Bleep

After Chris Carter released the live album Disobedient in 1998, followers of the Throbbing Gristle mainstay remained a little unsatisfied. After all, Carter still hadn’t issued a solo studio LP in well over a decade (1985’s Mondo Beat being the previous entry). A short year after Disobedient dropped, fans were treated to Small Moon, a record that both builds on the successes of Disobedient and also sees Carter offering up some of the most dancefloor-friendly material of his career.

The Throbbing Gristle sound had always contained a good dose of techno and club music, but on Small Moon it feels like Carter is specifically making music to dance to. Opener ‘Arcadia’ is a righteous mix of chopped-up drum fills, ambient house production ala The Orb and a kick drum that wouldn’t sound out of place on a gabber tune. ‘Praxiz’ and ‘Soho … 3am’ take this sound in different directions - the former is an EBM trip, the latter is on more of a sunrise breakbeat tip.

In the middle of Small Moon we find Carter developing the psychedelic ambiences of Disobedient while also bringing back a little of Throbbing Gristle’s wild experimentation. With its dusky production and glowworm melodies ‘Klyyp’D’ could be a companion piece to Carter’s beloved ‘Moonlight’, while the dubby ‘Non-Pop’ sets the scene for King Midas Sound to enter the fray some years later. This new edition of Small Moon also comes with the bonus ‘Small Moon Redux’ at the end of the record.

Small Moon is one of Chris Carter’s most enduring pieces, an LP which sees him putting his unique musical mind in service of groove and texture.