Chris Carter: The Spaces Between (Colored Vinyl) Vinyl LP

Throbbing Gristle’s brief but fruitful output teetered between performance art shock theatrics and forward-thinking analog proto-techno, and Chris Carter was the driving force behind the latter dimension of the crew’s sound. Listening to The Spaces Between, you can hear Carter’s fingerprints all over the more rhythmic TG classics like “AB/7A,” “Distant Dreams,” “Walkabout,” “Still Walking” and “Hot On The Heels Of Love.” Originally released as The Space Between on TG’s own Industrial Records, Chris Carter’s debut solo record is given new life on grey colored vinyl with new artwork and a slight tweak of the album title courtesy of Glasgow-based Optimo Music. The lush, kosmische-influenced “Outreach,” the muscular analog chug of “Solidit” and the disoriented dischord of “Electrodub” foreshadow the discoteque-friendly songs of love and lust he would spend the next three decades cooking up with wifey Cosey Fanny Tutti as Chris & Cosey. The tracklisting has been pared down from the original 90 minute cassette release to conform to the run time & audio fidelity constraints of vinyl (a joint decision by Carter and Optimo boss JD Twitch), with the welcome addition of a previously unreleased tune (“Climbing”) that effortlessly assimilates with the rest of the record and quickly rises up as the most imaginative and colorful track of the lot (also, JD Twitch asserts that “Climbing” marks the first appearance of the Roland TR-808 on record). The album sits snugly at the intersection of (or if you like, the space between) disco and power electronics; synth music and dance music; even Throbbing Gristle and Chris & Cosey, and goes down nicely played back to back with Cosey’s recently reissued solo album Time To Tell. Recommended.

• grey colored vinyl
• originally released in 1980
• includes bonus track 'Climbing'
• liner notes by JD Twitch
• limited edition
• music label: Optimo Music 2017

reviewed by hannibal chew 01/2018