New Age Steppers
| Company type | Musical collective |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Founder | Adrian Sherwood |
| Defunct | 2012 |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Products | Music albums, singles |
| Parent | On-U Sound |
New Age Steppers was a British dub ensemble initiated by producer Adrian Sherwood and included musicians from prominent UK post-punk groups of the 1970s. Noteworthy participants comprised Ari Up and Viv Albertine from the Slits, Mark Stewart and Bruce Smith representing The Pop Group, Keith Levene associated with both Public Image Ltd and The Flowers of Romance (British band), alongside John Waddington and Sean Oliver from Rip Rig + Panic, as well as Vicky Aspinall of The Raincoats.[1] Additional contributors were recruited from Sherwood's On-U Sound roster, featuring artists such as Roots Radics's Errol Holt, George Oban (previously part of Burning Spear and Aswad), along with Bim Sherman, Style Scott, and Eskimo Fox.[2]
History
The collective's eponymous first album was launched in 1980 under the On-U Sound label, succeeded by Action Battlefield in 1981 and Foundation Steppers in 1982. The album Love Forever, which includes material recorded by Ari Up and Adrian Sherwood up until Ari Up’s passing, was issued in 2012.
On March 19, 2021, On-U Sound re-released the group’s quartet of studio albums and introduced a compilation of rare tracks titled Avant Gardening. These releases were also consolidated into a five-disc collection named Stepping Into a New Age, encompassing all their label recordings.
Style and influences
According to John Dougan from AllMusic, New Age Steppers' musical style can be characterized by "cut-and-paste dub mixing, psychedelic swirls of found sounds, dissonant aural collages, sinewy reggae riddims, and odd, semi-tuneful vocals."
Studio albums
- The New Age Steppers (1980)
- Action Battlefield (1981)
- Threat To Creation (collaboration with Creation Rebel) (1981)
- Foundation Steppers (1982)
- Love Forever (2012)
Compilation albums
- Crucial Ninety (1981)
- Massive Hits Vol. 1 (1994)
- Trifecta (2011)
- Stepping into a New Age Box Set (2021)
Singles
- "Fade Away" (1980)
- "My Love" (1981)
- "My Nerves (Punk)" (2012)
External links
- Articles with short description
- British dub musical groups
- On-U Sound Records artists
- English post-punk music groups
- British reggae musical groups
- 1980 establishments in England
- Musical groups established in 1980
- 2012 disestablishments in England
- Musical groups disestablished in 2012
- Musical collectives
- Pages with reference errors