Richard H. Kirk

Former Cabaret Voltaire member Richard H. Kirk is widely regarded as contemporary techno's busiest man, a distinction he's picked up through a release schedule that keeps discographers sweating and die-hard fans near bankruptcy. No doubt, that work ethic developed during Kirk's time with CV, who, in their nearly 20 years together, released as many albums and even more EPs. Kirk's not far behind as a solo artist, splitting just over half that total between his three ongoing projects — Sandoz, Electronic Eye, and works released under his own name — as well as collaborations with British DJ Parrot (as Sweet Exorcist), and heaps of singles and EPs. While the Sheffield-based Cabaret Voltaire began as an electronics-and-tape-loops outfit with obvious ties to other English post-industrial experimentalists like Throbbing Gristle, Einsturzende Neubauten, and Chrome, the group eventually penetrated a pop-group context while retaining the edge of dystopia and isolation at the core of their earlier work. Kirk's solo work has evolved along similar lines, although he works more toward integrating technology with more humanitarian concerns. His stylistic palette — mostly house, early techno, and ambient — and the inclusion of tracks on compilations released by the Warp label, have pegged Kirk as an evangelist of "intelligent techno," but his solo work actually comes off closer to sample-heavy ambient house and techno. His affection for African and tribal percussion and thematics connect his various works in obvious ways, and many of his albums have been reissued domestically. [See also: Electronic Eye, Sandoz]