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Foetus
Real Name:
James George Thirlwell (also Jim Thirlwell or J.G. Thirlwell)
Profile:
Native of Melbourne, Australia, J.G. (James George) (Jim) Thirlwell conceived the basic Foetus concept, when he relocated to London in 1978. His first appearance on record is with the post-punk synth-pop group pragVEC; the first Foetus release "OKFM / Spite Your Face" appeared in January 1981 on Thirlwell's own Self Immolation label. Relocated this time to New York City in 1984, he operates since then under many monikers: mainly Foetus, but also Wiseblood (with Roli Mosimann of Swans), Steroid Maximus, Garage Monsters (with skater artist The Pizz), Flesh Volcano (teamed with Marc Almond of Soft Cell), Baby Zizanie (a duo with "Cripple" Jim Coleman of Cop Shoot Cop), DJ Otefsu (his DJ'ing alter-ego), and Manorexia. Thirlwell has also produced, (re)mixed and/or performed on vast quantities of recordings including many of the releases on Lydia Lunch's Widowspeak label and artists as diverse as The The, Nurse With Wound, Pantera, Virgin Prunes, Nine Inch Nails, White Zombie, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Coil, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Arto Lindsay, Marc Almond, Front 242 and countless others. Thirlwell did the voice-overs for MTV Sports and his music has been used in numerous MTV series shows (i.e.: The Real World, Road Rules), has composed music for The Venture Bros. on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, and composed "bumpers" (30-second lead-in / lead-out music) for M2 / MTV2.
Sites:
Aliases:
Bubba Kowalski,
Clint Ruin,
Foetus Corruptus,
Frank Want,
J.G. Thirlwell,
Karl Satan And The Transvestites From Hell,
Manorexia,
Phillip Toss,
Steroid Maximus
Members:
Variations:
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Foetus
'Foetus In Your Bed | F.A.T. | F.U.G. | Foetus (Jim Thirwell) | Foetus All Nude Revue, The | Foetus All-Nude Revue, The | Foetus And The Transvestites From Hell | Foetus Art Terrorism | Foetus Über Frisco | Foetus Corruptus | Foetus Eruptus | Foetus Features, The | Foetus In Excelsis Corruptus Deluxe | Foetus In Your Bed | Foetus Inc | Foetus Inc. | Foetus Interruptus | Foetus Interruptus/Clint Ruin/J.G. Thirlwell | Foetus Nude Revue, The | Foetus Of Excellence, The | Foetus Over Frisco | Foetus Uber Frisco | Foetus Under Glass | Foetus ~ Art ~ Terrorism | Fœtus | J. Foetus | Jim Foetus | Jim Foetus + The Transvestites From Hell | Jim Foetus +The Transvestites From Hell | Philip & His Foetus Vibrations | Philip And His Foetus Vibrations | S.F.O.T.W | S.F.O.T.W. | Scraping Foetus Off The Void | Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel | You've Got Foetus On Your Breath
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Foetus Discography
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Reviews & Discussion
J.G. Thirlwell? Clint Ruin? Karl Satan? Frank Want?? The many aliases he has just hint at the level of cerebral brilliance he has. The man who has been mimicked or turned mainstream like a previous review stated, which is fact that some fools don't want to accept (NiN, Manson, even Ministry, but they are actually creative and good) over and over he's been ripped off and still remains on top and much more creative. Where the previous bands mentioned had some moments but never really surpassed any of his work, this man has kept evolving and evolving. The multiple layered orchestral, bombast movements he focuses on now are not at all like the noisy frank zappa meets einsturzende nuebaten barrage of sound he was known for coining, but much more mature. Steroid Maximus, Manorexia (which is now him working with an actual symphony) Baby Zizanie, Wiseblood, his work with Marc Almond, Lydia Lunch, Chrome Cranks, How many side projects do the phonies have?? They are too busy milking an album for 5 years cause they have no real material but what they've stolen from this genius.
Jim Thirlwell of Foetus is exceptionally talented and woefully underrated. It has to be said: Ministry and Nine Inch Nails took Foetus's sound and made it accessible. But Thirlwell has never compromised. He's always unique. Doesn't satisfy a target market.
Genius is a much overused word in the music world, but it barely comes close to describing the magnificent and utterly unique Jim Thirlwell. It amazes me that his talent is not spoken of or written about or recognised in the same breath as only a very select few are - lee perry, george clinton, prince, even james brown and phil spector.
Jim certainly deserves to be up there, his early releases are must haves, simply for their sheer energy and virtuosity (in terms of musicality and production).
Jim certainly deserves to be up there, his early releases are must haves, simply for their sheer energy and virtuosity (in terms of musicality and production).
When the Queen remasters where being made he was approached to do the remixes that are featured at the end of each cd and for quite a large sum of money. However, he turned it down because he wasn't intersted. Now that's punk rock.
Foetus is not "huge," relatively speaking, because the industry does not view Thirlwell's gift as a commercial product that can be sold (dumped) in bulk like "hit" driven top-40 drivel. JGT launched and released material on Self Immolation when existing labels expressed no interest in his recordings. He somehow managed to be every bit as powerful and uncompromising live when I saw him in Seattle maybe eight years ago. The boot shaped bruise on my former roomate's forehead from a Clint Ruin headkick was enough to get me to the next show. Oh yeah, baby!
"I'll Meet You in Poland Baby," "Anything," "The Throne of Agony," Wiseblood's "0-0 Where Evil Dwells" are personal favorites that never get old. "Wash It All Off" and dammit, every Foetus track deserves special mention as well. Thirlwell is the real deal: authentic, original, unforgettable.
Helpful tip for virgins: It's not loud enough, turn it up. That's why you're perplexed. You'll know when it's right, you'll feel it.
"I'll Meet You in Poland Baby," "Anything," "The Throne of Agony," Wiseblood's "0-0 Where Evil Dwells" are personal favorites that never get old. "Wash It All Off" and dammit, every Foetus track deserves special mention as well. Thirlwell is the real deal: authentic, original, unforgettable.
Helpful tip for virgins: It's not loud enough, turn it up. That's why you're perplexed. You'll know when it's right, you'll feel it.
Why isn't this guy huge! He influenced everybody. Foetus means alot to me. His early sonic explorations were always on my mixtapes. Plus his lyrics were deranged, ironic and super clever. He employed the use of sampling early on. His collaborations with Lydia Lunch were amazing and his remixes for all those metal bands (Prong, White Zombie, Pantera, etc...) were ground breaking. An absolute genius.