TVAM - PSYCHIC DATA

[buzby]

I've just got a new car with DAB radio so I can listen to 6 Music again. I noticed a track that was on rotation the other week, sort of reminded me a bit of Spacemen 3, BoC and a bit of Suicide, a shoegaze-electronic hybrid. Thankfully DAB gives you the track data and it was Narcissus by TVAM. I looked into them a bit further and it's a bloke called Joe Oxley from Wigan, formerly of The VCs and The Shook-Ups and also one of the resident engineers at Jaraf House Studios in Ince -in-Makerfield.

TVAM is basically a one-man audio-visual project, with Oxley making the music in his home studio and videos to accompany them, using very Adam Curtis-esque collages of archive video footage with white Helvetica text overlays, sourced from old VHS tapes and the internet.
The first track he released as TVAM was No Explanations back in 2014 on Static Caravan, which didn't have much of the electronic elements present. The current electronic/guitar hybrid sound first appeared on Porsche Majure in 2015, followed by Gas And Air in 2016, both also on Static Caravan. Later in 2016 he released Total Immersion on his own label Psychic Data, and this year he's put out his debut album, also called Psychic Data, including the previous singles from Gas And Air onwards, and released new singles These Are Not Your Memories, Psychic Data and Narcissus  He plays live over old CRT TVs showing the videos behind him from a VHS player, so presumably there is a video for each track on the album).


I liked what I heard (and saw, as the videos really add to the music), went and bought the album and am enjoying it immensely. Anyone else out there come across Mr. Oxley or TVAM before?

[BlodwynPig]

Seems very familiar

are you aware of Dykehouse - his last album (2004) was in this vein

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lucx2fKyCHE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHePhwn9H9w

His first album was BoC goodness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwXM_3vHQsM

[sevendaughters]

I know Joe quite well and am pleased he's doing great. His last band was primed to blow up and didn't quite. He's a big Add N to X and Tobacco fan and am glad that he's found a nice avenue to push those interests down. Not heard the full album yet but the singles/lead tracks have been strong.

[Gamma Ray]

Been meaning to check the long player out, Porsche Majure was rad.

Any idea why he's called himself TVAM? Puts me in mind of Anne Diamond and Nick Owen on a garish sofa in the early 80s.

[buzby]

Any idea why he's called himself TVAM? Puts me in mind of Anne Diamond and Nick Owen on a garish sofa in the early 80s.

From a 2016 interview with Louder Than War:

LTW: Where did the name TVAM come from, isn't it some kind of cardiovascular treatment?

JO: The real answer is that it came from the breakfast television program TVAM! I had enough memory of the time to know what it was about but not to truly understand it.

Also, part of the video aspect of the project is that he makes idents featuring his TVAM logo (some of the audio stings from which are included as tracks on the album).