TVAM
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Joe Oxley is the electro-psych man/machine behind TVAM and has arguably produced the biggest dance-floor action Wigan has seen since the legendary Casino closed its doors in the 1970's . As Lauren Laverne observed "It's like someone took Spiritualized to the club!!"
Heralding the arrival of a singular talent the self-produced and home-recorded debut album 'Psychic Data' contains 'These Are Not Your Memories' and 'Narcissus' (both of which enjoyed playlist support at BBC 6Music) alongside 'Porsche Majeure', 'Gas & Air' and the title track.
Hypnotic tracks which straddle an impressive spectrum of influence; with Boards of Canada's irresistible nostalgia, Suicide's deconstructed rock 'n' roll and My Bloody Valentine's infinite noise all becoming touching points in Oxley's musical output.
Mix duties were handed to Dean Honer (Moonlandingz, I Monster, Add (N) To X) - Oxley offers "It was great working with Dean. I'm a massive Add N To (X) fan and, after hearing what he was doing with Moonlandingz, I knew he'd know where I was coming from. Though having seen his collection of synths I now need to raise my game!"
Crafting a world which touches on our memories but toys with our fears, a world in which information seeps under your door and pools by your feet, a world in which he seeks to define everything from abandoned meanings to subconscious desires, 'Psychic Data' invites us to experience the psychodrama first hand.
TVAM gigs blur the boundary between art and performance; via a
large television sits on an 80's secondary school-style podium, a VHS
video recorder projects long-forgotten Mondo movies alongside vintage
footage often sourced from hours spent poring through charity shop
shelves "What started as a passing interest became an obsession. I
found so many seemingly random videos, each with its own individual
meaning, now estranged from their owners. Did these people ever take up
calisthenics? Did they install a model railway in their spare bedroom?
Did they learn to communicate more effectively with their teenage
children? Did they find something in those high-speed rally crash videos
unseen by us today..? I love the process of chopping things up and
splicing back together; creating new meaning out of thin air. Combining
this with the music I was making, I knew the performance had to fit.
Somewhere between Adam Curtis and BBC Schools... somewhere between
'Threads' and 'Words & Pictures'."
TVAM has remixed Amber Arcades, The KVB, TOY, FEWS and Tunng.
Praise for 'Psychic Data':
"It's like someone took Spiritualized to the club!!" - Lauren Laverne, BBC 6Music
"Quite simply, this is one of the best debuts in recent times. Utterly and unashamedly brilliant." - Electronic Sound
"An industrialised pop record that throbs and pulses with an infectious, entrancing haze that's instantly addictive... roaring great fun" - Loud & Quiet (8 out of 10)
"A Ballardian synthesis of rock grind, mechanoid tension and ether-gazing vocals which variously recalls The Normal, Suicide and Add N to (X)" - Mojo
"Indulge in the disaffected rage that beats through this darkly glittering experimental masterpiece." - GIGWISE (#5 Album Of The Year)
"Hazy psychodramatic atmosphere that brings to mind proto-electro punks Suicide, the swaying noise of MBV, and the brooding nostalgia of Boards Of Canada. Quite simply this is a superb debut album" - Piccadilly Records (#5 Album Of The Year)
"A magnificent record that has all the hallmarks of a future cult-classic" - Resident Music (#7 Album Of The Year)
Photo by Michael Orrell
TVAM
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14 Feb, 2020
Manchester Psych Fest 2020
The Manchester Psych Fest will take place at various venues around the city on 5th September, and will feature Primary Talent International artists:
...TVAM
...Talk Show
...Social Contract
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03 Sep, 2019
TVAM: New Track 'No Silver Bird'
Inspired by the 1967 original, TVAM delivers an inimitable throbbing, hypnotic take on the Hooterville Trolley's underground psych-curio 'No Silver Bird'.
Originally released as a limited edition 7" for Record Store Day, 'No Silver Bird' receives a full release on TVAM's own Psychic Data imprint backed with the Tunng remix of 'Narcissus', the result of a reciprocal remix swap.
TVAM's Joe Oxley explains how it came about:
"I started messing about one night, playing it on my old Roland SH-2. It just emerged... like a thick hypnotic soup! I've been playing it with the band since the end of last year and it always gets a reaction.Wigan is full of 60's garage rock fans... I'm sure I probably heard it first at DJ Johnny Alpha's Rendezvous night at The Tudor Hotel years ago...It doesn't feel like a psych record, it's like a nod-rock dance floor banger! Trippy? Yes. Heavy? Yes. Novelty? Hell no! It just never lets up, never overplays the goofiness, it always leads with the beat and the vocals sound like you're undergoing hypnosis - completely calm, completely considered, completely in control."
The last 12 months has seen a period of heightened activity for TVAM: two daytime playlists on BBC 6Music ('These Are Not Your Memories' and 'Narcissus') plus Album Of The Day and a live session for Lauren Laverne. KEXP Track Of The Day: 'Porsche Majeure' sync-ed on season two of HBO's 'Succession' and 'Psychic Data' sync for David Beckham's Kent & Curwen A/W '19 collection.
Having just played to packed tents at the Green Man, End Of The Road and Bluedot festivals over the summer, the autumn sees TVAM play a handful of shows, including their first headline show in Paris.
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29 May, 2019
TVAM: At Gaite Lyrique, Paris
TVAM performed 'No Silver Bird' at Gaite Lyrique in Paris on 24th May.
www.facebook.com/Richardwaltersmusic
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02 May, 2019
This Must Be The Place 2019
The This Must Be The Place festival at various venues in Leeds, over the weekend of 24th / 25th August, features Primary Talent International artists:
Saturday 24th August
...TVAM
...Echo LadiesSunday 25th August
...Nilüfer Yanya
...Self Esteem
...Pixx
...The KVB
...Art School Girlfriend
...Arlo Daywww.facebook.com/events/1761226827355878
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27 Mar, 2019
Bluedot Festival 2019
The Bluedot festival takes place at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire from 18th-21st July, and features Primary Talent International artists:
...Kate Tempest
...TOKiMONSTA
...Self Esteem
...TVAM
...Anna Calvi
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09 Feb, 2019
Stag & Dagger Festival 2019
The Stag & Dagger festival in Glasgow on Bank Holiday Sunday 5th May, features a whole host of Primary Talent artists:
...Rat Boy (Headline)
...TVAM
...Bad Nerves
...Hollow Hand
...Just Mustard
...Pearl Charles
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24 Jan, 2019
TVAM: New Video 'Bitplain'
TVAM returns with 'Bitplain', the latest track to be taken from the album, accompanied by one of his self produced videos which sit somewhere between Adam Curtis and BBC schools and form part of his live performances.
Beats rub each other up the wrong way, fuzz guitar shouts to be heard and titanic synths sink your battleship. From this all out war comes brief relief as Joe Oxley comforts us with the voice of a modern day psychic healer. 'Bitplain' soothes like an ocean of calm, a safe space, impermeable to fact and fiction. Against the harsh noise of our polarised digital personalities, and the permanence / impermanence of our digital history, TVAM gently reminds us of our responsibilities.
As we recreate ourselves in noughts and ones, our bodies will crumble to dust but our digital legacy will last forever.
Oxley says, "It's about the feeling that everyone you know is slowly weaving their own narrative reality. Politicians, companies, media commentators, all shaping actuality... super-charged by technology and repeated by the herd. 'Bitplain' is a vain hope that the truth will catch us all in the end."
Additionally, having sold-out the initial run, his debut album 'Psychic Data' will receive a 2nd vinyl pressing to coincide with the tour. The album will be re-issued on April 26th.
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24 Jan, 2019
TVAM: 'Psychic Data' UK Tour
TVAM has announced UK headline dates in April, to coincide with the second vinyl re-issue of his debut album 'Psychic Data', on 26th April.
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22 Jan, 2019
Bluedot Festival 2019
The Bluedot festival takes place at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, from 18th to 21st July and features Primary Talent International artists:
...Kate Tempest
...Anna Calvi
...TOKiMONSTA
...TVAMTickets on sale from 24th January.
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22 Jan, 2019
TVAM: Mutations Festival 2019
TVAM will play the Mutations Festival in Portslade, UK on 23rd February.
