Tag: Cabaret Voltaire (Page 4 of 5)

A Beginner’s Guide To FACTORY RECORDS

21 September 2015 /

With an identifiable post-modern aesthetic and idealistic ethos, Factory Records was one of the most iconic record labels that emerged post-punk.

Founded in 1978 by Granada TV presenter Tony Wilson and actor Alan Erasmus, noted record producer Martin Hannett and graphic designer Peter Saville were also part of the original directorship, along with JOY DIVISION manager Rob Gretton. A respected television journalist, Wilson became more widely known for his TV series ‘So It Goes’ which featured acts such as BLONDIE, THE SEX PISTOLS and BUZZCOCKS, so was seen as a champion of new music.

The Factory name was first used for a club venture which showcased bands like THE DURUTTI COLUMN, CABARET VOLTAIRE and JOY DIVISION. All three featured on the label’s debut double EP release ‘A Factory Sample’. The combined run-out groove messages read: “EVERYTHING – IS REPAIRABLE – EVERYTHING – IS BROKEN”. The release was given the catalogue number FAC2, as FAC1 had been allocated to a poster designed by Peter Saville for the club.

FAC1 was famously not printed in time for the opening event but despite his reputation for not meeting deadlines, Saville’s style was to become a highly coveted and he was head-hunted in early 1980 to work for boutique Virgin subsidiary Dindisc Records who had signed OMD following their debut on Factory.

Factory Records was initially based in Alan Erasmus’ flat at 86 Palatine Road in Didsbury, Manchester. It was very much a home-based operation, with members of JOY DIVISION once being roped in to glue together the striking sandpaper sleeves for ‘The Return of THE DURUTTI COLUMN’… inspired by Situationist Guy Debord’s book ‘Mémoires’, the album was intended to destroy the records next to it but as Factory used wallpaper paste rather than glue, the sleeves later themselves fell apart!

Factory were known for their extravagant packaging, off-the-wall promotional gimmicks and in-jokes like the Menstrual Abacus (FAC8), Martin Hannett’s legal settlement (FAC61) and Rob Gretton’s dental work (FAC99). Pop magazine Smash Hits even joked that they would be doing a NEW ORDER poster magazine, but it would be baked inside a cake and made available only in the Channel Islands.

Factory’s first LP ‘Unknown Pleasures’ by JOY DIVISION was released in June 1979 to wide acclaim. But the success was later clouded by tragedy when their charismatic singer Ian Curtis took his own life in May 1980 prior to the release of the single ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ and second album ‘Closer’. With the future uncertain for Factory, hopes rested on A CERTAIN RATIO. Together with Alan Erasmus, Tony Wilson managed the doomy post-punk funk merchants, but the band polarised audiences.

JOY DIVISION’s remaining members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris recruited Gillian Gilbert to become NEW ORDER. Although their sombre 1981 debut album ‘Movement’ was generally panned, the quartet reinvigorated themselves by taking an interest in the New York club scene. This led to Factory and NEW ORDER’s decision to open a nightclub in Manchester. Legend has it that Rob Gretton (himself a former DJ) wanted to have a place where he could “ogle women”.

The move infuriated Martin Hannett, who had wanted to purchase a recording studio with a Fairlight CMI, and threatened to wind-up the company. With the Factory catalogue number of FAC51, The Haçienda opened in May 1982 and was a loss making enterprise for the next five years.

Even when the advent of acid house in 1987 filled the club every weekend thereafter, the crowds’ preference for illegal Ecstasy and therefore water, rather than the licensed and more profitable alcohol meant that Factory’s cashflow was tenuous to say the least. Problems with the Inland Revenue, Police and local gangsters meant the writing was on the wall.

However, Factory still went ahead with a move out of Palatine Road into the rather expensive FAC251 building on Charles Street in September 1990. But a major UK property slump occurred soon after and was set to cripple the label even further. By the beginning of 1992, both HAPPY MONDAYS and NEW ORDER were over budget and late in delivering their respective new albums ‘Yes Please’ and ‘Republic’.

London Records entered negotiations to take over Factory, but the deal fell through when it was discovered the label did not actually own many of its master recordings. So Factory was left to collapse in November 1992, while NEW ORDER signed a separate deal with London. When asked by Q Magazine what he was getting with London that was different from Factory, Sumner sheepishly replied “PAID!” But Factory had never been a conventional A&R led company.

It had let OMD and JAMES leave for major deals, and passed on THE SMITHS, THE STONE ROSES and BLACK BOX. It was not very business minded either, with the elaborate die-cut packaging for NEW ORDER’s ‘Blue Monday’ initially costing more than the per unit net profit. The label’s idealistic ethos meant commercially unviable acts like MINNY POPS and STOCKHOLM MONSTERS had a platform to release records, but it also meant there was seldom enough capital coming in, other than monies from sales of JOY DIVISION and NEW ORDER. However, much of that was being syphoned off to keep The Haçienda afloat which had its own troubles relating to drug dealing, police clampdowns and rival factions of gun-toting gangsters.

In ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s view, while JOY DIVISION and NEW ORDER undoubtedly had a huge influence on music, Factory perhaps did not have a wider back catalogue that was as strong as Virgin or Mute. Smash Hits’ independent scene columnist Red Starr once said Factory’s artwork was often better than the records they contained.

But Factory’s visual presentation has made its presence felt in popular culture from Next to Givenchy, while other observers relished Tony Wilson’s cool credentials (to quote HAPPY MONDAYS’ Bez in the Factory Records edition of BBC2’s ‘Rock Famility Trees’) as “a Red on the quiet” and his undoubted ability to give a good quote.  Sadly today, many of Factory’s major players like Wilson, Rob Gretton and Martin Hannett are no longer with us.

So via its great and not so good, using a restriction of one song per artist moniker, presented here is ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s take on Factory Records’ arty, but chaotic adventure…

OMD Electricity (1979)

FAC6 was the first single released on Factory. Tony Wilson has often been credited with discovering OMD, but it is also said that he was largely oblivious to their charms. The instigation to release ‘Electricity’ on Factory came from his then-wife Lindsay Reade. According to her memoir ‘Mr Manchester and the Factory Girl’, the former Mrs Wilson reckoned that the decision to allow OMD to sign to Dindisc was a tit-for-tat response to spite her in their fractious marriage.

Available on the OMD album ‘Peel Sessions 1979-1983’ via Virgin Records

http://www.omd.uk.com

JOY DIVISION Decades (1980)

‘Atmosphere’ was JOY DIVISION’s greatest song, but was originally released on Sordide Sentimental rather than Factory as part of the ‘Licht Und Blindheit’ package. ‘Decades’ was the sonic cathedral that Martin Hannett had been striving for in the studio. With layers of ARP Omni processed through a Marshall Time Modulator and percussion enhanced through an AMS Digital Delay, it provided a solemn but beautiful Gothic backdrop for Ian Curtis’ elaborate musical suicide note.

Available on the JOY DIVISION album ‘Closer’ via London Records

http://joydivisionofficial.com/

A CERTAIN RATIO Shack Up (1980)

Originally issued on Factory’s Benelux arm which acted as an outlet for spare recordings by Factory bands, ‘Shack Up’ was a cover of a cult club favourite by BANBARRA and showcased A CERTAIN RATIO’s new funkier direction. Other subsequent exclusive releases via Factory Benelux included NEW ORDER’s superior 12 inch remix of ‘Everything’s Gone Green’ and the instrumental ‘Murder’. ‘Shack Up’ was given a more accessible ELECTRONIC makeover in 1994.

Available on the A CERTAIN RATIO album ‘Early: A Definitive Anthology Of ACR Recordings From 1978-85’ via Soul Jazz Records

https://www.acrmcr.com/

THE NAMES Night Shift (1981)

Led by Michel Sordinia, Belgian band THE NAMES were archetypical of the post-punk miserablism that Factory was signing in the wake of JOY DIVISION. Better than most of their contemporaries with the icy synth embellishing the cacophonic Martin Hannett produced soundtrack, ‘Nightshift’ was a promising release, although unlikely to crossover beyond alternative circles. Their debut album ‘Swimming’ came out on Les Disques du Crepuscule in 1982.

Available on THE NAMES album ‘Swimming’ via Factory Benelux

http://www.thenames.be/

NEW ORDER Your Silent Face (1983)

‘Your Silent Face’ was dubbed the “KRAFTWERK one”, the ultimate homage to their romantic ‘Trans-Europe Express’ era. With the replication of the Synthanorma sequence and Vako Orchestron strings from ‘Franz Schubert’ using a SCI Polysequencer and Emulator, this was the stand-out from NEW ORDER’s second album. The original artwork package featuring a cryptic colour alphabet code saw Peter Saville spell the title incorrectly as ‘Power, Corrruption & Lies’!

Available on the NEW ORDER album ‘Power, Corruption & Lies’ via London Records

http://www.neworder.com

CABARET VOLTAIRE Yashar (1983)

Returning to the Factory fold for a one-off interim release before moving on to their much lauded Some Bizzare / Virgin phase, ‘Yashar’ launched the more club friendly direction of CABARET VOLTAIRE. The single went down particularly well on the New York club scene. A track originally from their 1982 album ‘2X45’, it was extended and remixed to nearly eight minutes by John Robie who had worked with Arthur Baker on AFfrika Bamaataa’s ‘Planet Rock’.

Available on the compilation album ‘Of Factory New York’ (V/A) via Factory Benelux

https://www.facebook.com/CabaretVoltaireOfficial

SECTION 25 Looking From A Hilltop (1984)

In a change of direction where founder member Larry Cassidy stated “you can’t be a punk all your life”, Factory Records stalwarts SECTION 25 recruited vocalist Jenny Ross and keyboardist Angela Cassidy to go electro. Produced by Bernard Sumner and Donald Johnson, the clattering drum machine, accompanied by ominous synth lines and hypnotic sequenced modulations, dominated the mix of FAC108 to provide what was to become a much revered cult club classic.

Available on the album ‘From The Hip’ via Factory Benelux

http://www.section25.com

AD INFINITUM Telstar (1984)

This cover of ‘Telstar’ for FAC93 was rumoured to be NEW ORDER. This curio certainly had a number of distinct elements like the Hooky bass and the drum programming which recalled ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’. Peter Hook was indeed involved, as was Andy Connell who went on to form SWING OUT SISTER. Fronted by Lindsay Reade, her intended new lyrics for ‘Telstar’ were vetoed by The Joe Meek Estate, so a version with more abstract vocals was released instead.

Available on the compilation album ‘Fac Dance 02’ (V/A) via Strut Records

http://www.strut-records.com/Fac-Dance-2/

THE WAKE Talk About The Past (1984)

THE WAKE were what NEW ORDER would have continued to sound like had they not discovered the joys of the dancefloor. A dour Scottish four-piece who also had a female keyboard player Carolyn Allen, their music could be claustrophobic. ‘Talk About the Past’ however showed a brighter side with scratchy rhythm guitar, shiny synths, melodica flourishes and barely audible vocals. Featuring Vini Reilly of THE DURUTTI COLUMN on piano, FAC88 was their career highlight.

Available on THE WAKE album ‘Here Comes Everybody’ via Factory Benelux

http://factorybenelux.com/the_wake.html

MARCEL KING Reach For Love – New York Remix (1985)

Another Bernard Sumner’s production with Donald Johnson, ‘Reach For Love’ featured the late Marcel King, a member of vocal group SWEET SENSATION who won ‘New Faces’ and had a No1 with ‘Sad Sweet Dreamer’. A vibrant electro disco tune, HAPPY MONDAYS’ Shaun Ryder remarked that if this had been released on a label other than Factory, it would have been a hit! The beefier New York Remix was issued on a second 12 inch.

Available on the compilation album ‘Of Factory New York’ (V/A) via Factory Benelux

http://factorybenelux.com/of_factory_new_york_fbn55.html

SHARK VEGAS You Hurt Me (1986)

Mark Reeder was Factory Records’ German representative from 1978 to 1982. Reeder often sent records to Bernard Sumner from the emerging electronic club scenes around the world. His own Deutsche musical journey started with DIE UNBEKANNTEN, who mutated into SHARK VEGAS and delivered this Factory release. ‘You Hurt Me’ was produced by Sumner and characterised by the New York disco sequence programming that made NEW ORDER famous.

Available on the MARK REEDER album ‘Collaborator’ via Factory Benelux

http://www.5point1.org/

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN Brighter (1987)

Led by Gary Newby, THE RAILWAY CHILDREN showed promise by taking the more guitar driven aspects of NEW ORDER to the next level. Produced by ’Low-life’ engineer Michael Johnson, their second single ‘Brighter’ took a marimba sample and sequenced it as the backbone to a marvellous melodic number that could compete with THE SMITHS. However, despite releasing a full-length album on Factory, THE RAILWAY CHILDREN departed to Virgin Records.

Available on THE RAILWAY CHILDREN album ‘Reunion Wilderness’ via Ether

http://www.railwaychildren.co.uk/

THE DURUTTI COLUMN Otis (1988)

Having shown his atmospheric credentials with the beautiful ‘For Belgian Friends’ in 1980, the latest technology was perfect foil for the most Factory of the label’s artists Vini Reilly aka THE DURUTTI COLUMN. Finally convinced to stop singing, the instrumental ‘Vini Reilly’ album opened the musician’s texture palette with the dreamy ‘Otis’ being the pivotal track. Over a hypnotic sequence, samples of the late soul singer were flown in as Reilly improvised along on his six-string.

Available on THE DURUTTI COLUMN album ‘Vini Reilly’ via Kookydisc

http://www.thedurutticolumn.com

HAPPY MONDAYS WFL – Vince Clarke remix (1988)

With a name inspired by NEW ORDER’s ‘Blue Monday’, HAPPY MONDAYS would emerge as Factory’s other best-selling act although they began as something much more ordinary. But when they merged acid house with indie guitar rock, Shaun Ryder, Bez and Co would become flagbearers for the Ecstasy fuelled mini-movement known as ‘Baggy’ along with THE STONE ROSES. The Vince Clarke electronic remix of ‘Wrote For Luck’ from ‘Bummed’ aided the crossover process.

Available on the HAPPY MONDAYS album ‘Bummed’ via Rhino UK

http://www.happymondaysonline.com

ELECTRONIC Getting Away With It (1989)

Frustrated with the conflicts within NEW ORDER, Bernard Sumner planned a solo album. But on bumping into Johnny Marr who had just departed THE SMITHS, it became a collaborative project with the occasional guests. ELECTRONIC not just in name but also in nature, the first offering was the very PET SHOP BOYS-like ‘Getting Away With It’ featuring additional vocals and lyrics by Neil Tennant and a beautiful string arrangement by Anne Dudley.

Available on the ELECTRONIC album ‘Electronic’ via EMI Records

http://www.electronicband.com/

REVENGE Slave (1990)

The appropriately named REVENGE was Hooky’s response to ELECTRONIC but it was not well-received by the music press. A slightly messy track in its original album incarnation, the superior New York disco oriented single remix by Daddy-O also featured a surprise rap. It enhanced the song’s lyrical slant which with the well-documented joyless division between himself and Sumner, appears now to be a veiled attack on his bandmate. Hook’s project later morphed into MONACO.

Available on the REVENGE album ‘One True Passion V2.0’ via LTM Records

http://www.peterhook.co.uk

THE OTHER TWO Tasty Fish (1991)

Not to be left out of the NEW ORDER side project game, Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris formed the ironically named THE OTHER TWO. Amusingly titled after a Fish and Chip shop near Stockport, ‘Tasty Fish’ was a catchy electropop single with a confident vocal from Gilbert that should have been a hit. However, Factory was beginning to enter a state of turmoil by this point.

Available on THE OTHER TWO album ‘And You’ via LTM Records

http://theothertwo.co.uk/

CATH CARROLL Moves Like You (1991)

Previously a member of MIAOW, Cath Carroll was treated like a future star by Factory. Mixed by Martyn Phillips who had also worked with THE BELOVED, ‘Moves Like You’ was a fine example of the blissful house influenced pop of the period and could have been a major hit. With expensive studio and photo sessions lavished on her, she is often held up as a symbol of why Factory eventually collapsed.

Available on the CATH CARROLL album ‘England Made Me’ via LTM Records

http://www.ltmrecordings.com/cath_carroll.html

Dedicated to the memories of Larry Cassidy, Ian Curtis, Rob Gretton, Martin Hannett, Marcel King, Jenny Ross and Tony Wilson

Special thanks to James Nice at Factory Benelux

A varied selection of the Factory catalogue can be found on the 4CD box set ‘Factory Records: Communications 1978-92’ via Rhino Records

The DVD ‘Shadowplayers: Factory Records 1978-81’ directed by James Nice is released by LTM

http://factorybenelux.com/

http://www.factoryrecords.net/

http://factoryrecords.org/factory-records.php

http://cerysmaticfactory.info/index.php

Text by Chi Ming Lai
21st September 2015

WRANGLER LA Spark

5 May 2014 /

At this point in time, WRANGLER are probably the nearest we have to an electronic supergroup.

It’s hard to think of a similar set-up since either ELECTRONIC or VISAGE before them, although this line-up featuring Benge (John Foxx’s sideman in THE MATHS), Stephen Mallinder (one half of CABARET VOLTAIRE) and Phil Winter (from folktronica group TUUNG) is a far more experimental proposition than the two aforementioned outfits.

‘LA Spark’ is the first collection of tracks from the trio and is an analogue synthesizer tour de force, putting to good use the enviable collection of vintage equipment housed at MemeTune studios in Hoxton Square.

It is not a pristine piece of work, because of its source material, there is a lot of analogue hiss and distortion here, but this is part of the album’s charm. Every good band deserves to have their own theme and ‘LA Spark’ bursts into life with ‘Theme From Wrangler’, its ‘Astradyne’ style hi-hats introducing a gliding synth lead and speaker quaking bassline which eventually give way to a ghostly vocal which (because of its low mix level) becomes another texture in the track – this song pretty much sets the template for the rest of the album.

The spring-reverbed kicks from ‘Theme from…’ then lead into ‘Lava Land’, a track which shares distant DNA with KRAFTWERK’s ‘Autobahn’ and John Foxx’s ‘Metamatic’, the accelerated electronics overlayed with Mallinder’s pitch-shifted vocals and a wonderfully retro Logan String Melody part, a keyboard which was a favourite with such luminaries as JOY DIVISION, NEW MUSIK and YELLO. The expertly placed percussion hits are eventually joined by another warped vocal, Mallinder in places sounding like one of Clive Barker’s demonic Cenobites from ‘Hellraiser’, especially on the “Burn, Babylon burn line!”

‘LA Spark’ introduces a lighter, more melodic and 4/4 sound to the proceedings with hypnotic interwoven monosynth lines and another flanged string synth wash joining the proceedings. This track features probably the nearest thing to a sung vocal hook and provides some light relief from the darker textures which permeates through most of the work on show here.

‘Music IIC’ is probably the most experimental track on ‘LA Spark’, reminiscent of YAZOO’s ‘I Before E (Except After C)’ with its cut-up vocal parts, the track itself being inspired by the work of Jean-Claude Risset and Max Matthews, both pioneers of computer generated music and employees of Bell Laboratories.

‘Harder’ showcases a huge range of interlocking / synthetically produced percussion sounds and melodic string shift which recalls KRAFTWERK’s ‘Spacelab’, this track has arguably the most upfront vocal too with Mallinder’s chanting vocal drenched in reverse reverb.

Throughout the album, the warmth of the analogue synthesizers and drum machines are counterpointed by a harsh vocal sound which unlike most contemporary productions, sound deliberately un-de-essed, the sibilants being preserved, making Mallinder’s words cut through the mix with ease, but also making them sound dark and disturbing at the same time.

The other thing which resonates about ‘LA Spark’ is that it doesn’t pander one iota to any particular musical fad or fashion, and with the exception of the sampled/cut-up vocals on ‘Music IIC’, there is little here to suggest that this album couldn’t have been recorded 35 years ago… and for many potential listeners, this should be seen as a positive.

Very often, there can be nothing worse than established artists trying to “get down with the kids” by flirting with Trap or Dubstep or [insert your own flavour of the month genre here] and potentially coming off like an embarrassing relative twerking at a wedding…

This is an album that isn’t instant ear candy, it takes a few listens for its riches to be revealed and for the listener to be drawn into its world. However, once ushered in, ‘LA Spark’ shows that today’s electronic music doesn’t necessarily have to be saccharine and hook filled to be listenable and enjoyable.

With thanks to Steve Malins at Random PR

‘LA Spark’ is released by MemeTune in vinyl, CD and download formats

WRANGLER plays as part of the COM TRUISE all nighter at Shapes in Hackney, London on Saturday 31st May 2014. They also play The Hare & Hounds in Birmingham on Saturday 23rd August 2014

https://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Are-Wrangler/1389558817973207

https://twitter.com/wearewrangler

http://memetune.net

Text by Paul Boddy
5th May 2014

WRANGLER Interview

22 April 2014 /

With aims to harness “lost technology to make new themes for the modern world”, WRANGLER are the electronic trio that many have been waiting for.

With vintage synths and drum machines creating a soundtrack for a dissident future landscape, WRANGLER’s debut album ‘LA Spark’ is one of most anticipated electronic releases of 2014. Certainly the pulsing screech of ‘Lava Land’ signifies this is future music harnessing the uncharted possibilities of the past. In effect, it is akin to visiting the moon again, post-Apollo.

The trio all have noted histories in music. Phil Winter has been recording, playing and DJ-ing for a number of years and is a member of folktronica exponents TUNNG who released their fifth studio album ‘Turbines’ in 2013. Synth collector extraordinaire and producer Benge released the acclaimed aural synth encyclopaedia ‘Twenty Systems’ in 2008 and is best known for his part in the collaborative project JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS. And Stephen Mallinder (or Mal as his friends like to call him) needs no introduction as founder member of post-punk pioneers CABARET VOLTAIRE who recently reissued their ‘Collected Works 1983-85’ on Mute.

Building their profile steadily with a BBC 6 Music live session, a special performance at Proof Positive and discussion panels celebrating the work of the Radiophonic Workshop, WRANGLER kindly spoke about the genesis of ‘LA Spark’…

What drew you towards working with each other?

Mal: Friendship, respect, common interests in music, technology, sounds, processes and how much we agree on crap uninspiring music that generally fills the sky. A band has to have a core belief – a code where everybody instinctively knows how things should be done, what’s right and what’s not in the sound, how it is presented and be able to say if someone played something crap or was wearing inappropriate trousers.

How does it feel for you Mal to become part an existing project as opposed to organically forming a new one?

Mal: I suppose that’s better answered by Phil and Benge, but we have been working together for over three years so all WRANGLER material is with the three of us – I’d hate people to think I just arrived at the end. We have done quite a few remixes for other people which was an important part of Wrangler developing a good working process. Ultimately it’s not when but what – what we all contribute.

Phil: Benge and I had been working on stuff in his studio, and I guess in retrospect we were looking for another element to tie our ideas together. I had been in touch with Mal while he was abroad and always thought he would get what we were doing, so when he returned and had a chance to settle himself, we got him down to the studio, job done .

Benge: And I have always been a fan of CABARET VOLTAIRE’s work – so it was really cool to actually get to work with Mal – I remember the moment Phil said “I know Mal really well – we go back years – shall I give him a call?” and I kind of fell off my chair.

‘Lava Land’ is a key track on the album. What inspired that one?

Mal: The words followed the music, it was a lively track shall we say and the words responded. The sounds confront people’s complacency and I hope the lyrics are similarly words of warning to shake us out of torpor.

Phil: For me it wasn’t just one thing, that’s for sure. I remember it starting as a sort of dark carnival tune, and through jamming it in the studio it just got stranger, Tom Rogerson came in and did some extra synth bits , and we ended up in ‘Lava Land’.

Benge: It’s always exciting when you hear a track suddenly come to life and take on its own character – and this happened on ‘Lava Land’ when Mal started singing through the pitch shifter – it all fell into place really quickly after that.

How have the new developments affected you as a vocalist in the way you might approach a track?

Mal: I think the synergy between voice and music is something that happens, I don’t tend to conceptualise it, music is better being instinctive if it is a collaborative thing. I think I have found a good way of working with the guys and we all work together on the music and how the voice fits, so it evolves rather than me doing vocals on a finished track – it’s a very organic process.

The most abrasive sound on the new album is the vocals, at what point in the writing process did the lyrics integrate with the music?

Mal: This probably follows on from my last answer and it explains how the voice works in WRANGLER – we try to integrate it in the early stages of developing a track. So just as a particular rhythm, bass part, or top line, may shift and change as the track evolves, so the voice shifts and bits get redone as the recording progresses.

Plus a lot of the ideas are worked out in a live situation playing together loud, through the PA, working things out – voice and sounds need to gel.

I don’t know that the voice is the intended to be the most abrasive component but our approach to how a vocal works in a track is intended to push boundaries. The voice is often the least explored dynamic in music, offering a saccharine element to the aggression of a piece. It’s good to occasionally invert that formula.

The screeching, dystopian string machine on ‘Lava Land’ is amazing… what is it and what did you do to it?

Mal: It’s a Roland Angle-Grinder I believe?

Phil: Yep , that’s right , but you’ll have to check with Benge on the specific model number.

Benge: It is a Logan String Melody II, the one used a lot by JOY DIVISION and loads of bands in the mid to late 70s. I bought this one year ago from Sound On Sound magazine classifieds – before eBay existed. Coincidentally I drove all the way to Sheffield to pick it up! The guy selling it said it used to belong to Phil Oakey, but I think he made that up.

What sort of advantages and limitations are there when making an album with primarily modular / analogue synthesizer gear?

Mal: The only thing that limits you really is your imagination. In most creative situations reducing your options is a challenge to optimise what you can, and wish, to do. Freedom from choice is the usually most important part of making something good. If it’s not a struggle to rinse the most out of anything – technology, or yourself, – it’s generally not very good.

Phil: As Mal says the limitations become the advantages, we try not to get too distracted by multiple options and stick to an almost band type set up, four sound sources generally does us.

Benge: When we started me and Phil decided we would only use one synth per track – that’s where the name came from because we would wrangle with each synth until we got a whole track out of it. A lot of those initial experiments ended up on the album, and we’ve got a ton more stuff waiting to be worked on.

With its Aladdin’s Cave of vintage synthesizers, what was the experience like of clocking in to work at the MemeTune studio?

Mal: Well the studio doesn’t have a doorbell and if anyone’s in there and they don’t hear the phone, you can’t get in … so we spend the start of most days down the Hoxton Spark – a café round the corner. Nice tea – they use loose tea not bags and it’s 90p. Once we manage to get in there it’s pure enjoyment, with the occasional dispute when something doesn’t work, which usually turns out to be a dodgy lead.

Phil: It’s f*cking great, once you get in obviously. Sometimes it can be a bit scary after a long session, you get there the next day and realise how much damage you’ve done to the place .

Benge: If you’re stuck outside you could always page me, or maybe send a TELEX!

In contrast to 99% of current electronic music, ‘LA Spark’, despite its dark overtones is a very ‘warm’ sounding album… was that a conscious decision?

Mal: I think all music that stands the test of time has to be complex, drawing on ideas from lots of different areas. Making something that can be both seductive but equally needs a listener to work at it is the goal. Warmth and darkness offer a pleasing tension in music – enticing but rather unsettling, it’s a balance worth aiming for.

Phil: I think we’re a pretty unconscious unit in that regard but saying that, we do have an unspoken regard for what is possible with the people and equipment we have at our disposal .

Benge: That warmth sort of oozes out of some of this equipment – things like the Moog Modular going through a plate reverb and into an old analogue console – that’s always going to sound warm and fuzzy to me, in a really good way.

Many musicians work together via the internet without having to meet up in person – was the music you created with WRANGLER literally three guys sitting in a studio jamming out ideas or did you often collaborate remotely?

Mal: The only things we tend to do remotely are in very early stages of tracks – just rough sketches or embryonic ideas of sounds and rhythms. The most enjoyable part is all of us coming together and figuring out how each track should evolve and when it’s cooked. Part of that process for the album was all of us interacting – we were playing all the tracks live before they were properly recorded.

Phil: I don’t remember much remote action, we might bring basic sketches, vocal ideas or simple beats stuff into the studio from our homes. But the vast majority is created by the three of us working together in the room.

Benge: Yeah, towards the end of the process we set up in the live room and played together a lot (partly because we were rehearsing for a gig if I remember rightly) and this really helped focus some of the tracks. Also when it came to doing the final mixes we all got on the console together and turned each mix into a live performance, playing with faders, EQ settings and FX sends and stuff. You can’t do that via Skype!

Does the cut-up vocal track ‘Music IIC’ refer to the first portable Apple computer or is there too much being read into the title?!

Mal: I’ll leave that for anyone who buys the album to decide for themselves. And for Phil and Benge to explain…

Phil: Benge?

Benge: No, it was more an homage to Jean-Claude Risset and Max Matthews.

How did you pick ‘Crackdown’ to perform live as WRANGLER as opposed any other track in the CABARET VOLTAIRE back catalogue?

Mal: Well for me it seems the most appropriate – a track which sonically seems right for Wrangler and lyrically seems right for the times. ‘The Crackdown’ is a constant global theme.

Phil: It was quite spontaneous, as performing live should be… we had (sort of) worked out a couple of Cabs tunes for live, just in case it felt right and ‘Crackdown’ seems to have fitted in with the other stuff sonically we are playing at the moment live. And as mentioned, it’s still, for me anyway, a very relevant lyric for these times.

Benge: Yes, it seemed to work last time we played it. Plus, we ran out of our own songs at the end there.

Mute’s box set of Cabaret Voltaire material between 1983 to 1985 and joining WRANGLER have given you Mal, the highest profile since those heady days on Some Bizzare / Virgin… how are you handling all the attention?

Mal: Oh I cope 😉

To be honest, the Cabs made a lot of music and over a long period of time, so there always seems to be some period of our work being analysed for is continuing relevance or reissued in some form.

In fact, and for various reasons, I’ve not really had much to do with the reissue. The WRANGLER recordings and gigs have been going on for a few years so it was funny that our album followed on from the box set – I’ve had no control over the timing, it just happened that way. We planned on having WRANGLER out for a while but these things take time.

I’m happy to know the music I’ve been involved in – past and present – has resonance. Understandably I get more excited about the present and working with Phil and Benge is the primary thing. Because I’ve BEEN living overseas, I think people forget that I’ve been doing lots of stuff between CABARET VOLTAIRE and WRANGLER – I had my own label with about thirty releases, did the HEY RUBE album last year and have the KULA album, LOOPED FOR PLEASURE and various collaborations all due for release. Plus lot of other stuff.

It’s been over 20 years since you played live with CABARET VOLTAIRE, how was the experience of the recent Wrangler gig at the Servant Jazz Quarters in London?

Mal: Well I’ve always played live – the KU-LING BROS in Australia were a very live thing – I played with I MONSTER etc and I’ve DJ’ed constantly so it wasn’t too odd – and we’ve done a few WRANGLER gigs so we seem to be on top of it. It’s better when we can use the visuals which we didn’t at Jazz Quarters but we’ve done a couple of shows with Tom Rogerson at Proof Positive and that’s been good. A good night, we enjoyed it – WRANGLER function as a band and we love playing.

Have you watched the new Benge-featuring modular synthesizer documentary ‘I Dream Of Wires’? And if so, what was your opinion of it?

Mal: Well Benge (and a few other people who I know are in it) will shout at me but no, I’ve still not seen it… mea culpa!! I was hoping I could get a copy.

You also work at the University of Brighton, does lecturing the new generation give you hope for the future of music / media production?

Mal: I talk to people all over in lots of places about media, film, music, art, creativity – I think there are some very talented folk coming through. I think the opportunity and mechanisms for creating and sharing are limitless now but this in itself is a challenge. Popular culture has a long history now and any artist has to carry that burden of familiarity. The key is no longer making but remaking – finding new contexts and connections.

The tools of production have been democratised, we all have the opportunity to create but need to decide for ourselves why we wish to do it because in a world of plenty, it is not as easy to monetise creative production and is increasingly competitive. But if something is good, it will shine and be seen or heard.

I would like to see more respect given – we seem to be downplaying and marginalising the arts in education in the push to make everyone happy worker bees. But imagination is what defines us – there is nothing better than experiencing the fulfilment of making and sharing great ideas and creations. That will never change.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives it warmest thanks to WRANGLER

Special thanks also to Steve Malins at Random PR

‘LA Spark’ is released by Memetune in vinyl, CD and digital formats on 5th May 2014. There is a free download of the song ‘Theme From Wrangler’ with pre-orders via Cargo Records at http://cargorecordsdirect.co.uk/products/wrangler-la-spark

https://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Are-Wrangler/1389558817973207

https://twitter.com/wearewrangler

http://memetune.net

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
22nd April 2014

WRANGLER Live at Proof Positive

21 February 2014 /

With their debut mini-album ‘LA Spark’ now set for release in May, WRANGLER previewed material at a special live showcase for Proof Positive, an experimental improvisation evening curated by musician Tom Rogerson of THREE TRAPPED TIGERS who has also collaborated with the trio.

The trio themselves are Stephen Mallinder ex-CABARET VOLTAIRE, TUNNG’s Phil Winter and synth collector extraordinaire Benge, best known for his work in JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS whose aims for the project are to harness “lost technology to make new themes for the modern world”.

The intimate location was the ultra-hip Servants Jazz Quarters in Dalston, a bar with an open basement for live acts to play in.

Eschewing the vast arrays of analogue kit for which is particularly Benge is known for, WRANGLER use a more practically workable softsynth arrangement augmented by live electronic drums, a variety of touch pad controllers’ and in the latter half of the set, Tom Rogerson on his trusty Juno 60.

The key WRANGLER track has to be ‘Lava Land’, a superb cross between CABARET VOLTAIRE and prime ‘Metamatic’ era JOHN FOXX but with a modern twist. Mallinder’s voice manipulations up and down the scale are a particularly now statement, ranging from demonic gargoyle to stern drowning robot. The frantic pace is strangely danceable but the mood is distinctly unsettling, especially when the screeching string machine kicks in. Another highlight is the dystopian electro funk of ‘Harder’ with its cacophony of phased percussive effects. Meanwhile the leftfield but club friendly ‘LA Spark’ title track will meet the approval of Cabs fans circa 1983-85.

At the close of a short set to which Mallinder amusingly quipped “what do expect for a fiver?”, there was an unexpected rework of CABARET VOLTAIRE’s ‘Crackdown’. With the audience shouting for more, Mallinder appreciated the response but told everyone that he had to catch the last train back home to Brighton. With vintage synths and drum machines given space to create a soundtrack for a dissident future landscape, WRANGLER’s ‘LA Spark’ promises to be one of most eagerly anticipated electronic releases of 2014.

‘LA Spark’ is released by Memetune on vinyl, CD and digital formats on 5th May 2014

https://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Are-Wrangler/1389558817973207

http://memetune.net

http://proofpositivegig.com/

Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
21st February 2014

CABARET VOLTAIRE Interview

21 November 2013 /

CABARET VOLTAIRE have long been considered the underground band that is equally and oppositely as quintessentially Sheffield as THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s pop juggernaut.  

They have built quite the reputation as being The North’s Angry Young Men – and Somewhat Perturbed Older Men – as seen in the recent and unmissable ‘Made in Sheffield’ documentary. The reputation is, to be fair, slightly unfair as in many interviews – including this one – there has been nary a skerrick of curmudgeonly behaviour.

Named after a Dada-ist nightclub in Zurich, the early Cabs – starting in the pop/psych/glam/prog mire of 1973 – cut their teeth on radical sonic experimentation, sharing the stage with the likes of JOY DIVISION and fellow incendiary and surreal industrialists THROBBING GRISTLE.By 1979, the band begin to form more pop-adjacent sensibilities, releasing their visceral and rather famous post-punk single ‘Nag Nag Nag’ on the nascent Rough Trade label alongside the recently remastered album ‘Red Mecca’ before Chris Watson left the band in 1981 to form the more experimental HAFLER TRIO, shaking up the line up, and forcing remaining members Richard H Kirk and Steve Mallinder to regroup.

Kirk and Mallinder decided to take a tabula rasa approach and make a fresh start. They were thoroughly seduced by the synthesizer and – like NEW ORDER – the hypnotic electro and club music penetrating right through to the north of England from New York’s Danceteria. Sounds including Afrika Bambaataa, Arthur Baker and the New York electro scene.

With the rich world of personal synthesis now at their literal and figurative fingertips, the duo that now comprised CABARET VOLTAIRE took a concoction of their experimental aesthetic, the political turmoil of Britain at the time of the miners’ strikes and some frankly killer grooves to create infectious and idiosyncratic pop music. Dance music. Hypnotic, collagist, surreal, dystopic dance music made between 1983 and 1985, later lost to time (and eBay) as rarities, no longer in print.

The now somewhat more grown-up Richard H Kirk continues to create and record as CABARET VOLTAIRE, but when the opportunity to grasp hold of the lapsed licences to the CV material of that period arose, it was too good a chance to resist. Consequently, Kirk has spent the last 2 years lovingly baking the tapes of the albums, 12 inches and VHS recordings of that time back to life and collating them as ‘#8385 (Collected Works 1983-1985)’ for Mute Artists. He kindly spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about this release…

This Box Set cans the years 1983 – 1985. In a neat piece of symmetry, it has taken you two years to curate the box set! What made you decide to devote two years of your life to this project?

To me, it is an important part of the CABARET VOLTAIRE story. The reason it came about initially is that these albums were signed to Some Bizarre / Virgin 28 years ago, and Virgin’s catalogue licence period recently came to an end. I talked with Mute about the possibility of taking the albums on because they have quite a lot of early CABARET VOLTAIRE recordings. They agreed and the rights were moved across to Mute and we started the work to transfer the files from their original tape.

What did you want to get from the process yourself?

I just wanted to make a good job of it and make sure the material we decided to release was quite comprehensive. I really wanted to bring extra unheard of and unseen material to the project. It was originally just going to be a set of CDs and DVDs, but Mute decided they wanted to do vinyl – that’s how the box set came about. Although the box is, obviously, kind of limited, the main thing for me was to make these albums available again as physical releases, not just as downloads. I thought about it the way a writer thinks about their books: a writer would always want their work to be available and published, even if it is now 30 years old.

Was it a very time consuming affair for you? Did you find yourself tempted to do any studio retouching along the way?

I wasn’t doing it 24-7 for 2 years, let’s put it that way. I’ve always got a lot of other things I’m doing, but by the end of this year it will have been a 2 year process.

What took all the time?

Firstly there was the process of locating all the master tapes from the archives and getting them digitised. Doing that involves a process where you have to bake the tapes, because old tapes get something called ‘sticky tape syndrome’. If you try to play tapes from that period now, often oxide sticks to the tape heads and your recording is totally trashed.

You have to be quite careful with older materials, especially Ampex pro-quality tape used in studios. Getting that done was the start of the process, and once they’d been baked I got sent digital copies on CD to listen to. I had to make sure all the songs were the correct versions compared with the released versions. Then we remastered them, and I had to check that the CDs sounded right, that everything was in its right place, and same with the vinyl, we had to check the test pressings.

I also went through a lengthy process of locating old video material, some live shows that were filmed back in the day 30 years ago. We transferred those from VHS to digital, making sure they were intact! To be honest, they’re not fantastic quality… certainly not broadcast quality, but they’re a document of our performances at the time. We’ve also put ‘Gasoline In Your Eye’ on there (a release from the time Mute called an experimental showcase). I also worked closely with the designer for the release, playing with images, doing frame grabs from old archive footage. I had to write some sleeve notes as well so… you know it has been a long and quite slow process, thankfully all finished now.

How do you consider the CABARET VOLTAIRE of 30 years ago compared with your current ideas and artistic output? How do you rate the music you made in that period?

It was both good and bad really – 30 years ago, life was a lot simpler… I was 30 years younger! It was also a very busy time for us. We were in studio and playing live shows a lot. Creating this box set brought back a lot of memories from that time. I remember it as a good period of my life – I was definitely enjoying myself!

Have you emerged from the strangeness of a 2 year flash back restless to create something new – particularly, some new CABARET VOLTAIRE material?

CABARET VOLTAIRE is now just myself. In recent times, that has involved being curator of CABARET VOLTAIRE. However I do have plans to make some new recordings and live performances next year. It would be very different, it won’t involve repetition of the past. I want to do something totally new – it’s more likely to be an art installation project rather than a band, to me that feels more appropriate.

CABARET VOLTAIRE’s albums from this period – including ‘The Crackdown’ and ‘Micro-Phonies’ are thought of as a melange of art, electro and a flirtation with politics/social ideas. Were you hoping to inspire your listeners to question society? Did you consider yourselves a political band?

Back in the day when all of this was recorded, as a band we never over analysed or over intellectualised what we did. We did it by feeling and let other people do the analysis – they could read into it whatever they wanted. We didn’t have long meetings about what we were going to do or what we wanted to say, we just got in and did it.

Did you have a political reaction to your environment at the time though?

We were very aware politically. We were living through times not dissimilar to now; we had Margaret Thatcher who was decimating the country. Especially where I’m from in Sheffield, a lot of people never recovered from the pit closures, At the time, it almost felt like the country was at civil war. I remember we were doing some live shows and travelling around in the tour bus, we were getting stopped and police checked because at the time there was a miners’ strike on and they thought we were going to the strike. Things like that are difficult to forget.

Do you see any relevance to the political sensitivities you had then to the UK now? Do you think this box set is coming out at just the right time?

It’s really kind of sad, but people don’t seem… I think everyone’s given up – just accepting what’s dished out to them by people in power – it’s difficult to do much about it.

Precisely! Do you think the anger over Thatcherite Britain which has been distilled into the 1983 – 1985 albums has a place in 2013?

I believe the baton should be taken up by younger people, sadly. I mean, it’s going to affect their future most of all. But you can easily see why it’s not happening when protests are shut down, and people are cattled and criminalised.

Do you see anyone you think is a suitable inheritor to the early CABARET VOLTAIRE’s ideas? Do you hear much music being made now like yours?

I very much doubt it can happen – music is now mostly about entertainment from what I can tell. There don’t seem to be any real radical people out there saying anything like “f*ck the system”.

Are you still incorporating politics into your own work?

I’ve been doing that in my work for a long time: when The Twin Towers tragedy happened 12 years ago, I was making music against George Bush against the war in Iraq, against Afghanistan. I’ve done that and kept that within the work that I do now. I don’t know whether 30 year old recordings from CABARET VOLTAIRE are going to fire people up – it would be nice if it did but I doubt it – I hope I’m proved wrong.

Are you happy that there’s vinyl coming out with this release? Are you a vinyl purist?

I still have a collection of vinyl – and I certainly still play vinyl. Although when I DJ, I tend to record my vinyl and burn it to CDs. But there’s nothing better sound wise than vinyl, especially in terms of bass. CDs are just easy and convenient, and I’m certainly not a download person. I’ve never downloaded music in my life – legal or illegal. It’s just not how I choose to consume music, but I’m not a snob about it. The vinyl in our box set sounds great!

I’m curious to know what your current studio set up is like?

I work in a couple of different ways. If I’m doing more dance based music, I’ve got an Atari 1040ST computer and some really old software called C-lab. It’s primitive, but it’s really spot on in terms of timing. I use that, samplers and old analogue synths with MIDI – that’s how I create part of my work. However I also have Protools and a 10 year old G4 Mac with a few plug-ins… so it depends what I’m doing and what I’m wanting to achieve.

What analogue synths do you still use now?

The keyboard I’ve been using recently I bought in ‘83 when recording ‘The Crackdown’ – the Roland Juno 60. I’ve used it a lot over the years but sadly it has now lost its capacity to save patch memory and needs to be repaired – it doesn’t save sounds anymore. But it still makes some fantastic sounds. I also have an SH09 synth I bough in the late 70s that I still use on a lot of stuff, and a Roland Juno 106 which is fantastic for bass and sub-bass.

Sadly a lot of my analogue stuff is starting to break, I don’t have a lot of outboard effects now because they have died on me – and it’s difficult to find someone in Sheffield who can repair old synths. I don’t have a car so that makes it hard. But I love all that stuff, I definitely prefer it to using plug-ins or softsynths.

Music writers in the past have been quite critical of this period of your work, compared with the more experimental music prior – but it seems to have found its time – it’s not uncommon to hear ‘Sensoria’ or ‘Just Fascination’ these days, as industrial dance has found its second spring. Did you feel surprised at the time by the response?

There have been things written about the ‘83 to ‘85 period where people wrote that it was “bad pop music”. Personally, I think they completely missed the point. Most of what I’ve done, I stand by including these records. I love the earlier CV stuff and equally love what I did with Mal (Steve Mallinder) later.

Personally, I prefer this period to the earlier CV releases.

It’s so good to hear someone say that. There’s some kind of weird prejudice out there still I think from the ‘83 – ‘85 period ‘The Covenant, The Sword & The Arm Of The Lord’ is one of my favourites.

We created and produced it all ourselves in a studio in Sheffield. It was about then we started to use samplers and digital equipment. I think it’s a really good album but a lot of people wouldn’t agree with me.

It can’t be denied that the direction you took after Chris Watson left – sonically – was a real departure from the post-punk frenetics of ‘Nag Nag Nag’.

It was partly because with Chris leaving we didn’t want to repeat what we’d done before. We were also getting more and more into New York electro – in the early 80s, a lot of great new stuff was coming out of New York – really exciting sounds. We thought: “you know, this is the way forward, to make the music more dancefloor friendly, and hopefully it would get through to more people”.

Did you have ambitions of becoming more accessible – and potentially more commercially successful?

We definitely retained a darker more subversive side to what we were doing, but we definitely wanted to reach more people. If we made something darker, the beats would hold it together. It wasn’t any kind of formal decision, it just seemed natural. We’d been big fans of dance music in the 70s but it was the technology that was the missing link. Suddenly we got programmable drum machines and sequencers, and with that we got the repetition you need for dance music – it brought that sound within our grasp.

Did you have limits on how far you were prepared to go in your songwriting to be more commercially successful?

We weren’t daft you know – it seemed obvious to us that if we were a bit more commercial then more people would listen to what we’re doing, and it proved correctly. ‘The Crackdown’ went into the Top 40. It was kind of an experiment. But, we never worked with producers, we always produced ourselves. A lot of 80s music is very recognisable because of the producers who were big at the time, Trevor Horn etc. Instead, we worked with very good engineers – like Flood – but kept control. Even when we worked with remixers, we went into the studio with them so could maintain control.

How about now? Would you take the money if you were offered a lucrative commercial deal – a jingle or a chart pop remix?

I would remix anyone if they pay me enough money. I’m a gun for hire – no matter how bad something sounds, you can make it sound cool. *laughs*

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Richard H Kirk

Special thanks to Zoe Miller at Mute

‘#8385 (Collected Works 1983-1985)’, a six CD / four vinyl / two DVD box set is available now via Mute Artists

http://mute.com/artists/cabaret-voltaire

https://www.facebook.com/CabaretVoltaireOfficial

http://shop.cabaret-voltaire.net/

Text and Interview by Nix Lowrey
21st November 2013

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