Recorded
at a pair of performances staged on April 22 & 23rd of 1984,
Psychic TV's Themes 3 turns 40 years old today. The album was
originally released on Temple Records in April of 1987 as part of the
label's History series, but it is not part of the "23 Live" LP series
that was being issued at the time. As the third volume in the "Themes"
series, it continues the group's exploration of sound as a functional
element, rather than mere entertainment. The first volume in the
series, was originally included with the debut PTV album, Force the Hand
of Chance, as a bonus disc. The second volume was issued by Temple
Records as a stand-alone limited edition. Both were created in the
studio using various experimental recording processes in order to create
a kind of interactive listening experience. This third volume,
however, was recorded at a live presentation, though this particular
configuration was not a "band" performance. Rather, it was conceived
and executed as a multimedia presentation, with various pre-recorded
audio and video elements being live-mixed during the performance,
incorporating visual projections and multi-monitor installations. Those
involved in the presentation were behind the scenes, operating
equipment and real-time editing source materials together.
I
got a chance to see one of these presentations in Seattle at the
Showbox Theater in 1988. This particular manifestation of this
configuration was called "Stations Ov Thee Cross", and involved a setup
featuring a giant Psychic Cross in the middle of the stage that was
built from large CRT monitors, and was flanked by two large projection
screens. At the time we were unaware that the performance would not
involve a live band, so most of our party were rather disappointed to
have made the trip down from Vancouver to see this. Personally, I
thought it was an interesting concept, though the venue didn't really
make it particularly comfortable for viewing something that was more
contemplative, as opposed to seeing a bunch of people bounding about a
stage with instruments. Still, in retrospect, it's something I'm
extremely happy I got a chance to see, and I did eventually get a chance
to see PTV as a full band in 1990 when they brought their 3 hour Acid
House rave-up show to Vancouver's Town Pump.
