Psychic TV - Those Who Do Not![]() During the visit of Psychic TV and Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth to Iceland a pagan marriage between Genesis and Paula P-Orridge was arranged. The ritual blessing was conducted by Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson Allsherjargodi, high priest and founder of the Norse pagan religion of Ásatrú, in sub zero temperatures in the wilderness beneath a statue of Thor. Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson (the current high priest) and members of the Iceland magical community accompanied the ceremony with pagan drums, Tibetan thigh-bone trumpets and singing bowls. In October 1983 Psychic TV released their excellent eccentric and intriguing second album Dreams Less Sweet, which piqued the interest of the music press at the time, particularly due to its novel use of Zuccarelli's holophonic recording technique. The performance captured on Those Who Do Not was one of a series of well documented shows as part of a World Detour following in the months after the release of Dreams Less Sweet which took in Manchester (as captured on Live At Thee Ritz) hastily arranged following the cancellation of the scheduled show at Prestwich Mental Hospital, New York (N.Y. Scum and Vinyl On Demand boxset) and Berlin (Berlin Atonal Vol.1 & Vol. 2) all featuring the classic line-up and original incarnation of Genesis and Paula P-Orridge, Peter Christopherson, Alex Fergusson, John Gosling and Geff Rushton. In the run-up to the release of Dreams Less Sweet Psychic TV were busy explaining and expounding on the sonic possibilities offered by Zuccarelli's recording system. These shows, however, were never as technically adept. Peter Christopherson may have been on electronics and tapes but it wasn't the entertainment through pain which Throbbing Gristle brought, either. Instead, the live Psychic TV sound was based around a more traditional set-up of voice, guitar and bass - there were a few of those - and violin, augmented by various percussive devices including crotales, cymbals, gongs and singing bowls to create ritual based improvisations. Initiation through improvisation, maybe. ![]() "We bury ourselves in fear" utters Gen over windchimes and airy electronics scales shrouded in the looped monk chants of 'Eleusis'. Credited here as 'Fear', it is the first of several tracks from Dreams Less Sweet. Over the taped orchestral strings of 'Thee Full Pack' Alex Fergusson's guitar emits those eerie chiming notes, accompanied by Paula's bells and Balance's intermittent violin scrapes as Sleazy unleashes growling dogs and, those symbols of outcasts, wolves from his bank of tapes. Gen is remarkably restrained intoning abridged and off-the-cuff lyrics in spoken tones: "he is the father of fear". Where others saw darker aspects Psychic TV were more ambivalent insisting that they were revealing the true nature of reality to allow people to process them and deal with them in a more positive way. ![]() Arguably, the same could have been said about 'Meanwhile' which "back in the land of rock'n'roll" highlighted a Velvet Underground influence, something which would become increasingly more prominent to the live sound of Psychic TV in the following years. TG were often considered as the VU of their generation. "Lou Reed was here today" sings Gen over Alex Fergusson's melodic improvisations on the Velvet's 'Sunday Morning' before launching into the lyrics "as you walk with fear, a star too far, almost lost in this world of ghosts, a tiny fear can become the host and you breakthrough to a room of dreams". Paula begins to lay down Mo Tucker beats and someone, probably Geff Rushton, adds violin shrieks as it opens up into an extended improvisation. Of course, it's actually an alternate take of 'Breakthrough', the first single to feature a Zuccarelli holophonic recording taken from the 'Just Drifting' single appended and amplifying a Velvet's influence. A number of Psychic TV classics appear here, including 'Unclean' and 'In The Nursery'. The anti-Christian tirade 'Unclean' is rendered in a much more restrained and bass heavy rhythmic approach, steeped in a layer of noise furnished with chiming bells. It takes a few minutes of improvised vocals before those familiar words kick in: "you, you're unclean, you you're obscene, you may say that your holy..." amidst spiteful lines yet to be refined and even more cutting. There's something of a groove to 'In The Nursery' too but nothing that comes close to, say, the physical thrust of the studio version of 'Ov Power'. In a loose stop-start manner, amidst wails, Gen, amidst wails, describes that secret room where "dreams come true", a room where TOPY initiates performed sex magick ritual with the aim of realising their desires free from retribution and all aspects of control, riddled with squeaky horns and screeching violin. 'Oi Skinhead' which would become a recurring fixture in live shows appears twice. The first, 'Skinhead²', is frantic and energised, powered by oscillating wails, wah guitar and industrial thuds, accompanying the backing rhythms. Gen wails the title repeatedly, with others chiming in at points. The closing version is more spacious and funky. Yeah, that's right, funky. There's some downright funky chords going on amidst the loping beaty bass tones and Gen's chants of "Oi you skinhead, kick it in...", with other kicking it in with backing vocals. 'Oi Skinhead' (playfully titled as 'HÖH Skinhead' on Live In Reykjavik) never carried a message. I was, and still am, not sure whether it referred to the ska classic 'Skinhead Moonstomp' or a playful acknowledgement of the regulation TOPY hairstyle. If there's a criticism, and knowing this edition mirrors the original recording, it is the segments of the ritual blessing - which on later editions even though it is the same recording is listed as a Pagan naming ceremony for Caresse - interspersed throughout which breaks the flow of the live show. This, like N.Y. Scum is, however, a great historical document of the original incarnation of Psychic TV. Those Who Do Not offers a fuller sound, largely due to the expanded line-up with HÖH and Godkrist and his P-meter. Intuition, random chance, ritual and spontaneity all figure here. This incarnation of Psychic TV didn't last too long before the group splintered and things got even more interesting. This is a beautiful edition from Cold Spring. Those Who Do Not is released on CD, double gatefold vinyl with a limited red edition from Cold Spring and digitally from Cold Spring bandcamp For more about Psychic TV in Iceland: Icelandic Music Museum blogsplot The Genesis P-Orridge collection, Tate Archives Psychic TV - The Ritz, Manchester, November 6 1983 |