Histories

Die Form | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 6, 1999)
• Original Release Date: April 6, 1999
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Metropolis Records
• ASIN: B00000IFUQ
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #415,153 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If Kraftwerk had recorded for the 4AD label and its members had a fetish for bondage and latex rather than computers, they might have sounded something like Die Form, the brainchild of the positively pervy Philippe Fichot. It would be easy to dismiss Die Form's work as merely machinelike, rhythmic music by which to conduct S/M rituals, but there was always something vastly more artful about Die Form's approach than that of, say, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. For one thing, Die Form take themselves very seriously; Fichot's influences are not campy horror films but rather the writings of Bataille and de Sade. The music is coldly sensual, in some ways a sonic kin to the bizarre, stylized erotica of David Cronenberg's 1996 film, Crash. Fichot's often disturbing, sexually explicit photography (a staple of all the band's CD booklets) only reinforces the feeling. This double-disc set very ably covers Die Form's career from the early '80s to the late '90s, side projects included. Fichot's processed voice and edgy synth atmospheres are complemented by the operatic tones of his partner (and photographic muse) Eliane P., who keeps songs like "Imagine" from succumbing to industrial clichés. There are plenty of rarities from the old days here, but the band really didn't shine until the '90s, on such high-goth aural confections as "Cantique" and "Sonic Temple." There are some gaps in this collection (no tracks from the Société Anonyme side project?), but Histories is still a great introduction to a group that stylishly and skillfully marries the vulgar and the beautiful. --Steve Landau

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely Enslaving, February 6, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Histories (Audio CD)

...The sound, that is. This may very well be the most enthralling, starkly erotic, and tragically beautiful disc I have ever heard. Not at one point was I dismayed...in fact, I was perpetually in awe of this duet's ceaseless talent. Truly, every song, every lyric and beat, possesses that indefinable "it"...that "it" that so many other, and less flavorful acts, lack. Oh, and also, the cover image on this disc is stunning. I'm almost envious: there is nothing negative I can say about these two CD's! Die Form, I am speechless.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Club owner, Goth/industrial music promotor, December 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Histories (Audio CD)

I have heard a lot of experimental, industrial, darkwave, etc. and Die Form is one of the best. No question that they rank with Bauhaus and Skinny Puppy. Varied styles between songs keep the CD set from getting boring as you listen all the way through. Best exchanging of dead presidents you will probably EVER spend on music.