In 1982, the original version of "Yashar" ushered in a new phase ofCabaret Voltaire. While the group had been working for years with drummachines, they were only up until then teasing the ideas of dancemusic. Originally on the 2x45release and later remixed for 12" by John Robie, this was undeniablythe beginning of what soon became their dancefloor-friendly big funkphase. Once the classic opening voice-only sample sounds, "there's 70billion people in there / where're they hiding," everybody knows thefamiliar pumping beats and evil synth melody that is about to follow.While remixing songs that weren't exactly discotheque smashes hasbecome commonplay, there's a lot at stake when considering remixingsomething that has become somewhat of a sacred underground dancefloorlegend. The results are very nice indeed. This three-track 12" onlyrelease is covered on side one by a vicious, nearly ten minutethunderous mayhem by Alter Ego which I have had to force myself fromnot repeating endlessly. While only the underlying synth stem remains,the power and energy from the original is exponentially magnified. Tenminutes can be a long time but with this, it seems like it couldhonestly go on forever. Side two features the proverbial rework byRichard H. Kirk: "The Man from Basra" remix honorably matches theenergy set forth by the A side. Kirk imports the familiar vocal samplesfrom the original and continues on in a hypnotic five minute synth soupof constructive 808, 909, and African-imitative sounds. Rounding outthe second side is The All Seeing I remix, which most closely resemblesthe original remix done by John Robie with the singing girls and higherpitched synth melody. This version also pays tribute to the popularsounds of the 1990s Cabaret Voltaire with its downtempo beats, heavilyrelied upon by primitive analogue drum machine sounds. The only beef Ihave with the single is its $9 import 12" price that I had to forkover, making me recommend NovaMute to do another goddamned CDcompilation like the one aforementioned this week. Die hard non-UK fanswho miss out on this risk their chances of this not making the nextcompilation (or no next compilation at all). With any luck, Mute willwise up and give a break for their export single prices.Read More
