“psychic_tv”
Psychic TV
Origin of the Species – Volume Too!: A Second Supply of Two Tablets of Acid
Invisible
Does anyone else notice how mid-eighties Genesis P-Orridge looks a whole hell of a lot like Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen in raver garb? I thought not. For budding mystics, never-say-die ravers, Psychic TV enthusiasts, and Genesis obsessives, this is a must-have release. For everyone else, this is a gorgeously packaged curiosity that would probably serve as great prop to an otherwise lacking record collection. Either way, you win!
Respect due to Invisible Records for giving the checkered and nefarious career of Genesis P-Orridge the microscopic reissue and reevaluation treatment that it deserves. And in style, no less! Origin of the Species – Volume Too is an incredible two-CD set covered in lysergic collage art, with a deluxe photo booklet that describes the Psychic TV acid house/exile phase in the appropriate psychobabble tone. All this, and loads of photos of Mr. P-Orridge decked out in his raving best, looking unsettling as hell. If Charles Manson ruined the Beach Boys summer of love scene, then I’m pretty fucking sure that Genesis injected the proper measure of menace into the happy-handbag-house scene.
On to the music. To his credit, Psychic TV did their very best to fuck with the formula that is house music. Better samples, basslines to die for, and sampled rants that would have the FBI knocking on your door within minutes. Unfortunately, the largely one-trick pony of acid house has not aged very well. It was a limited genre to begin with. Whatever, some people say the same thing about Kraftwerk. This is one valuable historical document.
Invisible Records, P.O. Box 16008, Chicago, IL 60616; http://www.invisiblerecords.com
