For a band frequently described as "underrated" and "forgotten" (see
http://coilhouse.net/2009/03/better-than-coffee-cabaret-voltaire/, http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jifqxqw5ldfe~T1), Cabaret Voltaire do get a lot of press. They’ve had a profile in trainspotter mag The Wire (http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/212/), their Wikipedia page is longer than all previous "Awesome Song of The Week" bands combined, and a Google search for their name turns up 695,000 hits (granted, that statistic may be confounded by some Zurich-related Dada noise (Wikipedia: Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich)). Despite the fact that the precedent set by the usual Awesome Song correspondent encourages a greater sense of truly underappreciated obscurity and indie cred, I've decided to stick with a selection from the Sheffield electro-industrial pioneers, despite any short films they may have soundtracked (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mujfvvlBUmg), or books that may have been written about them (http://www.amazon.com/Industrial-Evolution-Eighties-Voltaire-Government/dp/0946719462/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254377868&sr=8-7). Why? Because they're still not terribly popular (especially not in any kind of mainstream sense), they don't have an inexplicable hipster cult like fellow industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle do, and because they fucking rock. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-IixtxKETU)
But which song to pick? Like many great musical acts, CV had a number of "eras", from goofy tape loop experiments (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc0T1RFWA0g), through bracing, avant-garde yet danceable industrial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDMGnmCCw8), to sexy, sexy electrofunk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2vnP-jA-Oc), and at last to fairly derivative early house music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSSZYBP9M1Y). While the reviewer consensus seems to favor their late seventies/early eighties experimental grooves, I've opted to choose a classic from their mid eighties attempts to infiltrate pop music a la New Order. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkfzXq0tA3c).
Sensoria closes their 1984 album "Micro-Phonies" and was probably the closest they ever came to a hit. The single version marks a striking attempt at what would later be called a mash-up, consisting of bits from both "Sensoria" and their other song "Do Right" spliced together. This single, and the attendant album, mark the closest the group came to commercial success, and it's not hard to see why. It's got everything! Cheezeball handclaps, cryptic and memorable vocal samples, rubbery synth basses, trippy electric guitar bits for that crossover touch, and, yeah, kinda inane dance music lyrics. The music video's opening crane shot would later be imitated by later Sheffield group Pulp in their video for "Do You Remember The First Time" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PeOlzEXsZA) (that is to say if the whole thing is not just a coincidence, but come on!). The surprising longevity of an experimental group's self-conscious decision to sell out can be witnessed in the fact that the Bloody Beetroots, Italian electro-house darlings signed to the tres hip Dim Mak label, remixed Sensoria in 2008. (with help from something or someone called "the SirBilly Experience") And they even had the keen sense to throw in audio clips from my favorite Kurt Russell movie! Enjoy. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlC1t6VtZIE).
http://coilhouse.net/2009/03/better-than-coffee-cabaret-voltaire/, http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jifqxqw5ldfe~T1), Cabaret Voltaire do get a lot of press. They’ve had a profile in trainspotter mag The Wire (http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/212/), their Wikipedia page is longer than all previous "Awesome Song of The Week" bands combined, and a Google search for their name turns up 695,000 hits (granted, that statistic may be confounded by some Zurich-related Dada noise (Wikipedia: Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich)). Despite the fact that the precedent set by the usual Awesome Song correspondent encourages a greater sense of truly underappreciated obscurity and indie cred, I've decided to stick with a selection from the Sheffield electro-industrial pioneers, despite any short films they may have soundtracked (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mujfvvlBUmg), or books that may have been written about them (http://www.amazon.com/Industrial-Evolution-Eighties-Voltaire-Government/dp/0946719462/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254377868&sr=8-7). Why? Because they're still not terribly popular (especially not in any kind of mainstream sense), they don't have an inexplicable hipster cult like fellow industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle do, and because they fucking rock. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-IixtxKETU)
But which song to pick? Like many great musical acts, CV had a number of "eras", from goofy tape loop experiments (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc0T1RFWA0g), through bracing, avant-garde yet danceable industrial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDMGnmCCw8), to sexy, sexy electrofunk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2vnP-jA-Oc), and at last to fairly derivative early house music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSSZYBP9M1Y). While the reviewer consensus seems to favor their late seventies/early eighties experimental grooves, I've opted to choose a classic from their mid eighties attempts to infiltrate pop music a la New Order. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkfzXq0tA3c).
Sensoria closes their 1984 album "Micro-Phonies" and was probably the closest they ever came to a hit. The single version marks a striking attempt at what would later be called a mash-up, consisting of bits from both "Sensoria" and their other song "Do Right" spliced together. This single, and the attendant album, mark the closest the group came to commercial success, and it's not hard to see why. It's got everything! Cheezeball handclaps, cryptic and memorable vocal samples, rubbery synth basses, trippy electric guitar bits for that crossover touch, and, yeah, kinda inane dance music lyrics. The music video's opening crane shot would later be imitated by later Sheffield group Pulp in their video for "Do You Remember The First Time" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PeOlzEXsZA) (that is to say if the whole thing is not just a coincidence, but come on!). The surprising longevity of an experimental group's self-conscious decision to sell out can be witnessed in the fact that the Bloody Beetroots, Italian electro-house darlings signed to the tres hip Dim Mak label, remixed Sensoria in 2008. (with help from something or someone called "the SirBilly Experience") And they even had the keen sense to throw in audio clips from my favorite Kurt Russell movie! Enjoy. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlC1t6VtZIE).
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