Mute: A Visual Document: From 1978 - Tomorrow

The definitive visual chronicle of the innovative independent record label

Daniel Miller created Mute Records to release his debut single (‘Warm Leatherette’/’T.V.O.D’), a pioneering electronic sound with a defiantly DIY attitude. Mute quickly established a reputation for releasing cutting-edge, chart-topping music and through the music of its community of artists – ranging from Fad Gadget, Moby, Can, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds and Einstürzende Neubauten to Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure, Laibach, Goldfrapp, Liars and Ben Frost – it has had an incalculable impact on popular music for four decades.

Mute: A Visual Document is packed with stunning artwork and photography – much of it previously unseen – from the Mute Archives and Daniel Miller’s personal archives, including photography and video stills from legendary photographers, conceptual artworks, rare ephemera and equipment.

Comprehensive discographies, a family tree of Mute artists, an extensive introduction and commentary by Daniel Miller, who has curated the materials for the book, plus anecdotal and photographic contributions from key figures in the label’s story, including Moby, Alison Goldfrapp, Anton Corbijn, Bleddyn Butcher, Brian Griffin, Jon Spencer, Barry Adamson, Ivan Novak, Angus Andrew, Adrian Shaughnessy, Tom Hingston, make this book the definitive chronicle of the label.


Rough Trade's Book of the Year

Electronic Sound magazine's Book of the Year

One of Uncut's Books of the Year

One of the Herald's Books of the Year


Table of Contents

1. 1978–1979: Warm Leatherette and Letraset: Founding a New New Wave • 2. 1980–1982: Mute in the Charts: Depeche Mode and Yazoo • 3. 1983–1989: Beyond Electropop: The Experimental Side of Mute • 4. 1990–1999: Mute into the Nineties • 5. 2000– Into the Future