Cabaret Voltaire - The Original Sound Of Sheffield

Im feeling in the mood today.. oh yes!

Formed in the early 70s and influenced by Burroughs, Dada, Dub and 'Ziggy Stardust', Cabaret Voltaire (Richard H. Kirk, Stephen Mallinder & Chris Watson) were electronic-pionners from Sheffield and deserve to be ranked alongside such forward-thinking pioneers as Suicide & Throbbing Gristle. This compilation takes in their early years as a three-piece and the records they released on Factory and Rough Trade; it can be seen as an update/replacement for previous compilation 'The Living Legends.' Some people prefer the early compilation.......... some don't ...such is life hey ??

The Cabs took an approach toward their music heavily influenced by culture: Ballard-Bunuel-Anger-Roxy-Ziggy-Perry-Coltrane-Cage-Sun Ra-James Brown-Burroughs-Gysin-Clinton-Neu!-The Beach Boys-Northern Soul-Miles Davis-Warhol-Velvets-Eno-Popol Vuh etc. They were electronic before many of their peers who now get the credit (notably Depeche Mode and New Order).
This compilation takes in their electronic-experimental sound, which sometimes slips into mutant-pop, & provides a companion to the 80s-volume of 'The Original Sound of Sheffield' (more pop than mutant) & the 'Conform to Deform' box-set.

The early songs here are sometimes not songs- 'Do the Mussolini (Headkick)'& 'The Set Up' stem from the 'Extended Play' release on Rough Trade and showcase a collision of cut-up techniques and dub. The Factory-release 'Baader Meinhof' samples German words on the notorious terrorist-collective (the sleevenotes have a picture of them)& sounds like the missing link between Silver Apples' 'Program' & Eno/Byrne's 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.' Robo-voices and electro-jazz-hail dirge along and it's clear that Throbbing Gristle were not alone...

Things become more tuneful with SF-surf classic 'Nag Nag Nag', which is like Jan & Dean meets Suicide and remains a hypnotic joy of its era and one to file next to 'Being Boiled', 'Warm Leatherette', 'Ghost Rider' & 'Hot on the Heels of Love.' 'Silent Command' (recently found on a free compilation with Mojo-magazine) continues the samples of foreign-voices, but displays an influence apparent from Lee Perry's 'Dub-Triptych', as well as a cleaner-techno sound & scraping-guitars (there's even a brief sample of the terrifying 'We Hate You (Little Girls)' by Throbbing Gristle!). Mallinder's vocals are messed with, Brion Gysin's 'Arkology' approach?...'No Escape' reminds me a lot of Joy Division- or should that be the other way around?- Mallinder's vocal delivery is very Ian Curtis here (could be a Northern-thing...).

1980's 'Voice of America' took the band to alien-climes, 'This is Entertainment' & 'Obssession' becoming more dub-orientated; meanwhile ethnic (what might be called 'world music') inflections were appearing in the music- the apex of this being the epic 'Yashar'-single from 1982, which makes sense alongside those Jah Wobble collaborations with Czuckay & Liebzeit, and 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts', & 'Journey Through a Body' & 'Big Science' etc...

'The Original Sound of Sheffield 1978/1982' is a pretty much definitive primer in Cabaret Voltaire's early sound (after the 'Methodology' compilation of their very early work). I think it stands the test of time and easily ranks up there with the electronic-pionners of the 1970s: Kraftwerk, Neu!, Can, Moroder, TG, Suicide, Popol Vuh, Eno, Bowie, Cluster et al

Do The Mussolini (Head Kick)

The Set Up

Baader Meinhof

Nag, Nag, Nag

Silent Command

No Escape

This Is Entertainment

Obsession

Seconds Too Late

Split Second Feeling

Spread The Virus

Yashar

Wait And Shuffle

Loosen The Clamp

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