Unholy Progeny: Psychic TV and Witch House at the Crossroads of Occultism in the Information Age
Journal of Musicological Research January 2, 2018 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1080/01411896.2018.1413870 via OpenAlex 4 citations
Summary
This article compares two underground music movements that used creative communication to attract followers while concealing their activities: Genesis P-Orridge's chaos magick group Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth and its musical outlet Psychic TV (1981–1991), and the internet-based electronic micro-genre witch house (2008–2013). Although they appear aesthetically and operationally aligned, examining their occult purposes reveals an exploitative dynamic: witch house adopts the style of the Psychic TV/TOPY project but simultaneously undermines the ritual-based "cultural engineering" that originally defined it.
Study at a glance
| Design | historical analysis |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Witch house appropriates the aesthetic of Psychic TV/TOPY while undermining the ritual-driven cultural engineering that underpinned the earlier movement. |
Abstract
This article bridges two underground music networks that relied on inventive communications tactics to both obscure their movement and reach new followers: Genesis P-Orridge’s chaos magick sect Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth, with its artistic mouthpiece Psychic TV (c. 1981–1991), and the Internet-based electronic music micro-genre witch house (c. 2008–2013). Though outwardly synergetic in their aesthetic and operational commitments, a focus on the underlying occult agenda of each reveals an exploitative situation—witch house assumes the mantle of the Psychic TV/TOPY project, while concurrently undermining the ritual-driven “cultural engineering” that predicated its existence.