Throbbing Gristle
Formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1975, Throbbing Gristle pioneered industrial music with confrontational performances, tape manipulation, transgressive imagery. Chris Carter, Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, and Peter Christopherson founded Industrial Records and defined the genre's aesthetic before disbanding in 1981. Pitchfork later named their 1979 album 20 Jazz Funk Greats the greatest industrial album of all time; FACT called it the best album of the entire 1970s. They reformed in 2004 before Peter Christopherson's death in 2010 ended the project permanently.
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Discography
The Second Annual Report
Industrial Records' first LP, limited to 786 copies in bootleg packaging, established the genre's confrontational aesthetic. Genesis P-Orridge described the making: "We actually rang up William Burroughs and said, 'We want to make this musical project. What would you recommend as a cassette recorder to record on?' And he said, 'A TDK something-something,' which is what he'd been using in London." They recorded it on a table across their Death Factory room, using cut-up techniques to "murder music."
D.o.A: The Third and Final Report
Continued TG's exploration of tape manipulation and transgressive themes, solidifying their position as industrial pioneers. The album's title—Death of Art—announced their intention to dismantle traditional musical structures. Chris Carter's homemade electronics and Peter Christopherson's tape manipulations created textures that sounded like machinery eating itself.
20 Jazz Funk Greats
Ironically titled album subverted expectations with disturbing content beneath accessible surfaces. Pitchfork later named it the greatest industrial album of all time; FACT called it the best album of the entire 1970s. The cover showed the band photographed at Beachy Head, a notorious suicide spot, dressed in casual clothes that made them look like a funk band. The music inside was anything but.