9. Throbbing GristleDiscipline
It’s 18 minutes long and it’s an essential part of the Throbbing Gristle canon! I love all of that more minimal, aggressive Throbbing Gristle material, and I love the splintering, dual force of Psychic TV on one hand and Chris & Cosey on the other. I can’t really say that I am a fan of one more than the other, but the thing that drew me specifically to ‘Discipline’, and that song inspired a song on this record which was ‘I Am Not Afraid’, is that ‘Discipline’ is my Other song, in that it’s very opposite to what I do, but it has an incredible gravitational force towards what I do. It’s such a knob-twiddly, expansive, indulgent song, rooted in this very aggressive approach towards making something transgressive, whereas my approach is succinctness, control, a very conservative approach to making something transgressive, a more hidden way or whatever. Even in the fundamental statement of the song, that Genesis [P-Orridge] wants discipline, where my song ‘I Am Not Afraid’ is about how a major motivating force in my life is disciplining every aspect with exercise and diet, just to keep my brain on track. A very important part of my living is disciplining myself because things get really dark when I don’t, which I guess extends to my artistic practice. It seems like an ironic statement too, s/he’s demanding discipline, which is not something you typically want. It seems like s/he’s asking for it, but at the same time is in no position to actually receive it, so I look at that stance with bittersweet envy.
