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33⅓ Main Series #54
20 Jazz Funk Greats
In 20 Jazz Funk Greats Drew Daniel (of the experimental band Matmos) creates-through both his own insights and exclusive interviews with the band-an exploded view of the album's multiple a series of close readings of each song, shot through with a sequence of thematic entries on key concepts, strategies, and contexts (noise, leisure, process, the abject, information, and repetition). This is a smart and unusual book about a pioneering band.
176 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 2007
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November 27, 2025
Of all the albums we call "industrial" these days, this one is probably the most influential. Not much needs to be said about this record that isn't already known by industrial lovers, but for those who are just getting into this branch of music, this is one to know. Everything about Throbbing Gristle's seminal "20 Jazz Funk Greats" is designed to blur the lines of genre and to subvert expectations--from the cover photography, to the album title, to the tracks themselves.
In this edition of the 33 1/3 series of record reviews, Drew Daniel dives in deep by interviewing all the members of Throbbing Gristle (before we lost Gen and Sleazy) on their recollections of making this great masterpiece.
Needless to say, this is my favorite TG album. It is not my favorite industrial album, but it is the reason we have Industrial as a musical genre today. Without this band, Industrial would only exist as an unnamed and unrecognized muse influencing certain sounds of underground experimental electronics. Without "20 Jazz Funk Greats", industrial would have never been able to reach audiences outside of a niche DIY cassette culture to be the diverse global phenomenon it became.
Drew Daniel explores the major themes of the album, some of the production and equipment specifics, and even hidden references and inspirations that influenced the album, even down to the choice of cover.
For example, "Jazz Funk" is one of those albums that you may have stumbled across shopping at a department store in the 70s. I can certainly see someone like my mother buying this thing, and then wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into. And that was the point. Sleazy's design for the cover represents the sonic material perfectly. With the band in their best kitschy lounge-wear, they capture the look of 50s and 60s pop and lounge. While Gen sites Martin Denny and Abba as influences for their consumer friendly cover, I also detect a whiff of Manfred Mann and sunshine pop. I also would not discount a contributory degree of nostalgia to the design choice, as pointed out by Jean-Pierre Turmel. There is something inherent in Industrial that yearns for a more innocent time, if not all together a return to an age of magic, campfires, and drum circles. It's not ironic that the founder of the Sordide Sentimentale label found a sordid sentimentality within this album.
I won't go into the details of Daniel's analysis, but I do want to illustrate an example of the music itself, and the kinds of discussions it generates in this book. The eponymous track ("20 Jazz Funk Greats") was a late addition to the album set, an attempt at further justification for the title and cover, though I don't think it was necessary. It didn't ease the shock of what lay ahead. However, the themes of jazz and funk, even if initially conceived as a joke, are integral to this new industrial music to which TG placed their stamp, a distortion of free improvisation from a single sonic conception. To modern listeners, it will be apparent that the eponymous opener is a jazz parody, but for audiences in 1979 who may have truly been expecting anything from easy listening to white-boy-Funkadelic, it quickly leads to questions. Sleazy provides vocals by mimicking jazz club response tokens of "Nice..." and "Yeah... jazz...", while minimalist bass synth and Cosey's cornet weave a dreamy, barbiturate-soaked noisescape. The track is decidedly cheesy, or more like spoiled milk, and the listener is unsure whether the band really knows what jazz is or if they are making a statement about the obsolete affectations of goateed beatniks in turtlenecks and berets. Both industrial and punk would flirt with the funkier side of music for further inspiration, as we will see with the work of Adrian Sherwood, 23 Skidoo, and Stephen Mallinder, but TG's take on funk has more of a funny smell than a sexy groove.
Each track flits between disconcerting noise experiments to more accessible minimal synth numbers like Cosey's sensually whispered "Hot on the Heels of Love", with its melodic sequences and hypnotic 4/4 beat in the vein of Italo-disco, the song that probably upset established TG fans of the time as a potential sign of sellout. So everything here feels truly dangerous, even when the band is trying to not explicitly turn the listener off.
For me, what is remarkable about this album is how much TG tried to not sound like themselves. We will see this again with their "Journey Through a Body" album, but this is the first time they completely shed their live repertoire and made something completely unique, both in terms of general music and their own work. In fact, some established TG fans had a similar reaction to the normies expecting a pop record. Instead of the horrirific evil of "Slug Bait", the putrid rubbernecking of "Hamburger Lady", and the real-life sociopathy of "Very Friendly", they were hit with songs that were more pop than evil.
I remember long enough ago when this record was maligned and misunderstood among self-proclaimed TG enthusiasts. My earliest experiences with TG were from their live tapes that were copied and bootlegged by a kid in my neighborhood. My first live TG cassette, and still my favorite to this day, was their "Live at the Rat Club / Valentino Rooms". I hadn't heard "20 Jazz Funk Greats" until I was into my twenties. By that point, I was very used to bands having different styles on different albums, and I actually expected it. I questioned the talent of those artists who were too "consistent" with their sound over the course of their careers. Therefore, this album did not seem like a betrayal, a sell-out, or a joke. I actually understood it as a band with integrity that were taking care to avoid being a purveyor of product, churning out countless reiterations of the same TG standards and the same TG schtick. For me, TG was a warning to not identify yourself too closely with any specific music scene. To do so would be to act as ridiculous as a hipster with a beret and turtleneck saying, "Cool, Daddy-O! Jazz! Yeah!" Identifying too strongly with any group is to submit. It is ironic that Gen would become, in my opinion, a cult leader, and that hundreds of artists who listened to the TG message did very much fall into the trap of control by particular political ideologies as they did by industrial fashion and culture.
However, this album did not contribute to any of those developments. Rather, it cemented an attitude of experimental edginess as an entirely new tradition and culture in itself that would go on to be as influential as its older sister, punk, in the annals of music history. Unlike punk, which set out to strip rock to its roots, TG were not redefining any established genre. Though they borrowed their tools from Fluxus, krautrock, Burroughs cut-up poetry, and electroacoustic experimental music, they ended up creating something in a league of its own. Thus, they kicked off a wave of artists who wanted to copy their sound, and thus is indirectly responsible for years of industrial stereotypes, both for better and for worse.
Yet, "20 Jazz Funk Greats" also is so completely its own thing that even seasoned industrial listeners struggle with identifying these tracks as "industrial". Regardless, if ever there was such a thing as essential listening in Industrial music, this album is it. If you are already a fan of this album, you need to check out this book. If you've never heard it (or even if you never heard OF it), then the book might inspire you to give this important part of music history a serious try.
SCORE: 5 beachy heads out of 5
In this edition of the 33 1/3 series of record reviews, Drew Daniel dives in deep by interviewing all the members of Throbbing Gristle (before we lost Gen and Sleazy) on their recollections of making this great masterpiece.
Needless to say, this is my favorite TG album. It is not my favorite industrial album, but it is the reason we have Industrial as a musical genre today. Without this band, Industrial would only exist as an unnamed and unrecognized muse influencing certain sounds of underground experimental electronics. Without "20 Jazz Funk Greats", industrial would have never been able to reach audiences outside of a niche DIY cassette culture to be the diverse global phenomenon it became.
Drew Daniel explores the major themes of the album, some of the production and equipment specifics, and even hidden references and inspirations that influenced the album, even down to the choice of cover.
For example, "Jazz Funk" is one of those albums that you may have stumbled across shopping at a department store in the 70s. I can certainly see someone like my mother buying this thing, and then wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into. And that was the point. Sleazy's design for the cover represents the sonic material perfectly. With the band in their best kitschy lounge-wear, they capture the look of 50s and 60s pop and lounge. While Gen sites Martin Denny and Abba as influences for their consumer friendly cover, I also detect a whiff of Manfred Mann and sunshine pop. I also would not discount a contributory degree of nostalgia to the design choice, as pointed out by Jean-Pierre Turmel. There is something inherent in Industrial that yearns for a more innocent time, if not all together a return to an age of magic, campfires, and drum circles. It's not ironic that the founder of the Sordide Sentimentale label found a sordid sentimentality within this album.
I won't go into the details of Daniel's analysis, but I do want to illustrate an example of the music itself, and the kinds of discussions it generates in this book. The eponymous track ("20 Jazz Funk Greats") was a late addition to the album set, an attempt at further justification for the title and cover, though I don't think it was necessary. It didn't ease the shock of what lay ahead. However, the themes of jazz and funk, even if initially conceived as a joke, are integral to this new industrial music to which TG placed their stamp, a distortion of free improvisation from a single sonic conception. To modern listeners, it will be apparent that the eponymous opener is a jazz parody, but for audiences in 1979 who may have truly been expecting anything from easy listening to white-boy-Funkadelic, it quickly leads to questions. Sleazy provides vocals by mimicking jazz club response tokens of "Nice..." and "Yeah... jazz...", while minimalist bass synth and Cosey's cornet weave a dreamy, barbiturate-soaked noisescape. The track is decidedly cheesy, or more like spoiled milk, and the listener is unsure whether the band really knows what jazz is or if they are making a statement about the obsolete affectations of goateed beatniks in turtlenecks and berets. Both industrial and punk would flirt with the funkier side of music for further inspiration, as we will see with the work of Adrian Sherwood, 23 Skidoo, and Stephen Mallinder, but TG's take on funk has more of a funny smell than a sexy groove.
Each track flits between disconcerting noise experiments to more accessible minimal synth numbers like Cosey's sensually whispered "Hot on the Heels of Love", with its melodic sequences and hypnotic 4/4 beat in the vein of Italo-disco, the song that probably upset established TG fans of the time as a potential sign of sellout. So everything here feels truly dangerous, even when the band is trying to not explicitly turn the listener off.
For me, what is remarkable about this album is how much TG tried to not sound like themselves. We will see this again with their "Journey Through a Body" album, but this is the first time they completely shed their live repertoire and made something completely unique, both in terms of general music and their own work. In fact, some established TG fans had a similar reaction to the normies expecting a pop record. Instead of the horrirific evil of "Slug Bait", the putrid rubbernecking of "Hamburger Lady", and the real-life sociopathy of "Very Friendly", they were hit with songs that were more pop than evil.
I remember long enough ago when this record was maligned and misunderstood among self-proclaimed TG enthusiasts. My earliest experiences with TG were from their live tapes that were copied and bootlegged by a kid in my neighborhood. My first live TG cassette, and still my favorite to this day, was their "Live at the Rat Club / Valentino Rooms". I hadn't heard "20 Jazz Funk Greats" until I was into my twenties. By that point, I was very used to bands having different styles on different albums, and I actually expected it. I questioned the talent of those artists who were too "consistent" with their sound over the course of their careers. Therefore, this album did not seem like a betrayal, a sell-out, or a joke. I actually understood it as a band with integrity that were taking care to avoid being a purveyor of product, churning out countless reiterations of the same TG standards and the same TG schtick. For me, TG was a warning to not identify yourself too closely with any specific music scene. To do so would be to act as ridiculous as a hipster with a beret and turtleneck saying, "Cool, Daddy-O! Jazz! Yeah!" Identifying too strongly with any group is to submit. It is ironic that Gen would become, in my opinion, a cult leader, and that hundreds of artists who listened to the TG message did very much fall into the trap of control by particular political ideologies as they did by industrial fashion and culture.
However, this album did not contribute to any of those developments. Rather, it cemented an attitude of experimental edginess as an entirely new tradition and culture in itself that would go on to be as influential as its older sister, punk, in the annals of music history. Unlike punk, which set out to strip rock to its roots, TG were not redefining any established genre. Though they borrowed their tools from Fluxus, krautrock, Burroughs cut-up poetry, and electroacoustic experimental music, they ended up creating something in a league of its own. Thus, they kicked off a wave of artists who wanted to copy their sound, and thus is indirectly responsible for years of industrial stereotypes, both for better and for worse.
Yet, "20 Jazz Funk Greats" also is so completely its own thing that even seasoned industrial listeners struggle with identifying these tracks as "industrial". Regardless, if ever there was such a thing as essential listening in Industrial music, this album is it. If you are already a fan of this album, you need to check out this book. If you've never heard it (or even if you never heard OF it), then the book might inspire you to give this important part of music history a serious try.
SCORE: 5 beachy heads out of 5
June 4, 2015
A track by track breakdown of one of the most subversive and disappointing albums in the annals of 70s/80s electronic music, this is one half of Matmos writing about his experiences with the album prerelease and its overall impact on various styles of dance/music at release. Each chapter is similar: a brief explanation of the sounds and then an interview from each member of the band discussing said song. Details of the mythology are broached and sometimes requited, though the voltage used in the Gristle-izer guitar rig as well as the secret attack word for Gen's dog Tanith, remain mystical legend. The two longest chapters are "Convincing People," which frames the song in Britain's then nascent Tory party's political genesis, and "Persuasion," the most interesting write-up in the book, using Cosey's pornographic past and Gen's then-future amorphous gender bending to question the band about their responsibility to each other w/r/t rape, torture and perceived pedophaelic fantasies. Daniel's claim from Hegarty (Noise/Music: A History) that noise must "constantly be failing to be noise," perfectly nails just how and why they changed from D.o.A. to this album and how each genre exercise was perfectly constructed not in writing but in album sequence (the fact that the writer uses things like "Beachy Head" in playlists of "real" jazz-funk highlights this associative trait). Its an album that failed in almost every way at release but has become more accepted with time. Like a lot of good art.
October 15, 2008
Drew Daniel's analysis of Throbbing Gristle's third LP is astonishingly serious and focused. Really-- chapters of this book could be journal articles on the aesthetics of popular music with just a little expansion. This focus makes the book stand out from others in the 33 1/3 series that I've read (the Pink Floyd one, the Kinks one, the Sonic Youth one (was awful[ly pretentious])). Many of the other volumes in the series really are little more than extensive liner notes, or just standard rock journalism: he said.., she said.., X came out in year Y, critics [hated/loved] it. Today it's hailed as a classic, etc.
Daniel is one half of Matmos and a professor of English at Johns Hopkins. Yeah. Regardless of the value of Throbbing Gristle's music, which the band members are quite capable of explaining in aesthetic terms, this book is worth a read as an example of Daniel's unremitting commitment to the subject matter, and to saying something substantive about it without laying down facile, argument-free claims. Partially because TG are so committed to the meaning of their own work, i.e., that it has a meaning however knotty, it is fascinating to see Daniel go to work on the artists own claims about the work's meaning, neither disregarding these claims nor playing apologist for them.
Daniel is one half of Matmos and a professor of English at Johns Hopkins. Yeah. Regardless of the value of Throbbing Gristle's music, which the band members are quite capable of explaining in aesthetic terms, this book is worth a read as an example of Daniel's unremitting commitment to the subject matter, and to saying something substantive about it without laying down facile, argument-free claims. Partially because TG are so committed to the meaning of their own work, i.e., that it has a meaning however knotty, it is fascinating to see Daniel go to work on the artists own claims about the work's meaning, neither disregarding these claims nor playing apologist for them.
June 12, 2017
Throbbing Gristle were my Beatles. (So were the Beatles, but that's a different story.) They meant (and still mean) the world to me. Those first five albums are etched deeply into my brain, and I consider the four members of the group (Chris, Cosey, Gen, Sleazy) to be superheroes. It's hard to put it any other way. Breaking through the initial revulsion to fully tap into their ugly, beautiful power was one of the most rewarding challenges of my listening life, and I still remember those days when songs like "Subhuman" and "Hit With A Rock" went from being torture to vitamins. They played pranks, they challenged you to like them, they pushed you to the edge, and once you got there, they chastised you for being such a pervert.
For the dozens of times I've listened to those albums, they retain a lot of their mystery. Drew Daniel (of Matmos) admits as such, though he also draws the curtains back via interviews with all four members and loads of his own commentary. He talks himselfs into rhetorical circles with the critique of the song "Persuasion," which seems to be about persuading others to do your will, but also about the failure of persuasion, but also about heteronormative persuasion techniques, but also a critique of that, etc. etc. As a result, he gives short shrift to "What A Day" ("Gen in lager lad mode") and "Six Six Sixties" (speaking only of the seance elements) while earnestly trying to decide if TG really *is* "jazz funk" after all. He follows all of his arguments through clearly and cleanly (as one would expect for a writer of his profession...he's an English professor), and you're free to accept or reject them as desired. I agree with him that "20 Jazz Funk Greats" was a thoughtful and interesting way of confounding expectations after that general depravity of the first two albums, a way of guaranteeing disappointment even to the hardened little noise fucks out there. I disagree that those who took up the torch from "2nd Annual Report" and "Very Friendly" and "D.o.A." and carried it forward were just mindless goons.
TG are definitely worthy of analysis, and Daniel slogs just deeply enough into semiotics and mimesis to give you some new thoughts to consider the next time you listen. And even if you've read "Wreckers of Civilization," some of it is new and different. (Incidentally, I've moved that star back and forth a half dozen times. 3-star? 4-star? I can't decide.)
For the dozens of times I've listened to those albums, they retain a lot of their mystery. Drew Daniel (of Matmos) admits as such, though he also draws the curtains back via interviews with all four members and loads of his own commentary. He talks himselfs into rhetorical circles with the critique of the song "Persuasion," which seems to be about persuading others to do your will, but also about the failure of persuasion, but also about heteronormative persuasion techniques, but also a critique of that, etc. etc. As a result, he gives short shrift to "What A Day" ("Gen in lager lad mode") and "Six Six Sixties" (speaking only of the seance elements) while earnestly trying to decide if TG really *is* "jazz funk" after all. He follows all of his arguments through clearly and cleanly (as one would expect for a writer of his profession...he's an English professor), and you're free to accept or reject them as desired. I agree with him that "20 Jazz Funk Greats" was a thoughtful and interesting way of confounding expectations after that general depravity of the first two albums, a way of guaranteeing disappointment even to the hardened little noise fucks out there. I disagree that those who took up the torch from "2nd Annual Report" and "Very Friendly" and "D.o.A." and carried it forward were just mindless goons.
TG are definitely worthy of analysis, and Daniel slogs just deeply enough into semiotics and mimesis to give you some new thoughts to consider the next time you listen. And even if you've read "Wreckers of Civilization," some of it is new and different. (Incidentally, I've moved that star back and forth a half dozen times. 3-star? 4-star? I can't decide.)
May 30, 2012
I used to really enjoy the 33 1/3 series but perhaps I've grown tired of the naval gazing that comes with analyzing and isolating a single album. I didn't really care for Daniel personalizing his re-discovery of Throbbing Gristle's challenging (that's being charitable) album. The interviews on the whole were well done but his contextualizing was too solipsistic for me. On the bright side you always learn something new and random about an album in these series. 20 Jazz Funk Greats is one of those albums that I have to be in the mood for but when I am I do enjoy it. Can't really say the same for this entry.
If you want to know more about TG or 20 Jazz Funk Greats check out Simon Reynold's chapter on them in the excellent Rip It Up & Start Again instead. It sums up the band's ethos of "cultural terrorism" that went into creating the album far better than this book. It's also just a better read.
If you want to know more about TG or 20 Jazz Funk Greats check out Simon Reynold's chapter on them in the excellent Rip It Up & Start Again instead. It sums up the band's ethos of "cultural terrorism" that went into creating the album far better than this book. It's also just a better read.
December 19, 2024
A serious work about a serious work. Er, the book was impressively done on this still-controversial TG experiment that, like the band that influenced so many that came after. Many attribute the founding of the industrial rock movement to Throbbing Gristle yet I’d wager those not around when post punk exploded who may fancy themselves 2nd and 3rd wave industrial music fans would be shocked to hear what such experimental music typically sounded like in the 1970s. They wouldn’t be likely to recognize much of early industrial as they listen to groups popularly labeled or affiliated with industrial music, such as NIN, Rammstein, later Ministry, not to say related groups like KMFDM, Front 242 or whatever passes for industrial these days.
Sometimes TG isn’t “easy” to listen to for some people. I think that’s hardly the point. It wasn’t supposed to. It was art. Social/cultural statements. The advancing of synth and synth pop when combined with actual industrial tools, noises, sounds, etc. It could be jarring (Neubauten) or straight synth that sounded “off” (Chris & Cosey). David Lynch created a wonderful, though usually overlooked, film called Industrial Symphony starring Julee Cruise that I first saw splayed across the walls of Atlanta’s Masquerade club many decades ago. The film’s set was pure dystopian, the music haunting, and I’d argue an early movement was visually defined for those who “didn’t get it.”
Yet even then, while Throbbing Gristle remained influential, they really didn’t last long enough under that name to become a household name in the industrial home. (I’d argue early Skinny Puppy borrowed heavily from them, enough for many who didn’t know better to view them as the fathers of industrial music.) Nope, sorry. Bands like TG and early Cabaret Voltaire are owed such a title. As for this album, I confess to much confusion when I first heard it long ago. And hence, this book - though a bit dry - could have been invaluable to me as I explored this music ultimately sporting a legendary title, cover and songs.
Recommended.
Sometimes TG isn’t “easy” to listen to for some people. I think that’s hardly the point. It wasn’t supposed to. It was art. Social/cultural statements. The advancing of synth and synth pop when combined with actual industrial tools, noises, sounds, etc. It could be jarring (Neubauten) or straight synth that sounded “off” (Chris & Cosey). David Lynch created a wonderful, though usually overlooked, film called Industrial Symphony starring Julee Cruise that I first saw splayed across the walls of Atlanta’s Masquerade club many decades ago. The film’s set was pure dystopian, the music haunting, and I’d argue an early movement was visually defined for those who “didn’t get it.”
Yet even then, while Throbbing Gristle remained influential, they really didn’t last long enough under that name to become a household name in the industrial home. (I’d argue early Skinny Puppy borrowed heavily from them, enough for many who didn’t know better to view them as the fathers of industrial music.) Nope, sorry. Bands like TG and early Cabaret Voltaire are owed such a title. As for this album, I confess to much confusion when I first heard it long ago. And hence, this book - though a bit dry - could have been invaluable to me as I explored this music ultimately sporting a legendary title, cover and songs.
Recommended.
January 3, 2022
Analyse van een plaat die ik mogelijk al tien jaar (als bootleg) negeerde maar instinctief een zwak voor voelde. Een mislukt (kunst-)werk, zegt men. Hoe dan ook een 'must-have', dacht ik, al lijk ik er met de aanschaf van dit boekje (ook al lange geleden) een verantwoording bij te hebben willen zoeken. Dit deel uit de 33 1/3-serie is er niet een vol sappige 'liner-notes' (de achtergrond, letterlijk en figuurlijk, van de hoes daargelaten) maar een kritische - en soms ook technische - beschouwing door de gewaardeerde Drew Daniel (Matmos) van de totstandkoming (van het instrumentarium maar ook de politieke stand van zaken), ontvangst en invloed van TG en '20 Jazz Funk Greats' op TG zelf en verschillende genres. Halve dag het album op luidsprekers en koptelefoon 'gelezen en geluisterd' - in trance. Verweesd en begeistert geraakt door een album dat onder meer 'zo goed is doordat het geen album wilde zijn, laat staan een goed album'.
January 10, 2023
incredibly in-depth & further indulges me into the odd, complexing world of ‘20 Jazz Funk Greats.’ I’ve enjoyed this album on & off for years but with the extra understanding this book provides, i can see it becoming a far more regular listen! really well-written & researched!
April 25, 2023
Represents the best-case scenario for a 33 1/3 edition. Immense critical insight, including extensive and illuminating interviews with the band members themselves. Lots of interesting tendrils to explore more deeply. I'm so glad I can finally listen to 20 Jazz Funk Greats now.
April 30, 2008
The strongest 33 1/3 book to date, Drew Daniel's take on Throbbing Gristle's anti-classic is mesmerizing; an employed professor, Drew doesn't shy away from the full-on grad school-level analysis that has plagued certain installments in the series (such as Andrew Hultkrans' abominable, passionless take on Love's Forever Changes), but he tempers this brainville with the passion of a 14-year-old hardcore kid getting excited about a new 7" he picked up. As a member of Matmos and Bjork's live ensemble, Drew gets into the nitty-gritty technical side of things - "what's this sound? what synthesizer was used here?" while still focusing on the thematic and aesthetic gestalt of the record (a simultaneous embrace and destruction of now-kitsch genres in a pre-kitsch era). Mixing his own speculation, personal anecdotes, and opinions with interviews with the actual members of the band, he achieves a greater ecstatic truth and truly plumbs the depths of the album and band. Drew's enthusiasm and passion for the record is contagious, and the book perfectly embodies and achieves everything that the 33 1/3 series aspires to (but which many of the series' authors have bungled).
December 11, 2008
Drew Daniels does an excellent job side-stepping (without dismissing) the juicy extra-musical stories of the members of Throbbing Gristle to focus directly on the music, what it meant to the people who made it and to the person that listened to it.
Which is refreshing, because once you get past the anti-society rhetoric, the name-dropping that occupies a lot of Genesis P-Orridge's interviews (albeit names he is qualified to drop seeing that he actually worked with all those people) and the scandals, Throbbing Gristle made at least two albums (D.O.A and 20 Jazz Funk Greats) of innovative, compelling music that holds up thirty years later, touching the avant-garde and pop sectors of thing while being distinctly neither.
Drew's book is at heart a love letter to this album, but unlike a lot of breathless praises fans unload onto the adored, he seeks to discover why he loves it. Wanting to unlock the mysteries of one's beloved in hopes of finding more to love inside is as good a definition of love as any. There is a lot of "unlike" and "love" in this review, but then there is in this album, as there is in this book. The best 33 1/3 book I've read yet.
Which is refreshing, because once you get past the anti-society rhetoric, the name-dropping that occupies a lot of Genesis P-Orridge's interviews (albeit names he is qualified to drop seeing that he actually worked with all those people) and the scandals, Throbbing Gristle made at least two albums (D.O.A and 20 Jazz Funk Greats) of innovative, compelling music that holds up thirty years later, touching the avant-garde and pop sectors of thing while being distinctly neither.
Drew's book is at heart a love letter to this album, but unlike a lot of breathless praises fans unload onto the adored, he seeks to discover why he loves it. Wanting to unlock the mysteries of one's beloved in hopes of finding more to love inside is as good a definition of love as any. There is a lot of "unlike" and "love" in this review, but then there is in this album, as there is in this book. The best 33 1/3 book I've read yet.
April 28, 2017
Ah, the 33 1/3 series. I think there are about 144 of them in existence now (Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks soundtrack is the most recent, I think); and just seeing them in a row in a bookstore with titles such as Low, Pretty Hate Machine, ( ), Doolittle, et cetera, can be a little intimidating, especially when pondering the next one to read. I saw the edition for Throbbing Gristle's third album, 20 Jazz Funk Greats, one day and snapped it up without a second thought.
What a great title in the 33 1/3 books is this. Written lovingly by Drew Daniel (one half of experimental electronic duo Matmos), 20 Jazz Funk Greats is a track-by-track exploration of the album, complete with interviews with the original members: Gen, Sleazy, Cosey, and Chris. Their memories of the making of the record are sharp and lucid - and the stories about how the album took shape are fascinating. Serial killers, perversion, magick, Burroughs, wave modulations, ABBA ... these are just some of the subjects that come up behind the minds of Throbbing Gristle.
A killer read. Utterly fascinating.
What a great title in the 33 1/3 books is this. Written lovingly by Drew Daniel (one half of experimental electronic duo Matmos), 20 Jazz Funk Greats is a track-by-track exploration of the album, complete with interviews with the original members: Gen, Sleazy, Cosey, and Chris. Their memories of the making of the record are sharp and lucid - and the stories about how the album took shape are fascinating. Serial killers, perversion, magick, Burroughs, wave modulations, ABBA ... these are just some of the subjects that come up behind the minds of Throbbing Gristle.
A killer read. Utterly fascinating.
April 8, 2008
One of my favorite musicians writing about my all time favorite musicians. Though I can't not love it, Daniel mostly refrains from fan boy gushing, delivering a treatment that is both thought provoking and insightful. TG's work is dense. Daniel deftly untangles the knot that is one of their most contradictory documents. Never is his criticism pompous and convoluted. Nor is he afraid to confront TG's false premises head on and point out the group's occasional disingenuousness and conceptual failures. He offers thorough formal analysis of work that often dismissed as garbage. TG were musicians! Who knew? He also has deep understanding of the thematic intentions (and implications) of the "band's" art. This much hyped musical troupe deserves more critical approaches as fruitful as this.
January 7, 2009
if yr a music geek, like myself, this book is indispensable, as it goes into great detail on the processes of making this seminal album. I always love to hear stories about TG at work, cuz they were such fucking freaks and i admire that. Also, as a burgeoning music writer, i derive benefit from reading such in-depth analysis on a track by track basis. I absolutely adore this series, i don't care if it makes me a hipster or a hipster wannabe. I prefer the term fanatic.
December 3, 2008
Well to be honest not my favorite band, and yet, I purchased this album way back. Mostly for the cover, and the cover is covered quite heavily in this book by Drew Daniel. In fact he did a great job writing about this 'weird' album. He's great in putting this album on a bigger canvas that's pretty much alt.20th Century.
Quite amazing.
Quite amazing.
January 20, 2019
Whilst not exactly revelatory this is a good companion for Throbbing Gristle's easiest to get into but also most diverse record.
Drew writes in style that feels relaxed and personal but also intellectual and critical, some of his views on certain tracks I don't fully agree with but that's always going to be the case when looking at an album like this.
The book goes through the album track-by-track using Drew's personal research and opinions on the tracks as well as newly conducted interviews with TG as the basis for a deep dive into the album. The interviews are very candid and illuminating but like I say, not revelatory. Drew's research and knowledge of history and literature shines through-out and it's obvious he cares a lot about the album but not to the point that it clouds his judgement or focus.
The only downsides for me is that some tracks are given more attention than others, some have more commentary from TG than others (Sleazy is missing from a number of chapters) and the writing can often be a little impenetrable or needlessly wordy. Also for an album as creative, perverse and odd as this the writing kind of stays in the same mode throughout. Would have been nicer to see a more creative approach to either the writing style or layout throughout. Would have been nice to see the world of the album seep into the pages of the book.
All in all I enjoyed this book, it plays it fairly safe but there is no denying the research and love Drew poured into this.
Drew writes in style that feels relaxed and personal but also intellectual and critical, some of his views on certain tracks I don't fully agree with but that's always going to be the case when looking at an album like this.
The book goes through the album track-by-track using Drew's personal research and opinions on the tracks as well as newly conducted interviews with TG as the basis for a deep dive into the album. The interviews are very candid and illuminating but like I say, not revelatory. Drew's research and knowledge of history and literature shines through-out and it's obvious he cares a lot about the album but not to the point that it clouds his judgement or focus.
The only downsides for me is that some tracks are given more attention than others, some have more commentary from TG than others (Sleazy is missing from a number of chapters) and the writing can often be a little impenetrable or needlessly wordy. Also for an album as creative, perverse and odd as this the writing kind of stays in the same mode throughout. Would have been nicer to see a more creative approach to either the writing style or layout throughout. Would have been nice to see the world of the album seep into the pages of the book.
All in all I enjoyed this book, it plays it fairly safe but there is no denying the research and love Drew poured into this.
November 27, 2017
i have owned and cherished the subject of this fascinating dissection since the day it came out, and have formed opinions on it's content over the 38 years since. are my opinions similar to those of drew daniel's? in part, but it would have been highly improbable if they were in full! 'twenty jazz funk greats' is a timeless piece of work, and the themes therein are complex, contradictory, mischievous, and at times just plain wrong, so it's a delight that the author has produced a thesis that pulls it apart to take a good look inside. and not from the standpoint of a gushing servile tribute - this record is entirely unique, even within the catalogue of t.g., so it's gratifying that the failings are illustrated just as much as the triumphs. that this was undertaken with input from the members of the group, make the whole much more impressive. as well as the deep delving into the murky depths of this record, it is written in a scholarly, but entertainingly compelling style, which to my mind is appropriate for a piece concerned with one of the most iconic, challenging and individual albums ever released! and, like the author, 'twenty jazz funk greats' is not even my favourite throbbing gristle album! someone prepared to construct a similar tribute for 'd.o.a.- the third and final report of throbbing gristle'?
December 23, 2019
Reading this book made we wish every obscure industrial or esoteric gothic rock album had a 33 1/3 volume. The book wholly succeeds in cultivating a deeper appreciation for the craft and artistry informing the album. My interest in TG was mostly defined by “Second Annual Report” and “D.O.A,” but now I have a whole new infatuation with “20 Jazz Funk Greats.” The book brilliantly illuminates the stories and ideas behind each of the songs, which involve everything from magic squares, cut-ups, pets named after pagan goddesses, and seances, to popular destinations for suicide, interviews with pedophiles, bitter old ladies, and the aesthetics of pornography, drugs, and disco. I hope to one day track down the full biography of TG in Simon Ford’s “Wreckers of Civilisation,” but until then, I’m grateful for this book, which is easily one of the most straightforward and therefore best entries in the 33 1/3 pantheon.
November 24, 2020
Throbbing Gristle's 20 Jazz Funk Greats is an album of sketches, each unsettling in its own way. I found the answers this book gave to certain mysterious sounds did not add to the experience of the album, so much as sated curiosity; satiating seems counter to the intended effect of the album. But one cannot fault a super-fan author from wanting to do his research. I was not convinced by his attempts to link the songs sounds to both jazz and funk; the title, like the cover, is little more than a pisstake in my eyes. Nor was I persuaded by his efforts to dig deeper into the instrumental track's titles for lack of a concrete foothold. The book makes some assumptions about what I may already know about the band, which did not help since I knew nothing going in.
November 19, 2019
This book was exactly what I wanted it to be. I listened to the album in its entirety before starting and would listen to each song before and after reading the chapters dedicated to them. I feel like I understand the album significantly more than I previously did and love how the author chose not to add too much about his own relationship to the album and let the artists and the art speak for themselves. This was the first 33 1/3 book that I’ve read and it makes me excited to check out some of the others that explore other albums that I love as long as the music is complex enough to warrant a more intense study than simple listening and liner note reading provides.
May 10, 2017
This is one of the best books I have read in this series. Daniel goes through the album song by song and talks to the band and elicits a lot of information about where the songs came from and how they were created. He also has a lot of insightful thoughts about how certain songs fit into the band's persona and the philosophy behind the band.
December 26, 2017
As usual with the books from the 33 1/3 collection, this was a very informative read. While the others I have read mostly focused on the historical and cultural context of the albums dealt with, this one, being written by a musician, is perhaps a bit more technical and personal. Overall, it is a great companion to Throbbing Gristle's fascinating masterpiece.
May 24, 2018
A really good little book about a brilliant and disturbing album. The author has access to all of the members of this schismatic band and the extracts from interviews, as the text as a whole, avoids empty adulation. This comes over especially strongly in his critical discussion of the moral and creative ambivalence of the track 'Persuasion'
June 17, 2020
Very thorough book on Throbbing Gristle's strange and mysterious 'Twenty Jazz Funk Great' album. The book really explains what the band members were trying to relay for each track. My only qualm it the book is a little overlong. It could have been more condensed to hold the reader's attention. I would not recommend it to be someone's introduction into the 33 1/3 series
December 1, 2017
Music writing is strange. I guess writing about any immediate sensory experience is bound to be strange. I think I'll try to read more of that in the coming year, even when I think it's bad. I am reasonably confident I won't turn into Hal.
July 20, 2025
A good solid entry into this series, although I often found the critical theory tangents a bit forced (which I really should love), unless they were meant to be ironic or tongue in cheek in which case they were hilarious. Excellent analysis of the music though.
September 19, 2025
Great interviews from the band and some background info that was fun and useful, but each time the opportunity for a critical intervention came up, it was safely dissolved in a mist of consumerist enjoyment. Guarantees disappointment but carries on anyways. I admire the purity.
July 30, 2024
Stelletje lijpo's zijn het ook, wel een te gekke plaat & boek
May 29, 2025
Thorn: 29 pages about the song “Persuasion” which basically made the rest of the book a slog
Rose: Cosey’s old stripping playlist 🤩
Rose: Cosey’s old stripping playlist 🤩
February 21, 2017
The batting average for the 33 1/3 series is honestly pretty low - I don't think their authors generally see them as a chance to make grandiose statements or do thorough (investigative?) research like Drew Daniel does here (but then he's friends with his heroes, that's so unfair! I'm super jealous) - so I shouldn't be too disappointed with this. To be fair, he does take a more serious go at it than some authors I've seen, but he has to be "mr. super self-aware on every single level at all times academician man" who feels the need to announce exactly what he intends to do, or regrets he might be about to do (i.e. gushing piffle, in his own words) and then does it. I guess maybe he's too smart for me & consequently too evasive for me to pin down and pick apart, but I get a real sense of bad faith from this whole thing. Like "I get to tell everyone all about this band I love so, so much, and about how much I love them and how much they mean to me, but also signal how totally self-aware with regard to it I am by regaling everyone with accounts of my typical teenage adulation of this band as if it were something I ought to be so embarrassed of and beyond now, because I hold myself to higher standards than the unwashed masses since I'm a Johns Hopkins professor and all but at the same time I admit I can't resist bragging about my personal acquaintance with the band members at every possible opportunity *sudden deep intake of breath* and acting as though I'm making some final proclamation on what Throbbing Gristle was ultimately about which is a totally original hot take that no one else but ME their #1 FAN OF ALL TIME could come up with *faints*". I mean I used to find that infuriating (which I guess is pretty embarrassing itself) but at the same time it's so funny. What a silly little man, trying to outdo every other author in this little no-stakes vanity publication series.
But then, its his relentless enthusiasm for Throbbing Gristle that might be the best case he could make for them, as if there were ever anything wrong with making a case for an artist or band by talking about how much they meant to you. I mean, I guess then you can't exactly universalize it, but at least it seems pretty straightforward. And to be fair, he does go deeper into examining the hows and whys of TG and this, their most anachronistic release (I guess you could say pun intended because TG are at least partially about juvenile humor, sorry) in an entire career based on being generally transgressive, than I'm aware of anyone else doing, and it certainly is interesting for a fan of theirs like myself to read, though you could also say that maybe he goes a little too far into their hows and whys, but then don't we all sometimes, especially when it comes to the things we're passionate about?
But like, I know that literally *everyone* in academia has the same over-inflated sense of their own uniqueness and smartness, but they don't often put it on display to such a dramatic degree, at least not in written form.
But then, its his relentless enthusiasm for Throbbing Gristle that might be the best case he could make for them, as if there were ever anything wrong with making a case for an artist or band by talking about how much they meant to you. I mean, I guess then you can't exactly universalize it, but at least it seems pretty straightforward. And to be fair, he does go deeper into examining the hows and whys of TG and this, their most anachronistic release (I guess you could say pun intended because TG are at least partially about juvenile humor, sorry) in an entire career based on being generally transgressive, than I'm aware of anyone else doing, and it certainly is interesting for a fan of theirs like myself to read, though you could also say that maybe he goes a little too far into their hows and whys, but then don't we all sometimes, especially when it comes to the things we're passionate about?
But like, I know that literally *everyone* in academia has the same over-inflated sense of their own uniqueness and smartness, but they don't often put it on display to such a dramatic degree, at least not in written form.
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