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Richard Harold Kirk (21 March 1956 – 21 September 2021) was an English composer, musician and producer. He is best known for his work in
electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
, and for co-founding the influential music group Cabaret Voltaire in 1973. As a solo artist, Kirk released music under his own name as well as under more than 30 aliases. He also collaborated with other artists in a range of groups such as Sweet Exorcist and
Acid Horse Acid Horse was a one-off collaborative side project between two industrial music pioneers, Ministry and Cabaret Voltaire. Only one single, "No Name, No Slogan", was released in 1989 on Wax Trax! Records. The band name combines the slang terms ...
.


Background

Kirk was born on March 21, 1956, and grew up in Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England, where he lived his whole life. He attended the Psalter Lane School Of Art, where he completed a one-year program in sculpture and met Peter Care, who would later direct several Cabaret Voltaire videos. Kirk, along with
Chris Watson John Christian Watson (born Johan Cristian Tanck; 9 April 186718 November 1941) was an Australian politician who served as the third prime minister of Australia from April to August 1904. He held office as the inaugural federal leader of the Au ...
and
Stephen Mallinder Stephen William Mallinder (born 1 January 1955) is an English artist and musician who was a founding member of Cabaret Voltaire, and went on to work as Sassi & Loco, the Ku-Ling Bros., Hey, Rube!, Wrangler, and Creep Show. Biography Mallinder ...
, formed the industrial band Cabaret Voltaire in 1973. The band first performed in May, 1975, and released its debut album,
Mix-Up ''Mix-Up'' is the debut studio album by English band Cabaret Voltaire. It was released on 23 October 1979, through record label Rough Trade. Content The album contains a cover of The Seeds' song "No Escape" from their 1966 eponymous debut ...
, in 1979. “When we started, we wanted to do something with sound, but none of us knew how to play an instrument,” Kirk told the New York Times. “So we started using tape recorders and various pieces of junk and gradually learned to play instruments like guitars and bass.” Kirk's father, a ham radio operator, also helped spark Kirk's interest in electronics. He cited a wide range of musicians, including Stockhausen, John Cage and Fela Kuti, as inspiring his work. Kirk's first release as a solo artist, ''
Disposable Half-Truths ''Disposable Half-Truths'' is the debut solo album by Richard H. Kirk, released originally on cassette by Industrial Records in 1980. Recorded at Western Works Studio. In 1992, The Grey Area re-released the CD version.Disposable Half-Truths C ...
'', was released in 1980 and he maintained a career as a solo artist alongside Cabaret Voltaire until the band's dissolution in 1994. He reformed the band in 2014 as the sole remaining member, performing sporadically with all-new material more akin to his solo work than the output of the original incarnation of Cabaret Voltaire. Kirk released much of his music on his own labels, including Intone, which he founded in 2003. During the 1990s, his solo output increased considerably. Kirk's works explored multiple types of electronic/dance music under many
pseudonyms A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...
. His prolific work resulted in
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
calling him contemporary techno's busiest man. Kirk died on 21 September 2021, at the age of 65.


Aliases

In addition to solo releases under his own name, Kirk used the following aliases:


Collaborations

The following is a list of groups and artists Kirk has worked with: *
Acid Horse Acid Horse was a one-off collaborative side project between two industrial music pioneers, Ministry and Cabaret Voltaire. Only one single, "No Name, No Slogan", was released in 1989 on Wax Trax! Records. The band name combines the slang terms ...
* Cabaret Voltaire * Citrus * Kora * Peter Hope * The Pressure Company * Sweet Exorcist * The Tivoli * XON


Partial discography


Albums

* ''
Disposable Half-Truths ''Disposable Half-Truths'' is the debut solo album by Richard H. Kirk, released originally on cassette by Industrial Records in 1980. Recorded at Western Works Studio. In 1992, The Grey Area re-released the CD version.Disposable Half-Truths C ...
'' (1980, Industrial) * '' Time High Fiction'' (1983, Doublevision) * '' Black Jesus Voice'' (1986,
Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: *Rough Trade (shops), London record stores *Rough Trade Records, a record label from the stores *Rough Trade Books, a publishing house from the label *Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band * "Rough Trade" (''Am ...
) * ''Ugly Spirit'' (1986, Rough Trade) * ''Hoodoo Talk (with Peter Hope)'' (1988, Wax Trax!) * ''
Virtual State In quantum physics, a virtual state is a very short-lived, unobservable quantum state. In many quantum processes a virtual state is an intermediate state, sometimes described as "imaginary" in a multi-step process that mediates otherwise forb ...
'' (1993,
Warp Warp, warped or warping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and comics * WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher * ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!'' * Warp (comics), a D ...
) * '' The Number of Magic'' (1995, Warp) * ''Agents with false memories'' (1996, Ash International) * '' Knowledge Through Science'' (1998,
Blast First Blast First is a sub label of one-time independent record label Mute Records, founded in approximately 1985. It was named after a phrase taken from the first number of the radical Vorticism, Vorticist journal ''BLAST (magazine), Blast'', publi ...
) * ''
Darkness At Noon ''Darkness at Noon'' (, ) is a novel by Austrian-Hungarian-born novelist Arthur Koestler, first published in 1940. His best known work, it is the tale of Rubashov, an Old Bolshevik who is arrested, imprisoned, and tried for treason against the ...
'' (1999, Touch) * ''LoopStatic (Amine ß Ring Modulations)'' (2000, Touch) * ''TWAT v4.0: The War Against Terror'' (2003, Intone) * ''Earlier/Later—Unreleased Projects Anthology ’74–’89'' (2004, Mute/EMI) * ''Richard H. Kirk Meets the Truck Bombers of Suburbia Uptown Vol. 1 (Feat. Pat Riot)'' (2004, Intone) * ''Sonic Reflections (Unreleased Soundtrack Project 1994)'' (2009, Intone) * ''Reality Is Opposite'' (2011, Intone) * ''Anonymized'' (2011, Intone) * ''Dasein'' (2017, Intone)


As Sandoz

* ''Digital Lifeforms'' (1993,
Touch The somatosensory system, or somatic sensory system is a subset of the sensory nervous system. The main functions of the somatosensory system are the perception of external stimuli, the perception of internal stimuli, and the regulation of bo ...
) * ''Intensely Radioactive'' (1994, Touch) * ''Every Man Got Dreaming'' (1995, Touch) * ''Dark Continent'' (1996, Touch) * ''God Bless the Conspiracy'' (1997, Alphaphone) * ''In Dub: Chant to Jah'' (1998, Touch; 2002,
Soul Jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including sa ...
) * ''Afrocentris'' (2001, Intone) * ''Live in the Earth: Sandoz in Dub Chapter 2'' (2006, Soul Jazz) * ''Acid Editions (303 Excursions)'' (2009, Intone) * ''Digital Life Time'' (2012, Intone)


As Electronic Eye

* ''Closed Circuit'' (1994, Beyond) * ''The Idea of Justice'' (1995, Beyond) * ''Neurometrik'' (2000, Alphaphone) * ''Autoshark'' (2006, Intone)


12-inch singles

* "Leather Hands" (with Peter Hope) * "Surgeons" (with Peter Hope) * "Hipnotic"


References


External links

* *
Interview with Richard H. Kirk
by
André Éric Létourneau André Éric Létourneau is a French Canadian media and transmedia artist, researcher, author, musician, composer, curator and professor based primarily in Montreal and Saint-Alponse-Rodriguez, Québec, Canada. He uses several pseudonyms, most ...
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Richard H. 1956 births 2021 deaths English experimental musicians English keyboardists English remixers English record producers Industrial Records artists Rough Trade Records artists Mute Records artists Warp (record label) artists Musicians from Sheffield Blast First artists Cabaret Voltaire (band) members