In the 21st Century it’s tempting to think of post punk as just the angular agit-prop of the Gang of Four, the ominous angst of Joy Division or the new pop sensibility of ABC. Of course, it was never as clear cut as that. But what these groups and post punk did do was open our ears to a wide range of sounds and records so far off the dial that they continue to be missing from the radar even now. It’s easy to understand why because they were the experimentalists, the art terrorists, pushing themselves far beyond all recognised boundaries into the unknown. Inspired by the harsh, forbidding landscape and uncertainty of the times they were the most radical of them all.
Esoterica’s first flowering in contemporary British music was seeded in industrial culture with Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire its parameters. They did not as is often supposed celebrate industrialism, rather they were the bridge between its end and the coming of the computer age. A full decade older than their associates, Genesis P. Orridge and Throbbing Gristle were resolute non musicians, their noisescapes hugely unlistenable but their manifestos and visuals, piling horror upon horror upon horror, grimly thought provoking. On the other hand, Cabaret Voltaire despite maintaining a more distant approach were far more listenable, concentrating on mechanical repetition, loops and muttered vocals. Both Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire’s methods were incredibly influential, techniques they perfected proliferating promiscuously.
But esoterica, as the name itself suggests, wasn’t just about earnest industrialism. It included a whole spectrum of styles and ideologies from around the globe; from Material’s New York no wave funk to Rip Rig and Panic’s Bristolian freeform punk jazz; from Belgiums Honeymoon Killers art pop experiments to Eastenders Test Department’s sturm und clang; from Berliner’s Einsturzende Neubauten’s delight in discovering how much sense could be made from the chaos of power tools to Yugoslavian Laibach’s totalitarian thunder.
Much of the esoteric aesthetic proved challenging and difficult because an adventurous imagination could not easily be transcribed in 4/4 time with regular instrumentation. To realise completely the music struggling to escape their heads, groups had to look way beyond the norm. And even though the results were often harsh and brutal, among the ugliness and the chaos it was always possible to find a rare beauty free of commercial demands and audience expectation. It was pure, indefinable aural art that deserved more.
If there was any justice in this world Frank Tovey aka Fad Gadget would have celebrated four platinum selling albums while Foetus’s Jim Thirlwell would have been a fully loaded rock star mobbed by teenage girls at every appearance. I loved them all regardless, most of these recordings educating me in non-music related art, literature and -ism’s that opened my mind and my ears. Forget the Gang Of Four, Joy Division and ABC, herein lies the true underground, the true songs of the free.
01. CABARET VOLTAIRE ‘Do The Mussolini/Headkick’ (Extended Play EP November 1978)
02. THROBBING GRISTLE ‘Hamburger Lady’ (DOA: The Third And Final Report LP December 1978)
03. THEORETICAL GIRLS ‘U.S. Millie’ (B Side November 1978)
04. THIS HEAT ‘24 Track Loop’ (This Heat LP August 1979)
05. SCRITTI POLITTI ‘Bibbly-O-Tek’ (4 A Sides EP September 1979)
06. IMPLOG ’Holland Tunnel Drive’ (A Side March 1980)
07. THROBBING GRISTLE ‘Adrenalin’ (Heathen Earth LP June 1980)
08. THE RESIDENTS ‘Picnic Boy’ (Commercial Album LP October 1980)
09. COLIN NEWMAN ‘Live On Deck’ (A-Z LP October 1980)
10. MATERIAL ‘Discourse’ (A Side November 1980)
11. CLOCK DVA ‘Sensorium’ (Thirst LP January 1981)
12. THE HONEYMOON KILLERS ‘Histoire A Suive’ (Les Teurs De La Lune Miel LP March 1981)
13. THOMAS LEER ‘Tight As A Drum’ (4 Movements EP July 1981)
14. CABARET VOLTAIRE ‘Sluggin’ For Jesus’ (3 Crepuscule Tracks EP July 1981)
15. VIVIEN GOLDMAN ‘Launderette’ (A Side July 1981)
16. MATT JOHNSON ‘Bugle Boy’ (Burning Blue Soul LP August 1981)
17. LIQUID LIQUID ‘Groupmegroup’ (Liquid Liquid EP August 1981)
18. RIP RIG & PANIC ‘Knee Deep In Shit’ (God LP September 1981)
19. VIRGIN PRUNES ‘Sandpaper Lullabye’ (A New Form Of Beauty Pt 1 EP October 1981)
20. FAD GADGET ‘Saturday Night Special’ (Incontinent LP December 1981)
21. 23 SKIDOO ‘Porno Base’ (Seven Songs LP February 1982)
22. CHROME ‘Firebomb’ (Third From The Sun LP April 1982)
23. CABARET VOLTAIRE ‘Yashar’ (2x45 EP May 1982)
24. PORTION CONTROL ‘All Present And Correct’ (I Staggered Mentally LP June 1982)
25. MALARIA! ‘Kaltes Klares Wasser’ (A Side June 1982)
26. LILIPUT ‘Outburst’ (Liliput LP June 1982)
27. TUXEDOMOON ‘The Cage’ (Time To Lose LP July 1982)
28. ROWLAND S. HOWARD & LYDIA LUNCH ‘Some Velvet Morning’ (A Side July 1982)
29. MARK STEWART & THE MAFIA ‘Jerusalem’ (A Side October 1982)
30. PSYCHIC TV ‘Message From The Temple’ (Force The Hand Of Chance LP December 1982)
31. NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS ‘Theme Music’ (Viral Shredding LP August 1983)
32. EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN ‘Neun Arme’ (Portrait Of Patient O.T. LP November 1983)
33. FAD GADGET ‘Collapsing New People’ (Gag LP February 1984)
34. SKINNY PUPPY ‘K-9’ (Back And Forth LP February 1984)
35. LAIBACH ‘Panorama’ (A Side May 1984)
36. TEST DEPARTMENT ‘Sweet Sedation’ (Beating The Retreat LP July 1984)
37. SONIC YOUTH & LYDIA LUNCH ‘Death Valley 69’ (A Side July 1984)
38. HOLY TOY ‘Last Leader’ (Panzer And Rabbits LP August 1984)
39. SCRAPING FOETUS OFF THE WHEEL ‘Lust For Death’ (Hole LP August 1984)
40. SHOCK HEADED PETERS ‘I Bloodbrother Be’ (A Side November 1984)