Test print done. Material given to printing house. This book is being available in next week. Some words about this item I decided to use from preface:
"It is with sincere pleasure that I here present the first volume of a publication devoted to industrial music, its aesthetics, counter-cultural aspect and philosophical foundations, as well as any cultural and social phenomena affecting the formation of its canon.
The idea to develop this handbook, devised as a single-volume edition, was born in early 2004. With time, however, for a number
of various reasons, including financial and technical ones, the original concept had to be revised.
An artistic and cultural phenomenon, which industrial music undoubtedly is, has been present in the social consciousness (or at least in the grey areas of it) for almost 35 years. Unfortunately, apart from a seminal yet regrettably selective Re/Search #6/7: Industrial Culture Handbook of 1983, there has been so far no book attempting a comprehensive and thorough study of the entire industrial music movement, with its historical and aesthetic background. Of course, over all those years a large number of valuable articles and even magazines devoted to the activities of contemporary experimental music artists have appeared both through the mainstream and underground channels. The knowledge about those composers and the results of their artistic activities has nevertheless still remained scattered, and to many actually unavailable, despite universal access to the Internet. It was my intention, then, to fill in this gap and develop a compendium, helping one to find their way in the remote, often unknown, regions of industrial culture.
So who is this publication for? First and foremost, it was designed for those who have been interested in the matter only recently, and the knowledge they have is not sufficient for them either to comprehend the movement nor to familiarise themselves with all the valuable works. It could also prove useful for the seasoned, long-time fans of all varieties of experimental music, whose knowledge, admittedly, is probably quite broad and profound but this handbook should improve it and possibly even verify, inspiring them to
re-value the views held so far. Finally, I would feel honoured if it met with interest of readers professionally involved in either teaching (faculty members at art and music schools) or popularising of contemporary music (critics, authors, radio hosts, etc.).
I am of course aware of this work's imperfections, both content-wise and editing-wise. Some artists may turn out to have been unduly omitted. I am bound to receive comments on incompleteness of discographies of certain artists or mistakes as to the facts related to publishing activities. Perhaps some readers will be even disappointed with insufficient coverage of their favourite artists or the artists they have been unsuccessfully seeking any information on. Given a broad scope of the industrial music/culture movement, its marginalisation in both the mass media and university syllabuses, meagre literature on the subject and, finally, the adopted formula of pithy entries, a fully satisfactory compendious study does not seem possibly feasible. In any case, I am open to any critical comments and suggestions and would be especially grateful for any feedback that could help improve and expand the entries or verify the entries in terms of facts and/or their interpretation. Any amendments are going to be included as errata in the subsequent volumes.
When developing the entries I availed myself of my own knowledge, acquired through active listening to the music itself
(that includes reading the contents of the liner notes, booklets or lyrics), perusal of art / music / culture manifestos, interviews with the artists, literature on the subject (e.g. independent music magazines, music and art monographs) and the biographical information put on artists' websites. It also happened that it was the artists themselves or their close associates who assisted me in obtaining
the necessary information, for which my sincere thanks are due to them all!
Now to the explanation of the motives and aesthetic basis for my work here. The most crucial point of reference, determining the stylistic framework of industrial music, was the legendary five postulates of 1983 by Jon SAVAGE defining the aesthetic and formal qualities of industrial music. To my mind those still remain the reference points in defining industrial music/culture. The handbook focuses then on the classic industrial music and all its experimental and postindustrial varieties. Fans of electro-industrial, EBM, techno and rock/metal varieties of industrial music may feel disappointed as I merely indicated the existence of those areas on the map
of industrial music and presented its major representatives availing myself of the latest editions of various encyclopaedia of popular music and rock music, which increasingly cover the artists active in those movements.
Finally, some detailed explanation and tips on using this handbook:
1. The entries are arranged alphabetically, by the initial letters of projects' names, artists' monikers or the real names in case
of artists not using any assumed names. In the case of artists involved in a number of projects, the project which proved the most significant in their career was precedent. Thus, anyone interested in BLOODYMINDED should not fret over the absence of an entry on Mark SOLOTROFF as a detailed biography of this artist appears in the entry on INTRINSIC ACTION. Other projects (side projects), including publishing activities, are covered in the entry itself or the discography attached. There are, however, some exceptions.
In the case of certain prominent figures, e.g. Genesis P-ORRIDGE, and their major projects, seminal for the development of industrial music (e.g. COUM TRANSMISSIONS, THROBBING GRISTLE and PSYCHIC TV), each project is discussed in a separate entry and a separate discography is provided;
2. In order to harmonise confusing information on many releases (e.g. numerous re-issues, no year given, etc.), I felt compelled
to establish quite controversial rules, which may not meet with the understanding of the readers, especially those particularly demanding when it comes to accuracy in the matter. The discographies list the releases chronologically by the year of first publication. With a few exceptions, compilations and releases in MP3 format are deliberately omitted for a variety of reasons. If a cassette release has been re-issued on CD, LP or CD-R, the discography does not include the cassette item. The order of precedence for formats
is as follows: CD, vinyl, CD-R, cassette. The information on the label which published an item in a given format and the year of first publication are given next to each item.
This book would have never happened had it not been for kindness of several people, to whom I am really grateful. I am especially indebted to my wife, Sylwia, whose commitment, support and patience proved most valuable when it came to dealing with moments of weakness and doubt. I have also received invaluable assistance from Przemysław CHOJNACKI. Thanks to his perceptiveness and meticulousness I was able to avoid a large number of inconsistencies and mistakes, but most of all, I wish to thank him for his dedication to translating this book into English. Without his help this book would not be possible. Great thanks are also due
to Dawid KOWALSKI, for his enormous contribution in the translation process, and to Richard JOHNSON, for his language assistance in proofreading. Finally, I also thank Maciek FRETT for his enthusiasm, a lot of interesting ideas and critical comments, a significant contribution to this encyclopaedia."
100 pages, A-4 format, 450 g hard cover in full-colour, over 260 entries (only A-C) with black-white photos, index and double CD-R with recordings (most of them previously unreleased) of:
ALTAR OF FLIES
Andrea MARUTTI (aka AMON)
ANEMONE TUBE
ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE
ASTRAL SOCIAL CLUB
BARDOSENETICCUBE
BEEQUEEN
Bob BELLERUE
The BLACK VIAL
BLACK LEATHER JESUS
CHAOS AS SHELTER
CHEAPMACHINES
CHRISTBLOOD
CIRCUIT WOUND
CLEW OF THESEUS
COCK ESP
Nicholas COLINS
COSTES
CRANK STURGEON
Title page:
http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/5180/covernetcopy.jpgPrice: 19 EURO + 6 EURO for registered shiping.
any questions are welcome.
