one of the most joyful parts of last year was digging out a compilation of unreleased tracks by the ex-cabaret voltaire guru, richard h. kirk.
i had previously picked up urp volume 1 (urp = unreleased projects, each track is listed as by one of richards many many pseudos) in a sale and had originally left it unloved, as i suspect at the time the throbbing dubbed up techno wasn’t feeling right.
then in the middle of 2007 when i realised that music made from the inner core of computers and synths were giving me more thrills and spills than anything else, i retrieved the album from the archives and never looked back.
following this enjoyable wake up call, i found out that as well as volume 1, there were another 2 volumes released on cd of this stuff.
needless to say a quick trawl of the various online outlets later, and the extra volumes were welcomed to join the infamous ireallylovemusic archive.
the music throughout the 3 cd set (of course packaged in superb themed designers republic artwork giving the trilogy a fantastic sense of unity) is all made from the heart of kirks own western works studio and ranges from the deepest dubbed up beauty, to freakout electronic ambience, all via some of the most beautiful detroit styled production.
while the rest of the world looks to the young upstart dubstep genre for their need for bass heavy electronic music, there are a few of us who know that music that has a soul within its bass heavy circuitry has always been at the heart of kirks music. he has always had a passion for destroying sound system woofers with his love for dark dub and atmospherics, in which he is capable of dropping just about anything into the mix, whether it involves ethnic chants, drum and bass rhythms, scratchy acoustic guitar samples, or even a few bleeps.
basically, i am a fan, but, no way could i ever call myself a completist, as the very idea is absurd when it comes to richards work.
even more so now that he seems to have decided that he only going to release his music via itunes (his last proper release was the much loved 4 track 12″ on dust science of course).
still, when it comes to timeless technology music, i will from hereon, be recommending this wired up collection to one and all until the day i die, as these compilations are by far my favourite albums of electronic music.
so without further ado, here’s an example.
more detail : here