The unfortunate passing of member Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson back in November 2010 all but solidified the permanent demise of Throbbing Gristle itself. Genesis P-Orridge had already sworn off touring with the band just weeks prior, and Desertshore, an interpretation of Nico’s album by the same name, was a project buoyed principally by Sleazy himself, as Chris Carter notes in an interview with The Quietus: “When we started it, the three of us [Chris, Cosey Fanni Tutti, and Sleazy] were working on it together, but it was his concept and he came up with a lot of the tracks… It was Sleazy’s project, then Cosey and Sleazy’s, then I came in on it.” It wasn’t until roughly March of last year that Chris and Cosey decided to officially revive Desertshore, and as the likely period to TG’s deeply influential history, the album is filled with an impressive list of guest vocalists.
Among those contributing their oral talents on Desertshore are Antony Hegarty (appearing on the track “Janitor of Lunacy”), Blixa Bargeld (on “Abschied”), and Argentine director Gasper Noé (on “Le Petit Chevalier”). Given Bargeld’s own three-decade long involvement in the German industrial scene, his presence is perhaps not entirely eyebrow-raising, but any fan of Throbbing Gristle (or Nico, for that matter) should be duly excited not only to hear what these guest vocalists have to offer, but also a clue to what the end result will be of a project regarded initially by Chris as “quite odd,” and bearing little resemblance to anything that TG or Coil have released before. Almost certainly, this will be one of the most provocative, noteworthy albums of the year.
• Throbbing Gristle: http://www.throbbing-gristle.com
• Industrial: http://www.industrial-records.com