photos by Greg Cristman

"OUR DEAR AND HEARTLOVED COUMPANION IN CREATION...Peter Martin "Sleazy" Christopherson, who chose to drop his body on November 24th 2010, laid at rest and then was cremated in Bangkok 7 days later. We feel consoled and comforted to know that another very dear friend BEE (who lives in Bangkok) was able to be there, as was JENKS.

Apart from participating in the vigil as loving representatives of us all, Bee took these photographs as a memorial document. In our grief, we naturally crave evidence to fulfill our inescapable need to believe something that seems to be an irreversible finality cannot TRULY be so. And, of course, our gift from Sleazy is one we can see all around us. Thousands of flowerings of empathy and love. Each of us taking that facet of Sleazy that is most precious to our personal understanding of him and amplifying it within our own mind, through Creation, adding our own frequencies to those of Sleazy so that his most favorite of Nature's elements may grow ever brighter, ever purer and ever whiter...LIGHT! -BREYER P-ORRIDGE nyc 2010

Genesis P-Orridge posted the above-quoted update/tribute about her Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV band-mate Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson (RIP) to her website recently. Go there to see the photographs and read the complete eulogy.

Though "Sleazy" and Genesis were playing together again recently in TG, Christpherson hasn't been a member of PTV since the 80's, so though there was no denying Pete's spirit was in the air Thursday night at Europa (12/09), and that Genesis is affected by his passing, it was business as usual for Psychic TV at their lone-US show for 2010.

Psychic TV did have a new guitarist named Jeff Berner though, and he played an impressive and extended solo on "Maggot Brain", one of six songs the Genesis-led group played over two hours. The full setlist is below.

Beaut, 4th Sign Of The Apocalypse (featuring Bryin Dall of Thee Majesty) and Ariana Reines opened the show. Ariana did a brief acoustic set followed by a vulgar spoken word set that most people were talking through. She screamed at people to shut up, but most people ignored her.

More pictures and setlists from the show are below...

Continue reading "Psychic TV played Europa (pics & setlist) "

Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson (1955 - 2010) (photo by Greg Cristman)

Throbbing Gristle sadly report:

We are saddened to announce the death of Peter Christopherson.
Sleazy passed away peacefully in his sleep on the
24th November 2010 at his home in Bankok.

Chris Carter also tweeted, "Our dearest beautiful Sleazy left this mortal coil as he slept in peace last night. Words cannot express our grief." RIP Sleazy.

Throbbing Gristle recently ended a tour early, but were still scheduled to play ATP's upcoming The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Throbbing Gristle played multiple NYC reunion shows in 2009. Those were at Le Poisson Rouge and Brooklyn Masonic Temple (more than once).

words & photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

Judging from the comments generated by their Thursday night Brooklyn show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple, Throbbing Gristle succeeded in leaving fans, gawkers and devotees with a sense of being f'd with, which is quite in-line with their history and reputation of subversive, antagonistic, repulsive, turn-the-concept-inside-out performance art. Friday night's show at Le Poisson Rouge had an air of menace, but really turned out to be a straight ahead show, "a single set of material from throughout their history'".

Once again, the announced show time was early, 7PM with doors a half hour earlier.

The security was spooked into a state of tension, when I went in to the main room I was both welcomed and warned "enjoy ... but behave yourself." The crowd was thin at 6:45, but by 7:30 it had filled in and we were all facing the stage, waiting for the show, wondering when it would start (but maybe this was the 'show'). Several of the people around me in the crowd had been to the Brooklyn show the night before and were more than happy to take it all in again.

TG came on about 8. A large security guard stood at the right side of the stage and the band's manager was perched on the left. Really there was no incident besides the music, though my friend Ryan reported being deliberately kneed in the head by a weirdo fan.

The set was nearly identical to the second set from the first night. Genesis P-Orridge recited lyrics with a magnetic/repulsive presence, darkly removed, but engaging- sometimes contributing to the noise with an electric violin and processed bass. Chris Carter provided most of the sonic structure of the music emitting the minimal beats from his laptop and layering additional sounds generated and manipulated by custom made electronic devices.

Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson sat opposite Carter in a cow hide robe fiddling with synthesizers and other custom made gadgets. His casual but focused demeanor (plus the robe) made him look like someone sitting down to do the Sunday crossword puzzle. Last but not least Cosey manipulated a headless guitar with a slide and laptop, switching to pocket trumpet played with both hands on the valves.

Musically, the sound was dark and rich, all members layering their sounds carefully on top of each other. After about an hour they left the stage and did not return for an encore.

Last night (4/19) they performed at the Coachella Music Festival. Next is San Francisco. Then comes Chicago, and then Brooklyn Masonic Temple again for a 3rd and final NYC show. More pictures from Le Poisson Rouge below...

Continue reading "Throbbing Gristle @ Le Poisson Rouge in NYC - pics "

by Black Bubblegum

P-Orridge, Carter, Tutti, and Christopherson circa 1978

Throbbing Gristle, the confrontational pioneers of industrial music, have scheduled their FIRST EVER NYC area show (!) at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple on April 16th, just three days before the band ships out to the desert to play Coachella along with Morrissey & Paul McCartney. Hmmm... Paul McCartney and Throbbing Gristle playing the same show. Interesting.

Tickets for the NYC show go on sale TODAY (2/2) at 3PM.

For those of you that may need it, here's a little Throbbing Gristle learn for ya:

Abrasive, aggressive, and antagonistic, Britain's Throbbing Gristle pioneered industrial music; exploring death, mutilation, fascism, and degradation amid a thunderous cacophony of mechanical noise, tape loops, extremist anti-melodies, and bludgeoning beats, the group's cultural terrorism -- the "wreckers of civilization," one tabloid called them -- raised the stakes of artistic confrontation to new heights, combating all notions of commerciality and good taste with a maniacal fervor.

Formed in London in the autumn of 1975, Throbbing Gristle consisted of vocalist/ringleader Genesis P-Orridge, his then-lover, guitarist Cosey Fanni Tutti, tape manipulator Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson, and keyboardist Chris Carter....

Upon forming their own label, Industrial, the group issued their introductory release, The Best of Throbbing Gristle, Vol. 2, in 1976. A full-length debut, The Second Annual Report of Throbbing Gristle, followed in 1977, in a pressing of only 500 copies; bowing to fan demand, the record was later reissued -- cut from a master tape played backward...

20 Jazz Funk Greats, a harsh electro-pop outing, followed a year later, and after 1980's live-in-the-studio Heathen Earth, Throbbing Gristle called it quits. P-Orridge and Christopherson soon formed Psychic TV (though Christopherson split again to form Coil), while the remaining duo continued on as Chris & Cosey... Throbbing Gristle reunited during the early 2000s for performances, and released Part Two: Endless Not, their first album in 25 years, in 2007. -[allmusic]

Throbbing Gristle recently issued The Thirty-Second Annual Report of Throbbing Gristle on their own Industrial Records imprint ("This 12" 180gm vinyl LP comprises a recording of Throbbing Gristle's live demonstration at La Villette in Paris on 6th June 2008 at which they performed a reinterpretation of their original album."). The limited-to-777 LP comes framed and is up for sale at their website for £120 + shipping. Pick that up here.

TG have also collaborated with sculptor Cerith Wyn Evans on A=p=p=a=r=i=t=i=o=n, "large sculpture incorporating 16 suspended and highly polished circular Audio Spotlight panels". This art exhibition, which recently closed in Yokohama but is searching for a new home in 2009, had the band providing a "special multi-channel soundtrack that plays back through the sculpture". More details can be found here.

Peter Christophersen recently played the Brainwaves Festival in Boston with Silver Apples, Matmos, Stars Of The Lid, Marissa Nadler, and many others. Drew Daniel (of Matmos) wrote a book for the 33 1/3 series profiling Throbbing Gristle's 20 Jazz Funk Greats.

Psychic TV played their most recent NYC show at Europa in November. Genesis also performed two shows with Tony Conrad at Issue Project Room in January.

Throbbing Gristle videos below...

Continue reading "Throbbing Gristle playing NYC & Coachella, issue limited LP"

by Black Bubblegum

I used to take took the infamous Chinatown bus from NYC to Boston all the time, but one ride was particularly memorable. I was sitting in the back of a full bus. There were no more seats, but then one more passenger wanted to get on, so the driver told this passenger to wait a minute and proceeded to put a lawn chair for them in the aisle...

Where am I going with this? Well, the Brainwaves Festival taking place at the Regent Theatre in Boston this weekend is a good reason to risk sitting in a lawn chair.

Two years ago, [Brainwashed's Jon] Whitney [that's not him in the picture] took on the role of concert promoter in a big way when he organized Brainwaves, an expansive, three-day festival of Brainwashed-related music and video. True to form, it was a monstrously ambitious undertaking.

"Brainwashed was 10 years old. For 10 years it hadn't really made any sense, so why not do a festival that didn't make sense? You know, we needed a party! And though it was two years in the making, all the work was worth it, since we eventually came up with a great group of musicians." [The Phoenix]

This year's eclectic, experimental lineup includes Matmos, Meat Beat Manifesto, Silver Apples, Stars of the Lid along with a day dedicated to Kranky, Major Stars,JG Thirlwell's Manorexia, Gary Wilson, Marisa Nadler (who started a new blog), and one bonafide legend in Peter Christopherson [that's him in the picture above], founder of Psychic TV, Throbbing Gristle, Coil, and the performing Threshold HouseBoys Choir (the latter is the one billed as playing the fest). Christopherson recently told TinyMixTapes he is retiring THBC, so this is your last shot to see him live before he retires to his home in Thailand. Tickets are still available, and check the festival's site for more travel and lodging options.

A few of the festival participants have hit or will be hitting NYC this week as well... Silver Apples will be in NYC with Grails (but not Flower Travellin' Band, who postponed), To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie and Boduf Songs play Pianos and the Annex, Meat Beat Manifesto played Bowery Ballroom Wednesday, and Stars Of The Lid   will play a pair of shows at Le Poisson Rouge while they're on this coast.

Psychic TV (sans Christophersen) recently played Europa. The full Brainwaves lineup is below...

Continue reading "2008 Brainwaves Festival (this Fri-Sun in Boston) w/ Peter Christopherson, Matmos, Major Stars, SOTL, more"