Throbbing Gristle, Re-Issued.

(from XLR8R:)


"After the untimely death of founding member Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson late last year, the future of pioneering industrial outfit Throbbing Gristle was thrown into question. Thanks to a new post on the band's website, that question has been partially answered. Most importantly, the remaining members have elected to no longer perform live as Throbbing Gristle, following the sentiments of a statement made by Christopherson prior to his passing, who remarked that it would not be "possible for any changed band or variation of personnel to perform live as Throbbing Gristle without all the original four of us on stage." While TG diehards might be disappointed by that news, the group has not gone completely dormant. As detailed on their website, the band's contract with Mute Records expired last year, and the group has now chosen to reactivate its dormant Industrial Records imprint, which will be the sole representative for selling Throbbing Gristle's music. Furthermore, on September 26 the label will be releasing a series of remastered, deluxe vinyl reissues of TG albums The Second Annual Report, D.O.A. The Third & Final Report, Heathen Earth, 20 Jazz Funk Greats, and Throbbing Gristle's Greatest Hits. The remastered albums will also be available digitally and on CD."


So now you know. Keep an eye out – I'm looking forward to the vinyl. Here is a video of TG performing "Persuasion" at San Francisco's Kezar Pavilion (you can watch the whole damn thing on the YouTube if you wish) in 1981, right before they broke up.

Video Disturbeo: Nurse With Wound.

Nurse With Wound, the brainchild of Londoner Steven Stapleton, has, in its 30+ year long existence, released an astonishingly prodigious amount of music – over forty long-players so far, and still counting. Stapleton isn't one to shuffle off and rest on his laurels ... He not only writes, performs, and releases his own music; he also designs the dust covers himself under the nom d'artiste Babs Santini!


I don't even know how to begin describing Nurse With Wound's music to you, if you haven't heard them before. I like to liken the sound of NWW to what a madman might hear back in the dark days of Victorian asylums – huge, dimly-lit and crumbling institutions with dark corners and shifting shadows, piercing shrieks emanating from locked doors, mysterious colourless liquids running in rivulets down the mouldy wallpaper, and heavyset orderlies tying one to a chair, preparing a massive syringe with a "medicine" unknown. Equal parts loopy drones, sampled and distorted dialogues from long-forgotten horror flicks, industrial soundscapes, demented cabaret, and fucked-up mish-mashes of disturbing sound effects – all bound together with a humourous sensibility, mind you – are just a smidgeon of the NWW "sound". Want to check out some Nurse With Wound? For starters, you couldn't go wrong with 2009's compilation "album" Paranoia In HiFi. Essentially, it's a one hour-eighteen minute, single-track mixing together of several previously released NWW tracks. Look it up, download it, whatever – it's an amazing ride.


Here, from 2008's limited edition vinyl-only EP The Bacteria Magnet, is a great track called "The Bottom Feeder." The video from it, taken from two short Jiri Barta films (The Last Theft and The Club of the Laid Off), makes me want to scratch myself – there's something about creepy marionettes doing creepy shit that makes me incredibly uncomfortable. You can watch some clips from Barta's weird puppet-flicks here. Eesh. There's something about that little girl putting back together a smashed watermelon that really, really gives me the heebie-jeebies. Enjoy!

Electro Classic Jukebox: Cabaret Voltaire.

"There's 70 billion people over there."
"Where they hiding?"
"There's 70 billion people over there."
"Where they hiding? Where they hiding?"


And thus begins "Yashar," one of my all-time favourite tracks from Sheffield-based electronic pioneers Cabaret Voltaire. Having formed in 1973, well ahead of the vast majority of their future post-punk peers, Cabaret Voltaire began their two-decade career performing not necessarily "music" per-se, but a fascinating hybrid of Dadaist (they were named after the famous Zurich, Switzerland Dada club after all) performance art, featuring (amongst other things) feedback, bleeping synth noises, and endless taped loops of sampled sounds, voices, and strange, experimental static. It wasn't until 1979 that they released their first "proper" LP, the noise-punk manifesto Mix-Up. (If one is interested in hearing what CV was up to during those heady days of noise manipulation and experimentation, then one should go forth and find their 1980 cassette-only compilation 1974-1976.)


Originally a trio consisting of Richard Kirk, Chris Watson, and Stephen Mallinder, after Watson's departure in 1981, they became a duo. Many albums throughout the '80s and early '90s were to follow, including such classics as Red Mecca (1981), The Crackdown (1983), Drinking Gasoline (1985 EP), Plasticity (1992), and The Conversation (1994). 1982's 2X45 (so named because it consisted of 2 45RPM 12" records (goddamn, now that would be a collector's item worth having, wouldn't it?)) was the last album released with Chris Watson as a member, and it is also the album from which "Yashar" is culled.


So here is "Yashar." Listen to it, and try to imagine ambient music as we know it without the influence of these mightily talented and influential Sheffielders. I certainly doubt there'd be any Aphex Twin, that's for sure. Enjoy!





And, from their 1985 EP Drinking Gasoline, here's another terrific track "Ghostalk." Goddamn, I love this shit.

Christmas Island.

If I had to choose my favourite era of Depeche Mode (and I had a gun to my head, natch), I'd probably choose their "industrial" phase; the one they went through during the mid- to late-'80s. Construction Time Again, Some Great Reward, Black Celebration, and Music For The Masses rank as my favourite works of theirs -- and frankly, it wasn't just the A-sides of the singles that got my blood flowing. Often times during those years, they'd release the single, and then on the B-side there'd be two or three live tracks from a 1983 show at the Hammersmith Ballroom in London, and a "throwaway" instrumental that somehow didn't make it on the album. In 1986, when they released the 12" maxi-single of "Question of Lust" off of Black Celebration, they included for the B-side a most curious track: "Christmas Island," a very odd instrumental penned by both Martin Gore and Alan Wilder (which in itself was very odd; Gore was famously stingy about sharing songwriting credits with anybody).


Beginning with a background television set tuned to some kind of revolutionary recording, with a menacing throbbing synth building up in the distance, "Christmas Island" then proceeds to bust out some serious industrial EMB rhythms, filled with the brim (as was their norm back in those days) with sampled percussion, found sounds, and a distinctly dark overview. Christmas Island itself has been in the news quite a bit these last few months (over twenty-five Iraqi boat-people died horrifically in an incident off the northern coast of Christmas Island just under two weeks ago and set off in the Australian government a major rift over the laws of amnesty to asylum seekers from the Middle East and Asia), and the song is written about the island; but that's one of the things that make this track so listenable. What does it all mean? I'll tell you what: It's certainly not about tinsel and holiday trees.


Here's "Christmas Island" from our favourite boys from Basildon in 1986. Enjoy.

depeche mode

"christmas island"

a question of lust 12"

R.I.P. Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson.

It is with great sadness that we at Second Drawer Up have learnt that Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson, one of the founding members of legendary industrial band Throbbing Gristle, its reincarnation as Psychic TV, and part of experimental troupe Coil, has died unexpectedly in his sleep Wednesday night the 24th of November. He was only 55 years old. 


Many great things can be said about Peter. Alongside his stellar work with Throbbing Gristle, widely believed to have been the progenitor of industrial music, he is also credited with the first usage of a sampling machine onstage; which in itself is one hell of a fucking accomplishment. After the end of Throbbing Gristle, he and Genesis P-Orridge went on to form Psychic TV (whilst Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti went on their own for Chris & Cosey). A Throbbing Gristle fan by the name of Jhonn Balance joined Psychic TV and then, after a spell, Christopherson and Balance left and formed Coil - which, to this day, remains the be-all end-all of industrial electronica in my humble opinion. This partnership lasted over two decades, until the untimely death of Balance (who, ironically, fell off a second-floor balcony) in 2004.


Christopherson was also an accomplished music video director, responsible for videos by a disparate spectrum of musical acts, including Ministry, The The, Rage Against the Machine, Yes, Sepultura, Van Halen, and Paul McCartney (!).


No words I can write at this moment can completely convey how important Christopherson's contributions to the world of electronic music were. 55 years old?!?! That's just way too fucking young - no one in this dimension knows what else he could have done. So it is with a heavy heart that we here at Second Drawer Up HQ bid "Sleazy" a fond adieu. Rest in Peace, dear sir. You will be sorely missed.


UPDATE: Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti have written a lovely remembrance to their longtime friend and collaborator. You can read it here.

throbbing gristle

"valley of the shadow of death"

d.o.a: the third and final report of throbbing gristle

throbbing gristle

"d.o.a."

tg live vol. 2

coil

"windowpane"

love's secret domain

Electro Classic Jukebox: Skinny Puppy.

Well! I had so much fun revisiting the EBM stylings of Front Line Assembly, I felt I had to make a return trip for the sole purpose of bearing homage to fellow Vancouverites Skinny Puppy. Formed as an experimental side project by cEvin Key whilst he was in a new wave band called Images In Vogue in 1982, it became a full-time project when he became disillusioned with his band's music - and when Nivek Ogre came on board as vocalist. After the initial release of a cassette demo Back and Forth in 1984, they signed to Canadian label Nettwerk and put out (in the same year!) their debut EP Remission - which let the world know they were a force to be reckoned with. And *poof!* just like that, Skinny Puppy (widely is believed to) had given messy birth to a new genre - electronic industrialism. And bully for them - 26 years later Skinny Puppy is still churning on, delivering shockingly disturbing metal-based electronic horror that has the power after all these years to still blanche the spirit. I think one aspect of Mssrs. Key and Ogre's brainchild that gives it its oomph is that they have consistently wore their severed, blood-spattered hearts on their sleeves; they have a lot of energy and, if you've ever seen their videos or have gone to one of their shows, they proudly debase the whole meaning of where their vicious style of electro-industrial ends and where death metal begins to seep into the works like a dripping, infected wound. Blood spatters. Horrible images of death, decay, and torture are emblazoned on giant screens. Self-mutilation. Evil iconography. Lyrics about murder, animal experimentation, politics, genocide, mutants, and villainy. Aggressive music that flies in one's face, challenging. So I got to thinking: with Halloween a scant four days away, I'd share some of my favorite Skinny Puppy tracks with you today. Enjoy!

Here, from their 1984 debut Remissions, is "Smothered Hope." I think this was the first song of theirs I heard. I think Ogre's distorted vocals and the nearly poetic stream-of-consciousness lyrics sound fucking fantastic together.

skinny puppy

"smothered hope"

remissions ep

From 1986's Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse, here's "Dig It." When Ogre and friends chant "Dig it! Dig it! Execute economic slave!", I have to admit, I bang my head a little. Such anger in this track.

skinny puppy

"dig it"

mind: the perpetual intercourse

From Vivisect VI, released in 1988, here's an epically disturbing and horrific track about animal testing and torture called "Testure." WARNING: INCREDIBLY DISTURBING VIDEO. I've always been curious as to where the opening sample comes from: "I hope you make sure we're properly dead before you start, old rip beak!" Freaky shit.  UPDATE: Have located source of the above sample. It is taken from the 1982 animated film Plague Dogs, a super-depressing adaptation of Richard Adams' (Watership Down) novel of the same name. The entire quote, from dear, hyper-active Snitter - speaking to his fellow escapee Rowf: "Have you ever thought, Rowf ... that we won't need food when we're dead? Or names for that matter. I wonder who the buzzards will like best, you or me ... I hope you make sure we're properly dead before you start, old rip beak!" This film will make you weep.

skinny puppy

"testure"

vivisect vi

Last, but most certainly not least, from 1985's Bites, is what is probably Skinny Puppy's "danciest" single, "Assimilate." I certainly know it was very popular at The Church and other gothic clubs I frequented in the early '90s. As a treat, here it is being performed live! Check out the visuals that would accompany them on tour. Disturbing, but not as disturbing as "Testure," that's for damn sure.

skinny puppy

"assimilate"

bites

Wax Trax!: Front Line Assembly.

Choo choo, the Wax Trax! reminisce machine rolls along like a well-oiled EBM locomotive, spreading aggressive beats, growled vocals, and icy synths with the furiousness of an AK-47 spitting musical bullets. Welcome! Today I thought I'd head up north to Canadian soil and extend a hearty hello to the one and only Front Line Assembly. 


Hailing from lovely Vancouver, British Columbia, FLA began in 1985 when leader Bill Leeb, then a supporting musician for Skinny Puppy, decided to strike out on his own and assume more creative control as his own man. Having already learned the tricks of the trade with SP, he managed to wrangle up like-minded musicians who also preferred the darker underbelly of electronic music and industrial metal. After the releases of The Initial Command and State of Mind, they were picked up by Wax Trax!, who distributed their third album, the sublimely deranged and ferocious Corrosion (WAX 038). By this time, FLA consisted of Leeb, his good friend Rhys Fulber, and Michael Balch. Two more releases under Wax Trax!'s banner followed: 1988's Disorder and 1989's Gashed Senses & Crossfire. I would like to take the time to showcase a phenomenal track from GS&C; the one and only "Digital Tension Dementia."


My goodness, what an epic piece of industrial triumph we have here. Sonically, I'd have to say that "DTD" rests in an interesting spectrum of EBM geology, sporting the rhythmic beats of a Front 242 album with Leeb's antagonistic lyrics waxing philosophically about brutality, powerlessness, fear, and hopelessness with the spite and venom of Nivek Ogre. There's an inherent meanness present - but my god is it danceable, or what?


Check it out by all means. And turn up that there volume to get the full effect - let the force of this shit wash over you!

front line assembly

"digital tension dementia"

gashed senses & crossfire

Wax Trax!: My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult.

And our Wax Trax! week continues. Moving along, moving along ...

My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult (or TKK, if one doesn't care to type all that out over and over again, such as yours truly) began life in 1986 when Frankie Nardiello, lighting technician for Ministry's Twitch tour (damn, what a great album that was!), sat down with Al Jourgensen himself and wrote a few songs for an independent film he wanted to make. Nothing much came of the collaboration, but one of the songs, "Thrill Kill Kult," sparked his imagination. He ended up hooking up with his buddy Marston Daley and started piecing together his ideas for the film, which he wanted to call Hammerhead Housewife and the Thrill Kill Kult. (Goddamn, I would have loved to have seen that film.) While the movie itself never got made, the soundtrack they had recorded for it proved to have such an appealing quality to it that Wax Trax! Records took note and released it as an EP (WAX 039) in 1988. Voilá, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult was born.

Nardiello changed his name to Groovie Mann, and Daley changed his to Buzz McCoy, and they named their new band after their first EP, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. Their debut full-length album, I See Good Spirits and I See Bad Spirits, followed shortly after, and the rest, as they say, is history. Some Have To Dance ... Some Have To Kill, Confessions ... Of A Knife, Sexplosion!, 13 Above The Night, and many more albums and EPs were to follow - TKK is still busy recording, touring, and spreading their nasty, sleazy, psycho-sexual disco mayhem all over the place.

I would like to showcase today one of their strongest tracks, off of their 1990 sophomore album Confessions of a Knife... (WAX 7089), the one and only "A Daisy Chain 4 Satan." That's one thing I've always loved about TKK - their usage of satanic images and phrases in their music. True, the lyrics themselves were never terribly overt in their blasphemy, but that didn't stop the right-wing Christian groups from despising TKK. Which is just fine with me - it's fun to piss those people off.

Here are two versions of "A Daisy Chain 4 Satan." The first is probably the most WTF - full of violence, nudity, debasing sexual acts, and, yes, Satan His Own Bad Self. Did I mention that it's NSFW? Oh, hell yes it's NSFW. But enjoy. The version of the song is the one that appears on the album. The second version is essentially the edited version (cut down to 4:20, haha), and the video is taken from a bunch of those old educational videos from the 60's and 70's. "I live for drugs, I live for drugs ... it's great, it's great." Which video do you prefer? Let me know!

my life with the thrill kill kult

"a daisy chain 4 satan"

confessions of a knife...

Electro Classic Jukebox: Severed Heads.

Hello, all! Sorry I've been so inactive these past few weeks - I've been out and about, investigating new grounds, fertile and action-packed. I'm afraid I've been derelict regarding my blogging duties - it won't happen again! ANYWAY, back to the electro-madness that you all enjoy so very much!

Hailing from good old Sydney, Australia, here is a great example of electronic music that branched out separate from the usual Anglo- and Euro- twig of the electronic tree. Severed Heads sprouted in the year 1979, but they originally went by the name of , and I'm not kidding, Mr and Mrs No Smoking Sign. Apparently, as a joke, they changed their name to the aforementioned Severed Heads and have not felt good about it ever since (really!).

One of the few Australian synth-pop/industrial bands that sprung from the Sydney punk-scene of the late '70s, I think the Severed Heads (Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright) were way ahead of their time, considering the year and the state of their continent at the moment - i.e., how removed from England they were.

But I digress. Here, from 1984, is Severed Heads with their classic track, "Dead Eyes Opened."

Electro Classic Jukebox: Front 242.

From their 1988 album Front By Front, here's Aarschot, Belgiums's Front 242 with "Headhunter." Directed by the one and only Anton Corbijn, I think it captures the industrial imagination of the track quite well. And who can forget these lyrics back in the day?

"One, you lock the target,

Two, you bait the line,

Three, you slowly spread the net,

Four, you catch the man ..."

Irresistible!