Clear Smoke Vinyl, edition of 500. In the summer of 1968, an 18-year-old Genesis P-Orridge (then Neil Andrew Megson) gathered with friends in a modest attic space to experiment with sound, unknowingly laying the foundations for what would become one of the most radical careers in experimental music. Early Worm, a collection of recordings that capture the nascent creativity of this pivotal figure in avant-garde music, now emerges as a limited vinyl pressing – a testament to P-Orridge's early commitment to pushing musical boundaries.
These sessions, originally pressed to a single acetate in 1969, showcase a fearless exploration of noise, improvisation, and tape experiments that reflect influences from psychedelia, Fluxus, John Cage, and beatnik Bohemia. The raw and unfiltered soundscapes offer listeners a rare archaeological glimpse into the foundational moments that would eventually birth COUM Transmissions, Throbbing Gristle, and Psychic TV.
As The Guardian notes: "If nothing else, Early Worm revealed that P-Orridge's approach to music was defiantly left-field from the start: noise, improvisations and tape experiments that sounded a little like a more chaotic version psychedelic folkies the Incredible String Band."
The album stands as both historical document and prophetic vision, capturing the zeitgeist of the late 1960s UK underground while foreshadowing the industrial revolution that P-Orridge would later orchestrate. These recordings reveal an artist already committed to dissolving boundaries between music, performance, and conceptual art – a practice that would fundamentally reshape experimental culture.
Remastered and preserved with liner notes written by Genesis Breyer P-Orridge recalling the fertile chaos of that transformative period, Early Worm offers unprecedented access to the creative DNA of industrial music's genesis. Each track serves as both artifact of youthful experimentation and blueprint for the radical cultural interventions that would follow.
For devotees of experimental music history, this release represents nothing less than the discovery of a missing link – proof that revolution often begins in attic spaces with nothing more than curiosity, courage, and a tape recorder.