Without context, Throbbing Gristle’s third studio album may sound fucking weird, but in fact, this record is so ahead of its time that many people ended up enjoying it for the wrong reasons, thanks to the placid album sleeve and somewhat-accessible synthpop numbers peppering passages of discordant industrial noise. All an elaborate piss-take from the members of TG (if you knew what kind of sordid shit they were up to in the preceding years, you'll see what I mean), their 3rd album 20 Jazz Funk Greats was dressed to make it look like a garden variety jazz-funk compilation you might pick up in a department store - from the rented Range Rover on the back cover to the square outfits adorned by the band members on the front. But there’s something sinister lurking just beyond those grassy cliffs in the background (Beachy Head is actually a popular suicide destination on the south coast of England), and after a full rotation you’ll notice 20JFG only consists of 11 tracks, not 20, and doesn’t actually contain any jazz-funk music whatsoever. Highlights include the stripped down proto-techno of "Hot On The Heels Of Love," the creepily smoked out title track, the grinding rhythms of "Still Walking," the arpeggio kosmische of "Walkabout" and the dissonant post-punk bossa nova of "Six Six Sixties." Controversially named the best album of the 1970s by FACT magazine, despite only being released in the last month of the decade, 20JFG has been hugely influential in the work of Joy Division, Carl Craig, Marilyn Manson, as well as providing the framework for TG offshoots Psychic TV, Chris & Cosey and Coil. Deluxe Mute reissue with 8-page full-color booklet, remastered by Chris Carter. Recommended.

• black vinyl pressing
• remastered by Chris Carter
• includes 8 page full-color booklet
• original release year: 1979
• music label: Mute 2017

reviewed by hannibal chew 12/2017