Cabaret Voltaire

Although Cabaret Voltaire's voluminous discography ranges over a variety of styles throughout a 20-year period, including house and techno, back in the late '70s, they were a punk band making dangerous noise utilising samples and tape loops. This compilation presents the sound of raw electronic music that couldn't be any further away from the sterile electro-pop or slick techno that it would influence. Best Of is an edgy and dirty collection of art-punk tracks spanning five truly innovative years for a band walking the line between punk rock, avant guard experimentation, dance music and what would later be defined as industrial. The tracks are powered by off-kilter rhythms, ranting and alienated vocals, wild ambient squelch and a dark temperament of decay throughout. On tracks like "No Escape" and "Silent Command," we get their deconstructive take on styles like garage rock and ska, while "Obsession" and "Wait & Shuffle" provide early evidence of their later forays into funk. The most punk of this collection, "Nag Nag Nag," is also one of the best, unleashing the energy of punk rock through driving looped rhythms and a sonic fuzz assault. File under 2002 post-punk revival, circa 1979.