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‘Origins’: Chris Carter of Throbbing Gristle talks about his formative years in music
12.27.2018
08:10 am
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Portrait of Chris Carter by Plastic Crimewave (via Lush)

After the fashion of The United States Steel Hour and General Electric Theater, the cosmetics retailer Lush provides a whole mess of branded “lifestyle content” through its multimedia netwebs player. I have no use for most of their programming; then again, I’m not exactly their ideal customer. However, Chris Carter, the soft-spoken electronics whiz whose analog synthesizers and ingenious gadgets made up so much of Throbbing Gristle’s and Chris & Cosey’s sound, is the guest on the most recent episode of “Origins,” and Chris Carter can have access to my nervous system whenever he likes. Just put the dishes in the sink and leave the key under the mat before you go, Chris.

He talks about his early enthusiasm for the Nice, Genesis, and Van der Graaf Generator, though he says the really pivotal moment was seeing Pink Floyd’s light show on acid at Fishmongers Arms. That inspired him and his friend (another Chris) to start their own light show, which soon illuminated Yes and Hawkwind in live performance. He also discusses his first experiments with tapes, crystal radios and circuits, and his first solo show, Waveforms.

The occasion for the interview is Carter’s retrospective box set Miscellany, which includes the albums Mondo Beat, Disobedient and Small Moon, along with a disc of previously unreleased solo material from the seventies. Earlier this year, he also released an (excellent) new album, Chemistry Lessons Volume One, and a related EP, Coursework. Enjoy.
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
A Dangerous Minds exclusive: Carter Tutti Void talk about their new album, ‘f(x)’

Posted by Oliver Hall
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12.27.2018
08:10 am
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An incredible video of Throbbing Gristle: Recording their album ‘Heathen Earth’

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An incredible video of Throbbing Gristle recording their album Heathen Earth in one take, on a Saturday night between 20.10 and 21.00 hours, on February 16th 1980. The album was recorded in front of a small audience of friends and associates, at the Industrial Records studios, and was filmed by Monte Cazazza on a single camera, with “certain visual information” included by TG.

“The soundtrack of this tape was taken independant of the 8-track audio master recording and it remains ‘live’ and unremixed and consequently differs from the album in some places. Like the TG sound itself, the quality and content of this recording cannot and should not be compared with conventional commercial recordings…”

Tracklisting: as provided by Genesis P-Orridge:

01. “Cornets” (that’s all we ever called it on gig sheets etc, boring hey!)

02. “The Old Man Smiled” (this is a song I wrote. Originally I was messing about on my own in the Death Factory, at Martello St. I got a rhythm I liked on my COMPURYTHM drumachine. Then a fuzzed lead bass guitar sound. So I recorded it. Maybe 15 minutes or so. One section made it onto 20 Jazz Funk Greats as “Six Six Sixties” I believe. But I always wanted a longer version. So after I came up with a story telling lyric primarily about William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin in Tangiers and their stories of Captain Clark, boys etc I decided to do the NEW song on Heathen Earth. We did it live a couple of times too. At Oundle School for eg.) For Heathen Earth we used my original cassette as the basic track.

03. “After Cease To Exist” (yes, a new version for Heathen Earth)

04. “The World Is A War Film”

05. “Dreamachine” (Brion Gysin LOVED this track. Said it was best music, equal with The Master Musicians Of Jajouka to use his dreamachine. The rhythm had already existed (one of Chris Carter’s gems). So I always think happy thoughts of Brion, Bachir Attar and others listening with eyes closed in Paris at his apartment opposite the Beaubourg Museum in Rue St Martin. Ah, happy daze.)

06. “Still Walking” (A permutation of ‘meaningless’ phrases cooked up by myself and Sleazy, that were repeated over and over as the musics rythm gave shape to the shapeless. Chris and Cosey were shy of vocals at that time. It was partly a formula to get them to begin using their voices that I suggested based on Gysin’s theories and my own experiences of gaining confidence with microphones simply by using them.)

07. “Don’t Do As You’re Told, Do As You Think” (To be honest I think this is the weakest vocal track and lyric. Someone, a journalist or Sleazy or both suggested we should have a “positive” message! Ugh! Certainly Sleazy persuaded me to try and this is the resultant track. I still find it embarassing and wish I’d never listened to him. It would have been better as an instrumental. Ah well…)

08. “Painless Childbirth” (Named after a 10 inch vinyl album I found in a junk shop from which the voice was stolen.)

A great video of a brilliant performance by an excellent band.
 

 

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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10.04.2012
07:09 pm
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Inside the home studio of Chris & Cosey with Electric Independence

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A new episode of Electric Independence has gone online at VBS.tv, and it features an excellent interview with Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti (aka Carter-Tutti/Chris & Cosey) seminal electronic musicians and one half of Throbbing Gristle.  We find out how the couple met, how they were introduced to electronic music and their life in (and after) Throbbing Gristle. Gear heads are also in for a treat as the duo talk about the synths and equipment they use and have used, including some rare home made synths by Carter. It’s also heartening to see them keeping bang up to date with technology, including the use of Kaoss pads and BC8 synths, and recording their music with Ableton Live on a MacBook.
 

 
Previously on DM:
Happy Birthday Chris Carter: ‘The Spaces Between’ LP re-issue

Posted by Niall O'Conghaile
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04.11.2011
08:00 pm
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Happy Birthday Chris Carter: ‘The Spaces Between’ LP re-issue

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Founding member (along with his partner Cosey Fanni Tutti) of Throbbing Gristle and Chris & Cosey (now Carter Tutti), inventor of the Gristleizer and seminal influence on both the electronic and industrial scenes, today is Chris Carter’s birthday.

Which gives me the perfect excuse to mention his recent The Spaces Between album re-issue. His first ever solo album, it was originally released in 1980 on cassette only. In 2010 it was issued on vinyl for the first time ever by Optimo Music (the same Optimo who supplied the excellent ambient-not-ambient mix I posted at the start of the week). It has been trimmed down from 15 tracks to 6, and now includes the track “Climbing” which was not on the original album.

Here’s what Optimo Music have to say:

Originally recorded between 1974 and 1978 at Industrial Records studio in London ‘The Space Between’ album was first released as a 90 minute cassette in 1980 on Throbbing Gristle’s Industrial Records label. It wasn’t until 1991 that it was again released by Mute Records on CD. Although tracks from ‘The Space Between’ have appeared on numerous compilations since its release, the album has never been available on vinyl until now.

This new vinyl edition on Optimo Music, now retitled ‘The Spaces Between’, doesn’t include all the tracks of the original album but has been enhanced and remastered from the original two-track master tapes and has new cover artwork especially for this release. All tracks have been remastered by Chris Carter in 2009 for this release.

Chris Carter - Interloop
 

 
Chris Carter - Solidit

 

 
The Spaces Between is available to buy on vinyl and download from Boomkat in the UK. Chris & Cosey are in the middle of re-issuing their back catalog too, but I will save that for another post.

Posted by Niall O'Conghaile
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01.28.2011
08:31 am
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R.I.P. Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson 1955-2010

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Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson, founding member of Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, and Coil, died in his sleep yesterday, 24 November, at his home in Thailand, he was 55.

The initial announcement was made by Throbbing Gristle members Cosey Fanni Tutti and Chris Carter who tweeted the same message:

Our dearest beautiful Sleazy left this mortal coil as he slept in peace last night.words cannot express our grief.

Throbbing Gristle’s official website has been updated with the message

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.


Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson

1955 - 2010


 

 

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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11.25.2010
09:08 am
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X-TG carry on

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The question of whether or not Genesis Breyer P-Orridge has quit Throbbing Gristle remains not fully answered. Despite Thee Deevelopment, TGers Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson, Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti have gone on to fulfill their early-November live TG obligations in Italy and Portugal as X-TG. The group has uploaded some media from those shows on their new site.

P-Orridge’s ambivalent statement on the matter was offset by “Unkle Sleazy’s” take, and there’s likely debate as to how much value a P-Orridge-less TG holds. I’d think the excerpts below from the two shows speak for themselves.
 

  X-TG ‘XPad’ Live at Porto Casa Musica by Industrial Records
 

 

Posted by Ron Nachmann
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11.14.2010
07:49 pm
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The Dirty Carter Experimental Sound Generating Instrument
10.08.2010
10:19 am
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Throbbing Gristle’s Chris Carter puts a new audio device in his high tech arsenal through the paces:

The Dirty-Carter Experimental Sound Generating Instrument uses a dual 4-stage shift register. Each register is controlled independently. Two oscillators are used per register: one as a clock, the other as input data that is cascaded through the four stages. The outputs from the stages are mixed together. A fast clock rate produces a crude form of wavetable synthesis, whilst a slow clock rate creates audible pulses and clicks. The clock speed and the data input’s frequency are controlled by touch electrodes/pads. By tilting the instrument, sound from both the 4-stage shift registers can be mixed together. Glitchy noise, deep drones and percussive peeps!

Posted by Richard Metzger
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10.08.2010
10:19 am
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