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Unbearable (Bowery version)

from Saudade by Mark Steiner & His Problems

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    Comes in a beautifully detailed 6-panel eco-wallet, with artwork by Norwegian designer & photographer Merethe Holtet and American animator Bill Plympton.

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Rabben Records proudly presents it's debut release of Mark Steiner & His Problems new album "Saudade." This beautiful deluxe limited edition of only 200 copies comes in DOUBLE 12 inch 180 gram vinyl format, featuring 13 songs performed by Mark Steiner and his international band of brothers and sisters, produced by Henry Hugo and Mark Steiner, recorded at Stagger Home Studios & Booking / Studio Schaeffers Gate 5 in Oslo, Norway, with additional recordings made in Europe, New York, and Australia. Special guests include Sally Norvell (Congo Norvell), Mick Harvey (The Birthday Party, PJ Harvey, ex-Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds), Paul Wallfisch (Botanica, Firewater, Ministry of Wolves), Emil Nikolaisen (Serena Maneesh) and more.

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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 14 Mark Steiner & His Problems releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Black Hole, HANG ON! (Twin Flames), Twin Flames (Celestial version), Black Hole (Nebula version), Black Hole (Oblivion mix revisited), Syn, The Double B-Side Singles, Nísj, and 6 more. , and , .

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about

This song has been kicking around for a good twenty years, now. Back during my early years in the East Village, I recall my British roommate Adrienne getting annoyed with me one night as I kept playing the same riff over and over. I must have written three different sets of lyrics to this one, as well as a couple of different choruses before the song finally came together a few years later. Seeing 16 Horsepower live in Oslo a few years later inspired the bridge, I reckon. At some point, I suddenly decided that song needed to be a duet. In 2007, I finally managed to record a wonderful version of this in Paris, with Dimi Dero on the drums behind Tex Napalm's howling guitars and Lisa Barel's magnificent piano crescendos. Sofy Perez threw her pained heart and soul into the vocals as well, and I could feel my head spin with excitement. Unfortunately, I was just too tired (and probably not well-enough rehearsed) to overdub the rhythm guitar I heard in my head from the birth of the song, and to top it off, I botched Delphine Ellis' wonderful baritone guitar overdub. And so these guitars were forced to recede into a sea of reverb... Yet I still truly love that version, and always will cherish those days in Menilmontant with my Franco-German family. As the years passed, I continued to do the song live, sometimes with a female counterpoint, sometimes with my own alter-ego singing the parts from the woman's point of view. When I made the switch to baritone guitar, the song changed key. And when Henry and I decided to record a new version of "Unbearable," we struggled to find a vocalist who could follow Sofy's passionate delivery. Henry suggested approaching New Yorker Sally Norvell, who I greatly admired from her work with Congo Norvell back in the day. Sally graciously came to Martin's studio during the final mixdowns in Brooklyn, and (thankfully) delivered her own incredible take on the song. Which reminds me - I cannot underline the importance for me of working with artists who have their own voice (be it through vocal chords or an instrument), and their own unique style, be they Parisian or American. It's been a tremendous privilege, either way, all the way x

lyrics

UNBEARABLE
(lyrics by Mark Steiner)

I’ve been waiting all this time
Never knew if I would ever see the light of day (again)
You are more than just a heavenly dream
You pull my heartstrings, touch my self-esteem with grace
Lost inside, I found your kiss so divine
I fell from sorrow toward your loving arms, faraway
The world has changed from being black and white
The colors vibrant, lush and so alive - I’m awake (I feel pain)

And I feel, and I live, and it hurts to seem so alone
The unbearable lightness of being
And I taste, and I want, and I need to be with you
The unbearable lightness of being without you

You sing to me with your words of love
Were we only in the heavens above, led astray
You think of me and you say its nigh
But time is passing at the speed of light, I’m afraid
With one kiss we sparked an open flame
The fire burns in this hurricane you’ve made
Why is it you believe in me?
You paint a muse for your Odyssey without shame

And you live, and you dream, and it hurts to feel so alone
The unbearable lightness of being
Yes you taste, and you want - say you need to be with me
The unbearable lightness of being with you

And we dream, and we live, and it hurts to feel so alone
The unbearable lightness of being
And we taste, and we want, and I need to be with you
The unbearable lightness of being with(out) you

©2007, 2014 Mark Steiner / Stagger Home Music

credits

from Saudade, released November 6, 2014
UNBEARABLE (Bowery version, featuring Sally Norvell)
(lyrics & music by Mark Steiner)
Pavel Cingl: violin
Thomas Borge: bass
Henry Hugo: piano, organ
Tobias Lange: drums and percussion
Eduardo Manuel Ferreira Mendez: lead electric guitar
Sally Norvell: vocals
Øystein Sandsdalen: electric guitar
Mark Steiner: vocals, baritone guitar

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Mark Steiner & His Problems Oslo, Norway

Mark Steiner is a well-known figure in Oslo’s music underworld, and he’s been around in Norway for so long that many assume that he is Norwegian. He is not. This ex-New Yorker is a wandering scoundrel who one might find hanging out in the shadowy corners of a pub at closing time. A international musical vagrant who might walk the streets with Stuart Staples, Nick Cave, and Rowland S. Howard... ... more

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