Their unsavoury reputation precedes them, but the photo of Throbbing Gristle on the sleeve of Greatest Hits (1981; 7/10) reminds us there was more to the first Industrial group – their capital letter – than first appeared.
On the generally acclaimed Let England Shake, Harvey gave her music a bony, volkish edge, flaying it back to strummed autoharp, electric guitar and crude drums, mongrelising it with awkwardy intrusive sampling of Middle Eastern singers, dub interjections and huntsmen’s horns. Seamus Murphy’s cinematography complements this approach perfectly: not storyboarded, but collaged from various journeys around the island made during 2011, from the remotest hedgerows to the heart of London.
