Showing posts with label Psychick TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psychick TV. Show all posts

Thursday, October 3, 2013

A Wordship comes a'sailin'


When Cotton Ferox began as an active project in the glorious year of 2000, Thomas Tibert and me had made the decision that we would work together with a diverse bouquet of talents when it came to the vocal contributions. As the first album grew, this also became the case. For First Time Hurts (originally released on CD in 2002), we collaborated with Krister Linder, Michael Moynihan and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. A powerful mix, to say the least!

The sessions with Genesis turned into seductive lyrics and performances on the tracks Snake Hiss and Amenema. These were, however, basically recordings that were left over from material for our album number 2, Wordship, then already in progress. Not left over in a qualitative sense of course, but definitely in a quantitative one.


Wordship is an album that was made entirely together with Genesis in Stockholm in 2002 (originally released on CD in 2004). There was also a DJ set at Kulturhuset and a sold out lecture at experimental haven/venue Fylkingen, about a legendary career spanning from Coum Transmissions, Throbbing Gristle, Psychick TV and to the then active Thee Majesty. Genesis showed some rare archival footage and I think almost all those present were mind blown to some extent during what turned out to be an amazing evening...


Neil Megson was the person that I was born and named as by my parents, and in 1965 Neil Megson invented a game. He invented a character, Genesis P-Orridge, and he let him loose into the world. In the beginning Neil was being Genesis, and Genesis was responsible for what the Art was and for the creativity, but Neil was the puppet master of this alter ego and he was in control. But then, as Genesis took himself more and more seriously, or as Neil did, he changed his name, and people would meet him and it was only Genesis they were speaking to. And there was no Neil any more. There was a point then when Neil was actually forgotten by Genesis. It’s a strange question that puzzles me now: does Neil still exist? (from the 2002 Stockholm lecture)
Genesis at Studio Konst & Ramar, Stockholm 2002.

Of course we had the previous similar project in memory and mind: At Stockholm, by Genesis Breyer P-Orridge & White Stains (originally released 1990, now available through Highbrow Lowlife). But we wanted it to be different and more modern. If we succeeded or not I leave for today's discerning listeners to decide. But we were happy with the album. We still are.


What made me proud was when someone told me that the album was like nothing she had ever heard before. To me, that's the finest review one can get. Although distinctly in the spoken word-vein, Wordship does manage to transcend the definition and I, at least, feel compelled to just shut down that kind of simplistic genre-jockeying. The long pieces Soul Searching and A Debris Ov Murder are like two very throbbing and hard working gristles, flanked by recurring organic themes and twists, yet always with distinctly different poetries and paces. Genesis' lyrics and the overall performance on this album are still among the finest I've ever heard.


So it is with pride and joy I announce that the album is now available in the digisphere. Listen on Spotify and/or buy where you buy. Please buy from the Highbrow Lowlife web shop if you like (this would make us happy). No matter what, tune in, stay focused, and you will be immersed in a lovely, emotional, haunting, sad, desperate and disparate soul searching megatrip unlike any other. Safe journeys!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

PTV & White Stains: "At Stockholm" revisited

Genesis P-Orridge at around the time of recording AT STOCKHOLM. 

At Stockholm was the first full length album by White Stains. After a turbulent first year of existence, circa 1987-1988, the band had evolved from loud psychedelic rock to considerably more experimental vibes. A great instigator of this change was Thomas Tibert, who became an integrated member late 1988. This intersectional dynamic is clearly audible when listening to material from the era. Compare, for instance, the two final "93" singles (The Awareness and The Result) – essentially pop music in contemporary clothes – with the first ever White Stains performance at the Hultsfred festival of 1989: violent and experimental ad-libbing.

Other interesting things happened at the time too. I made plans with Genesis P-Orridge to set up a Scandinavian spoken word tour for a mini-version of Psychick TV, ie Genesis and then wife Paula. There were some poetry festivals occuring here at around the same time, so we traveled to Copenhagen and Gothenburg, and then also did one in Stockholm. The gigs were more like performances than readings, as there was backing music and live tape manipulations. In all, a very trippy mix of lightheadedness and heavy duty existentialist spiritual poetry.

While in Stockholm, we recorded readings of approximately the same texts that had been used live. This was in Thomas' wonderful home studio (called The Reality Studio, as a nod of appreciation to the 23rd mind of William Burroughs), where also all of the White Stains material was recorded, from The Awareness single up to the The Somewhat Lost Horizon soundtracks.

Genesis was ultra-professional (as always) and as far as I can recall most of the recordings were "first takes". After this wonderful and impressive experience, Thomas and me merged the voice and tape recordings with the White Stains tracks we had prepared before, during and after the visit. We also had help from the very talented Per Aronsson in the structuring of things.

Then the project took on a life of its own. My newly started publishing company Psychick Release also acted as a record label (or vice versa), and took on the challenge to release the album. In 1990, it came out and was very well received. The flow aspect with 70 minutes of non-indexed music was appreciated, as it facilitated/facilitates focused listening and not just impulsive track skipping.

Later on, the album was re-released on CD by Etherworld (US, 1995 approx) and Voiceprint (UK, 2004). It was even later on released as an LP by Vinyl On Demand (Germany, 2011, as part of a beautiful Psychick TV box set), and has always had a presence somewhere, somehow. I even saw a bootleg of the Psychick Release edition in Russia in 2007 – truly an honor, as it was so amazingly well made.

But now it's back to the old homestead again, as Highbrow Lowlife presents the full 70 minute flow version again, remastered by Thomas Tibert for your uninhibited listening pleasure.

To celebrate this release we have posted a classic video clip from the era, aptly called At Stockholm, at the YouTube Channel. It was made by Fetish 23 in 1990 for the Psychick Release Video Trance Mission, vol 1. It features Super-8 footage of our little Temple Ov Psychick Youth spoken word tour with Genesis in 1989, including meetings with Nick Cave and Freddie Wadling. There will be more videos from this era uploaded soon.





AT STOCKHOLM 2013 REMASTER is available all over the digisphere from September 19th, 2013. Purchase includes a PDF booklet containing all the lyrics. Why not get this album straight from Highbrow Lowlife's own web shop? If you'd like to listen before buying, try Spotify or other quality music streaming services. Thank you.


All material on this blog is copyright © Carl Abrahamsson, unless otherwise stated.