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Thread: Foetus

  1. #1

    Foetus

    or JG Thirlwell as he's also known.

    Probably not prog, but certainly interesting and somewhat erratic in terms of quality. He was a drunken fuck up during the 90's and i think his music suffered, but his best stuff is creative and interesting in a way that many bands don't ever manage.




    ^ amazing to think this was the work of one man in his early twenties.

  2. #2
    His Steroid Maximus alias keeps things funky

  3. #3
    I remember seeing him (and what I believe were two other guys, all appearing as militant latex gay s/m maniacs) live at the Roskilde festival sometime in the early 90s, and that he was indeed visibly intoxicated and at some point actually left the stage for 10-15 minutes while the backing tracks and a rather interesting lightshow kept running. I saw Skinny Puppy and NIN about the same time and always kept thinking of them as a troika of some sort, but yes - Foetus' work was definitely intriguing, at least back then. I only ever owned one of their albums, though - Thaw.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  4. #4
    Thirlwell has been around far longer that either of those bands and he's had a big influence on the likes of NIN and Ministry even though his own music was much more eclectic and less 'industrial'. It's a pigeonhole i know he detests

    Thaw is ok, although it isn't really Thirlwell at his best. Hole and Nail are well worth checking out and of his more recent work Flow and Hide are probably the most interesting, but he can be a hard one to casually recommend.

  5. #5
    Yes, I know about his early origins and report with the mid-80s rendition of Swans. Of course, all of the no-wave associates would probably feel uncomfortable with the 'industrial' tag.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  6. #6
    I forgot about his involvement with Cop by Swans. I think he produced the first couple of Coil records too and was featured on several early Nurse With Wound recordings.


  7. #7
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    I remember this: Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lnWF5q_E4s

  8. #8
    I'm an enormous fan. For me he is absolutely 'one of the big boys'. No fucking about.
    I think his work is constantly improving. The last few Foetus albums have been remarkable.
    If I was going to pick a tune as a recommendation to anyone undecided about his compositional authority then go straight to Cosmetics, the opening track of Hide. A gloriously psychedelic headfuck. I've absolutely no idea what it is.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor
    Of course, all of the no-wave associates would probably feel uncomfortable with the 'industrial' tag.
    Michael Gira definitely isn't comfortable with it - when I dared to even mention the word to him, he gave me a 10-minute lecture of how stupid industrial music is and how his own endeavors do not have anything to do with it and never did.

    I heard Foetus Nail long ago and while I remember being fairly intrigued, there was something I could not quite grasp about the record, so I thought I'd return to it later and never got around to it. Maybe it's time to do that now!

  10. #10
    Thirlwell also does the music for The Venture Brothers.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    Yes, I know about his early origins and report with the mid-80s rendition of Swans. Of course, all of the no-wave associates would probably feel uncomfortable with the 'industrial' tag.
    I get the impression most of them don't like the "no-wave" or "noise" tag either. I remember Guitar Player doing a big article on Sonic Youth, The Swans, Live Skull and Rat-A-Tat-Tat-Yr back in 85 or 86, first time I had heard of any of those bands. And as I recall, someone from just about every band made the point that they didn't like their music being called "noise rock" or whatever. And I know it must have really bugged the Sonic Youth people, because I remember a couple years later, when Daydream Nation was released, they were featured in GP again, and they reiterated the "don't call it noise rock" mantra.

  12. #12
    Member FrippWire's Avatar
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    The Steroid Maximus stuff always appealed more to me than Foetus. Although I haven't listened to either one in a long, long time, I wonder how I might feel about them both now. It's high time I gave them both spins to see if a reevaluation is in order. Thanks for getting the gears turning.

  13. #13
    Tim Smith is an enormous fan (Burn Your House Brown is completely Foetus-inspired) and had been banging on about Thirlwell for years. He bought me a ticket to see Foetus in London in the 90s, which I enjoyed a lot and that started me exploring the back catalogue.

    As thrilling as Hole, Nail and Thaw are, and they are definitely terrific albums, it was when Flow came out that I really got on board.

    JG is a true, boundary pushing, progressive artist. As I said above, his recent(ish) albums, particularly Flow, Love and Hide have been, for me, some of the most important releases of this century.

    After Tim's tragic accident in 2008, JG sent him a lovely letter telling him what a huge fan he is and how our Astoria concert in 2007 was one of the best gigs he'd ever seen.
    We had no idea he was even there!

    Richard (SS), far be it from me to tell you how you should be listening, but I would be very surprised if you in particular didn't get a gear deal out of the later stuff. Like I said, give the tune 'Cosmetics' a spin. We're talking about a very accomplished, serious composer here.
    Last edited by Kavus Torabi; 03-20-2016 at 04:54 AM.

  14. #14
    Heh, i was listening to Interesting Alternative the other week and Steve Davis was going on about Foetus... had a feeling you'd got him into them.

    I had a suspicion that Tim was a Thirlwell fan, there's a bit in the old Cardiacs stage intro (also used at the begining of Icing On The World) that sounds very much like the intro of Viva from Nail. Was that gig you saw at the LA 2 in about 96? I saw him then, but didn't think he was very good. Much prefered him on record, although i've not seen him since.

  15. #15
    First time I saw him live was in 1981, while he played saxophone at the Birthday Party european tour. I 've been a fan ever since.

    His albums Hole, Nail and Flow are must owns. A very important artist for the development of post-80s edgy music.
    Macht das ohr auf!

    COSMIC EYE RECORDS

  16. #16
    The first gig I saw was at The Garage. It must have been about 96 or 97 maybe?

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Kavus Torabi View Post
    Richard (SS), far be it from me to tell you how you should be listening, but I would be very surprised if you in particular didn't get a gear deal out of the later stuff. Like I said, give the tune 'Cosmetics' a spin. We're talking about a very accomplished, serious composer here.
    I actually think you and others should be telling me what/how to listen more often.

    I'll be attending some additive Foetus instantly as time and dough allows.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Kavus Torabi View Post
    JG is a true, boundary pushing, progressive artist. As I said above, his recent(ish) albums, particularly Flow, Love and Hide have been, for me, some of the most important releases of this century.
    Thinking about this again, i think you're right in that these three albums represent the turning of a corner after the drunken fug of most of his nineties work (which was mainly remixes for comparatively mainstream bands tbh). The compositional aspects have been refined into something that sounds less scattered than the old stuff. He's also branched out into different areas that reflect different aspects of his work. Strong composition with Foetus, the spy themed industro-funk stuff with Steroid Maximus, austere chamber orchestra with Manorexia etc. Cosmetics doesn't seem to be on youtube, but it's a storming track. Magma meets Swans!

    Looking at the discography i seem to have missed Soak. Is it worth getting? It seems to be another odd'n'sods compilation rather than a complete new record.

  19. #19
    A few more random favourites from the 00's stuff. It's hard picking stuff that would be representative, as he's so musically all over the place (not meaning that as a negative of course!).






  20. #20
    Feel he's deserving of a bit more attention.

    New Venture Bros soundtrack is superb, it's even better than the first one.

  21. #21
    I was the assistant engineer on Scraping in Wave Studio in London circa 1985
    It was quite an experience ...

  22. #22
    Wow, was that for Nail?

    Anything you could share, or have you blocked it out like a traumatic memory?

  23. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by loosefish View Post
    Wow, was that for Nail? Anything you could share, or have you blocked it out like a traumatic memory?
    It was for Scraping
    I remember this is one of the first times I saw a cd player
    They were sampling Orchestral stuff from Classical cds into the then popular AMS DMX (made popular by the sampling done on Peter Gabriel 2 and Phil Collins )
    And I also remember some recording of chins saws and other "industrial" devices
    Warren and Jim had a good rapport
    I wasn't present in the mix sessions

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by spacefreak View Post
    First time I saw him live was in 1981, while he played saxophone at the Birthday Party european tour. I 've been a fan ever since.
    Same here.
    Also, the series of The The "supergroup" shows at the Marquee in 1983 with Marc Almond, Thomas Leer, Thirwell, Steven Mallinder and others.

  25. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Udi Koomran View Post
    It was for Scraping
    I remember this is one of the first times I saw a cd player
    They were sampling Orchestral stuff from Classical cds into the then popular AMS DMX (made popular by the sampling done on Peter Gabriel 2 and Phil Collins )
    And I also remember some recording of chins saws and other "industrial" devices
    Warren and Jim had a good rapport
    I wasn't present in the mix sessions
    He did two records under that name, Hole and Nail. judging by the use of orchestral samples i'm going to assume it was Nail you were working on. He was also using the Fairlight quite extensively on that one i believe. Some of it has dated quite badly, but i'm still amazed at how well composed some of it is. Also, as lyrically bleak as Hole was it's practically a party record compared to the depths of misery expressed on Nail (and Thaw for that matter).

    Jim's an interesting guy no doubt, but i gather he was something of a cartoon character in those days. Here he is at the time, tripping his balls off:


    Hmmm, "i don't really play any instruments". Probably a bad choice of artist for a prog forum then!

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