Search - Cabaret Voltaire :: Code

Definitely different...

Travis Miller | Shepherdstown, WV United States | 03/16/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Cabaret Voltaire has changed styles almost continuously since the beginning. "Code" represents the band at the peak of their 80s pop phase, sounding like nothing so much as Information Society jamming with Throbbing Gristle. Call it industrial synth-pop.It's a curious record, bridging the far-flung worlds of mainstream 80s pop and underground electro-industrial. Lots of industrial bands have dabbled with dance rhythms in the past, but on "Code", CV sound like they really mean it - there are funky wah-wah guitars, bouncy basslines, vocoders, and hooky arrangements. Even Stephen Mallinder's guttural howl has become a suave, urgent whisper. A couple of these tracks could have become mainstream hits, if they weren't about death and blasphemy.Is it a sell-out record? I don't think so. Despite all the pop trappings, there's still an undeniably weird edge to this album, supplied by atonal synths, paranoid lyrics, weird samples, and the occasional burst of unexpected noise. In other words, the original CV is still there, intact - it's just dressed up for a night at the club. I still haven't figured out if CV were being subversive, or just having fun for a change. Probably some of both."

Cabaret Voltaire - Code

Visigoth Triangle | Evergreen Park, Illinois USA | 07/07/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you like industrial, techno, dark eighties style dance music, this would be the CD for you--except it's almost unavailable. I have it on a 33.3 "wax" LP, so I can tell you a CD version would be worth having. On this record, the band seems to polk fun at the industrial dance industry while simultaneously producing a great industrial dance record. Go figure.



If you've been exposed to other CV recordings, you probably think they're mostly dark, weird, abstract and sometimes hard to listen to. And you'd be right. However, "Code is a DANCE record. It's dark, weird, abstract, sometimes hard to listen to... AND it's got a dance beat! If you can find it, get it!



Notable tracks: "Don't Argue", "Thank You America", "Life Slips By".



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