Throbbing Gristle – 20 Jazz Funk Greats, Vinyl LP
Throbbing Gristle – 20 Jazz Funk Greats, Vinyl LP
Factory Sealed (New)
Referencing the band's influences outside of the avant-garde - among them ABBA and Martin Denny - it's the most outwardly accessible thing Throbbing Gristle ever recorded, but it's not without its harder, grimier moments, like the pummelling 'Discipline', with P.Orridge barking orders at you like the SM drill sergeant of your nightmares.
The shorter instrumentals are especially satisfying: we open with the droning, dysphoric ambience of 'Beachy Head' (think Eno's On Land via Lustmord), a paean to the suicide hot-spot that appears on the album's cover, while 'Tanith' and 'Exotica' sound like a seriously strung-out, sleep-deprived jazz ensemble channelling Aphex's Selected Ambient Works II.
Of course it's the "pop" numbers which stand out: Gen has never sounded so drolly superior as on 'Convincing People' and 'Persuasion', while the Cosey-vocalled, Carter-helmed 'Hot On The Heels Of Love' remains an absolute game-changing masterpiece, its influence on techno, disco and electro-pop as profound and palpable today as it ever was.
