Quintessential industrial band Cabaret Voltaire announce archival releases

British industrial group Cabaret Voltaire have announced the launch of a new campaign of archival releases, starting with ‘Chance Versus Causality‘ and ‘1974-76‘. This will mark the first vinyl issuing of the 1980 compilation album ‘1974-76‘ for the Dada-worshipping industrial band, and the first official release of the ‘Chance Versus Causality‘ soundtrack from the 1979 Babeth Mondini film of the same name. The latter LP was originally recorded live and improvised, “in a similar vein to what the band refer to as their live ‘ambient sets’, described as having ‘less rhythm, more tape’,” after meeting director Mondini at the Brussels Plan K show featuring Joy Division, Cabaret Voltaire, and William S. Burroughs.

‘Chance Versus Causality‘ was recorded at the band’s Western Works studio with ‘no prior knowledge of the film, or instruction from the director’ by the original line up of Richard H. Kirk, Stephen Mallinder, and Chris Watson. The artwork for this archival release (which can be seen down below), is a mashup of archival material and found montage imagery from that late 70’s period, along with images projected at performances from that time as well. ‘1974-76‘, on the other hand, is a compilation of the Sheffield group’s earliest music recorded on reel-to-reel tape. First released in 1980 on cassette via Industrial Records and then reissued via The Grey Area of Mute on CD, it may not be as rare as their other archival release but is nonetheless a classic. ‘Chance Versus Causality‘ will be released on limited edition transparent green vinyl and CD, while 1974-76‘ will be pressed onto transparent orange vinyl.

You can find the cover art and track listings for both albums down below, along with a teaser trailer for ‘Chance Versus Causality‘ featuring much of the information you just read! You can find the LPs out on September 6th via Mute.

Sarah Medeiros