jesus & mary chain), fritz catlin (23 skidoo), mike watt (minutemen, the stooges), gareth sager (the pop group, rip rig and panic), dan catsis (the pop group), john waddington (the pop group) janine rainforth (maximum joy), massive attack, keith levine (p.i.l.) and many others, plus never seen live recordings and music clips

with the duo we love, ellen allien has sought out the golden needle in the haystack of current club music. its almost impossible to resist the charm of the sweet giorgia angiuli, with her alluring brown eyes, and the wild locks of the contemplative, emotional piero fragola. the pairs debut album could become the chorus of the summer. their enchanting songs fuse the ecstasy of club land with the emotions of pop. giorgia and piero moved from the south of italy to florence and immersed their intimate love songs in a synthetic glamour.

valgeir sigurdsson, former producer of bjšrk, has made his name as an exponent of musical subtlety. as an engineer and producer, hes often focused on the intimate, the miniature. draumalandid (dreamland), a documentary about the exploitation of icelands natural resources, tells a story about huge things-the fortunes of a whole nation, the destruction of vast landscapes, and the global economic forces, greater still than any nation, that fuel it all-and for his soundtrack to the film, valgeir has brought out a heavier set of tools. exciting music for fans of max richter, deaf center, bjšrk.

its a brighter, more immediate sound than before warmer, too, with the singers voices positively glowing inside intricately woven electronic nests. but theres no lack of nuance. every track is a delicate balance of intimate delivery and cosmic sonics, underscored by a faint sense of melancholy.

recorded over a two-year period with producer jeff saltzman (the killers, the sounds) the album has a depth and complexity rarely found in electronic pop albums. this is perhaps not surprising given itÕs gestation, deliberately designed to stretch their creativity the album was written in its entirety, titles first and in an intimate and very modest way - in a carriage house in brookyln rather than in expensive studios around the globe. stylistically the album is as diverse as it is cohesive. there are electro dance moves on the album but also the swirling electronic psychedelia of amuse bouche full of surprise flavours that enhance your perspective