JG Thirlwell + Ensemble performs in London

JG Thirlwell + Ensemble will be performing at St Pancras Church in London on April 18 2020.
JG Thirlwell + Ensemble is a chamber group project initiated by Thirlwell in 2018. JG rearranged several pieces from the Foetus repertoire and one Wiseblood song with long time collaborator Simon Hanes (Tredici Bacci) for the instrumentation of harp, piano, viola, acoustic guitar/bass and drums. In February of 2019 they played two sold-out shows at National Sawdust in NYC.
The London iteration of the ensemble will include Manorexia alumni Angharad Davies (viola, violin), Tim Parkinson (piano) and Adam Morris (percussion) along with Thirlwell and Hanes. Tickets are available here

*UPDATE* Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, this show has been postponed indefinitely.

JG Thirlwell + Ensemble at National Sawdust

Screen Shot 2019-01-16 at 9.44.50 AM In 2018, JG Thirlwell + Ensemble debuted with two songs at a private gala mounted by The Kitchen which honored Lydia Lunch and Nan Goldin. Now expanded to a full set, the project will make it’s  public debut with a performance at National Sawdust in Brooklyn at 7.30 pm on February 28 and March 1 2019.

The repertoire will draw from Thirlwell’s Foetus and Wiseblood projects, including staples such as ‘I’ll Meet You In Poland, Baby’, ‘Throne Of Agony’ and ‘Someone Drowned in My Pool’, as well as never performed works ‘Here Comes The Rain’ and ‘Not Adam’, plus some new songs written by Thirlwell and Simon Hanes of Tredici Bacci. The new chamber arrangements of the material were created by Thirlwell and Hanes, for the instrumentation of harp, viola, piano, acoustic guitar and voice.

The February 28 show is sold out. Tickets for the March 1 show are available here.

Swans Oral History book out now

swans bookThe Swans Oral History, Sacrifice and Transcendence by Nick Soulsby,  is out now. JG Thirlwell was interviewed extensively for the book about his involvement with the group. Thirlwell regards Swans as one of the most important groups of the last thirty years, and has a long friendship with their leader Michael Gira. There has been a lot of cross-fertilization between the Swans and the Foetus live bands, with many musicians being members of both, including Norman Westberg, Algis Kizys, Ted Parsons and Vinnie Signorelli. In addition, Thirlwell started his Wiseblood project with former Swans drummer Roli Mosimann.  The Swans song “Jim” from the album My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky is about Thirlwell. You can buy it now at Amazon or wherever good books are sold, as they say!

Ripped T-Shirts: JG Thirlwell appears in a new book by Cesar Padilla entitled Ripped : T-shirts from the Underground.

JG Thirlwell appears in a new book by Cesar Padilla entitled Ripped : T-shirts from the Underground. Described as a “A visual history of counterculture music T-shirts, spanning the defining era of indie music.”, the book features several Foetus and Wiseblood shirt designs, as well as writings by JG Thirlwell about Swans and Lydia Lunch. Lydia also penned the introduction to the book, which also contains contributions from Thurston Moore, Betsey Johnson and more. You can purchase your very own copy here!