The Tivoli Vs Cabaret Voltaire
The National Service Rewind
Shiva

Yep, this is the original industrial / electro / punk experimentalist Cabaret Voltaire (Richard H Kirk), newly reactivated for 2010, deposited behind the mixing desk once more and collaborating with Sheffield’s new indie-punk kids on the block, The Tivoli.  Apparently this came about as the result of Kirk being impressed by their live shows, consisting of 21st art-rock attitude, live sampling, plus a general feel of anarchy, whereas the young band wanted the stamp of one of Sheffield’s musical heroes on their work.  It opens with the lead single, “Amsterdam Sam”, a broken, crunchy rock fest with snapping beats and raucous synthetic horns, awash with bass and vocal loops.  It’s a strong atmospheric introduction, and is easy to see why they went with this as the lead single.  “Common Foot” follows a similar tack, clanging metallic riffs sounding out under the looped vocal with twittering acid riffs and (it has to be said) a distinctly 90’s big-beat attitude.  Unfortunately it’s this that dominates throughout, leaving a vaguely reductive, chopped indie-electro hybrid with a dated aura.  You’re left wondering who The Tivoli are, given that there’s no original material of theirs to compare against, and, more importantly, what original material Cabaret Voltaire will do next.  It’s not bad, just a bit curious.

3 Out Of 5

Reviewed By: Darren Wall