V.A. (VARIOUS ARTISTS) (COMPILATIONS) — DECODER (OST)

"Talk about bad timing! I recently read film-maker Klaus Maeck's autobiography, in German, with the idea of publishing an English translation. His managerial role with Einsturzende Neubauten, his 'Decoder' movie and connections with William Burroughs all tick on the positive side, but his texts about the many journeys are not for him or my series of books about music. However, I translated the chapter about 'Decoder' to be included in 'The Third Annual', my magazine/yearbook, which I will publish when Vital Weekly is gone and buried. It's a pity that Cold Spring reissues the soundtrack of 'Decoder' before that happens; it would be great publicity (oh wait... But will you remember when you see me announcing 'The Third Annual'?).
The movie is about a young man who takes his lessons from Burroughs' 'The Electronic Revolution', and manipulates muzak recordings from shops and fast food joints (the fictitious fast-food chain H-Burger) and feeds them back into the 'system'. The leading roles are played by Christiane F (herself subject of the book 'Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo' about her life as a junkie) and FM Einheit from Neubauten, and also features Genesis P-Orridge (as a priest of the Black Noise faith), William S. Burroughs (an insurrectionist salesman) and American cult actor Bill Rice plays a detective.
I saw the movie in the late 1980s, and possibly again later when I downloaded it (though I'd rather not mention that), but it got lost over time. The same goes for the soundtrack, which I may or may not have heard. Now I am playing the reissue, I believe this may be the first time I heard it. I recognise Soft Cell's 'Seedy Films', but I must have picked that up somewhere else; it's a fine piece. I realise I don't hear as much Soft Cell as I'd like. Other pieces are by FM Einheit, Einstürzende Neubauten, FM Einheit & John Caffey & Alexander von Borsig and The The, all delivering one piece. At the same time, P-Orridge and Dave Ball (of Soft Cell) have five pieces, and P-Orridge a short solo one. While The The and Soft Cell are rooted in the world of pop music, plus the seedy 'Sex and The Married Frog (Ball & Genesis), the other pieces are definitely 'avant-garde', 'electronic' and turning music against muzak. This is best exemplified by the Caffey/Einheit/Von Borsig piece, the
longest on this album, with what sounds like heavily treated field recordings, maybe from H-Burger, transformed into a firm piece of anti-muzak. Unlike many other soundtracks I review, this one is more song-based and not sketches of atmospheric music. Maybe this is the classic form of a soundtrack album?
Knowing Cold Spring Records' love for reissues, may I suggest a DVD of the 'Decoder' movie? (FdW)