I see a bunch of previously unheard material from Richard H. Kirk and Cabaret Voltaire as well as a new Sandoz album. Anyone hear these yet? I’m curious if they’re worth picking up or not. The last few RHK releases have been really solid.
What are you specifically referring to as far as the unreleased CV material? I haven’t seen anything “new” from CV since Mute emptied the vaults a few years ago. And those Kora!Kora!Kora! remix sessions were basically done singlehandedly by R Kirk where he used the CV name to (presumably) raise the awareness of that release. He did state a year or two ago that he (Kirk) was looking to resurrect CV with some fresh new talent, so it doesn’t look like he’s going to be working with Mal again anytime soon.
But, yeah, Kirk has a shit-load of new stuff out that is iTunes exclusive (Kirk, of all people, resorting to the iTunes juggernaut to flog his wares…quite surprising!)
I’ve got most of those and they range from slightly-below-par to superb. I still feel his mid 90s-early 00s solo work is his best, but I’m also quite fond of his first 2 solo albums.
For the Sandoz stuff, you’re either referring to Acid Excursions or Live in the Earth? I don’t have Acid Excusions yet but Live in the Earth (Sandoz in Dub vol 2) is just fantastic…if you are into dub of course! It was also (2006) the last album he released conventionally on CD AFAIK.
I hope we get another Acid Horse release.
There’s four “new” archive releases of live shows from 82, 84 and two from 86. The covers are shit but the clips sound pretty good. They sell for $8 a pop or the set of them for $25 and were all uploaded in September.
A CV re-issue campaign is probably overdue. Judging from the boards I visit, CODE is still high on people’s want lists (despite not being their best), as well as The Covenant, Sword, and The Arm Of The Lord. I wonder if EMI and Virgin hold the rights to their catalogue, I’ve never read/heard whether or not Kirk and Mal owns the old material.
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“Code” and “Arm” are both up on iTunes, as is the “Don’t Argue” single (which I downloaded yesterday).
Yeah, and I think Arm is up on Amazon Digital, but those 80’s albums had lots of tasty 12" singles anchoring those records. Though I don’t think it would ever happen, 2-disc remasters with mixes/b-sides on the bonus discs would be quite the treat for fans. Imagine Disc 2 of Arm being a DVD of Gasoline In Your Eye…too good to ever happen.
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Green Death, thanks for the heads up on those new CV releases. I snagged all of those new RHK albums on iTunes a month or two ago but as is usual for my luck, I must’ve missed the CV stuff uploads by a few days and haven’t checked iTunes since, as I find it the most deplorable way possible to acquire new music.
Tenoh, funny you mention those 80s EMI works, as I’ve got every CV album on vinyl or CD and find Code and The Covenant their weakest efforts by far. That said, it’s well past time for a proper rerelease campaign and I mean EVERY goddamn full-length they put out, all the way up to their final trilogy on Instinct. CV might still be one of the most tragically overlooked and underrated groups of all time.
If you want another nice cheapie, and like their house/ambient 90s material, get the Easy Life single. I love the Jive Turkey remix of Easy Life and Fluid is a nice little overlooked gem.
Interesting interview with CV from 1990. Kirk’s got less personality as a that glass of beer in front of him.
Of course, I’ll take 35+ years of making relevant, consistently interesting music better than macho/grandpa/hellbilly deluxe/bad ass Bush bashin’ posturing in an interview anyday!
Yeah, and I think Arm is up on Amazon Digital, but those 80’s albums had lots of tasty 12" singles anchoring those records. Though I don’t think it would ever happen, 2-disc remasters with mixes/b-sides on the bonus discs would be quite the treat for fans. Imagine Disc 2 of Arm being a DVD of Gasoline In Your Eye…too good to ever happen.
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That release would actually get me to buy a CD again (I’m all digital these days). Have you ever seen the Gasoline in Your Eyes video? I haven’t and it’s one of those few remaining “Holy Grail” releases for me, though I suspect the video technology is pretty archaic in execution.
A friend of mine had the original VHS, which literally made the rounds amongst our circle of friends for years, not sure where it ended up, but I ended up buying…sigh…a COPY of a VHS from a MusicStack seller a few years ago (was supposed to be an original). Still, the quality looks 1st gen, and I’ve watched/enjoyed it a few times since buying it. Eye makes for a great background video while cleaning around the house, or just knocking down beers on a rainy day. It’s always been one of my favorite music videos. Would be nice to see a proper DVD of this someday. I see a couple of these for sale on Discogs, but Christ, the price…
http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?release_id=209537&ev=rb
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I’d love to see that video someday. Doesn’t it have a lot of music not on the EP? Does the music sound good or is it rather disposable? I love the Drinking Gasoline EP.
I picked up the “Here to Go” and “Don’t Argue” singles on Amazon after not having heard either of them for at least a decade. Damn the remixes of “Here To Go” are great, especially the eleven minute version which just goes on and on and stays really good.
I’m happy to be listening to the Cabs again, they were my favorite band for many years and probably more influential to my own music than anyone else out there (though I don’t know if it’s obvious from the outside). I fell out of listening to them less because I lost interest and more because I just knew the material too well. It’s been great to forget them enough to enjoy them again!
Well said. I’ll occasionally get in a rut over a weekend or a long drive starting with Groovy, Laidback and working my way through all of the housey/90s-era CV material then covering the trove of RHKirk stuff from thoat years. I usually will conclude it around Dark Continent or The Number of Magic.
I do have DoubleVision Presents (official release) and JohnnyYesNo (lame movie, great soundtrack, decent quality boot I got maybe 8 years ago) on DVD. I’d absolutely love to see Gasoline get a proper DVD release, even if it’s totally bare bones.
BTW, the CV Radiation “semi live” BBC sessions album is utterly fantastic (other than the final track or two). It’s turned up under a few different names and with different cover artwork but the contents are identical. I think it originally came out in ‘99. It’s got a few choice rarities you won’t hear ANYWHERE else (or at least I haven’t). I really like Doom Zoom and You Like to Torment Me. The Operative as performed there is probably the hardest rockin’ CV song ever. And the version of Hey Hey on there is probably the best version I’ve ever heard of that song. Most of these are on YouTube if you want to peep 'em there.
P.S. Has anyone heard Billie Ray Martin’s recent and VERY disappointing cover of Crackdown? The only saving grace on that song is that Mal apparently came out of retirement to perform some new vox for her and he sounds to still be in top form.
I’d love to see that video someday. Doesn’t it have a lot of music not on the EP? Does the music sound good or is it rather disposable? I love the Drinking Gasoline EP.
I actually created a folder in my Cabs directory for tracks from the video, the songs are all pretty easy to get, if you have the Conform To Deform and Drinking Gasoline CDs:
01 Crackdown (12" Mix)
02 Diffusion
03 Sleepwalking
04 Slow Boat To Thassos
05 Sensoria (12" Mix)
06 Automotivation
07 Big Funk
08 Kino
09 Ghostalk
RE: Code mixes - the Don’t Argue mixes are an absolute nightmare of a listen! The R&B backup vocals make me cringe in horror, along with the extra synth stabs, painful. I think I have all the Code mixes except the Hate and Destroy Mix of DA, which clocks in at 11:20. Anyone here have that mix? Can’t seem to find it on any music blogs.
One last CV geek note, I ripped the audio from the 1945 propaganda film “Your Job In Germany” and have all the individual samples for Don’t Argue (along with the Bud Dwyer clip) on a CF card on my synth, just waiting to be used. One of these days I’ll get around to sequencing the actual song, just to jam it for fun. I kinda wish I had it ready for our Halloween show next week, since we’re playing a bunch of industrial-esque stuff.
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Richard is awesome.
i LOVE the Sandoz stuff.
Look forward to anything in the future from him and Cab Vol.
Interesting interview with CV from 1990. Kirk’s got less personality as a that glass of beer in front of him.
Of course, I’ll take 35+ years of making relevant, consistently interesting music better than macho/grandpa/hellbilly deluxe/bad ass Bush bashin’ posturing in an interview anyday!
Thanks for the link, ol’ RHK seems doped out of his mind and quite sulky there. From what I gather he’s often sulky. It’s true though, I’ll take great music over a good interview any day of the week. Mal comes across as quite affable though.
RE: Code mixes - the Don’t Argue mixes are an absolute nightmare of a listen! The R&B backup vocals make me cringe in horror, along with the extra synth stabs, painful. I think I have all the Code mixes except the Hate and Destroy Mix of DA, which clocks in at 11:20. Anyone here have that mix? Can’t seem to find it on any music blogs.
Check your PM.
I remember quite liking the DA single when I was 18 but, truth be told, if it had CV’s name on it I wasn’t very discriminating about it back then. These days the only DA mix that does it for me is “Who’s Arguing” that one strips away the strange back-up singers (which sound like Mo Town by way of Devo) and focus in on the samples and electronics of the track.
If you want another nice cheapie, and like their house/ambient 90s material, get the Easy Life single. I love the Jive Turkey remix of Easy Life and Fluid is a nice little overlooked gem.
Back in the day Groovy was my least favorite, I want to pick it up to reevaluate. However, I’ve always loved the Easy Life single, it’s a little slice of perfection. I’m downloading in now from Amazon and picking up Groovy while I’m at it. These days my taste run more towards soul & r&b than they did in the early 90s so I may quite like the album now.
Anoyone know of a forum like Prongs where folks can talk about CV? I’m pretty obsessed right now! I used to belong to the nag nag nag mailing list but I don’t like email lists, they’re a pain.
Went on quite the CV binge yesterday. Never heard the Kirk era songs until now. Not as bad as I was thinking. Picked up Groovy also. New to me as well and very good.