Histories
IfKraftwerkhad 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 ofBatailleandde 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?), butHistoriesis still a great introduction to a group that stylishly and skillfully marries the vulgar and the beautiful.--Steve Landau