Psychic TV/PTV3 - Mother Sky Vs Alien Sky

These psychedelic excursions from Psychic TV / PTV3 seem to be an annual event: last year's release on Vanity Case Records used Funkadelic as a springboard for their interpretation of 'Maggot Brain'. This time it's a reworking of Can's 'Mother Sky' that provides the basis for this sprawling monster of psychedelic proportions. The psychedelic descriptions are largely due to the supreme guitar histrionics wielded by Jeff 'Bunsen' Burner, with other members throwing in organ chime, booming bass and thunderous drums. It all sounds alive with a strong spontaneous, improvisatory feel. Above it Genesis Breyer P-Orridge rants and rasps his way around environmental concerns. I've got copies of the recent Charles Manson recordings released on Magic Bullet records that expand on his ATWA mission, and listening here Breyer P-Orridge comes across like a psychedelic pop version, singing about the earth, sky, clouds and water. I don't remember the Can original sounding like this.

On the flip side you'll find the original Psychic TV/ PTV3 track 'Alien Sky', and while it's nowhere as psychedelic as 'Mother Sky' the environmental issues continue unabated. This time it's not a warning: 'Mother Sky' may be prophetic; 'Alien Sky' is distinctly apocalyptic. You can hear it in the piano-like keyboards and sorrowful violin score, as a husky sounding Breyer P-Orridge cites lyrical reference points taking in Pinocchio and physics as he references Oppenheimer and the evolution of the atomic bomb. The results, as the press sheet states, have created the shadow we now live under: "It's already happened, and you're far too late", Breyer P-Orridge delivers in depressing tones amongst the lyrical conundrums over crashing drums and melodic keyboards and passages of subdued psychedelic guitars.

These expansive, improvised psychedelic freakouts are a treat for Breyer P-Orridge's wordplay. So it's of no surprise that Genesis Breyer P-Orridge has stated that these "are my favourite tracks we have ever recorded in ANY band in any era". You can take those comments however you want but this along with the previous Psychic TV/PTV3 release 'Maggot Brain/Alien Brain' on Vanity Case certainly hit the spot. 'Mother Sky/Alien Sky' is released on blue-swirly vinyl in an edition of 500 copies. For more information go to www.vanitycaserecords.com