Although you can't deny that Sheffield's CABARET VOLTAIRE have received their fair share of critical plaudits over the years, it's also a reasonable observation that while they were ahead of their time, they also had a tendency to confound.
They did great stuff as the '80s dragged on as well (not least "Micro Phonies" and "Johnny Yes No"), but your reviewer would strongly urge the uninitiated to start here, with this dynamite compendium of the Cabs' most fertile period, roughly - as the title suggests - 1978 -82.
During this phase, the Cabs recorded predominantly for Rough Trade and - apart from some production input from RT head honcho Geoff Travis and engineer Adam Kidron - most of these tracks were conceived and overseen by the band at their legendary Western Works studio up in Sheffield. They also feature the arguably "classic" CV line-up of Richard H.Kirk, Stephen Mallinder and synth/organ/ FX man Chris Watson, who would depart (for a career with Tyne Tees TV) around the time this compilation winds up. Indeed, he's absent from the final two tracks "Wait & Shuffle" and the NME-sponsored "Loosen The Clamp" which instead toy with the semi-regular introduction of a live drummer.
It's never less than utterly fascinating stuff, with human emotion aplenty broiling beneath the murky militancy of the electronica. The early gear's a little more impenetrable, with the jarring, repetitive "Do The Mussolini (Headkick)" and the genuinely unsettling "Baader Meinhof" both coming across as uncompromising headfucks.
By the time they got to the abrasive, but insanely catchy "Nag Nag Nag" single in 1979, they'd really hit their alienated stride, and from then on they were largely unbeatable for the next three years, producing a slew of great singles like the insistent, ratchety lope of "Silent Command"; the menacing thrum of "Seconds Too Late" and the exhilarating Arabian drone of "Yashar."
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During this period, Cabaret Voltaire were never less than challenging and otherworldly. With hindsight, this writer would rate them as an English Kraftwerk, possessing as they were a Krautrock-y feel for rhythm and dynamic. Their heavily treated electronica still startles today, with Kirk's scary guitar bouncing off Mallinder's slow-fever basslines, Watson's loops and tinny Vox Continental and the creepy, primitive sequences. Even when they attacked something as unlikely as their great cover of The Seeds' "No Escape", they pulled it off with weird, space-rock aplomb.
"The Original Sound..." is by no means comprehensive as great stuff like their Crepuscule singles ("Sluggin' Fer Jesus" and "Eddie's Out" are two glaring omissions) from the period are absent, but cool, dark treats like "Split Second Feeling" (from "Red Mecca") and "Wait & Shuffle" (from "2x45") are more than adequate replacements, ensuring the quality control addict is satisfied.
Bearing in mind they were instrumental in pulling post-punk into altogether more challenging territories and for helping to shape the club/ dance scene years later, it seems to me that critical reappraisal of Cabaret Voltaire's work is more than overdue. "The Original Sound" makes like it's being beamed in from Jupiter rather than Sheffield, even two decades on.
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