Beat to Death

Fred Giannelli met Genesis P-Orridge in thee mid-eighties.
By thee end ov thee decade Gianelli not only found E self to be a full time member ov Psychick TV, but thee E responsible for thee creation ov thee band’s new direction and sound.
(I'll stop that now.)

These were good times for the band; their touring schedule was massive, and their shows were going down a storm, gaining reputation and even music press interest.

They’d come out from the underground; and in the heat of the new found light played venues such as London’s Astoria in 1988, where I was very happy to be part of an excited, capacity audience.

And they were totally mindblowing.

I have never attended a gig since that came close to what Psychic TV achieved that night in London.

I have never since been part of an audience that is so stunned by what they are hearing and seeing (the visual element had been really turned up by this point, becoming an integral part of their performance - body-builders with numerous piercings going through routines in the skimpiest of pairs of trunks; spells and rituals being acted out on stage by accompanying actors; at least a dozen large-screen TVs broadcasting cut-up images, montage-mixes and eye candy of the most epileptic inducing intensity); so stunned that at the end of one number Genesis asked us, the open-mouthed stunned into silence audience, if we'd like them to stop!

The tunes on this album are very similar to the music the band were creating that night.
Tribal, percussive, trancy soundscapes that build and build, creating intense walls of sound through repetition and heavy, heavy layering - Giannelli's feedback guitar playing on this album is stunning: slotted into the mix theremin-like; really filling-in all the gaps; seamlessly blended in an act of pure musical alchemy.

And it is a very dance-orientated sound. A very early version of trance in fact; one that is now considered to be pioneering for its time and one that was inspirational to many.

Yet, despite the genre, this is not an album that is full of joy and celebration.
In fact, if this album is about anything at all, then death is really what lies at its heart.

After all, what is the infinite beat?
Everything must come to an end.
O yeah, everything except no longer existing (don't mean to upset any resurrectionists out there!).
So the Infinite Beat is death... maybe...

The album itself is dedicated to the Spanish artist Salvador Dali, who died in 1989, and there is an epitaph for him on the inner sleeve.

The track 'I.C. Water' is "For Ian Curtis".

(On the single 7" vinyl release of this track, etched onto the flipside are these words:

"...AND EVERY DAY IN EVERY WAY E CAN SEE YOU DIE AND E COULD NEVER GO AWAY AND E COULD NEVER TELL YOU A LIE • AND E CAN SEE YOU SCREAM AND E CAN SEE YOU CRY • AND ALL THEE STORIES AND ALL THEE TEARS THAT ALL WAYS COUM TO YOU ••• ‡ FOR IAN CURTIS ‡ ‡ 10 YEARS OV TIME ‡ ‡ TOWARDS THEE INFINITE BEAT ‡ - MAY 1990 - ‡ PSYCHIC TV ‡"
Curtis's epitaph is scratched between twenty-three layers of spiral.
The album Towards Thee Infinite Beat begins: "There are only 23 words...".)

At the beginning of the track, John Lennon can apparently be heard, talking from what sounds like a pub; one that has a very noisy pool table.

At the end of the track, 'Bliss' (featuring Hadj Abdelsalam Attar, a master musician of Jajouka, those almost mythical musicians who Brian Jones went to seek out in the 1960s), a recorded telephone message can be heard; the message informs Genesis (and us) that the artist Brion Gysin has "just died" (he died in '86).
Genesis had been a bit of a disciple of Gysin, and by following in the path of another one of his heroes, William Burroughs, he sought out and worked with the artist.

I guess by sharing this intimate moment with his audience, Genesis is making the demise of his collaborator and friend into an art piece.
For Genesis, life is art, therefore: art is life (and death).
Art is not something one does: it is all.
You don't believe me?
Do a search on the word Pandrogeny, and see how life has shaped-up for Genesis over the last few years...
Despite all the loss and absence that infiltrates the album; there are moments of real joy to behold.
The track 'S.M.I.L.E.', I believe, contains one of Genesis's greatest lyrics; not only in its composition but also in its delivery.
It's a beautiful song, and when I hear it, it always reminds me of my daughter (Ahh! or Heave... whichever you feel is most appropriate), which is an odd thing to say when discussing an album that I have already associated so heavily with death and morbidity!

But if anyone is going to take you by surprise, well, Psychic TV and Genesis P-Orridge have always known how to do that...

Psychic TV - Towards Thee Infinite Beat (1990)

Infinite Beat
Bliss
Drone Zone
S.M.I.L.E.
I.C. Water
Black Rainbow
A Short Sharp Taste OV Mistress Mix
Horror House
Jigsaw
Alien Be-In

Vinyl rip @ 256kbs.
It is a little crackly in places - this was a big session album - but still sounds sweet.
This is now quite a rare piece it seems, so forget digital emptiness and get on down to these real vinyl beats. Yeah! Get it here