Richard H Kirk re-files case for innovation

The charts are losing the battle with Mr and Ms Hypehead. This week’s hit parade [yeah, it’s become more like the ‘bobby-sox’ era] of singles is topped by the Prince of Pop (although the King’s throne’s been vacant for a trio of decades], the benign-but-useless Robbie Williams, the LPs’ by REM. The supporting ‘best sellers’ come from either ‘stars’ of dubious vocal quality - studio enhanced/stage miming - who generally do covers.

F**k the ‘Pop Idol’ syndrome - it ain’t about image, the way that you do it but what you do. And, damn it, there are too many nostalgic values being upheld. What ever happened to the future looking, anticipating, dreaming it? Popular music appears to be dis-interested in any lasting values and echoes the digital photography craze: taken, seen and stored but no permanent record of it, memory-wise or literally. Like the old photographs, popular culture has faded into all shades of rust and wither.

Wake up and smell the polymer - it usually stinks! There is a redress, however minor, just a minutiae of counter-voice… Thus, it is a liberation to get an album like Richard H Kirk’s ‘… Meets The Truck Bombers of Suburbia Uptown’ where anything can happen and everything does… Commencing with ‘The Truck Bombers of Suburbia’, it takes in atmo, Rocktastic guitar, a dash of dub, evokes a Can vista whilst garnished with cool fx-noises.

Everything does happen… in a song! ‘Who’s Afraid (of The Red White and Blue)’ has already been out for a few months, a taster for ‘The Electronic Bible - Chapter 1’. Later on we get more dub [‘Goat Dub Reaction’ and ‘Heart and Mind of Dub’], as well as psyche-pulsating [‘Smoke Em Out’], erotico-exotically pumping [‘Desert Rhumba’], the see-for-miles scenery of ‘Bring It Down/Crashing Around’…

In a great marketing move - Richard H Kirk is a musical idealist rather than a capitalistic walk-on ‘star’ - this album was released the same day as the Cabaret Voltaire’s DVD. Furthermore, there is also another album out by the man - ‘Intone Unreleased Projects 1995/1997’, to be reviewed upon this cyber pages next week - that should tell you more about this artist’s lust, zest and need to explore. And, perhaps, why freedom of choice doesn’t mean large consumption!

Having started musical experimentation back in 1973 with the aforementioned electro-pioneers from Sheffield, he has yet to abandon its principle with most of music on ‘... Suburbia Uptown’ refusing to obey the traditional song writing rules but follows a freer, more open and adventurous idiom, perhaps - to a club standard. That certainly doesn‘t preclude it from being enjoyed on a cerebral level or simply as ‘coming-down’ music. Alike life, it generally depends on your choice of medication, methinks.

This is an emblematic disc and unless you get it, we’ll abandon our peacenik principle and form taste police to Inquisition all you kitschistas.

8.3/10