from the cassette Figures, Body Tapes, 1983Belgium was a real hotbed of minimal, or so-called ‘coldwave’, music in the 1980s and for good reason---it’s proximity to England across the Channel, Berlin to the east & Paris to the south made both Belgium and Holland veritable never-ending smörgåsbords of festivals and touring musicians from all over the continent. Absolute Body Control was one of the more prolific bands to emerge from that scene, perhaps due to their wise choice/love of edgy influences: the minimalist industrial shadings of Throbbing Gristle, the melodic-yet-melancholy detachment of Joy Division (singer Dirk Ivens even sounds like Ian Curtis, with a slight foreign accent), the unyielding motorik-beat of Neu! These guys released a slew of tapes on their own label, the one this song was pulled from being my all-time favorite of theirs; how ‘bout those electronic handclaps?!!
