Learning to Cope with Cowardice cover

Learning to Cope with Cowardice

Released

Released in 1982, after the dissolution of postpunk/free-jazz/dub anarchists the Pop Group, vocalist Mark Stewart’s first album under his own name is a nerve-jangling collection of tracks that seem designed to disorient and unsettle the listener. His lyrics are dub-poetry-style rants about economic insecurity and how it fuels apathy and political disengagement, and the music owes a fair amount to jazz and reggae, including some surprisingly slick saxophone and female backing vocals (all uncredited) on “Liberty City.” Track titles like “None Dare Call It Conspiracy,” “The Paranoia Of Power,” and “Don’t Ever Lay Down Your Arms” posit endless conflict, but “Blessed Are Those Who Struggle” and the concluding, dubbed-out dramatic recitation of William Blake’s “Jerusalem” give the impression Stewart has at least some hope, even if it manifests as a mythical vision of a better England than the one in which he lives.

Phil Freeman

Suggestions
Double Seven cover

Double Seven

Various Artists, The Upsetters
Aihiyo cover

Aihiyo

Aihiyo
Marseille London Experience cover

Marseille London Experience

Massilia Sound System, The Robotiks, Mad Professor
Aequora cover

Aequora

Mina Gajić, Mystery Sonata, Zachary Carrettin
Rats On Rafts / De Kift cover

Rats On Rafts / De Kift

De Kift, Rats on Rafts
Anthem cover

Anthem

Black Uhuru