Bleep

Five decades ago, the wreckers of civilisation Throbbing Gristle evolved to tear apart any notions of what punk / post-punk / psychedelia / whatever-you-wanna-label-it was meant to sound like, and their third album in 1979 was one of their ultimate, luxurious games. 20 Jazz Funk Greats was designed to confound, by a group who did such things better than any other. In Cosey Fanni Tutti’s words, the unsuspecting listener seeing the deceptively accessible cover “would put it on at home and just get decimated”. The now iconic photo was taken at Beachy Head, hinting at the album’s true contents which are commemorated on the eponymous track where seagulls circle around groaning, eerie tangles of slow boiling guitars.

Yet it’s not a complete bait and switch: gauzy vibraphones resonate across the record, signalling elements of the jazz and funk canon that Throbbing Gristle twist to their own definitions, creating an industrially informed esoteric lounge music that continues to influence new generations of artists to this day. ‘Hot On Heels Of Love’ is “a bit of a spoof” on Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’, its sultry proto-techno qualities coming out in the whipping, sparking snaps and breathy vocals, while quaint vibraphones contrast with all manner of electrical signals.

Even tracks like ‘Walkabout’ are among the biggest and poppiest surprises, a sunny pastoral synth tapestry against the hallucinogenic rush of cut and paste rhythmic discipline. It’s all the more a standout when paired with the blistering array of guitars, noise, and feedback on ‘Convincing People’ creating immense friction against its constant bass pulse, or the title track’s slinky, lurking cornet sighs over slithering beats, whispered spare words, and Southwest Asian inspired piercing high pitched riffs.

20 Jazz Funk Greats contains possibly the greatest recordings from the industrial legends’ discography, and remains a vital piece of 20th-century art that will outlive all its imitators.