CABARET VOLTAIRE - LATE JUNCTION MIXTAPE 17.04.26 (320kbs-m4a/61mb/26mins)
BBC Radio 3 broadcast: 17th April 2026
Jennifer Lucy Allan presents a mixtape compiled by Steel City's legendary experimentalists Cabaret Voltaire. Forming in Sheffield in 1973, with members Chris Watson, Richard H Kirk and Stephen Mallinder, the band were forged through experimentalism, with radical DIY approaches to music-making as their nucleus. Starting out with tape loops, self-built synthesisers and found sound (including everything from snatches of radio broadcasts to manipulated noise), they made music years ahead of its time. Early performances pre-dating the punk era were raucous and full of mischief (taking place everywhere from public toilets to discotheques to the back of a van) and their sound proved confrontational at times, with plenty of broken glass, mob scenes and notable hospitalisations in the mix.
Following the death of founding member Richard H Kirk in 2021, Stephen and Chris are set to embark on a final tour as Cabaret Voltaire to mark the release of a new live album, 'But What Time Is It Really?' In crafting a special Late Junction mixtape to mark the occasion, the duo celebrate an array of sounds and songs from their most treasured artists and composers.
Pierre Schaeffer - Étude Aux Chemins de Fer [Naxos Classical Archives]
Laurie Spiegel - Drums [Unseen Worlds]
Fela Kuti - International Thief Thief (I.T.T.) [Kalakuta]
Sun Ra - Space Jazz Reverie [Lone Hill Jazz]
Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown [Yard Music]
Lee "Scratch" Perry - Nice Time [Lion Of Judah]
Delia Derbyshire - Pot Au Feu [BBC Radio Enterprises]
Tonto's Expanding Head Band - Timewhys [Viceroy Music Europe]
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows [Capitol]
Intro (320kbs-m4a/15mb/6mins)
Outro (320kbs-m4a/2mb/1min)
