Their dark echoes are still to be heard resonating through music’s further reaches.
Last year’s reissues of Throbbing Gristle’s back catalogue made for a timely reminder of just how groundbreaking a group they were. Not only did they invent the independent record label and become arguably the most transgressive union of art and music we have ever seen in the UK, but their sonic and aesthetic extremism was a year zero far more revolutionary than anything achieved within the punk canon. But what of their legacy? A consideration of Current 93’s 1984 album Nature Unveiled is a timely reminder that the dissonant march begun by TG was not entirely hijacked by stomping Goths in gigantic leather boots.
Founder David Tibet was a fan of Throbbing Gristle who attended many of their concerts, inspired by their non-musician attitude and interest in ritual atmospherics. After their 1981 demise he joined Genesis P-Orridge’s Psychic TV, and when that relationship soured he left to form Current 93, of which to this day he remains the only constant member. Tibet’s fellow travellers in this new group, who recorded Nature Unveiled in London’s Roundhouse, included Steven Stapleton and John Fothergill of Nurse With Wound, and Annie Anxiety, now to be found recording under the name Little Annie.
Lees de rest van deze review op BBC CD recensies (Engels)
Bron: BBC Music