Did not yet have time to check out, but maybe eventually... "night time of the 20th century", yes please.
http://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/in-conversation/david-keenan-crime-calls-for-night
This audio-visual talk was triggered by the re-publication by Strange Attractor Press of David Keenan's England's Hidden Reverse, his landmark study of the UK's esoteric industrial underground via the key figures of Coil, Nurse With Wound and Current 93. The talk tracked the sources of Industrial music's thinking of the 'unthinkable', its obsession with secret histories and alternative sources of information, and its history of flirtation with – and sometimes outright embracing of – images of genocide, fascism, serial killers and the nighttime of the 20th century.
David Keenan is a UK music journalist, author and co-owner of Glasgow's Volcanic Tongue record shop.
The fourth edition of Off The Page, The Wire's literary festival for sound and music, took place at Bristol's Arnolfini, 26–28 September, and was coproduced by The Wire, Arnolfini and Qu Junktions. Audio recording by Gary Fawle at Events in Sound. Photography by Paul Samuel White.
From the man who only a few years ago wrote scathing articles on "fascists in noise". Also inventor of "hypnagogic pop". Tread carefully around this toxic individual for when he shows an interest in things dear to us there is cause for concern indeed.
I tried to listen it today but I gave up fast due to his Scottish tone.
Thought it would apt to re-use this amazing expression used elsewhere on the board about a woman writing a new piece about misogyny in horror films:
QuoteJesus, talk about low hanging fruit.
Quote from: ImpulsyStetoskopu on November 12, 2014, 11:13:23 PM
I tried to listen it today but I gave up fast due to his Scottish tone.
The Scottish tone is the only good thing about this. Probably. I haven't listened and wont.
I got as far as "What I Call Night-Time Imagery" and had to turn off.
I have been told by others that this man is rather repellent.
Listened this, but must say scottish accent combined with his style of delivery is quite horrid. Not to mention that I would think of one could perhaps go much further than revolve around TG and Sex Pistols...
Perhaps him defending adolescence in art is quite nice point to look at. When talking that society tries to control the violent and passionate humping machine of adolescent energy, and that it's impossible to stop. But my impression of the guy, is that he does his best to restrict what he doesn't like?
He keeps asking why Sid Vicious using swastika shirt is so much more acceptable and good, than we (refers himself and Throbbing Gristle) doing it. Well, maybe the guy should only ask himself why him and handful of old UK guards should be museum worthy, while entire "night time" of noise scene is something he apparently has been very eager to suppress...? Of course, like he says: industrial music makes you look at world and asks you: yes? no? yes? no? Apparently his reply is often no. My reply is often yes. That's perhaps main difference in mentality.
Edit: Although interview TheOtherJohn links, keenan is presented as yes man, and also complains about overt political correctness of music magazines. Huh. Slight smile appeared on face when reading that...
I got about half-way through, which I guess isn't too bad. I imagine his brogue would be very difficult for people who's first language isn't English, it took me a while to adjust. In the English speaking world, it is notoriously difficult to understand (although don't tell a Scotsman that, you piss them off at your peril).
I realise he was talking about a book he wrote a while ago about old subject matter, which is the main reason I turned off after a while. It was just too familiar to me. I dare say it was pretty damn familiar to his audience too, but you've got to sell your product. "Transgression" is a fashion parade for some, and a nostalgic look at the designs that influenced and changed things is always a bit of a thrill for the above-it-all crowd. Cunts. Smug, weak cunts.
Interesting theory about cave art, although I think he stretched the point about adolescence. Claiming that adolescents are the only ones crazy enough to go into a cave and explore ignores pretty much nearly everything. I admit that book he refers (can't remember the title right now) sounds interesting.
Fuck, "hypnagogic pop" - what a classic article that was. I'm going to drink and listen to Filth And Violence tapes tonight.
QuoteThe Wire is still the best music magazine out there. I still get a kick when I see it on the shelves of some high-street store, it's the last bastion.
Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on November 12, 2014, 04:58:23 PM
This audio-visual talk was triggered by the re-publication by Strange Attractor Press of David Keenan's England's Hidden Reverse, his landmark study of the UK's esoteric industrial underground via the key figures of Coil, Nurse With Wound and Current 93.
Seriously? This re-publication has failed to materialize so many times. I don't see anything on the Strange Attractor website, but Amazon.com says it'll be out on November 20...
I know he's done a lot of interviews for the putative follow-up to England's Hidden Reverse which will focus on Whitehouse, Skullflower, Broken Flag and the A Band diaspora but who knows if that will ever surface or whether this long-promised reissue is for real.
Bloke seems a bit of a numpty to me - those reviews he does to sell his stock where everything is a mindblowing underground major statement are truly ridiculous and make Cold Spring's pretentious descriptions of albums pale in comparison - he did one for one of my albums last year, seemed to shift the product for him but it was quite ludicrous and I couldn't take it seriously at all - I knew our record was good but this review kinda made me unsure for a day or two. Never even met the fucker anyway. We'd probably get on fine.
Appreciated the title of Tight Meat record he made after Deaf Forever '07 'Dedicated to Smell & Quim But They Weren't Listening' and his referencing thing there
He refers to a lot of things as 'a planetary X'
like
'a planetary Whitehouse' (true story - Hobo Sonn LP)
Massive hack desperate not to have to work at Sainsbury's once the writing dries up so invents shit to make himself look relevant. Often at the massive expensive of artists he is meant to be helping. Doesn't make him any different to the others though (with a few exceptions) and if fewer people lent the credence they do to the fantasy world building of music journalists we'd have fewer problems. Kinda like that Wolf Eyes thread, eh lads?
Quote from: theotherjohn on November 13, 2014, 11:54:00 AM
Even the times he talks about Whitehouse he gets it wrong! The photo he mentions was taken outside the trial of Dennis Nilsen, not Peter Sutcliffe:
Quote from: Susan Lawly website"whitehouse 08 (http://www.susanlawly.freeuk.com/picturefiles/wholdbailey.jpg) (from L to R - Philip Best, Alastor, William Bennett, Debbie) at the Old Bailey, London 1983"
Yes I'm a nerd, but it's a pretty crucial detail when you're referencing the Right To Kill album, speaking in a professional context and supposedly knowing your shit.
It was a trial about Sutcliffe being attacked in prison, not the Nilsen trial - the gossip column of Sounds mentioned Whitehouse attending this in a disparaging way. The details in EHR seem pretty accurate to me, certainly compared to Simon Reynolds' garbled version of things in Rip It Up. I know a couple of the people he wrote about weren't too happy but that's always gonna happen.
Strange Attractor is an excellent press, a much better choice than the original publisher SAF. The book is pretty great - I'm not a huge fan of the bands myself except Coil but it's full of interesting stories - much better than his Wire journalism or that awful hackwork on his site.
Quote from: HongKongGoolagong on November 17, 2014, 09:32:49 PM
Appreciated the title of Tight Meat record he made after Deaf Forever '07 'Dedicated to Smell & Quim But They Weren't Listening' and his referencing thing there
check it out! i've been waiting to hear this since it came out ... and it sounds exactly like i thought it would (ascension but with a sax instead of a guitar - he plays the sax as 'bad' as me ...).
http://altvinyl.bandcamp.com/track/dedicated-to-smell-quim-but-they-werent-listening
I thought he did make some good or interesting points but seemed to lose track by the end
Oh, this is indeed an interesting lecture but something about it seems a little off in terms of his understanding of the industrial/noise continuum. Frankly, I find him worrying about the adolescence of noise to be a bore. Sure, I get that inherent in many, many types of music that emerges out of and in tandem with punk and rock n' roll music has a certain, um, primitive nature and obsession with the physical but I don't really believe that it is adolescent if it is being done well. In fact, I find the worst noise to be adolescent. I really think that dismisses the intellectual power of, say, Whitehouse and Throbbong Gristle, let alone the multitude of smaller acts and unknown cassette artists from the period, as a truly disruptive subversive force however, whose navigating of transgressive ideas and methods needs to evaluated as something greatly misunderstood by serious music writers. I'm actually A big fan of Keenan, however problematic his serious work can sometimes be. His Volcanic Tongue store is a goldmind of private press oddity if that is your thing. He seems to be taking a bite too large in dealing with a phenomenology of transgression or just doesn't fully understand it, which is a shame as he has likely heard a great deal of what everyone on this board or invested in harsh noise/power electronics is into.
I seem to remember that this guy has no dick!
I'll listen later.