Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (325 of them)
My favourite Foetus moment remains "Street of Shame".

John Cougar Mellencamp sucks and you know it (Bimble...), Saturday, 7 October 2006 16:15 (nineteen years ago)

Nail's pretty great

latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 7 October 2006 16:28 (nineteen years ago)

Oooh, that's the one with the infernal internal refrain!

(xpost)

StanM (StanM), Saturday, 7 October 2006 16:43 (nineteen years ago)

Particularly partial to Baby Zizanie

third uncle (davemotion), Saturday, 7 October 2006 17:13 (nineteen years ago)

My current ILX nickname is a Foetus tribute, as some of you may have gathered, although I only own just the one album, the latest one. It's absolutely superb from start to finish, the best track probably being either Aladdin Reverse, You Don't Want Me Anymore or Pareidoilia, and the overall effect of dark grandeur is expressed with a bombastic gusto that few artists I've heard recently have been able to measure up to.

Where next? Gash, Flow or Nail?

You've Got Scourage On Your Breath (Haberdager), Saturday, 7 October 2006 17:18 (nineteen years ago)

Yes, THE INFERNAL INTERNAL REFRAIN

WHEN YOU'RE DESTINED TO LIVE IN A STREET OF SHAME!

oOOH ah, DESTINED, destined to live in a street of shame,

STREET OF SHAME

John Cougar Mellencamp sucks and you know it (Bimble...), Saturday, 7 October 2006 17:22 (nineteen years ago)

Where next? Gash, Flow or Nail?

Sounds like a good idea, following the discography back in time like that. LOVE is very different from the older albums, and if you follow that order the trip back could be (slightly) easier, I think.

StanM (StanM), Saturday, 7 October 2006 18:30 (nineteen years ago)

(er.. the flow back in time would be Flow - Gash - Nail, I guess. But Flow's a little more difficult than Gash, so I'm still going with Gash - Flow - Nail as the order in which I'd introduce someone to the albums)

StanM (StanM), Saturday, 7 October 2006 18:33 (nineteen years ago)

You gotta get Hole before anything else. And possibly the compilation of 12 inchers if you can find it. Hole and Nail are apparently being reissued this month so just get them both.

everything (everything), Sunday, 8 October 2006 05:17 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_52241cMx24

Edward III (edward iii), Sunday, 8 October 2006 15:00 (nineteen years ago)

ten months pass...

I've probably listened to my 12" of "Wash It All Off" about 3000 times over the years, but today is a great day because I finally heard the original 7" version from 1982. Ha-ha. That is totally off the hook. What a treat. I love him all over again now.

everything, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 00:18 (eighteen years ago)

Seriously, the period from 84 - 87 when he released not only "Hole" and "Nail" but also "Calamity Crush", "Wash It All Off", "Finely Honed Machine", "Bedrock" and "Ramrod". Just.....whew! Fucking amazing. Absolutely fucking amazing.

everything, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 00:27 (eighteen years ago)

yup, that was an amazing period. got to add 'motorslug' and 'dirtdish' too.

i couldn't find them at the time but have subsequently and also really love the early records- 'spite your face', 'custom built for capitalism', 'wash it all off' (7"), 'tell me what is the bane of your life', 'deaf' and 'ache'.

i wonder whatever happened to the proposed foetus on the beach triple lp and 2nd f.a.t. 12"?

FORTHCOMING RELEASES ON SELF IMMOLATION/SOME BIZZARE & ASSOCIATED PRODUCT

WOMB FGH 12.8: YOU'VE GOT FOETUS ON YOUR BREATH
"Wash It All Off"/"Today I Started Slogging Again" - 12 45rpm ( Jan '85 )

WOMB UNC12.7 FOETUS UBER FRISCO
"Finely Honed Machine"/"Sick Minutes" - 12" 45rpm ( Jan '85 )

WISEBLOOD ( featuring CLINT RUIN of SFOTW & ROLI MOSIMANN of SWANS )
"Motor-slug"/"Death Rape 2000" ( on K422 ) - 12" 45rpm ( Feb '85 )

"THE FOETUS OF EXCELLENCE" - EMPTY BOX/ T SHIRT ( Feb '85 )

FOETUS ART TERRORISM: 2nd twelve inch - ( Mid '85 )

SCRAPING FOETUS OFF THE WHEEL: 2nd L.P. - ( Mid '85 )

WOMB 6T33: "FOETUS ON THE BEACH" - triple L.P. ( Late '89‡ )

stirmonster, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 01:01 (eighteen years ago)

all early Foetus rules, yes. the singles are great, both early albums also excellent. Thirsty Ear reissued them on CD some years back.

don't forget the Foetus Of Excellence T-shirt!

sleeve, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 04:57 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah I forgot about the Motorslug 12" - a work of genius, obviously. What a guy!

I have to get those first two albums sometime. I wanted them for years but when they were reissued I'd kind of moved on and it wasn't so urgent anymore. But I'll pick them up someday.

everything, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 06:07 (eighteen years ago)

ahh motorslug.
but seriously - who can listen to Death Rape 2000 all the way through ? the lead track is just sheer class, but i never manage to make it all the way through the flip.
12" came with a great comic as well ..
agree - this really was an amazing period in Jims career.
the Dirtdish cd version is totally worth tracking down, just for the different versions of Someone drowned in my pool (surely one of the funniest/darkest tracks ever ?), and the genius that was Stumbo.
Ahh the days I used to wear my dayglo orange/pink Savage Pencil Stumbo T-shirt and revel in the disbelieving stares, whereas now its banned to the archive as my wife refuses to be seen out in public with me wearing it.
Naturally, he fell in for the Sony dollar, and things were never quite the same again, though the internet only album Damp seems to have some cracking stuff on it, once i get back into the Foetus mood.

mark e, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 07:29 (eighteen years ago)

who can listen to Death Rape 2000 all the way through ?

Weah, what a headache. David Gedge once chose it in a list of his favourite records along with Spike Milligan's Tape Recorder by the Membranes so he must have an ear for such things. They even played a little bit of it on the radio.

everything, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 14:19 (eighteen years ago)

Who knew Dave Gedge liked Foetus!

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 23 August 2007 13:18 (eighteen years ago)

have to admit my head was spun a little by that fact.

mark e, Thursday, 23 August 2007 13:19 (eighteen years ago)

I've been on a Foetus kick for the last few days. The timelessness of these recordings is astounding. The absence of band photos or videos, combined with the facts that he's always been difficult to pigeonhole AND the superb quality of the recordings means they could have been released anytime in the last 30 years. Things like "Diabolus in Musica" or "Sick Minutes" sound so contemporary alonside groups like Battles, for instance.

everything, Thursday, 23 August 2007 18:35 (eighteen years ago)

I'm not surprised David Gedge likes Foetus & the Membranes - apparently the name The Wedding Present was inspired by his being a fan of the Birthday Party.

Colonel Poo, Thursday, 23 August 2007 18:40 (eighteen years ago)

And the early Weddoes stuff was super-intense too.

Currently listening to Stereoid Maximus's "Gondwanaland". Wild. And GROOVY!

everything, Thursday, 23 August 2007 18:57 (eighteen years ago)

Along with everybody else, I just fucking LOVE the mid-to-late-80s Foetus stuff. Esp Nail, but the singles and side projex too. Fucking Wiseblood! Amazing music and the lyrics are even better. Stuck in that "confrontational" 80s fake tough guy mode, but still so smart, funny, self-lacerating and perversely joyful. I like how he frames the stereotypical pigfuck tropes as 40s hard-boiled noir. Gives it a big wink and makes the nihilist mutilation angle seem a lot less pretentious. Damn fine producer of other folks' music, too (Boss Hog, etc.).

Bob Standard, Thursday, 23 August 2007 19:09 (eighteen years ago)

my sister found out she lives in his old house! a pale youth was standin outside the front door looking overinterestedly at her windows and she said "wtf dude" and he explained

mark s, Saturday, 25 August 2007 19:24 (eighteen years ago)

of course he might just have been a perve w.a genius line in cover stories

mark s, Saturday, 25 August 2007 19:31 (eighteen years ago)

WHEN YOU'RE DESTINED TO LIVE IN A STREET OF SHAME

STREET OF SHAME

Bimble, Monday, 27 August 2007 08:21 (eighteen years ago)

OMG I'd just die knowing I lived in the guy's house. Actually, no, I think I'd dress up as Lydia Lunch and rub my body against the walls for a few hours.

nathalie, Monday, 27 August 2007 08:34 (eighteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

I'LL MEET YOU IN POLAND, BABY!

onimo, Thursday, 13 September 2007 11:41 (eighteen years ago)

Hole never gets old. What a record.

onimo, Thursday, 13 September 2007 11:41 (eighteen years ago)

yeah i totally agree.

i wonder if the remastered version that i read rumours about were actually ever released by some bizarre, and whether they are worth the extra £££ on an album i have already got 4 copies of ..

mark e, Thursday, 13 September 2007 13:08 (eighteen years ago)

I'LL MEET YOU IN POLAND, BABY!

i mean to post that line every 1st of september but always forget.

stirmonster, Thursday, 13 September 2007 13:33 (eighteen years ago)

Downloaded Hole, Nail, Thaw and Sink as a result of reading this thread a couple of weeks ago. Damn, that shit holds up. "I'm gonna soak my head under your hose!"

unperson, Thursday, 13 September 2007 14:25 (eighteen years ago)

Flow and Love are essential

Just got offed, Thursday, 13 September 2007 14:46 (eighteen years ago)

"Love" remix album is coming soon. Jason Forrest and Fennesz are involved, amongst others. The re-issues are definetely out there now but I haven't heard them.

everything, Thursday, 13 September 2007 14:55 (eighteen years ago)

"Butterfly Potion" as the pinnacle of human achievement: discuss

Telephone thing, Saturday, 15 September 2007 14:11 (eighteen years ago)

>"Butterfly Potion" as the pinnacle of human achievement: discuss

Nah, I gotta go with "A Prayer For My Death."

unperson, Saturday, 15 September 2007 15:13 (eighteen years ago)

Then it seems we are at an impasse.

Telephone thing, Saturday, 15 September 2007 15:40 (eighteen years ago)

All of this shit is still amazing.

HI DERE, Saturday, 15 September 2007 17:25 (eighteen years ago)

>"Butterfly Potion" as the pinnacle of human achievement: discuss

Nah, I gotta go with "A Prayer For My Death."

-- unperson, Saturday, September 15, 2007 3:13 PM (4 hours ago)

"Throne of Agony" maybe?

John Justen, Saturday, 15 September 2007 19:41 (eighteen years ago)

Louis, I know we've discussed this before, but I have to admit that I think LOVE is the least essential of his work so far (to the point that I got a little worried that he'd fallen off, actually. The first time I bought a foetus rec and had a "eh." reaction to it.)

John Justen, Saturday, 15 September 2007 19:43 (eighteen years ago)

My cureent high rotation favorite is "Kid Hates Kid", actually.

John Justen, Saturday, 15 September 2007 19:44 (eighteen years ago)

Love > Gash

S-, Monday, 17 September 2007 03:57 (eighteen years ago)

Well, if for nothing else, Love is worth it for 'Don't Want Me Anymore' alone, a supreme, slow-building fusion of orchestra and fuzz-guitar with an absolutely lethal pay-off.

Just got offed, Monday, 17 September 2007 09:10 (eighteen years ago)

Love > Gash

Haven't heard "Love" yet but there is no denying the classic-ness of "Hammer Falls."

Telephone thing, Monday, 17 September 2007 15:41 (eighteen years ago)

whenever Offed comes in on this thread, i always feel guilty for having ignored my Foetus collection for so long. must be a hormonal thing, as i only ever enjoy Jims groove when i am pissed off, which has to be said, is a very rare situation these days.
though i can listen to Nail what ever mood i am in.
oh, and i far prefer Slung on Gash.

mark e, Monday, 17 September 2007 15:46 (eighteen years ago)

Much as I bang on about Foetus, I only have 3 of his albums, namely the last two and Nail (courtesy of JJ). All are very good, but I definitely need to explore further.

That said, I can't imagine anything else of his being better than "Kreibabe". Tenser, fiercer, and more emotionally wrought than most plays, the song unfolds like twisted opera, for a genuinely (as opposed to Lloyd-Webber circus-freak) disturbed mind to find reason within its own depravity, racking up the wrongness and the paranoia by increments throughout its 13-minute runtime. Show-stopping. Stunning. Most unbelievable of all, catchy!

Just got offed, Monday, 17 September 2007 15:56 (eighteen years ago)

three months pass...

is it too late to trade in my mind

Just got offed, Tuesday, 25 December 2007 16:20 (eighteen years ago)

LJ I swear I'm gonna send you Hole if you haven't heard it yet.

I found a promo vinyl copy of the Null EP on the East Coast abandoned under a record rack for a mere six bucks. Never heard it, or any of the Sony stuff in fact. It's pretty damn good! Now I have copied Gash and Love from the radio station and plan on doing a little catching up with Mr. Thirlwell in 2008.

sleeve, Tuesday, 25 December 2007 16:49 (eighteen years ago)

Hole? To my eternal shame, I only have 'Nail', 'Flow' and 'Love' thus far. If you're feeling any seasonal charity, I'd be very grateful!

Just got offed, Tuesday, 25 December 2007 17:00 (eighteen years ago)

HUMAN HEIFFER FOR A FILLET VEAL!
HUGH HEFNER AND A HUMAN MEAL!
SOMEONE'S MAKING ME A HUMAN MEAL!

dude, get HOLE immediately.

StanM, Tuesday, 25 December 2007 19:24 (eighteen years ago)

JG Thirlwell was in my dream last night ... I rarely have dreams about music

sarahell, Friday, 1 September 2023 16:27 (two years ago)

when my sister still lived in london she was leaving her house once and encountered a pasty-looking type on the pavement eyeing her house weirdly. she asked what was up and pasty said the house was a SHRINE* bcz FOETUS once lived there. which she had not till then known (the previous inhabitant had been a sad-seeming lady with many cats). anyway maybe keith allen also lived there…

*i don't imagine they actually said SHRINE, it's what they meant tho (i have a very clear imagined idea of this person lol, based entirely on unjust assumption)

mark s, Friday, 1 September 2023 16:33 (two years ago)

Pasty fans of pasty Foetus

do I really have to quote bowling for soup at you? (Matt #2), Friday, 1 September 2023 16:46 (two years ago)

four months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNXroStKqg4

Another interview at Lydia and Tim's podcast. Mostly about soundtrack work, he's writing an autobiography and there's a bit of talk about the best musician autobiographies

Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 4 January 2024 20:36 (two years ago)

three months pass...

https://archive.is/AeGJZ what a beautiful loft <3

fpsa, Tuesday, 9 April 2024 16:35 (two years ago)

wow

I painted my teeth (sleeve), Tuesday, 9 April 2024 16:41 (two years ago)

Lovely stuff

Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 14 April 2024 00:51 (two years ago)

I went there once to interview him for The Wire. It's a really nice space.

Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Sunday, 14 April 2024 01:50 (two years ago)

four months pass...

All of this shit is still amazing.

― HI DERE, Saturday, September 15, 2007

Kim Kimberly, Sunday, 1 September 2024 02:35 (one year ago)

WHAT TIME IS IT

pink-haired Marxist (sleeve), Sunday, 1 September 2024 02:58 (one year ago)

"you just wear your umbilical cord like a noose and make believe it's a tie" is still all time top 10 lyric by anyone imho

pink-haired Marxist (sleeve), Sunday, 1 September 2024 02:59 (one year ago)

Suck on this, Squarehead

stirmonster, Sunday, 1 September 2024 08:42 (one year ago)

Today is the first of September

bert newtown, Sunday, 1 September 2024 10:01 (one year ago)

We have ways of making you talk

the deep cut is the firstest (Matt #2), Sunday, 1 September 2024 10:17 (one year ago)

one year passes...

Once more, with feeling :)

imago, Monday, 1 September 2025 05:56 (nine months ago)

Foetus album HALT in mixing stages

JG Thirlwell has been working with Ben Greenberg (Uniform, Z’s, Hubble) at Circular Ruin studios in East Williamsburg Brooklyn, mixing the final and ultimate Foetus album.

Kim Kimberly, Monday, 1 September 2025 06:34 (nine months ago)

unusual details in wikipedia articles

In October 1985, Thirlwell made the album Nail, which became the most popular Foetus album of all time.

Kim Kimberly, Monday, 1 September 2025 07:36 (nine months ago)

three months pass...

Foetus - "Succulence"

"Succulence" is from the Foetus album HALT.
Album will ship around Xmas 2025.

Kim Kimberly, Monday, 8 December 2025 08:39 (five months ago)

Thanks!

Modollno Kahn (Boring, Maryland), Monday, 8 December 2025 18:05 (five months ago)

four weeks pass...

wanna die with my hands around a white man

Modollno Kahn (Boring, Maryland), Wednesday, 7 January 2026 23:02 (five months ago)

four weeks pass...

re HALT :
after the royal mail opened my package and deemed it of no interest and delivered it to me today i can confirm that after 3 listens,
it's f^cking brilliant.
tis of course interesting how for his early releases the orchestral excess was created via the fairlight cmi and now jim has the contacts and suchlike to make such options a reality.
hence the whole album sounds absolutely epic.
all of that said, SUCCULENCE is quite possibly the best track on the album, if you like the noisier aspect of the FOETUS world.
this is the best FOETUS album in in a very very long time.

(not going to lie : i just feel really sad that me and stirmonster did not get the chance to rant and rave as to its brilliance)

mark e, Wednesday, 4 February 2026 23:39 (four months ago)


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.