IDM Mailing Archive

Thought maybe I'd start writing an occasional column about How We Got Here... If anybody likes it let me know. If you don't like it, go away. CABARET VOLTAIRE - CODE Well here we have an absolute perfect little moment of classic IDM history. First off, for all you newbies, Cabaret Voltaire is Richard H Kirk's "first band". (Just like Paul McCartney used to be in some other band, the name of which escapes me.) Code perfectly exemplifies this sort of mini-genre that was floating around England for a while - white boy electro funk. You've got your pounding drum machine beats, stuttering percussion & synth blips, fat analog basses, a little trebly funk guitar for effect and presto. I tend to think of this album as part of a trilogy of Adrian Sherwood-produced masterpieces, also including Ministry's "Twitch" and Mark Stewart's "As The Veneer Of Democracy Begins To Fade". Where Ministry had teen angst and Stewart had paranoia, CV have a politically conscious global view to their music. And let's not forget the middle initial in our benighted acronym - anybody who went to a club in 1987 and heard "Here To Go" or "Don't Argue" knows what kind of destruction the Sherwood-beats and Kirk-bleeps could wreak on a dancefloor. A generation of youth got inspired to pick up a sampler and twist off some serious noises by CV (Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto always used to name-check them as a major influence). Unfortunately CabVol has deteriorated to little more than another Kirk "lemmee noodle a little more" side project, and a not terribly interesting one at that. To further the tragedy, this album is apparently out of print on CD. I recommend you scour the cutout bins. This is a chunk of history here, and it will make you wiggle your bottom to boot. (Also recommended is "The Covenant, The Sword, And The Arm Of The Lord" but it's way less funky than Code.) ---jsd "Sanity is a one trick pony...you only get one trick: rational thinking... but when you're good and crazy,the sky's the limit!!" - The Tick.

Ah yesss....good old CODE by CV...funny you mention Ministry's Twitch with this because I too see these as almost twin/counterpart albums, not so much becasue they sound alike (they don't) but becasue they both have the same degree of 80's alternative synth sophisication, and both are consistent throughout the albums. They rock. IDM record archive must haves. Actually I see CODE on CD every now and then, I ordered it through I think Tower of all places and I got a couple weeks later....hmmm. Actually, in an attempt to do ya one better, I think CV's Microphonies takes the cake for classic stuff. Funkier than Arm of the Lord, not as poppy as CODE, this is the first CD I ever heard (I mean back when CD's were new technology). Microphonies introduced me too 'weird electronica' (besides breakdance music) and I've been hooked ever since. How can you go wrong with titles like 'Digital Rasta', and 'James Brown'. I always thought CV/RHK had/have the coolest track names, and uh well the coolest tracks.. BTW Microphonies was produced by....FLOOD! enough babble... Nate Nate Harrison Digital Magician Inc. www.digimagician.com nate@digimagician.com 313.994.7316

quoted 6 lines Ah yesss....good old CODE by CV...funny you mention Ministry's Twitch with

> > Ah yesss....good old CODE by CV...funny you mention Ministry's Twitch with > this because I too see these as almost twin/counterpart albums, not so > much becasue they sound alike (they don't) but becasue they both have the > same degree of 80's alternative synth sophisication, and both are > consistent throughout the albums.

Actually, although they sound superficially quite different (with Jourgensen's raspy distorted vox and humorless melodies/CV's urgent funk in total contrast with each other) a lot of the drum programming tricks are the same. Fond memories of blasting "DOn't Argue" and pissing off all my floormates :-) Ashok

On Thu, 3 Apr 1997, Nate Harrison [Digital Magician Inc] wrote:

quoted 5 lines were new technology). Microphonies introduced me too 'weird electronica'

> were new technology). Microphonies introduced me too 'weird electronica' > (besides breakdance music) and I've been hooked ever since. How can you go > wrong with titles like 'Digital Rasta', and 'James Brown'. I always > thought CV/RHK had/have the coolest track names, and uh well the coolest > tracks.. BTW Microphonies was produced by....FLOOD!

And we musn't forget that middle eastern tinged classic, 'Sensoria'.... and that's all he wrote. Ross ;-)

quoted 1 line CABARET VOLTAIRE - CODE

>CABARET VOLTAIRE - CODE

Agreed. Wowie Zowie..

quoted 1 line Mark Stewart's "As The Veneer Of Democracy Begins To Fade".

>Mark Stewart's "As The Veneer Of Democracy Begins To Fade".

The sounds at the start of "The Resistance of the Cell" (a track on "As the Veneer...."): listen to that and talk about "the SOUND of SOUND".

quoted 4 lines forget the middle initial in our benighted acronym - anybody who went

>forget the middle initial in our benighted acronym - anybody who went >to a club in 1987 and heard "Here To Go" or "Don't Argue" knows what >kind of destruction the Sherwood-beats and Kirk-bleeps could wreak on >a dancefloor.

I would also recommend "The Crackdown". And "Sensoria". And for High Testosterone EBM from the same era: "No Devotion" and "We Shall Cleanse the World" by Revolting Cocks. Still haven't found a match for their "You Goddamn' Son of a Bitch" live album. Allert PS: Still in love with Ministry's "Everyday Is Halloween" and "Work for Love" -- "No corporation will ever pay a creator enough to sue them succesfully" -Dave Sim, creator of Cerebus Allert Aalders - Big Time Concepts - allert@knoware.nl - KoX

On Thu, 3 Apr 1997, Random Junk wrote: } Thought maybe I'd start writing an occasional column about How We Got } Here... If anybody likes it let me know. If you don't like it, go away. I like this idea a lot. Count me in. } CABARET VOLTAIRE - CODE [snip] } To further the tragedy, this album is apparently out of print on CD. } I recommend you scour the cutout bins. This is a chunk of history } here, and it will make you wiggle your bottom to boot. (Also } recommended is "The Covenant, The Sword, And The Arm Of The Lord" but } it's way less funky than Code.) "Code" really is a great album. The only others I like a bit more by Cabaret Voltaire are "The Covenant, The Sword, And The Arm Of The Lord" (which you mentioned), "Drinking Gasoline" (with those amazing staccato bass keyboard lines that I sadly don't hear much of anymore), and "The Drain Train" (.... "shakedown the whole thing" ... once you hear that electro funkiness you won't forget it!). Since no one else will probably admit it for fear of being pelted I'll go ahead and say that "Speak & Spell" by Depeche Mode was probably my first dose of electronica, which gave me the itch to continue into the world of IDM. When I first heard that album back in '84 I was struck by the minimal and catchy melodies created by purely electronic instruments. There was no looking back after that for me. Tracks like "Photographic", "New Life" and "Any Second Now (Voices)" will forever remain in my memory as starting points into this genre. Another album that really moved me around that time was Devo's "New Traditionalists". I still find myself listening to that one fairly often. On a related note I'm wondering if anyone can truly say that Ralf & Florian's album from '73 got them into IDM? Granted the album is a bit old, but maybe someone heard it later in their life -- or who knows maybe there are some 40 years olds here who were teenagers when this first came out? Anyway, I'll admit to hearing this only a couple of years ago, but the track "Tanzmuzik" is so ahead of it's time that I'm blown away at how ageless it seems now. A year later Kraftwerk came out with "Autobahn", another classic. Anyway, enough babbling. I hope to see more "roots of IDM" posts soon. Good idea Jon! | E r i c | [mail] franse@engr.arizona.edu | | F r a n s | [web] http://intermix.engr.arizona.edu/~franse | "Make the events occur that you want to occur" - The Black Dog

On Thu, 3 Apr 1997 17:17:09 -0800 (PST), you wrote:

quoted 4 lines Thought maybe I'd start writing an occasional column about How We Got

>Thought maybe I'd start writing an occasional column about How We Got >Here... If anybody likes it let me know. If you don't like it, go away. > >CABARET VOLTAIRE - CODE

haven't found that yet but my secret CV classics are _Easy Life_ 12" with the jive turkey mix and 2 corkers on the b side just about my all time fave record. 'if you will suck my soul, i will lick you funky emotion'. or somthing. _what is real_ - the instrumental 'virtuality' mix on the b-side sums up the period sheffield sound for me _keep on_ found this recently a side vocal mix is pants but 'sleazy dog remix' on the b-side is top and much to my surprise the B2 track is a mix by none other than mr. mayday.... g.

quoted 1 line haven't found that yet but my secret CV classics are

> haven't found that yet but my secret CV classics are

[..]

quoted 3 lines _what is real_ - the instrumental 'virtuality' mix on the b-side sums

> > _what is real_ - the instrumental 'virtuality' mix on the b-side sums > up the period sheffield sound for me

Yes! I remember how confusing "Body and Soul"'s funky minimalism was when it first came out, especially after the lush and rather poppy "Groovy Laidback and Nasty", but in retrospect it was a rather historic album. Kirk's sense of rhythm is just awesome. PS - this is full-on idm territory, not some loser industro-head waxing about yesteryear's glory days (although I do wonder about that sometimes :-) AD

On Fri, 04 Apr 1997 14:01:35 +0000 (GMT), you wrote:

quoted 14 lines haven't found that yet but my secret CV classics are

>> haven't found that yet but my secret CV classics are > >[..] > >> >> _what is real_ - the instrumental 'virtuality' mix on the b-side sums >> up the period sheffield sound for me > >Yes! I remember how confusing "Body and Soul"'s funky minimalism was when it >first came out, especially after the lush and rather poppy "Groovy Laidback >and Nasty", but in retrospect it was a rather historic album. Kirk's sense >of rhythm is just awesome. PS - this is full-on idm territory, not some loser >industro-head waxing about yesteryear's glory days (although I do >wonder about that sometimes :-)

yes you have to be rather careful with CV 98% of their material is really dodgy and you can get the wrong impression. g.

On Fri, 4 Apr 1997, g. wrote: } yes you have to be rather careful with CV 98% of their material is } really dodgy and you can get the wrong impression. Part of the beauty of CVs career is that they went all over the spectrum. I don't know about calling their stuff "dodgy", but if you mean it's hard to pinpoint their overall sound by listening to one release then yes. It took me awhile to appreciate their pre-"Crackdown" material, but it finally grew on me. My last purchase from CV was the brilliant "1974-1976" compilation. The track "Do The Snake" took me by suprise when I heard it for the first time -- "...come on everybody and do the snake....." -- odd. That song would be the perfect soundtrack for a scene out of a David Lynch movie... | E r i c | [mail] franse@engr.arizona.edu | | F r a n s | [web] http://intermix.engr.arizona.edu/~franse | "Make the events occur that you want to occur" - The Black Dog

All this talk about 'old' CV...I've got a few of the earlier singles (but no LPS), but I must say that I REALLY like the last three, the so called trilogy, as it were. Especially Plasticity. 'there's 70 billion people of earth, where are they hiding?' Does anyone know where this shit is from? What a concept!?! All of humanity on a single thread of copper wire. I like it! word up, brock lee, son of bruce. np: 9 gig grind + hot water heater gurgles

quoted 1 line Don't suppose you know if any of Chakk or Hula's stuff is available on CD?

> Don't suppose you know if any of Chakk or Hula's stuff is available on CD?

The best of Hula is available on CD... compiles their singles.

quoted 2 lines I still say the first time I saw the Cabs was the scariest gig I've ever

> I still say the first time I saw the Cabs was the scariest gig I've ever > been too. <g>

Just curious; why? --- the humble abbott arthur purvis set his hand hereto.

HiYa,

quoted 1 line Well, if you were a "loser Industro-head" you'd be mumbling like me that

> Well, if you were a "loser Industro-head" you'd be mumbling like me that

you

quoted 1 line and Jon and everyone else has lost their minds! I dropped Cab Vol like a

> and Jon and everyone else has lost their minds! I dropped Cab Vol like a

hot

quoted 1 line potato after "Microphonies" since (from a purist Industro-head's

> potato after "Microphonies" since (from a purist Industro-head's

perspective)

quoted 3 lines they'd *clearly* lost their original way and were making lame lukewarm

> they'd *clearly* lost their original way and were making lame lukewarm > non-Industrial and-damn-Mal's-actually-*singing*-now-blecch fodder. > (Hey, that's what I thought back in '85-'86, so sue me ... plus, at that

point

quoted 1 line I was finding what Chakk and Hula were doing to be more interesting than

> I was finding what Chakk and Hula were doing to be more interesting than

the

quoted 1 line Cabs' direction at that juncture.)

> Cabs' direction at that juncture.)

Don't suppose you know if any of Chakk or Hula's stuff is available on CD?

quoted 2 lines I suppose the last 6-7 years of Techno immersion would probably have me

> I suppose the last 6-7 years of Techno immersion would probably have me > revisit such a decision (heck, I've never even *heard* "Groovy ... "),

but

quoted 1 line you might have seen things differently if you were a Cab Volt fanatic

> you might have seen things differently if you were a Cab Volt fanatic

from

quoted 1 line day one ...

> day one ...

I think it's their worst...too light-weight. Body & Soul is much better, more of a Sweet Exorcist "clonk" feel to it IMHO.

quoted 1 line (I was lucky enough to have seen CV Edition 1 back on October 20, 1980

> (I was lucky enough to have seen CV Edition 1 back on October 20, 1980

with

quoted 3 lines Young Marble Giants and L.A.'s Monitor. I'd just come off of having had

> Young Marble Giants and L.A.'s Monitor. I'd just come off of having had > acute tonsilitis and was loaded to the gills on Percodans and ganja. > Now *that* was an interesting way to see a gig (-: )

I still say the first time I saw the Cabs was the scariest gig I've ever been too. <g>

quoted 4 lines Erm ... anyway, since Jon started this "ROOTS OF IDM" thing ... I'll toss

> Erm ... anyway, since Jon started this "ROOTS OF IDM" thing ... I'll toss > out a couple more: > > John Foxx "Metamatic" (Virgin, 1980)

Yup! This + Early Human League was my first love How about Eno and Throbbing Gristle for two more? bye, Eric.

quoted 1 line Don't suppose you know if any of Chakk or Hula's stuff is available on CD?

> Don't suppose you know if any of Chakk or Hula's stuff is available on CD?

There was a Hula comp on Red Rhino, which folded ages ago. "Poison" (produced by Daniel Miller!) was on it.

quoted 9 lines I suppose the last 6-7 years of Techno immersion would probably have me

> > I suppose the last 6-7 years of Techno immersion would probably have me > > revisit such a decision (heck, I've never even *heard* "Groovy ... "), > but > > you might have seen things differently if you were a Cab Volt fanatic > from > > day one ... > > I think it's their worst...too light-weight. Body & Soul is much better, > more of a Sweet Exorcist "clonk" feel to it IMHO.

Hey, it's great pop-house and good for what it is, considering the time. And pretty remarkable considering its immediate predecessor was "Code". I was totally zonked the first time I heard it and remember double-checking the tape to make sure it was indeed the Cabs. Clear Marshall Jefferson etc. influence. Ashok

did u happen 2 tape it? thanks, tom w On Fri, 11 Apr 1997 17:40:09 +0100 "Eric Gordon" <eric.gordon@virgin.net> writes:

quoted 19 lines HiYa,

>HiYa, > >> > I still say the first time I saw the Cabs was the scariest gig >I've >ever >> > been too. <g> >> >> Just curious; why? > >Hmm...guess it was all the dry ice, film projection, the audience and >the >fact that I think it was the loudest gig I think I'd been to at the >time. >Small club, packed full but I had a great view/listening position. >Just a brill atmosphere <g> > >bye, >Eric. >