Psychic TV — Pagan Day
The album originally in December of 1984, and came as a picture disc- which featured an unsmiling & melancholic baby picture of one P-Orridge’s children on one side, and on the other red & white text. This original pressing was ltd to 999 copies and was only available in shops and distributors between 11 am and 12 am on launch day. This original pressing was sub-titled Pages From A Notebook, and this is extremely apt as the album collected together eleven tracks in their embryonic, first draft & sketchy state- giving the whole album an highly wonky, haphazard, and almost outsider musician feel.
This new CD reissue comes in a clear jewel case that features a single glossy black inlay - which takes in a reproduction of the later( 1986) vinyl reissue of the album. This features a different black & white glum picture of one of P-Orridge’s children, with a minimal red/ white text & black background. The whole thing comes with a card slip sleeve. And with aside from minimal liner notes & track listing on the back (of both the CD & the sleeve), there's no other info. I guess the reissues packaging follows the sparse & stripped back feel of the album, but really it’s somewhat of a letdown. Surely there could have been a decent booklet with the album?. featuring pictures of the line-up at the time, the albums recordings, and some sort of write-up. Maybe I’ve been spoilt by the likes of Cherry Red reissues, but really by anyone’s point-of-view this a very, very sparse reissue.
Anyway enough ranting- let us dig into the album its self. It opens with the track “Cadaques”, and this is best described as a wonky & at times off-key blend of scrubbing sub- surf guitar work, wavering 'n' melancholic keyboard work, and stark/ simple drum machine. It sounds like an off-color, terminal bleakly, & clumsy cover of an old spy movie theme- it nicely sets the tone for the rest of the record.
As we progress through the album we get fairly genre varied mix of tracks. We move from the Velvet Underground-meets- spiral blues guitar twang of "Opium". Onto the unwell & upbeat easy listening groove of "Lost Angeles", with it’s overloud & cack-handed organ blended with basic drum machine patterns, and wiry guitar soloing.
Through to the bare-bones acoustic strum, sudden cymbal strike & wavering P-Orridge vocals of "Translucent Carriages". Onto tight-yet-wonky synth pop brightness of "New Sexuality"- with its clip-clop drum machine, darting organ melody, and P –Orridge effect hazed & sleazed vocals on top.
On this new reissues we sadly only get one bonus track, and this comes in the form of a track could "Farewell"- which is oddly sequenced in the middle of the track listing. It’s a sort of lo-fi & badly recorded slice of 60’s guitar pop, with a sing-along male & female vocals, and a muddled blend of snapping beats, wavering keyboards, and (possible) some guitar. The track does sit well within the context of the album and again adds in yet another genre varied moment.
Pagan Day was & is an incredibly brave record really, showing the band at there most unpolished, rough and at times off-key. It’s certainly not an album for those looking for the more experimental/edgey side of Psychic TV, or the more populous & at times dance beat fired later albums. But if your after an album that honest, often wonky, but always creative then I think it’s for you…just a pity the reissue its self-wasn't more impressive.