Press Info:
Billie Holiday recorded her iconic version of ‘Strange Fruit’ on 20 April 1939. The track, originally written by a Jewish school teacher Abel Meeropol (using the pseudonym Lewis Allen), was in response to lynching in US southern states. A year later, Meeropol, a socialist, was called to testify before a committee investigating communism and asked whether the US Communist Party had paid him to write ‘Strange Fruit’. Later, in 1999, it was named the song of the century by Time magazine.
Laibach go on to explain, “There’s something that’s still very radioactive about the song; it’s still relevant because race is still relevant. The impulses that Meeropol was talking about are very much still with us, on the front pages of our newspapers and across our social media every day. For us, ‘Strange Fruit’ evokes racial injustice, representing not just lynchings, but racism generally.”
They expand, “Racism is a virus that mutates, taking on different forms as it adapts to a changing environment. Its mutation is made harder to observe by it being deeply embedded, not only in our traditions and institutions, but also in our unconscious lives.”
Laibach’s interpretation of this famous protest song is aimed at this new context of eternal but ever-changing and adaptive racism
Press Info:
Building on the raw power and emotional depth of the original album “Schrank,” XTR HUMAN unleashes a new wave of energy with a remix album that reimagines its intense soundscapes. Featuring contributions from innovative artists like MVTANT, Liza Aikin, Buzz Kull, Bestial Mouths, Sleek Teeth, Die Sexual, Jessica Bellomo, and Cadeu, this collection transforms the tracks into darker, harder, and more driving forces. Each remix brings its own unique twist, amplifying the brutal EBM beats, gothic and techno undertones, and the relentless energy that defined the original. Prepare to experience “Schrank” in an entirely new light, as these remixes take the album’s essence to uncharted territories.
Format:
Box Set (4xCD, 10 inch, Bluray, Photo Book)
Tracklist: CD1-01. Trumpet Herald (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
CD1-02. Convincing People (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
CD1-03. Splitting Sky (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
CD1-04. Slug Bait (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
CD1-05. Rabbit Snare (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
CD1-06. Almost A Kiss (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
CD1-07. Greasy Poo (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
CD1-08. Endless Not (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
CD1-09. Vow Of Silence (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
CD1-10. Pa Destroyer (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
CD1-11. Hamburger Lady (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
CD2-01. In The Shadow Of The Sun (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Day, 2006)
CD3-01. In The Shadow Of The Sun (Rehearsal At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Day 2006)
CD4-01. TG Berlin
CD4-01. Scabs & Saws
CD4-01. Wotwududo
Vinyl-A. A Scabs & Saws
Vinyl-B. Wotwududo
BLUERAY-01. Trumpet Herald (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
BLUERAY-01. Convincing People (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
BLUERAY-01. Splitting Sky (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
BLUERAY-01. Slug Bait (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
BLUERAY-01. Rabbit Snare (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
BLUERAY-01. Almost A Kiss (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
BLUERAY-01. Greasy Poo (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
BLUERAY-01. The Endless Not (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
BLUERAY-01. Vow Of Silence (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
BLUERAY-01. PA Destroyer (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
BLUERAY-01. Hamburger Lady (Live At The Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005)
Press Info:
Throbbing Gristle and Mute’s partnership continues with the release of TG BERLIN, a lavish box set chronicling their previously unreleased work in Berlin around a very special series of live events at the Volksbühne in 2005/2006, set for release on 6 December 2024. The event, curated by Throbbing Gristle, saw the band perform a live set on New Year’s Eve and an improvised live soundtrack to a new 16mm print of Derek Jarman’s In The Shadow of the Sun (1981) on New Year’s Day, and, while the band were in Berlin, they recorded two final songs alongside a 48-minute piece of new music.
The box set – which comprises of 4 CDs, a Blu Ray, a 10″ vinyl and a booklet featuring unseen photographs from the time by Paul Heartfield as well as new sleeve notes by the award winning Scottish visual artist Lucy McKenzie – collates both of these performances, alongside the TG Berlin Studio Session, which comprises of the final Throbbing Gristle single (two unreleased tracks, ‘Scabs & Saws’ and ‘Wotwududo’, and an unreleased 48-minute piece titled ‘TG Berlin Studio Session 2005 – 2006′, recorded at Planet Roc studios during the time they were in the city.
TG Berlin will also include the “rehearsal” for In The Shadow of the Sun, recorded on New Year’s Day at the iconic Volksbühne (“people’s theatre”). The performance of In The Shadow of the Sun was improvised, so the two documents offer a different perspective on the soundtrack to Jarman’s work.
The New Year’s Eve show previewed five songs from the band’s first album in 27 years, Part Two: The Endless Not, several years before its release, on a set list that included ‘Convincing People’, ‘Slug Bait’, and ‘Hamburger Lady’ (their first encore in 25/26 years, and what an encore!) – tracks that had lost none of their potency in the intervening years – plus the released track, ‘Splitting Sky’ and more. The performance is also included as a Blu-ray.
In 2004, Throbbing Gristle – Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (1950-2020) and Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson (1955-2010) – regrouped and the following six years became a period of renewed creativity for the band. Back in the studio after 20 years, they found group intuition when performing was intact, and their ability to break down barriers and forge connections with an audience was more powerful than ever.
This new box set, the latest release in an ongoing collaboration with Mute, is a compelling document of Throbbing Gristle performing and recording as a four-piece with a renewed vigour. From the opening beats and serrated electronics of one of their final tracks recorded together, ‘Scabs and Saws’, it’s clear that TG are not revisiting ground already tread, but bringing two decades of individual experience back into the studio to create a new exploration of sound. The vocals have a different depth, the groove is deeper, and the atmosphere has lost none of its potency.
Throbbing Gristle formed in 1975, and for the next six years they fully delivered on punk’s failed promise to explore extreme culture as a way of sabotaging systems of control. During that time, they released crucial records such as The Second Annual Report Of Throbbing Gristle (1977), D.O.A The Third And Final Report Of Throbbing Gristle (1978), and 20 Jazz Funk Greats (1979) and were infamously named “wreckers of civilisation” by the Conservative MP Nicholas Fairbairn in 1976.
From 2004, they embarked on a series of live performances that included the Coachella and Primavera festivals, Tate Modern, and Heaven, and returned to the studio to produce several albums, including TG Now (2004), and Part Two: The Endless Not (2007), as well as a 3-day “studio installation” at the ICA before disbanding in 2010. Their impact on music, culture and the arts has been immeasurable, and still felt today across music, film, theatre, and fine art.
Snippets: soon
Full Track Streaming:
“Scabs & Saws”
Special:
“Post Punk Britain: In Focus 160523 – Throbbing Gristle”
Press Info:
Serbian powerhouse KATRAN, the mastermind behind Jezgro label and one half of Ontal, unleashes four colossal, rhythm-driven, noise-infused industrial techno anthems accompanied by nasty remix from talented 6SISS. This meticulously crafted dystopian soundscapes are engineered to obliterate any dancefloor, heralding the chaos. Handle with caution: this is dangerous material.
The album ignites with intricate drum patterns that thunder like tanks across a barren, icy wasteland, while haunting atmospheric elements loom, setting a menacing tone for the journey ahead.
Next, a feverish descent into robot’s nightmare ensues, where mechanical drum liturgies weave relentless tension, immersing listeners in a post-human auditory realm.
As the odyssey progresses, doom-laden horns and mechanized drums merge to unleash subversive, devastating frequencies.
Just when the intensity seems to peak, filthy analog sine waves bubble through obscurity, pushing the boundaries of industrial techno music to its limits. Annihilation is the word that resonates here.
Closing the chapter, one of Belgium’s finest producers, Peter Adrienssens aka 6SISS, delivers a sinister remix showcasing his hyper-cerebral syncopated signature – bringing the release to another level of chaos.
“Not for the faint-hearted” is no mere euphemism for this EP; it is a stark warning that demands to be heeded. Jean G
