In 1978, Cabaret Voltaire signed to Rough Trade Records. With Rough Trade they released several acclaimed musically experimental singles and EPs, including Extended Play and 'Nag Nag Nag', and albums such as 'Three Mantras' and The Voice of America in 1980, and Red Mecca in 1981. The 27 June 1978 edition of NME had a review by Andy Gill who. Jul 19, 2009 On this date in 1980, Cabaret Voltaire released their second full length studio vinyl album, The Voice Of America (they had also released a cassette-only album and a live album prior to this). Despite having no singles released from the album, it reached the #3 spot on the U.K. Indie album chart.
Never ventured into Cabaret Voltaire's work beyond 1982. From their inception in the early 70s to1982 they were one of the greatest bands on the planet. Cabaret Voltaire's paranoid clanky custom built low-fi electronic dub funk was an irresistible sound. It reflected, according to Richard H Kirk 'Post-war desolation, unemployment and ugly urban landscapes.' I guess their move into more commercial/dancefloor friendly terrain after the departure of Chris Watson during the
If The Shadows Could March, Talkover, Do The Mussolini (Headkick), The Voice Of America/Damage Is Done, Slugging For Jesus (part one) and more. Cabaret Voltaire Comments.
2*45 sessions in 1982 always seemed a bit dubious to me. New Order were already occupying that area with excellent results soon to be followed by Severed Heads. Previously Cabs could do no wrong on their winning streak of releases from 78-82 including classics like Mix Up, Three Mantras,Voice Of America, RedVoice Of America Urdu
Mecca and their clutch of singles now compiled on The Original Sound Of Sheffield 1978/82. Cabs were also one of perhaps only 2 bands, the other being Devo, that arguably recorded their best work before they started releasing records. Their pre-history recordings were only ever released to the wider public over 20 years later on Methodology 74/78: The Attic Tapes. That 3 cd set was the sound of a real homemade electronic garage band.Voice Of America Persian
In 1983 with the release of The Crackdown they were reduced to the duo of Richard H Kirk and Steve Mallinder. Along with their change of direction came major labels, money and fancy 24 track studios. The music I'd previously heard from this era, mainly from late night tv, has always underwhelmed me so i'm venturing trepidaciously. When I first put on The Crackdown (disc 1 of 6 in this collection) I thought maybe this was a bad idea and that perhaps there was no need for me to pursue this avenue of exploration. I quickly moved on to disc 2 which contains the Micro-phonies LP and much to my surprise I am comin back to this record for more. Sure that doesn't mean its up there with The Attic Tapes but for anything to get a repeated listen, in this day and age, it must be doing something right. I have to look at them as The Cabs mk II, which they are, to get past the fact that no electronic squalls of dubbed out noise will be coming my way. Do Right, Spies In The Wires and Sensoria are the choice cuts here. The only other disc I've got to so far is disc 5 which has the 83-85 12' versions and is perhaps the best way to listen to this era of Cabaret Voltaire. Just Fascination and Crackdown (both originally from disc 1) are excellent here as is the aforementioned Sensoria. These versions are beefed up for the disco dance floor and dare I say it make you wanna boogie, in a very white manner of course.This is as far as I've come so far but I'm a lot more positive about continuing on with the other 3 cds and then there's the dvds.....to be continued.....
Choice Cabs artifact. |
*I missed that Wire article a while back, so apologies if you're bored of this subject.
Red Mecca | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 1981 | |||
Recorded | May 1981 | |||
Studio | Western Works, Sheffield, England | |||
Genre | Industrial, post-punk | |||
Length | 40:11 | |||
Label | Rough Trade | |||
Producer | Cabaret Voltaire | |||
Cabaret Voltaire chronology | ||||
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Red Mecca is the third studio album by English band Cabaret Voltaire. It was released in September 1981, through record label Rough Trade.
Background[edit]
In November 1979 Cabaret Voltaire toured the United States, and became strongly interested in the rise of the Christian right and its use of television, especially the fund-raising broadcasts of TV evangelistEugene Scott. They compared this to the rise of Islamism, devoting a side to each strand of religious politics on their 1980 mini-album Three Mantras. Red Mecca was a culmination of this interest. According to Richard H. Kirk: 'The whole Afghanistan situation was kicking off, Iran had the American hostages [...] we were taking notice [...] it's not called [Red Mecca] by coincidence. We weren't referencing the fucking Mecca Ballroom in Nottingham!'[1]
Red Mecca was recorded at Western Works, Sheffield in May 1981.
Release[edit]
Red Mecca reached No. 1 on the UK Independent chart.[2]
Critical reception[edit]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Record Collector | [4] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [5] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10[6] |
Uncut | [7] |
NME named the Red Mecca the ninth best album of 1981.[8] Andy Kellman of AllMusic retrospectively praised the album, writing, 'Unlike a fair portion of CV's studio output, Red Mecca features no failed experiments or anything that could be merely cast off as 'interesting'. It's a taught [sic], dense, horrific slab lacking a lull.'[3]
Voice Of America Michael Pack
Track listing[edit]
All tracks are written by Cabaret Voltaire (Chris Watson, Richard H. Kirk, Stephen Mallinder).
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | 'A Touch of Evil' | 3:11 |
2. | 'Sly Doubt' | 4:59 |
3. | 'Landslide' | 2:08 |
4. | 'A Thousand Ways' | 10:35 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | 'Red Mask' | 6:54 |
2. | 'Split Second Feeling' | 3:47 |
3. | 'Black Mask' | 3:19 |
4. | 'Spread the Virus' | 3:40 |
5. | 'A Touch of Evil (Reprise)' | 1:32 |
Personnel[edit]
- Cabaret Voltaire
- Christopher R. Watson – organ, tape, production, recording, sleeve design
- Richard H. Kirk – synthesizer, guitar, clarinet, horns, strings, production, recording, sleeve design
- Stephen Mallinder – vocals, bass guitar, bongos, production, recording, sleeve design
- Additional personnel
- Nik Allday – drums
- Porky – mastering
- Neville Brody – sleeve design
References[edit]
- ^Reynolds, Simon (2005). Rip it Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984. Faber and Faber. pp. 171–172.
- ^Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980–1989. Cherry Red. p. 311.
- ^ abKellman, Andy. 'Red Mecca – Cabaret Voltaire'. AllMusic. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
- ^Shirley, Ian (September 2013). 'Cabaret Voltaire – Red Mecca'. Record Collector (418). Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^Considine, J. D. (2004). 'Cabaret Voltaire'. In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 128–29. ISBN0-7432-0169-8.
- ^Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN0-679-75574-8.
- ^'Cabaret Voltaire: Red Mecca'. Uncut (69): 92. February 2003.
- ^'Albums and Tracks of the Year'. NME. 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
External links[edit]
- Red Mecca at Discogs (list of releases)
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