The Pornography Of Despair

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Pornography of Despair is an unreleased album by Matt Johnson, the man behind British rock/pop/indie/country band The The.

The following is a recent quote regarding the album from Johnson himself when asked if P.O.D. existed, and would ever be released:

THE PORNOGRAPHY OF DESPAIR (1982)

“

I realise much confusion surrounds this album. This stems from the fact there were at least two, and sometimes numerous, versions recorded of most of its songs, including 'Perfect/Screw Up Your Feelings', 'Uncertain Smile/Cold Spell Ahead', 'Mental Healing Process (for a mixed up kid)', 'Waiting For The Upturn', 'The Sinking Feeling', 'The Nature Of Virtue' amongst others. I began writing 'P.O.D.' even before I'd finished recording 'Burning Blue Soul'. The deal with Ivo and 4AD was a one off album deal and as I was not yet signed to either Some Bizzare or CBS/Epic I had to beg, steal and borrow studio time wherever I could find it. The original 'P.O.D.' had far more in common with 'Burning Blue Soul' than with the subsequent 'Soul Mining'. Although I did manage to finish off the original album under my own steam it was never fully mixed as by that point I became involved with Some Bizzare and CBS/Epic. Stevo, my manager at the time, really liked the rough mixes he heard but along with the CBS/Epic A&R department felt that I should re-record them in a more commercial vein. This I did, editing, re-writing sections, speeding up some songs, slowing down others etc. but I was never entirely happy with the results as they seemed neither as experimental as the earlier versions or even particularly commercial to my ears. I decided that they should just be used as b-sides while I began work on yet another, more commercial, album 'Soul Mining'. But the question I am continually asked of course is if/when 'The Pornography of Despair' will finally be released. The problem is not legal here but purely technical because although I fully own the copyright of the original album, as with 'Spirits' there is the slight problem of locating some missing tapes before digitising them and then mixing the album. I have literally hundreds of reels of magnetic tape in old cardboard boxes in storage. Most unmarked! I am the only person who can listen and decide what to keep and what to throw. The other problem is that magnetic tape of a certain era sheds its oxide very badly so you have to actually bake it overnight in special ovens at low temperature in order to be able play it without destroying either the tape itself or completely gumming up the guides and heads of the analogue tape machine. Even after this process they are only playable for a number of weeks before turning mushy again. So, the truth is that in order for me to release both these albums as I would like them to be released, i.e. with all of the songs present and correct and fully mixed, it will involve a very expensive and time consuming, not to say tedious, process. But hopefully some day, yes.

”