Cabaret Voltaire

has anyone heard the Sandoz stuff? i listened briefly to the latest one (on SoulJazz) in the rekkid store and thought it was pretty hip (real dubbed out stuff). is it worth searching down?

the steven mallinder solo record is quite sparse and nice. i don't much like his stuff now (he lives in perth!)

ugh, more soon, i have to dress my kid...

covenant sword and the arm of the lord, the singles on rough trade, the bbc radio sessions, crackdown, micro-phonies, yashar (tho not the new mixes), sensoria, crepescule tracks, actually, there's loads of good uns

One of Richard H. Kirk's projects with DJ Parrot, under the name 'Sweet Exorcist', is quite special. A merging of two very unusual talents. Look hard for an ep called 'Clonk's Coming' on Warp.

I liked Hypnotised off Groovy Laidback and Nasty when it came out. I remember A Guy Called Gerald did a remix of it.

Going from Sheffield to Perth is kind of an extreme life change I would think.

Recordings not on Rough Trade or Some Bizzare, I don't care for. I can't dance, not in time with the music, anyway.

and colin: he was once a kind of hero of mine so i don't want to say to much about mallinder i'm just not excited by the records.

(NB this was a band whom I worshipped in high school, so the standard exceptions apply, etc)

I'm still on a CV trip. Got around to listening to the 3rd CD of the "Conform To Deform" 3-CD set, this one being an Edinburgh gig from 1990 and I was really impressed. Most live gigs are either a bit too rough or a bit too rote and controlled, I think, but they pulled it off with grace. And it's interesting how tuneful the vocals suddenly got on their material then.

"Seconds Too Late"

"Don't Argue" (Sherwood mix)

And a lot of Hai!.

I thought you knew your Cabaret Voltaire!

sorry.

favorites?

Is that the version of Don't Argue with the women singing "no no no no no, better watch yourself boy?" If so, put that on my list.

My faves:

Breathe Deep
Yashar (John Robie Re-production)
Invocation
Diskono
A Thousand Ways
Red Mask
Motion Rotation
Animation
Talk Over
The Set Up
Silent Command
Nag Nag Nag
Jazz The Glass
KNEEL TO THE BOSS!!!!
Sensoria
Trust in the Lord

for starters...

and I really love Richard H. Kirk's Virtual State, which doesn't get enough love.

I thought you knew your Cabaret Voltaire!

Uh, Ian was right. It's Eastern Mantra, not Easter. Looks like you and I both should brush up on our Cabs, Dan! :)

As for faves, I'd probably pick Code, Sex Money Freaks, Just Fascination, and Shakedown. But there are so damn many others, too!

the second time.

the first time was what we call a "typo".

The Living Legends is just a shit-hot compilation all around, even if I've heard half of it before. Much better collection of songs than that Original Sound of Sheffield 78-82 thing.

"Jazz The Glass" is about twice as good as I thought they were even capable of.

"A Thousand Ways" is also very good.

Anyone tried any Kirk stuff? Did he have solo stuff out then? I'm becoming such a fiend I'm even thinking of getting the silly Methodology mid-70's stuff, which I know I won't like most of, but that song "The Single" is so hilarious. I don't know how they even managed to record that without falling into fits of laughter in the process!

http://www.thegreedyeye.com/

His first release was Disposable Half Truths in 1980, was that on Industrial? Did Industrial still exist, I think he had something on Industrial. I've never heard this.

Then in 83 he put out Time High Fiction, which has similar art processing to the Crackdown but it more raw and experimental if I remember. It's supposed to come with a second record featuring 2 20 minutes songs but my copy had 2 copies of the LP! This is prob. the same time the Crackdown came out with the bonus ep(which, if you're unfortunate enough to have only found the single vinyl Crackdown, you need to get, because it is AWESOME.)

In 1986 he put out two records, one I have on vinyl, the other I downloaded. Ugly Spirit is raw, low-fi, industrial, perhaps closest to the Crepuscule period stuff. Black Jesus Voice however is a totally killer electro record. Great avant-hip-hop/breakdance stuff.

His next stuff would be the Sweet Exorcist records, which is listed on that site as a collaboration. I forget with home. Pretty essential early UK Bleep techno.

1993 I was a freshman in college and he started going crazy. First with 2 great techno CDs. I don't know which one was first. Sandoz was initially his "ethno-techno" project, songs built around african samples and such, and I remember loving the Digital Lifeforms CD, though I lost it ages ago. It's been reissued w/ bonus stuff. Then his first release as Kirk since 86 was his entry into the Warp Artificial Intelligence series, Virtual State. It fits in nicely with the surrounding records of the series, Aphex Twin as Polygon Window, Black Dog Productions, B12 etc. It's an exceptionally warm and beautiful techno record, when the idea of techno as music not made for dancing was an exciting idea. One of my favorite records of the period.

Around that time, he was using the Cabaret Voltaire name for mostly really long sample based ambient stuff that I never got that into. Then he started releasing stuff under a million names and I lost track. Recently he got more into some hard digital dub kinds of stuff, some of which sounded way cool. Nick Gutterbreakz writes about him a lot:

http://gutterbreakz.blogspot.com/

check the archives.

I have the 3CD cabs disk, but not the solo Kirk one, Earlier/Later.

And I was truly transported into an alternate reality. BEYOND anything Cabaret Voltaire have ever done. Beyond anything Cabaret Voltaire-related, even. I felt like I had been drafted into the movie "2001" and time was moving backwards at a very fast rate. This was NOT Kansas anymore, ladies and gentlemen.

I love that sped-up sample of the woman's voice, too where she keeps saying, in chipmunk fashion "no fucking chance at all...no fucking chance at all..." That is hilarious.

where are they hiding?

Love to know the origin of this sample - always puzzled me, as there aren't 70 billion people anywhere.

Oh, sorry, they're ants.

almost makes me regret getting rid of 'groovy laid back and nasty'. almost.

xpost : it has been years since i was in the mood for their funk, but today its not going to be anything else but - i just know it...

http://www.dustscience.com/FrontPage/RichardHKirk-FearProject.php

yummy yummy

look carefully at the proposed line up :

http://www.thestar.co.uk/rotherham/Antiracism-rock-festival.4279091.jp

steve mallinder has been back in the uk now for a while so obviously things are back on track.

!!!

i have been advised that this is not confirmed, and that in the past promoters have advertised a solo set by RHK as being a CV show.
still, seeing as Stephen is uk based there is at least a possiblilty that this is ferreal.

One of the top 5 best bands ever? I mean who the fuck cares about Kraftwerk when you've got Sensoria? Even as it is, only a tiny miniscule of their brilliance, and yet it's still probably the best music video ever made:

(The Mind Boggles)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkfzXq0tA3c

did I mention I'm more goth than you?

Well, I reckon I'm goth enough . . anyway, forgotten just how great 'Sensoria' sounds - played the 12" for weeks after it came out. It's a disgrace that I don't own all of the Cabs work on any modern format.

Consider me agog for any news on a reunion.

Re Disposable Half-Truths: Someone at the Princeton Record Exchange talked me into buying that cassette when I was 15. I had heard "Nag3" on Wanna Buy A Bridge? but had no conception of "industrial" music beyond that.

Fuck. Scariest music I ever heard up to that point (excluding "Revolution 9"). I remember listening to it on my Walkman as my parents drove us home through the Mercer County burbs, all the while that chant of "no fucking chance at all...no fucking chance at all..." echoing in my brain.

Bimble is most assuredly not more goth than me as real goths were disgusted with sell-out Sensoria and won't suffer any Cabs later than the Fools Game/Eddie's Out 12".

basically, if you can understand what Mallinder's saying and you still like it, you gotta turn in yr goth card

I like the early-middle period Cabaret Voltaire. Still dark and weird, but getting a little pop. Kinda like the UK electronic version of Chrome. For some reason I put them along the same lines.

I can definitely hear parallels with Chrome

Aw yeah. Kiss my assz bitchez.

Cheers to Mike A. for mentioning "Disposable Half Truths".
You're going to make me pull that out now. And add it to my iPod.

Burt, I sent you an email the other day. Check yer spam folder if you don't see it.

i like three mantras and red mecca and that's all i ever felt the need for (except for 24x5 but I listen to that less, in fact, never)

I think I had a problem with looped matter-of-fact phrases over noisy backup. Something about the repetition seemed ominous and creepy to me.

Love this band.

Has any band ever spawned more imitators, all of whom are not remembered now?

Photo finish with Throbbing Gristle

well following that gig i posted about a few months ago (did anyone here go along ?) it looks like the 'band' are back.
just heard that they have remixed NZ band Koras.
well, it's not really 'they', as Mal is still remaining a silent partner, it's Kirk doing the work, a la Conversation era.
i've also heard that there are to be a couple of shows with a lot of emphasis on the visuals.

loving this declaration on the cd-r label : "forged in sheffield"

is there any way one can get said cd-r

attention any Cabs fans past or present btw, this is incredible: http://goatsend.blogspot.com/2008/08/cabaret-voltaire-rock-city-nottingham.html

What in god's name is better than this? WHAT?
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OBFvNPckqSE&hl=en&fs=1";></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OBFvNPckqSE&hl=en&fs=1"; type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

"Over And Over" is the name of the song. What in the hell in this world is better than that? Please let me know.

DAN! Thank you!!!

It's all about the drummer's mullet, btw.

just heard that they have remixed NZ band Koras.

this is now available in shops.
for those that remember, Fon Records bloke, Amrik Rai is behind the release, and getting RHK back in line with the use of the CV name.
the use of cut-up vocals and synths is very much in line with mid-80s CV, but the overall production is a lot more current sounding.
naturally, i love it.

billy ray martin covers the cabs : here

didn't expect this to work as well as it does.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6d4_X3ZIeI

^ pretty good!

Sorry, that's the Billie Ray Martin cover btw.

the roman polanski referencing video for the other version is also great :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vns_3nAsL5k&feature=player_embedded

Can anyone really cover Cabaret Voltaire successfully? I mean that Billy Ray Martin cover bears little relation to the original. Which in an of itself isn't a bad thing, of course, but are there any truly inspired Cabaret Voltaire covers?

3 glasses of red wine + headphones = ordered the virgin/emi era box set.

whoo hoo.

v. excited.

this band needs more love.

simple as that.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/78514287@N07/7029535761/

God damn it.

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6106/7029535761_e9443685ef.jpg
Western Works by StephenMal

NAG NAG NAG

well, just ordered the emi/virgin era boxset from vice friendly hipster based charity shop.

f*ckers better be on board with their 'nearly new description.

back on track : how massive is the 12" version of 'crackdown' ?

for years now, people have loved/sampled human league/mode et al for their 80s thing, but no-one seems to have picked up on the brilliance of this era

xpost : u know for years my all time jim'll fix it wish was to visit 'western works', whereas now, i suspect its just some laptop in RHKs kitchen.

which means that i guess its too late for RHK to get his payday, which is a real shame as this is easily my fave era of CV.

humph-sulk-humph.

Are the early lps getting a remaster at any point? Or have I missed that happening over the last couple of years. Love the music but wish I could hear it better.
Think I kind of cut off somewhere around '83. But love the earlier 3 piece stuff. Not so fond of them when they went primarily dancey though I did enjoy some of the later solo stuff.

me and stevolende walk a different path.

as (s)he leaves, i enter the picture

i love all that early doors drum machine, synth + bass thing they had going on.

oh and re the early days material - as far as i know, mute have re-released it all on cd.

go a hunting ...

I was in a band called Sensoria, that's how much credence we gave to it. Fkn love the Cabs.

But dancing to NAG NAG NAG at another ILXor's wedding.. damn.

^^^

the first 12" i truly went 'oh my f*ckin' god, what is that ... ' to.

never heard it prior to buying it

.. just read the nme review while walking around, at the same time i bumped into record store guy as i read the review who asked if i wanted anything, i pointed to the review and said 'get me that in asap'

the rest is history.

if ever one review changed a life forever, then this was it.

no more indie loving c86 styled shyte for me .. twas all funked up juddering machine noise.

the fact that very little has ever come close to that 12" version of 'sensoria' means little, as the quest continues ..

f*ck. xpost.

just to clarify : my crappy diatribe relates to the sensoria 12", not nag nag nag.

man does anybody know where the dialogue sample in "Gut Level" comes from? Have wondered for years.

Agreed. What a record. xpost

ha, Sensoria for me & my friends was this HUGE embarrassment. We thought the Cabs were total genius, wrote that interlinking CV logo on desks & walls, and the guys at the record store weren't having it & then the new import single comes in and they condescend to playing it in the store for us. We got clowned. "Oh, yeah, you guys, this is fantastic, really deep shit." I like disco-era Cabs better now than I did then but to us at the time the rhythmic quasi-melodic non-ugly vocal style, the movement away from tight dubby atmospheres, was a betrayal of promise

i'm assuming 'gut level' is pre-virgn era ?

in which case, you're going to have to go deep and ask the mailing list nerds ..

actually, i can do that for you ... was just trying to add some euro-styled drama to the proceedings ..

xpopst : sensoria = embarrassmet.

the mind is well and truly boggled. i have put headphones on, and blast that mofo. its shits all over the lo-fi shit that ilm underlines as the 'proper' CV era.

'ok, tis time for me to cut out as the 12" version of 'i want you' has hit the 'phones, and its quite clear this stuff rules my world and i no longer care about my kids.

f*ck !

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Covenant-Sword-Arm-Lord/dp/B00004XNLC/ref=sr_1_17?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1336257799&sr=1-17

the mind is well and truly boggled. i have put headphones on, and blast that mofo. its shits all over the lo-fi shit that ilm underlines as the 'proper' CV era.

I don't think it's ilm that does that, just saddo Cabs fans like me - there are maybe 4 of us. General consensus on pre-Some Bizaree Cabs is that it hasn't aged well, I think, and that seems true some days and less true on others. I'm listening to the Nottingham live '82 tape that circulates now though...it's just...so much better than the banging dance tracks they ended up making. Which are fine, and banging, and if they hadn't made them, somebody else would have, because they're just not that distinctive, at least not next to the weird electro-dub stuff they got going around Red Mecca.

Wait - "Sensoria" was later. That seemed a little better. I'm thinking of the first single from the Some Bizarre era - Crackdown backed with This Fascination. There was a story in either NME or Melody Maker at the time that I read after that let's-listen in the record store, and the first line of it was "The Cabs fan was horrified." It was accurate in our small circle of 2.

fair enough.

u see i think in the mid-80s and onwards, richard-n-mal had a cool groove going on with their machines that i genuinely think no-one else had.

i listen to the early days stuff and to be honest, it does nothing for me.

i drop the 12" of 'crackdown' era and all becomes clear

1st single from virgin era = crackdown/fascination 12" in '83

and its rather good.

not sensoria 12" good, of course, but nothing is ....

Wait... what Virgin/EMI box set?

Oh, do you mean "Conform To Deform"?

All three of the Virgin albums and Code are supposed to be remastered and reissued this year though, right? So that pricing on the Covenant CD is probably nothing much to worry about...?

John Robie is the main man to blame/praise for CV going dance in '83, btw. Although, I'm sure he would think the dance era of CV would be crap too.

Code was my intro to Cabaret Voltaire, so the '84-'87 CV is distinctive to me. But nobody was doing the '74-'83 CV at all. It was the transitional "2 X 45" that's the best CV in retrospect.

boxset = conform to deform

and yes, i've heard that they are to remaster the whole virgin set this year as well.

But what of the Rough Trade material? Surely the truly classic stuff, the more other the better. Think the Mute cds are early 90s aren't they?

I don't know whether I'm grooving hard to this because I'm pinin' for them days ov my youth or w/e, it's not like these are really the freshest beats in the whole world, in fact they sound quite dated to me but anyway if you love Stephen Mallinder you might get something out of this. BTW old dudes wtf with the clown costumes.

http://www.cityclouds.de/2012/10/hey-rube-can-you-hear-me-mutha/

I played a show last week with Mal's other band Wrangler..Much more musically in common with CV than Hey Rube..

They played Crackdown and Sensoria as well as this version of Nag Nag Nag.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcTpbf7Om-Q

We played a cover of Seconds Too Late..

wow.
that was ace.
ta for the pointer.

So the details on the Virgin years boxset are finally available. Gotta say, I'm a bit disappointed that the video-only Gasoline In Your Eye tracks aren't included on the CD itself. Also missing is "Empty Walls", the b-side of "Just Fascination".

CD
1. Micro-Phonies
Do Right
The Operative
Digital Rasta
Spies In The Wires
Theme From Earthshaker
James Brown
Slammer
Blue Heat
Sensoria

2. Drinking Gasoline
Kino
Sleepwalking
Big Funk
Ghost Talk

3. The Crackdown + EP
24-24
In The Shadows
Talking Time
Animation
Over And Over
Just Fascination
Why Kill Time (When You Can Kill Yourself)
Haiti
Crackdown
Diskono
Theme From Doublevision
Moscow
Badge Of Evil

4. The Covenant, The Sword And The Arm Of The Lord
L21ST
I Want You
Hells Home
Kickback
The Arm Of The Lord
Warm
Golden Halos
Motion Rotation
Whip Blow
The Web

5. Cabaret Voltaire 83-85 12" As and Bs
Just Fascination (12'' Version)
Crackdown (12)
The Dream Ticket (12'' Version)
Sensoria (12'' Version)
James Brown (12'' Version)
I Want You (12'' Version)
Safety Zone (12'' Version)
Cut The Damn Camera (12'' Version)
Bad Self Pt.1 (12'' Version)
Drink Your Poison (12'' Version)
COMA (12'' Version)

6. Earthshaker
Earthshaker 5
Earthshaker 1
Theme From Earthshaker (Sheffield Mix)
Digital Rasta (Dub Version)
Earthshaker 3
Whip Blow (Instrumental Dub)
James Brown (Instrumental)
Golden Halos (Instrumental Dub)
Earthshaker 2
Cut The Damn Camera (Sheffield Mix)
Do Right (Cut Up Mix)
Earthshaker 4

DVD
7. DVD1
Bedford Boys Club 18.08.84
Intro
Crackdown
Sensoria
Just Fascination
Safety Zone
Ghost Talk
Digital Rasta
Kino
Do right
Hammersmith Palais 02.12.84
Mao Intro
Animation
Big Funk
Sensoria
Digital Rasta
Japno
Ghost Talk
Sleepwalking
Kino
Do Right

8. DVD2.
Gasoline In Your Eye
Introduction
Crackdown
Diffusion
Sleepwalking
Slow Boat To Thassos
Sensoria
Automotivation
Big Funk
Kino
Ghostalk
Fadeout

DVD Extras
Just Fascination 7” Mix
Sensoria 7” Mix
I Want You 7” Mix
I Want You 12” Mix

think i may skip this.

i have the cds (and vinyl) , the original sound of sheffield comp, the deform boxset (which i have yet to dive into actually !)

which just about covers the virgin era.

ok, there is matter of the remastering, but to be honest, i have no problem with the virgin era cds.

there is of course 'earthshaker' and 'gasoline' ep, lets just hope that gets a separate release at some point.

You haven't spun the Conform box you ordered over a year ago? Get to it, man!

You're also missing the "Listen Up" odds and sods comp of the Virgin years. Definitely the least of the material but the high points are excellent.

playing live again http://incubate.org/2015/line-up/368/cabaret-voltaire

Still no news on the early material getting a similar treatment to Red Mecca or at least a remaster of some kind?

can't get behind the notion that Kirk solo = CV personally.

for those that remember, Fon Records bloke, Amrik Rai is behind the release, and getting RHK back in line with the use of the CV name.
the use of cut-up vocals and synths is very much in line with mid-80s CV, but the overall production is a lot more current sounding.
naturally, i love it

r.i.p. amrik.
you genuinely changed my listening groove.
oh, and KRUSH was one of the best pop songs ever.

many years back i actually had an email exchange with amrik.
it was one of those WTF moments given how massive FON were for me.

I'm intrigued. Youtube link(s)?

intrigued re what, Amriks death or FON records ?

https://www.discogs.com/label/4664-Fon-Records

STEPHEN MALLINDER, CO-FOUNDER & FRONTMAN OF CABARET VOLTAIRE
ANNOUNCES UM DADA
HIS FIRST SOLO ALBUM IN OVER 35 YEARS
OUT OCTOBER 11 ON DAIS RECORDS

LISTEN TO 'WORKING (YOU ARE)'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jRabUCfE9M

http://gallery.mailchimp.com/a088e1e7fb68010cf6ad8ff4a/images/b6e6d1b8-8944-4e67-8a9d-269ce6015897.jpg

Stephen Mallinder, co-founder and frontman of the iconic Cabaret Voltaire, has returned with his first solo album in over 35 years: Um Dada. Laced with leftfield house and cut-up sound collages, Um Dada is a melding of energies that are an exercise in simplicity and motion. Sincere, playful realism that beckons your body to move, always reminding you to never take yourself too seriously without forfeiting your agency.

While steering Cabaret Voltaire through the 1980’s, Mallinder was already busy piecing together his first solo album entitled “Pow Wow”, which would help define Mallinder’s interest in the more leftfield electro sounds shaping England at the time. It was this diverse and abstract hybrid that helped inspire generations of artists and musicians through steeping raw machine funk within the whimsical and absurdist ideology.

Since the release of “Pow Wow” in 1982, Mallinder continued his pioneering work with Cabaret Voltaire, as well as recording and touring with his electro projects Wrangler, Creep Show, Hey Rube, Kula, and Cobby & Mallinder. In addition to his non-stop schedule in electronic music, his professional life as a journalist, broadcaster, producer and now a professor of Digital Music & Sound Art at the University of Brighton, has lead Mallinder to a unique point in his career. Most in his position would be caught up in rosy retrospection, but Mallinder himself says, “There’s too much digital finger-licking right now; every thought and desire at the turn of a dial… well a click of the mouse. And there’s a giddy, false nostalgia about the analogue past. Sorry to burst your bubble but the truth of history is more mundane: practical, pragmatic...Um Dada is about ‘play’ – cut and paste, lost words, twisted presets, voice collage, simple sounds – things that have been lost to technology’s current determinism. Let the machines talk to each other, let them dance .. they lead, we follow.”

Um Dada opens up with the exact machine-led surrealism that Mallinder recommends in “Working (You Are)”. A thick, stripped back dance floor groove provides the ideal foundation for Mallinder’s eccentric vocal cuts. The frisky chops present an almost twisted irony, subtly bringing to mind the role we’re all forced to play as just another cog in the ever grinding capitalist machine of life. Yet, somehow, the listener is left feeling optimistic. A prime example of simplicity at work.

Tracks such as “Satellite” give a skillful illustration of Mallinder’s adeptness with his musical expertise while preserving his core historical context as only simple reference. The underlying bassline and percussion, coupled with the floating melodies and airy vocal refrain disclose the vulnerabilities of love and loss without a hint of irony or nostalgia.

Um Dada is mischievously idealist, however never loses touch with reality. Offering structure while simultaneously dismantling any and all preconceptions. The spirit of sincerity that sustained Cabaret Voltaire’s lengthy career is abundantly present within founder Stephen Mallinder’s journey through his own whimsical utopian consciousness and staking claim to an identity that is solely his own.

http://gallery.mailchimp.com/a088e1e7fb68010cf6ad8ff4a/_compresseds/79a11e0e-e3f2-4b5a-9ade-bbac6cf1a27a.jpg-

Stephen Mallinder
Um Dada
Dais Records
October 11, 2019

Working (You Are)
Prefix Repeat Rewind
It’s Not Me
Um Dada
Satellite
Colour
Flashback
Robber*
Hollow*

*CD & Digital bonus tracks

"There's 70 billion people in there ..."

Love to know the origin of this sample - always puzzled me, as there aren't 70 billion people anywhere.

― soukesian, Sunday, January 22, 2006

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_with_a_Glass_Hand

i like that track a lot.

I love Stephen's work with Wrangler and Creep Show, and I think most fans of the Cab's Virgin period will, too. His solo album, "Pow Wow", was unknown to me for eons until I picked it up a couple of years ago. It fits in perfectly with the "2x45" era material.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZSg4dHHibQ

noice.

I have really warmed to their 1993 album International Languagewhich to me feels like their delayed reaction to Chill Out -- it's pretty distinctive in their catalogue, with soft, plush sounds and pillowy textures on e.g. the drums -- not so different that you don't recognize them, but audibly in a different place -- kind of a more inward version of a band who'd been writing for the clubs a couple years earlier. I've spent a fair bit of time with this album over the past year and become fascinated by it -- tons of really engaging space in it, the tracks are leisurely and unhurried, sprawling almost.

I never gave that one a chance. Will relisten!

I’ll give it a re listen too. In my mind it’s a lesser version of The Conversation but the Chill Out comparison intrigues me

never seen a copy, so not got around to getting that album yet.

as much as i enjoyed last years album and the follow on ep, i have to admit the 2 recent drone releases didn't exactly do much for me.

Oof yeah. This one's a real beauty. A sublime blend of CV's love for Chicago House with their own sensibilities. Much closer to Kirk's solo dance stuff but restrained, almost mystical. Looking forward to giving "The Conversation" a renewed listen next.

“The Conversation” is another unsung ( by me! I guess I stopped my youthful Cabs love around the time I saw them open for Suicide c. 90/91) beauty. It heads back and deeper into the paranoid, gritty aspect of their sound. Again sans Mal vox but what a gorgeous and intense and sprawling album.

Really glad I gave International Language another spin. Beautiful stuff. Plasticity had been released the year before and I was never keen on the dialogue samples on the first track (which according to a comment on Discogs is from 'My Crazy Life' Jean-Pierre Godin's 1992 documentary on the lives of Samoan street gang members in Los Angeles). The Conversation is still my go to CV listen, and Virtual State the pinnacle of Kirk’s solo work

Chris Watson did an interesting talk last week.
Hadn't realised he'd gone onto doing sound for a lot of David Attenborough documentaries & apparently Chernobyl which I think was the Jared Harris series. Seems like he was doing environmental recordings from pretty early on.

Do far prefer the band with him in so i tend to give up before the stuff that was really popular.

Did quite enjoy some of the solo clonk stuff by the other 2 but has been quite a while since I dug it out. think I was mainly picking up the cds from sales in Dublin which shows how long ago that was.

thanks for this revive y'all, i've been cranking early '90s CV and related kirk solo stuff all week and this is pretty much my favorite music of all time

Huh, International Language is on US Spotify but not Plasticity, although both were on the same label in the US, so doesn't make much sense.

yeah the state of the catalogue is a mess.

Anyhoo I stopped listening after Code but International Language is quite good and I think I even like Groovy, Laidback and Nasty now.

and I think I even like Groovy, Laidback and Nasty now.

yeah, i recently revisited this album, and loved it a lot more than i ever did at the time.
and in case you don't know, the vinyl edition came with an extra 12" of CV remixes of several tracks,
all of which are included on the 'Remixed' compilation.

https://www.discogs.com/Cabaret-Voltaire-Remixed/master/134525

apropos of nothing other than i just saw it for the first time, wow "sensoria" has an amazing music video

"sensoria" video is all time. it still looks amazing but on release was truly mindblowing. i have a vague feeling it won some award. i also remember lots of "how did they do that?" conversations, which it seems still take place - https://ask.metafilter.com/235026/How-did-they-do-the-camera-move-in-this-old-Cabaret-Voiltaire-video

i revisited Groovy, Laidback and Nasty yesterday. The bonus 12" that came with it has really stood up & there are some great remixes of the singles off it, and ace b-sides too.

i saw them on that tour. the majority of the audience were still from the long mac brigade era and when Mal bounced onto stage in a shell suit, blowing a whistle there was a palpable sense of horror from most of them. by half way through a good % had left. i loved every minute.

i saw them on that tour. the majority of the audience were still from the long mac brigade era and when Mal bounced onto stage in a shell suit, blowing a whistle there was a palpable sense of horror from most of them. by half way through a good % had left. i loved every minute.

the final disc in the 'Conform To Deform' boxset is a live recording from that tour i believe.

oh, it's from that very gig - Liveform 8 June '90 Edinburgh. Archive 3

3-1 Intro / Runaway
3-2 Keep On
3-3 Sex, Money, Freaks
3-4 Sensoria
3-5 Thank You America
3-6 Positive ID
3-7 Whole World
3-8 Easy Life
3-9 Ride Baby Ride (Acid)
3-10 Searching
3-11 Hypnotised / Outro

i must overcome my CD aversion and check it out. I took some very strong acid that night so it is a little hazy but i do remember losing my mind (even more than i already had) to "Thank You America" and "Sensoria". i stayed up all night and then went straight back to Glasgow to sit an Economics exam and got the highest marks i ever got for an exam at univertsity. Perhaps if i'd taken loads more acid and gone to several more CV gigs i'd have ended up being an economist? ;-)

haha.
the mind boggles (literally in your case).
and that's excellent re it being the same gig.

An old friend and I were talking about the Sensoria video not long ago and he brought back to me that it was on the UK's Max Headroom video show, which is where I would have first become aware of CV, I'm guessing it did the same for others of a similar age. I dutifully bought Microphonies and was smitten.

Then I worked back through the more recent records until that first reissue campaign happened in the early 90s which was great because some of the older records could be pretty tough to find, and I bought Mix Up and Live YMCA (iirc) on one cassette and boy, that took a long old time to sink in.

yeah, i saw the video on Max Headroom as well, but i had already got the 12" version.
Sensoria was my first introduction to them though.
i was walking around my hometown when i randomly bumped into the record shop owner that i used to hang out in,
he asked if there was anything I wanted him to order in.
i opened that weeks NME, pointed to the Single Of the Week review of Sensoria, and asked him to get it in for me.
i had no idea what it was going to sound like, but the review made me want to hear it.
turned out to be one of the best randoms ever.

ooops - a story i told on this thread 9 years ago.
but hey, at least i am consistent.

Stirmonster...how did people respond to that Mal fronted War Galaxy cover? Only discovered that recently...if they thought house era Cabs was a pop sell out that video must've given them a fit. I should include myself in "them" of course because even as young as I was in 1990 or so, I was still firmly in the "industrial cool, techno is for fools" camp.

it made almost zero impact here despite getting a really big marketing push. there were big posters around city centres and lots of music press adverts. i bought mine in a chart return shop for 99p (usual price for a 12" then was probably £3-4) as the EMI sales reps were trying to hype it into the charts by offloading lots of very cheap copies. i was in the "industrial cool, acid house rules" camp so was out at loads of house clubs at that time and am pretty sure i never, ever heard it played. i can't remember there being much talk about it at all. i like it more now than i did then.

umm what is this you are talking about ?

Sensoria was my first introduction too, via that video, though i had danced to Nag Nag Nag & Just Fascination loads of times not knowing who they were by. 'Microphonies' was my first CV LP.

talking about this, mark

https://www.discogs.com/Love-Street-Galaxy/master/160070

oh, and I had danced to Yashar too which was HUGE in the mid 80s discotheques.

blimey - had no idea re that 12".
Rob Gordon involvement = bet it sounds amazing.

I only discovered Love Street a couple of months ago! Only seen the video and the song sounds great, seems like a great time, and yet I can't help but to giggle at the look of Mal in that video!

i don't think i've ever seen that video before. so good!

Cabs vs Robert Gordon : the bassline on this is very widescreen.
love it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7TCR6gQKoA

They also had that New order thing of mostly having very attractive (and, therefore, easier to buy on spec) record covers esp once Brody got involved. I really liked looking at the aesthetics of photographing and manipulating video images, it was very 80s but it was really smart looking.

yeah, the Brody covers were absolutely perfect.
and then it was over to tDR for a while, which again totally suited the music.
the new releases may look tDR, but they are not.

watching the gasoline in your eye tape on youtube rn. one day i want to write something that has a similar effect to what these image loops have on me, grimy, polluted inside, unearthed from a basement with thousands of other unmarked tapes, garbled transmissions, more noise than signal

if the drinking gasoline ep included "automotivation," "diffusion," and "slow boat to thassos" it would pretty easily be my favorite cabs release of all time.... lol..... frustrating

Those can be found on the "Corform To Deform" set, pity it's not on Spotify. I was surprised when they put out the Virgin Years box that they didn't include the entire soundtrack on "Drinking Gasoline".

thank you i am now going to acquire that set

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRwaSWyfl3s

i am now watching this which is fucking goddamn amazing. they were so visually on-point. peter care! that guy did the "drive" video!

albeit i don't think peter care did much of the doublevision vhs but he certainly directed all of gasoline in your eye and it's a visual marvel

just bought both of those on DVD, tyvm, the Gasoline In Your Eye DVD is part of an LP reissue of Drinking Gasoline fortunately

huh i assumed these had been totally abandoned to the vhs format so now i too have purchased both of these on dvd...........

I gotta watch Gasoline... again. Echoing Brad's enthusiasm.

xp I was pretty thrilled to discover that Doublevision in particular was on NTSC DVD

oh also i've been really taken with the covenant, the sword and the arm of the lord lately. feels like their best attempt overall at that particular sound

certain disciplines suggest that enjoying cabaret voltaire for their hooks is almost certainly missing the point of cabaret voltaire but the hooks on that record are dynamite and i love how awkward and lopsided some of the synth and drum machine loops are

is there any good writing about the cabs, i would devour it

xp yeah really menacingly off, it felt like some secret transmission when I bought it based solely on the cover art aged 17

xp out of print dammit:

https://www.amazon.com/Cabaret-Voltaire-Art-Sixth-Sense/dp/0946719039

A chapter in RE Search's Industrial Culture Handbook which is WILDLY out of print I see now.

I'll have to dig up and post my freshman year electronic music class essay on the Cabs...it's pretty bad.

But quotes (at length), both those sources.

This as well: https://www.amazon.com/Tape-Delay-Confessions-Eighties-Underground/dp/0946719020

This is the best book I've read about CV, written as a memoir by the same guy who made the 'Art Of The Sixth Sense', it's not 100% Cabs related but is a great snapshot of that little corner of the Sheffield scene.

There is a kindle version, sadly the paperback cannot be gotten for less than about £40.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Industrial-Evolution-Through-Eighties-Voltaire-ebook/dp/B005FZ1MXO/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1622711444&sr=1-3

dan, please do!

also a chapter in Tape Delay

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=22650645597&cm_mmc=ggl-_-UK_Shopp_RareStandard-_-product_id=bi%3A%2022650645597-_-keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw--GFBhDeARIsACH_kdbZC9wZVJe0KcHoqgIhZ77PuBEQHmU3tVQC_25rDnxNN8rFbOW_HpYaAr_YEALw_wcB#&gid=1&pid=1

lmao holy shit groovy, laidback and nasty is AMAZING

probably my most listened to cabs album these days! cabs + marshall jefferson + mark brydon, so fucking good

soooo right.... feels like maaagic

the guitar work on the early cabs records is quite... beautiful? can't be the right word

the guitar work on the early cabs records is quite... beautiful? can't be the right word

Psychedelic.

Hey Brad, just want to thank you for your enthusiasm on this thread, it’s got me going back to records I’ve not listened to for ages with fresh ears. My favourite thing about ILX is people who are passionate about things communicating that passion. <3

you're welcome! i got my doublevision and gasoline in your eye dvds today and i'm fuckin psyched to watch them!!!

utterly primo live tracks here -- I would have believed they were from '83 but it's Richard H. Kirk getting it done in 2014. If that pre-Crackdown era of the Cabs, that zeroed in paranoid sound, is your thing, rush to this link

https://berlinatonal.bandcamp.com/album/berlin-atonal-vol-3

I thought I had that record, whatever Kirk's working off, the drum and pulsing synth sounds like an old space disco record I have. I checked Universal Energy, which is another space disco record, but I don't think that's it.

Eh, wish Kirk and Mallinder would get back together. I wish Kirk wouldn't use the CV name by himself.

I wish Kirk wouldn't use the CV name by himself.

100% agree.

same here

i kind of agree, but i don't mind that he has done it.
if that makes sense.
i mean, i have no issue buying anything made by RHK irrespective of the name he attaches to the project.

damn, RIP RHK

It is with great sadness that we confirm our great & dear friend, Richard H. Kirk has passed away.
Richard was a towering creative genius who led a singular & driven path throughout his life & musical career.
We will miss him so much.
We ask that his family are given space. pic.twitter.com/Ok8u3dNx3T

— Mute (@MuteUK) September 21, 2021

oh no

Damn, that's unexpected

Just saw this via the Quietus. Damn. RIP.

This is horrible :(

Oh no, one of my first musical heroes ;_;

That guitar sound *swoon*

Oh man that’s a big one for me.

Funny that just yesterday, out of all the millions of songs and music snippets in my head “Motion Rotation” popped in my head unbidden.

This is really sad. I’ve been listening to him so much recently

big one for me. really, really sad to hear this; has been a towering presence most of my musical life.

dang i thought we were just gonna talk about how good shadow of fear is some more. RIP.

what the fuck

RIP dude

Was 65.

https://thequietus.com/articles/30559-richard-h-kirk-dead-cabaret-voltaire

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58641040

BBC obit. I’m so gutted about this

RIP. Huge fan here, what a stunning, sprawling back catalogue he leaves.

A few of my favorites: Every Man Got Dreaming (Sandoz), Virtual State (Kirk), The Number of Magic (Kirk), Spirit Guide to Low Tech (Sweet Exorcist), The Idea of Justice (Electronic Eye).

And none of those are the Cabs! 8 Crepuscule Tracks is one of my all time favorite LPs, The Conversation, etc., etc., etc.

absolute hero of mine.
unfortunately i don't have anywhere near enough of his 'solo' releases on cd as they were never easy to find, and now they are ££.
however, the one album i never see mentioned anywhere and yet is one of my favourites - dark, intense and bass heavy :

https://www.discogs.com/Richard-H-Kirk-Feat-Pat-Riot-Meets-The-Truck-Bombers-Of-Suburbia-Uptown-Vol-1/release/336734

8 Crepuscule Tracks is one of my all time favorite LPs.

dang i thought we were just gonna talk about how good shadow of fear is some more. RIP.

― adam,

adam : hope you picked up the ep that followed the album i.e. shadow of funk.
way more intense.
3 extended tracks that would not sound out of place on the Drinking Gasoline ep.

https://bleep.com/release/219165-cabaret-voltaire-shadow-of-funk

The reversed vocal that runs all the way through 'Eastern Mantra' is the name of another Sheffield electronic band - The Human League.

OK, so I just discovered this on wiki and it's blown my mind a bit.

i have been in denial and skirted around the peripherals all day.
however, i think it is time to go back to the source of my love : Sensoria 12" version.
it really was one of those records that changed so much for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-UiBiUUas0

hope you picked up the ep that followed the album i.e. shadow of funk.
way more intense.
3 extended tracks that would not sound out of place on the Drinking Gasoline ep.

i had missed this and it is awesome, thank you. am now on dekadrone which is beautiful gnarly Power Ambient, feels like the latest/last CV iteration had a lot of juice

the final 2 albums were billed as drones, and that they were.
perfect when in such a space for dystopian infused soundscapes.
however, i prefer the shadow of fear/shadow of funk tag team releases.
the press at the time said how RHK had dug out his old analogue kit (due to a s/w crash i think), and i think its very apparent in the sonics of all the last releases.

Sensoria 12" was the source of my love too. Do Right!

i'm sure it has been discussed here before but the video for the 7" is still incredible. it was the talk of the town when it was first shown with endless "how on earth did they do that?" conversations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2vCpT1H7u0

stirmonster : yeah, look upthread, it seems we all watched it on Max Headroom.

just found out that Sensoria 12" and the other 12" that changed everything for me (Depeche Mode Master & Servants vs On-U Remix), were released within weeks of each other.

decades of my listening were dictated by 2 12" records that i bought within weeks of each other when i was 16.

guess i just got lucky.

the press at the time said how RHK had dug out his old analogue kit (due to a s/w crash i think), and i think its very apparent in the sonics of all the last releases.

― mark e, Wednesday, September 22, 2021 11:11 AM (nineteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i'm finally investigating shadow of fear and wow, of course it's great, and more aligned aesthetically with classic cabs material than i necessarily expected

then can i also recommend the RHK solo release that came before he revived the CV name :

https://www.discogs.com/Richard-H-Kirk-Dasein/master/1201619

its very raw and brutal sounding, and totally brilliant.

this whole thread and no mention of one of the best collaborations ever : ministry vs cabaret voltaire = acid horse.

this is the 9 minute version that's a lot more CV than the radio friendly A-side

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAcyDUjRSRM

CV vs On-U vs Kevorkian

one the best remixes of the CODE era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FucRo6uqDS0

i have long suspected the A-side of Acid Horse is nearly all Jourgensen and very little CV.

Was the remix of "Thank You America" a rejected remix that only saw the light of day later or is there a 'Code' era release of it?

i have long suspected the A-side of Acid Horse is nearly all Jourgensen and very little CV.

my impression as well, hence the 9 minute excess of the b-side which is very much more CV sounding.
and yeah, looks like the Kervokian remix was never officially released until this compilation.
guess there were plans for more singles off CODE that got pulled due to lack of interest.
this listing seems to imply the only other release of this remix was on another compilation (which is of course massively recommended as per my mention upthread) :

https://www.discogs.com/Cabaret-Voltaire-Remixed/master/134525

Sensoria 12 here too!

the video that a lot of us saw on Max Headroom :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2vCpT1H7u0

aha.
oops.
same post as stirmonster.
still, can never have too much of this ...

Never Lose Your Shadow kind of amazed me when I first heard it around the time it was reissued by Minimal Wave. 1982!

https://richardhkirk.bandcamp.com/album/never-lose-your-shadow

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000ztz3

A sixty minute Freakzone Playlist dedicated to Cabaret Voltaire's Richard H Kirk

(you don't get many CV songs to the hour by the looks)

Cabaret Voltaire - Sensoria
Sweet Exorcist - Testone
Cabaret Voltaire - Yashar
Cabaret Voltaire - Just Fascination
Cabaret Voltaire - This Is Entertainment
Richard H. Kirk - East Of Nima
Cabaret Voltaire - Kneel To The Boss

(possibly because that listing is missing things. Nag Nag Nag after This Is Entertainment at least. i'll try and get it sorted)

just ordered the Sandoz boxset.
cannot wait to hear it.
and, i suspect like Prince, you just know that there will be a huge archive of unreleased RHK material.
hopefully he assigned someone who knows what to do and it doesn't end up being a mess a la Pete Namlook.

(last track on that Freakzone thing is Everything Is True btw)

Freak yourself, shake it shake it.

just wanted to say that "project80" is a perfect thing

I counted his aliases on Discogs yesterday, there were 42

tbh - i would have expected more.
after all, every track on the URP releases are by different aliases ..

ok, just checked and that statement is not 100% true.
i had always assumed that every track was a different alias.
i love the URP cds.
they are so so brilliant, and the tDR covers/colours just make them even more special.
i found volume 1 by accident, and then once i realised what they were (not obvious from the details), had to track down volumes 2 and 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_JiSXrIwks

astonishing to me

actually i meant to post "shadow of funk" but that one's just as good

can't see what video you posted brad due to regional crap.
but glad to see Shadow Of Funk ep getting love.
loving his final chunk of releases : 1 album of beats + noise, 1 ep of beats + noise, 2 albums of dystopian drones.
would have loved to have been given the option to get the Shadow of Funk ep on cd, but hey.
very glad i grabbed the Shadow of Fear cd/t-shirt bundle now.

in other news : for most of the time, RHK + Parrot = Sweet Exorcist.
however, there were times that Parrot helped out CV.
this EP is very much in line with their Groovy house era, but still has that CV love for extras in the mix.
the Rob Gordon mix totally knocks it out of the park of course.

https://www.discogs.com/Cabaret-Voltaire-Percussion-Force/release/34719

i posted "skinwalker" mark!

ahh.
for a relatively old fella, RHK still knew how to make electronica sound totally vital.
absolute f$cking legend.
time for URP volumes 1-3 all mixed up + wine.

only now figuring out that Stefan Betke (Pole) did the Drinking Gasoline remaster for the LP/DVD reissue, it sounds fucking awesome

I have dived into Sandoz a bit, cool stuff. Instead of investigating more recent RHK/CV stuff like I might normally do upon an artist's death, I just keep playing "Sleepwalking" over and over.

"Listen Up With Cabaret Voltaire" is another oddball favorite of mine, good overview of the 78-85 era

brilliant.

i have the Drinking Gasoline tracks on various other cds, and have put a playlist together to make the EP.

but now that i know re Pole remastered, means i may have to buy the ep all over again.

;)

it comes with the Gasoline In Your Eye DVD!!

https://www.discogs.com/Cabaret-Voltaire-Drinking-Gasoline-Gasoline-In-Your-Eye/release/5326835

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bhfy3gXh4Q

they should have made the cd replicate the music selections on the DVD.
i know most of the extra tracks on the DVD are included on the Conform boxset, but still, would be nice to have the audio of the DVD fully represented in the same manner.

at last a decent obit

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/oct/08/richard-h-kirk-obituary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNwX_eY5YrE

wow thank you for sharing that

Don't sleep on Mal's latest project: https://lesdisquesducrepuscule.com/m/clinker_twi1256.html

give me your name
give me your code

conform to deform has got to be the greatest box set of all time

yeah, took a while for me to come around to it due its disjointed nature re the sequencing.
give me chronological sequencing everytime.
also, the final live disc is a little underwhelming re the sound quality, but after a few moments and you readjust then it can definitely hit the spot.
oh, and thread regular sirmonster was actually at that very gig.

ta for the nudge brad (as per usual).
was struggling to find the groove this evening.
dropped 'skinwalker' from the final ep onto the soundsystem, and yeah,
here we go ..

is it wrong to find "fourth shot" by cabaret voltaire beautiful

This entire new Mal album is really fuggin' excellent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJOD2rcoeus

Good tip!

Funnily enough had a high-maintenance visitor to our 80s disco night the other week who told us she went out with Stephen Mallinder for 5 years when we played Sensoria, and then throughout the night started to manhandle everyone on the dancefloor and kept trying to get us to plug in her iPhone so she could dance to Roisin Murphy instead.

haha! i know that mal lives in brighton - think he teaches at brighton uni? i haven't got any juicy stories but i do know the guy who designed the sleeve for 'sensoria'

shadow of fear is kinda the best album ever

Oh this is amazing. "Orchid vinyl" copies of the new Taylor Swift got mispressed with @EdCartwright's 'Happy Land' comp of **massively druggy** mid-90s electronica; TikTok is full of girls hearing Cabaret Voltaire for the first time and freaking tf out. https://t.co/A75hCigcXj?

— Swole Baby Jeebers 🛸 (@joemuggs) July 11, 2023

Would’ve been better if it was pressed with Living Legends or one of the early LPs.

Three Mantras

Three Mantras (Taylor's version)

Some of that early stuff is still pretty hair-raising, Kirlian Photograph is nightmarish.

Where are they hiding (the Taylor Swift albums)

Kind of a blindspot for me, but approx what year did CV go from fringe to uh... not-fringe? I love their gritty distorto lo-fi dub period if that makes sense.

diff ppl will give diff answers but... when they signed with Virgin in 1983?

it was gradual so hard to say. You can def break it up to a few periods.

The early stuff that's tape loop and experimental, with some garagey post-punk adjacent moments,

then in the middle of 2x45 Chris Watson left and they started getting funkier.

then you have the virgin years where it's electronic funk/new wave kind of stuff, which is maybe what you'd call not-fringe. Certainly a lot of people drop off before that, but for even more people, that period is prime Cabs.

THEN you have the "ok maybe we are pop stars" period of Code? And the introduction of heavy house and and techno influences and a bit of aiming for the charts. But even that period sort of gets balanced out with the sound of Kirk's solo stuff coming into the cabs, bleep techno, dubby ambient sounds etc.

I like all periods to be honest, though some more than others.

not an easy question to answer as the bands history is so convoluted.
for me, the main change was when they signed to Some Bizarre/Virgin and released the 12" versions that would then end up on Crackdown,
but for others it's the 12" releases prior to the major label era.

xpost : exactly.

I remember seeing the video for "Sensoria" in 1984 on one of the after-school rock video shows, so someone thought kids would be interested by that point.

Sensoria : that was my entry point, and i worked backwards.
got Crackdown on cassette with all the extras : loved it,
got Voice Of America on vinyl : hated it.
subsequently i thought that i knew where my line in the sand was.
note that this was pre internet/££ times.
even now, having heard the pre Crackdown stuff, i am of the same opinion.

noooo <3 u mark but VOA is alltime for me

ha.
i know it's a beloved classic,
but sorry ..
i like my CV with production values.

I think the good pre-crackdown stuff is the best stuff, but there's a lot of it that's far from easy listening. The Virgin era stuff sounds so great, but I hate to admit it that I think some of is kind of repetitions, I mean yeah we dig repetition, but sometimes it sounds like it should be a pop song...and the closest they get to pop in the Virgin years (Animation from Crackdown, Motion Rotation from Arm of the Lord) is some of my favorites.

Some of my least favorite stuff was the last few years where it seems like Kirk was saving his more interesting stuff from solo/Sandoz type projects, which were funky and dancey, while the Cab Voltaire albums were more ambient techno-y.

I don't care what anyone says, I will have "Partially Submerged" played at my funeral.

Where's the rest of this I wonder?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkL7bBE7azY

The best of the early Cabs is all their singles from 78-82. You can get a sampler of them on the "#7885 Electropunk to Technopop" comp or go deeper with "The Living Legends" and "The Golden Moments" which collect even more from the era.

Living Legends is great

I like all the eras I've heard which is up to about 87ish but Code was probably my least favourite album. not that hot on the really early stuff (74-76) that's on the Methodology comp either tbh

as an On-U fan,
i love the CODE era.
the 12" versions are fantastic.

as i said earlier, the whole CV thing is very convoluted.

Thanks for clarifying y'all.

"Seconds Too Late" b/w "Control Addict" is the only release I own (and love) but never really ventured too far from that. I remember some of the later 80s stuff not being to my tastes but as I admitted upthread, this is a bit of a blindspot for me. I'll start poking my head around.

Perhaps then The Living Legends and Red Mecca are be good starting points.

if you decide to get Red Mecca, then be careful re the pressing you pick up ..

Cabaret Voltaire (Taylor's Version) 🤘

Listen to Cabs: https://t.co/EyIIKp4i5N

Reference (and backstory of this little clip): https://t.co/0bP6im1Mta pic.twitter.com/Q5HOG9ymqQ

— Mute (@MuteUK) July 13, 2023

omg

I didn't realize it went both ways, lol

i would love this to be revealed as a massive viral thing cos TS has discovered the brilliance of the Cabs ..

cabertaytay voltaire

lol I did not spell that right AT ALL

In case you're wondering...

https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lw2kduusdT1qedb29o1_1280.jpg

i believe that tik tok with red mecca is what is called a 'joke'

tom d : yeah, sorry, i have no idea what thats referring to ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Or_So_It_Seems

ta for the pointer.
never heard of that, life pre internet.

xxxp booooo I want to believe

as per earlier.
i loved the CODE era.
some of the 12" versions of that era were so good.
this is a perfect example where they got it spot on re major label big budget vs old school CV juddering synths + vocals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3CM2zaQMho

from the comments on that tweet someone has done a mashup of Nag Nag Nag + All Too Well by Taylor Swift https://www.dailyreckless.com/2023/07/12/cabaret-voltaylor/

thats rather good.

my fave CODE era remix is this one where François Kevorkian and Adrian Sherwood collide and head off into outer space xtc (around the 4 minute mark is where it really takes off, or rather spaces right out). The original promo had an added sample from 'Blue Velvet' of Dennis Hopper shouting Don't You Fucking Look At Me! but i guess EMI's legal dept made them drop that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fax2gN6ADP0

Cabaret Voltayre

xp daaaaaaamn

my fave CODE era remix is this one where François Kevorkian and Adrian Sherwood collide and head off into outer space xtc (around the 4 minute mark is where it really takes off, or rather spaces right out). The original promo had an added sample from 'Blue Velvet' of Dennis Hopper shouting Don't You Fucking Look At Me! but i guess EMI's legal dept made them drop that.

i knew it was going to be that mix.
of course it's £££ on discogs via the cd single, and unavailable via digital outlets.
there have been rumours re a proper reissue of CODE.
i'm hoping for a proper expanded edition with all the remixes ..

That's a great mix! I'm one of the "Virgin era is prime" fans (Drinking Gasoline!), but I've never spent the time on the post Arm of the Lord era that I really should.

CODE is great of course (biassed me !? surely not),
Groovy Laid Back is different, and not a CV album that gets a lot of love, however, the CV remixes of the GLB&N tracks that came with the extra 12" are much better (all of them are included on the brilliant 'Remixed' compilation).
The Conversation is ambient-techno with very little involvement from SM, but very good if you like that kind of thing.
And that's where i stepped away until the recent 'revival' of the name, which was effectively RHK in solo mode.

Here's the mix with the sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLtA1R2DUfU

yeah, i thought i had a mix with the sample on it.
that mix is also included on the Remixed compilation.
'Remixed' + 'The Original Sound of Sheffield 83-87' : both are brilliant entry points to this era.

I really like some of the post code pre ambient club tracks that really just sound like solo sandoz sweet exorcist Kirk tracks with the occasional interjection from Mal saying something like “Colours…colors”

Cabaret Voltaire's Postcode: NG7 7EW

dont get me wrong, i absolutely love RHK 'solo' stuff.
but for some reason i gave up re CV after 'The Conversation'.
suspect it was mainly due to the scarcity of finding the cd editions, and now they are £££.

i did manage to find this in the bins once though, which is basically an album and includes his SE cohort Parrot :

https://www.discogs.com/release/34719-Cabaret-Voltaire-Percussion-Force

Cabaret Voltaire's Postcode: NG7 7EW

lol.

Here's the mix with the sample:

ah! memory mix-up!

by the way noted poster JCLC posted this amazing Crackdown-era Dutch radio set on FB:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCJGRGQ8uq0

that set is so good!

but for some reason i gave up re CV after 'The Conversation'.
suspect it was mainly due to the scarcity of finding the cd editions, and now they are £££.

the only ones after that are the modern albums, are those actually OOP? I see them on vinyl all the time

(those albuums don't do a whole lot for me, I think I gave shadow of fear and dekadrone each one listen)

but for some reason i gave up re CV after 'The Conversation'.
suspect it was mainly due to the scarcity of finding the cd editions, and now they are £££.

the only ones after that are the modern albums, are those actually OOP? I see them on vinyl all the time

― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm)

ooops. i got the chronology incorrect.

i missed out on 'body and soul', 'plasticity', and 'international language' as i never saw them out in the real world, but i did pick up 'the conversation'.

as for the recent albums, i really loved 'shadow of fear', and the 'shadow of funk' ep.
i got the two drone albums of course, but its not often i'm in the mood for them.
actually the best CV like release for me by RHK, was his last 'solo' album, Dasein.

Mallinder's recent solo album (not Wrangler) is really excellent.

Dasein is great.

Am i correct in thinking those early 90s albums (which are not that compelling) are more or less Kirk solo albums? If so, was there some falling out between Mallinder and Kirk?

i think Plasticity is pretty good but does feel more like a RHK solo album, despite some Mallinder involvement.

suspect i would love all of the RHK/CV releases now given how much i have succumbed to the RHK solo thing.
also, there are the 2 CV releases that seem to have been forgotten about.
once RHK had the name, he made 2 remix albums using the CV brand.
tDR did the art, and amrik 'fon records' rai sorted out the logistics.
personally, i love both remix albums as they definitely have the CV sound via the juddering synths.

https://www.discogs.com/master/244139-Kora-Cabaret-Voltaire-Kora-Kora-Kora-The-Cabaret-Voltaire-Versions

https://www.discogs.com/release/2306312-The-Tivoli-Vs-Cabaret-Voltaire-National-Service-Rewind