A cult classic of sci-fi dystopia, "Decoder" (1984) saw Einstürzende Neubauten's members working alongside Genesis P-orridge (Throbbing Gristle / Psychic Tv) and William S. Burroughs. It's one of the strangest (and most prescient) films of the decade. The film was made in Hamburg and Berlin, and directed by Klaus Maeck 'Muscha' (who directed several punk films).
The lead roles are played by Christiane F and FM Einheit from Neubauten, who also contributed to the film's score. Genesis P-Orridge, the kingpin of the English industrial scene, also appears as a priest of the Black Noise faith. Author William S. Burroughs portrays an insurrectionist salesman of audio equipment (and contributes spoken word to the soundtrack), and American cult actor Bill Rice plays a detective.
Soft Cell contributed their classic 'Seedy Films', while Matt Johnson from The The wrote a frenetic, deformed song for the film that is both fantastic and painful to listen to, and z's 'Compressed Metal' is sublime. Dave Ball (Sof tCell), Jon Caffery and Genesis P-Orridge composed the rest of the soundtrack. A futuristic film, and a joyous application of William S. Burroughs' "The Electronic Revolution", which proposes a seditious and rather poetic method of subverting the masses and inciting them to rise up against the forces of order.
