“All the Throbbing Gristle live recordings, from the tattiest bootleg to the most professional recording, are important. But this one is especially so.” – Electronic Sound
Throbbing Gristle’s Live at the Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005 has been announced as as a stand-alone vinyl, CD and digital release, due out via Mute on 16 May 2025.
The 11-track live album was originally available on the recent acclaimed box set, TG Berlin, which chronicled unreleased work recorded around a series of live events curated by the band at the Berlin Volksbühne in 2005/2006.
Recorded 20 years ago at the New Year’s Eve show at the Volksbühne, the album previewed five songs from Part Two: The Endless Not, the band’s first album in 27 years, several years before its release. The set – described by Uncut as “magisterial” – also included ‘Convincing People’, ‘Slug Bait’, and ‘Hamburger Lady’ (their first encore in 25/26 years, and what an encore!) – tracks that had lost none of their potency in the intervening years.
The box set – which comprises of 4 CDs, a Blu-ray, a 10” vinyl and a booklet featuring unseen photographs from the time by Paul Heartfield as well as a specially commissioned piece of writing by the award winning Scottish visual artist Lucy McKenzie – includes two full performances from the event, alongside the TG Berlin Studio Session which is comprised of the final Throbbing Gristle single (two unreleased tracks, ‘Scabs & Saws’ and ‘Wotwududo’,) and an unreleased 48-minute piece titled ‘TG Berlin Studio Session 2005 – 2006’, recorded at Planet Roc studios during the time they were in the city. TG Berlin also includes the “rehearsal” for the improvised In The Shadow of the Sun, performance, giving two different perspectives on their soundtrack to Jarman’s work.
In 2004, Throbbing Gristle – Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (1950-2020) and Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson (1955-2010) – regrouped and the following six years became a period of renewed creativity for the band. Back in the studio after 20 years, they found group intuition when performing was intact, and their ability to break down barriers and forge connections with an audience was more powerful than ever.
TG Berlin and Live at the Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005 are the latest releases in an ongoing collaboration with Mute, compelling documents of Throbbing Gristle performing and recording as a four-piece with a renewed vigour. From the opening beats and serrated electronics of one of their final tracks recorded together, ‘Scabs & Saws’, it’s clear that TG are not revisiting ground already tread, but bringing two decades of individual experience back into the studio to create a new exploration of sound. The vocals have a different depth, the groove is deeper, and the atmosphere has lost none of its potency.
Throbbing Gristle:
Chris Carter: Rhythms, Loops, Synth
Cosey Fanni Tutti: Guitar, Cornet, Melodica, Sampler
Genesis P-Orridge: Vocals, Violin, Bass
Peter Christopherson: Sampler, Persephone keyboard
TG Berlin box set is out now – buy HERE
Live at the Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005
- Trumpet Herald
- Convincing People
- Splitting Sky
- Slug Bait
- Rabbit Snare
- Almost A Kiss
- Greasy Poo
- Endless Not
- Vow of Silence
- PA Destroyer
- Hamburger Lady
