Mutant TG [Digipak]

Performer: Throbbing Gristle
Producer: Throbbing Gristle
Distributor: Caroline Distribution

Notes: Audio Remixers: Carter Tutti; Hedonastik; Simon Ratcliffe; Two Lone Swordsmen; Carl Craig. Remix albums tend to add up to little more than glad-handing in public, just one small notch above the tribute album -- especially when the remixes are made decades after the originals in a vain effort to make a younger generation pay more attention to their heroes' heroes. This release was just one part of an intensive reissue rollout done by Mute during 2003-2004, which also involved a necessary overview of the group's career (The Taste of TG) and two exhausting box sets of live performances (TG24, a CD version of an old live cassette package, and TG+, including the group's last ten shows). Unsurprisingly, Mutant TG isn't much to get excited about. Most of the remixers treat the source material with reverence, though the results are just a little more positive than not. Carl Craig extends "Hot on the Heels of Love"'s ghoulish whip-crack disco to nine minutes, accentuating its pulse and shifting its sounds around just enough to make it stick out from the original. Simon Ratcliffe of Basement Jaxx picks the same track, making it both moodier and more playful by bringing in his own battery of new elements. Two Lone Swordsmen's remix of "United" is another that deserves to be singled out, as it makes the eerie burble of the original more friendly for the dancefloor. ~ Andy Kellman

Throbbing Gristle combined primitive electronics, tape loops, avant-garde techniques, and post-punk energy to create a dark, experimental sound that was a tremendous influence on industrial and electronic music from the 1980s on. They evolved from a mid-'70s London performance-art group, but by 1977 they were committing acts of sonic terrorism on vinyl. After disbanding in the early '80s, they splintered off into Psychic TV and Chris And Cosey, but reunited for a 2004 festival that was put together to pay tribute to Throbbing Gristle's long-lasting influence.

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