20 Jazz Funk Greats
The best English rock & roll has always been made by art students; this sometimes-pretentious, always-engaging foursome is no exception. Throbbing Gristle's unprecedented alignment of collage, propaganda, and noise even spawned an entire genre. This 1978 full-length (originally the third release on the group's Industrial label) was their uncharacteristically accessible electro-pop album. It's survived rather well--of note are the pleasantly monotonous, noisy synth-pop of "What a Day," the wholly improvised two-tracks of "Discipline," and the playful, ambient "Exotica," a tribute to Martin Denny that prefigures hipster cocktail culture by two decades.  The group wasn't only boundary-pushing, they had a sense of humor (easily glimpsed in the cover art) that's sorely lacking in the industrial music created since Throbbing Gristle's demise in the late '70s.--Mike McGonigal