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Mix-Up

by Cabaret Voltaire

Released: October 23, 1979

Industrial, post-punk

musicOnOff editorial

Why This Album Matters

This album matters because its strongest editorial story is: Breakthrough.

The Album

"Mix-Up" is the debut studio album by English band Cabaret Voltaire, released on 23 October 1979 through Rough Trade. The album includes a cover of The Seeds' song "No Escape," originally from their 1966 debut album.

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Essential Tracks

No Escape

The album includes a cover of The Seeds' song "No Escape," originally from their 1966 debut album.

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Explore the Album

Cabaret Voltaire - Mix-Up

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Reception

Writing in Smash Hits in 1979, Red Starr described the album as an "intriguing but only occasionally attractive array of verbal and musical images," criticizing it as "pointless backroom self indulgence." Steven Grant in Trouser Press shared a similar ambivalence, noting the album's "obsessive strength" akin to Eno's stranger moments but lacking coherence. In a retrospective review, Head Heritage characterized Mix-Up as a "great snapshot" of a unique period in post-punk UK, while AllMusic's Andy Kellman was less favorable, suggesting that the album doesn't match the greatness of later works by Cabaret Voltaire, even as it solidified their status in the post-punk scene from 1978 to 1982.

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