Joseph Christie (Album)

Joseph Christie is the only album by Joseph Christie, a hobbyist musician, and the sixth album released on Infected Sponge Records, on the 25th of June 1987. Christie died soon after the release of the album, after getting into a car accident.

The song "Portsmouth" would later be performed by The Infection in most shows and tours.

Background
Joseph Christie (born 29th December 1961, died 2nd July 1987) was a painter, hobbyist musician and shopkeeper.

His music gained a cult following after being shared around 4chan's /mu/ board in the latter half of the 2000s, leading to a slew of reissues in years to come.

Despite gaining most of his following years after his death, Christie was semi-popular in Portsmouth while he was alive, partially owing to his stature and clothing. Christie's clothes were always self-made, usually torn tie-dye t-shirts and threadbare sweatpants, and his height (somewhere around 6'8) definitely added to the appeal.

Cover
The cover was an abstract painting that Christie had painted in 1979, when he was 17 years old. The second press of the album was hand painted, with each one having a different cover and label. Only ten of these records have resurfaced, and it is assumed that the second press was very limited.

Content
The album is primarily singer/songwriter folk music, with a second LP consisting entirely of experiments with amateur radio equipment and a modular synthesizer. The first LP is categorized by dynamic vocals, ranging from whispering on Sea, to screaming on Portsmouth. Many of the tracks on the album are combined with background drones, sampled from the works of La Monte Young and the Theater of Eternal Music. The guitar on the album is played without a pick (one track ends with Christie saying "I gotta stop the tape, fingers are bleeding" followed by an excerpt of the first Hanatarash album, played at 78rpm, layered over another excerpt, played at 45rpm) and is often rather complex in it's stylings.

Themes on the album include the abuse that Christie received as a child, and the resulting mental illness.

Tracklisting

 * 1) Sea (3:00)
 * 2) Leaving the House at Three O'Clock In The Morning, Again (2:43)
 * 3) Portsmouth (7:32)
 * 4) A Distinct Lack Of Motivation (1:43)
 * 5) How The Fuck Am I Supposed To Live With This (5:51)
 * 6) A Sun  (2:14)
 * 7) Goodbye (1:53)

LP Two

 * 1) Experiment #1 (15:00)
 * 2) Experiment #2 (7:30)
 * 3) Tape Loops, Power Tools, and Pedals (10:12)