Throbbing Gristle’s 2005 Berlin concert to be released by Mute Records on May 16, 2025
The live album Live at the Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005 by Throbbing Gristle is set to be released on vinyl, CD, and digital formats through Mute Records on 16 May 2025. The 11-track album captures the band’s performance at the Berlin Volksbühne on December 31, 2005, and was initially included in the box set TG Berlin, which compiled unreleased material recorded during a series of performances in Berlin in 2005 and 2006.
Artist: Throbbing Gristle
Release Date: 2025-05-16
Genres: Avant-garde, Experimental Music, Industrial Music
Label: Mute Records
Description: Throbbing Gristle's live album from Berlin 2005, including the track Almost a Kiss, will be released on May 16, 2025, by Mute Records on vinyl, CD, and digital formats.
The concert featured a preview of five tracks from Part Two: The Endless Not, the group’s first studio album in 27 years, performed live several years before the album’s official release. The setlist also included earlier pieces such as Convincing People, Slug Bait, and Hamburger Lady. The latter was performed as an encore for the first time in over 25 years.
The original TG Berlin box set contains four CDs, a Blu-ray disc, a 10-inch vinyl record, and a booklet with previously unpublished photographs by Paul Heartfield. It also includes a written contribution by Scottish visual artist Lucy McKenzie. The set presents two complete performances from the Berlin events, along with the TG Berlin Studio Session, which includes the band’s final single, featuring the tracks Scabs & Saws and Wotwududo. An unreleased 48-minute piece titled TG Berlin Studio Session 2005–2006, recorded at Planet Roc studios, is also part of the collection. Additionally, the set features a recording of the rehearsal for In the Shadow of the Sun, providing an alternative version of their live soundtrack to Derek Jarman‘s 1981 film.
Throbbing Gristle was formed in 1975 in Hull, England, and is considered a key figure in the development of industrial music. The group consisted of Chris Carter (rhythms, loops, synthesizer), Cosey Fanni Tutti (guitar, cornet, melodica, sampler), Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (1950–2020, vocals, violin, bass), and Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson (1955–2010, sampler, Persephone keyboard). The band’s sound incorporated elements of electronic music, noise, and experimental performance, often addressing themes of societal control, consumerism, and violence.
The Berlin performances took place during a period of renewed creative activity for the band, who reunited in 2004 after more than two decades. Over the subsequent six years, they resumed live performances and released new material, re-engaging with their experimental approach to sound.
The upcoming release of Live at the Volksbühne Berlin, New Year’s Eve 2005 offers a document of this era, providing a live recording of the band’s evolving sound during this period of reactivation. The album will be available through Mute Records from 16 May 2025.
Tracklist
Trumpet Herald
Convincing People
Splitting Sky
Slug Bait
Rabbit Snare
Almost A Kiss
Greasy Poo
Endless Not
Vow of Silence
PA Destroyer
Hamburger Lady
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