For those trying to navigate the sea of material unearthed by RichardH. Kirk, it's worth noting that unlike the simultaneous reissue ofSandoz' Digital Lifeforms, Earlier/Later features a monsterous 32 of 33 tracks previously available to the public. Additionally, unlike the Unreleased Projectscompilations, the music is all presented -as- Richard H. Kirk andironically sounds more like a mix tape than a collection of recordingsunder various aliases. All material here was recorded during activeperiods of Cabaret Voltaire, between 1974 and 1989, and therefore, muchof the music resembles CV material from repsected years. Recorded tocassette tape and mostly forgotten, the fidelity is showing a littleware. For any CV fans who remember riding public transportation homefrom the record shop listening to shoddy cassette releases on awalkman, the sound is remarkably familiar, and not unwelcome. Thecollection opens with the Later disc, and tracks from the "bigfunk" era (arguably 1982-1986), popularly characterized by beefy drummachines, electronic cowbell, and floods of vocal samples. The chunky10+ minute "Never Lose Your Shadow" is a pleasant shock, as it featuresa rare appearance of Kirk's singing voice atop music that could haveeasily graced The Crackdown, as is the cover of Can's "I Want More," another vocal tune which fits more into the early techno post-Codeperiod, where deep electronic bass sounds and smooth synths flourishwith subtle, faster-paced drum machines. While tracks like 1985's "OnFire" resemble what could easily be an early prototype of CV's"Sleepwalk," the immedtiately following "Digital Globe," could be anearly prototype of 1989's "Hypnotised." Latin piano & Miami bassstyle techno is the primary influence of 1988/89's "Latin/MYBM," apeppy track which is about nothing other than fun, but it's immediatelyfollowed by "Martyrs of Palestine," a track which is probably eveneerier in 2004 than its original release on a Rough Trade 12" in 1986.It's easy to speculate what kept these tracks buried for so long—eithercontractual obligations to EMI or Virgin, Kirk's devotion to the CVumbrella, or his personal choice—the music's availability now for a diehard CV/Kirk fan is far more important. The second disc, Earlieris 20 tracks of early destruction, mostly between 1974 and 1981,challenging the institution of music with tape cut ups, non-musicalsounds, distorted spoken samples, abrasive saxophone, and even atrashed piano. The tracks here are fantastic eye-openers, seamlesslythreadded like a primitive mix tape where the compiler was tooimpatient to let the opening and closing silence be heard. Beats arecreated by hand cut loops and delayed effects rather than drum machineson earlier tracks like 1974's "Cosmic Override 1," and 1975's brief"Radio Silence," while the infrequent inclusion of a track from themid-1980s, like 1985's "International Smashface Detective Theme," and"All Nationalities," are not typical beat fanfare, but more likevarious thematic instrumental CV album tracks from the time. Kirk'sreluctance to new technologies and letting go of the noise is apparentin the odd track from 1981, "Immaculate Riot," where for one of thefirst times, the bridge is between the noisier earlier stages of theKirk/CV timeline and the early beat period is strikingly clear. Alongwith the other recent collections of unreleased material, Earlier/Later is an essential key to the history of Kirk and Cabaret Voltaire. - Read More
