Disco de Soft Cell: “Bedsit Tapes”

The Bedsit Tapes is a collection of demos live performances that documents the earliest stages of the band. This is even pre- Mutant Moments, so it provides a unique glimpse at the duo. Naturally, the sound quality is less than fantastic (as is to be expected for a collection of demos) but the sheer quality of the material makes up for it. Some of the songs are standard Soft Cell faire, but a few are so excellent that it will make you sad that they never got proper studio treatment ("A Cut Above The Rest", "Bleak Is My Favourite Cliche" and "Walking Make-Up Counter" come to mind). It also includes an amusing cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid".

This is an absolute must for any Soft Cell fan- it explores their roots, and the sound is harsh and electro with hints of the pop brilliance that would come later. Fantastic.

For fans of pre-digital synthesizer pop, the Bedsit Tapes are a valuable historical reference. In the early 80's, commercial digital machines (like the DX7 and Linndrum) wiped this analog sound out for nearly a decade. There were few groups who explored this early form of electronic pop. Though less polished than some of its contemporaries, the Bedsit Tapes is an informative 4-track demo-style compilation of this tenuous genre. These are rough sketches, not fleshed out pop songs, and may disappoint fans of "Tainted Love." This is a collection aimed at synth-pop completists. If you already own the early works of Human League, OMD, Yazoo and Depeche Mode, here is where you may begin to dig a bit deeper into the context of those times.

For the 45 minutes of music, there are a lot of (shorter) tracks to hear here, but sometimes you get the feeling that it was better to release a few more early singles rather than letting the demos shelved. However, Soft Cell chose not to do that and waited to sign to a major (Mercury) and put some singles out. Here is an early sign of what you got at the first album (Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret). But let us not forget that there was more than this material, there was this record by Some Bizarre which was called Mutant Moments. Soft Cell fans would want that one to finally collect... this is a hint for Some Bizarre... ;-)