Freak Yourself

Side 2 of a Cabaret Voltaire mixtape, compiled 5th June 2003. 

 

It's hard to believe that the sounds on this selection are from 30-40 years ago; even the mixtape itself is nearly two decades old, which blows my mind. Richard H. Kirk and Stephen Mallinder were always ploughing a futuristic furrow and even though there were some criticisms that their 1990s material had started to echo contemporary music where it once inspired, I don't agree. There was - and is - always something new to discover in their music that set them apart from other artists and it's something I continue to find on each return visit.

 

Around the early 2000s, I was beginning to move away from vinyl purchases and mixtapes and into internet downloads (initially with a super slow dial-up connection!) and burning CD-Rs. I was still buying CDs though and I think this mixtape was indebted to the slew of Cabaret Voltaire compilations that appeared in 2001, namely Cabaret Voltaire Remixed, The Original Sound Of Sheffield '83-'87 and Conform To Deform '82 / '90. Archive which pretty much covered all of the 12" singles, B-sides and rarities from their time on Virgin and EMI.

 

The version of Keep On which opens the selection originally appeared on the limited edition remix 12" and wrongly labelled as the Sweet Exorcist Mix by Cabaret Voltaire and Parrot. It's also not to be confused with the Western Works remix which appeared on the CD single.

 

There's an overlap with two tracks featured on the previous Cabaret Voltaire mixtape I posted in February: Just Fascination and inadvertently I Want You, having previously swapped out the album version for the 12" mix to make up for a cassette running time shortfall. This is obviously a thing with Cabs mixtapes as this side also comes in at a snip under 44 minutes; I decided not to tinker with the track listing this time.

Don't Drive Fast is taken from another essential compilation, Listen Up With Cabaret Voltaire, collecting rare and unreleased tracks from 1978 to 1981. 

 

Kino was remixed four times in 1992; this version only appeared on the 12" and CD singles accompanying the Technology: Western Re-Works 1992 album. The version number assumes that the original 1985 12" mix is #1 and 1992 album re-work is #2.

I Think appeared on Cabaret Voltaire's final album as a duo, 1994's ambient excursion The Conversation. There seems to be some debate about Mallinder's involvement in this and whether it was largely a Richard H. Kirk solo project. Either way, it's a good album, echoes of what has gone before and a peek into what would come next.

Richard H. Kirk revived Cabaret Voltaire in 2009, initially for remixes and production work and then a series of albums and EPs released in 2020 and 2021 before his untimely passing in September last year. 

 

Stephen Mallinder has been extremely prolific in recent years, including collaborations with Ben Edwards aka Benge, Julie Campbell aka Lonelady and Steve Cobby (Fila Brazillia). Mallinder also released his first solo album in over 35 years in 2019, Um Dada, and follows this up in July with tick tick tick ... Both are available on Bandcamp, online retail outlets and hopefully your friendly neighbourhood record shop.

 

1) Keep On (Universe Works Mix aka Sweet Exorcist Mix By Cabaret Voltaire) (1990)

2) Just Fascination (12" Remix By Cabaret Voltaire & John Luongo) (1982)

3) Don't Drive Fast (1981)

4) Kino 5 (Western Re-Work 1992 By Cabaret Voltaire) (1992)

5) I Want You (12" Mix By Cabaret Voltaire) (1985)

6) I Think (Album Version By Cabaret Voltaire) (1994)

 

Side Two (43:58) (KF) (Mega)

Today's photo was taken in Gloucester city centre, standing inside and looking up within the Kyneburgh Tower, better known locally as the CD Rack or the Kebab Stick. It was named and shamed by The Guardian in 2015 as one of the six worst works of British public art. What do they know? Standing inside it reminded me of the opening titles of Doctor Who (Tom Baker era, naturally).