Sweet Exorcist were a British music duo consisting of Richard Barratt (DJ Parrot) and Richard H. Kirk. They were among the flagship bleep techno acts on Warp Records in the late 1980s.
Sweet Exorcist | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Sheffield, England |
| Genres | Bleep techno, IDM |
| Years active | 1990–1994 |
| Labels | |
| Spinoff of | Cabaret Voltaire |
| Past members |
|
History
editSweet Exorcist, which was named after a Curtis Mayfield track, was the project of Sheffield-based musicians Richard H. Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire) and Richard ‘DJ Parrot’ Barratt (later a member of All Seeing I).
Kirk and Barratt knew each other since the mid-1980s.[1] Barratt had already supported a Cabaret Voltaire tour of the UK in 1986.[1] By 1989, Cabaret Voltaire had wrapped up a contract with EMI and had effectively stopped working together. Kirk passed the time by going to clubs and working in the studio with Barratt, who at the time was running Sheffield's main club night, Jive Turkey.[2]
After both worked on several tracks together, Barratt suggested making a club track with studio test tones.[1] In January 1990, the tracks were released as "Testone" on Warp. It defined the bleep techno sound, by making playful use of sampled sounds from Yellow Magic Orchestra's Computer Game (1978) and the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).[3] The next release was "Clonk", also on Warp. For both singles, remix versions were released.
In 1991, the duo released the C.C.E.P., which later came as a CD version, C.C.C.D. and was also known as Clonks Coming. The band released the album Spirit Guide to Low Tech on Touch Records.
2011 saw the release of the compilation album RetroActivity on Warp containing remixes for both singles as well as the tracks such as "Clonk" and "Clonks Coming."[4]
Discography
editAlbums
edit- 1994: Spirit Guide to Low Tech (Touch Records)
- 2011: RetroActivity (compilation album; Warp).
Singles & EPs
edit- 1990: "Testone" (Warp)
- 1990: "Testone Remixes" (Warp)
- 1990: "Clonk" (Warp)
- 1990: "Per Clonk (Remix)" (Warp)
- 1991: C.C.E.P. (Warp)
- 1991: "Popcone" (Plastex)
References
edit- ^ a b c Interview Sweet Exorcist/Richard H. Kirk: This Used To Be The Future, themilkfactory.co.uk, 2011, retrieved 23 February 2014
- ^ Savage, Jon (20 July 1993). "Machine Soul: A History of Techno". Rock & Roll Quarterly. 38 (29). New York, NY: The Village Voice: 20. ISSN 0042-6180.
- ^ Dan Sicko, Bill Brewster: Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk. Wayne State University, 2010, ISBN 978-0814334386
- ^ Sweet Exorcist: RetroActivity (Warp Records), themilkfactory.co.uk, 2011, retrieved 23 February 2014
External links
edit- Sweet Exorcist discography at Discogs
- Sweet Exorcist at AllMusic
- Sweet Exorcist discography at MusicBrainz