Books about noise/experimental music

[FreakAnimalFinland]

I am already doubtful due knowing books is supposed to be quite "academic" so to say. Many times language used in such texts makes it almost unbearable reading material.

[Earth O.D.]

I am already doubtful due knowing books is supposed to be quite "academic" so to say. Many times language used in such texts makes it almost unbearable reading material.

Yes that´s a big turn-off... the overtly pedantic dissection in "Fight Your Own War" got on my nerves already.

[Balor/SS1535]

I am already doubtful due knowing books is supposed to be quite "academic" so to say. Many times language used in such texts makes it almost unbearable reading material.

Yes that´s a big turn-off... the overtly pedantic dissection in "Fight Your Own War" got on my nerves already.

Despite it's faults, Fight Your Own War is one of the better books on noise/industrial that have come out in semi-recent years.

[Balor/SS1535]

I am already doubtful due knowing books is supposed to be quite "academic" so to say. Many times language used in such texts makes it almost unbearable reading material.

Compared to Hegarty, that one is not too "academic" in the way that I think you mean.  It's actually quite the opposite, focusing on "close listening" without much theoretical structuring.  At first I really liked the idea of that, but in reality the book is mostly just him describing the sound changes in a given noise album in micro-detail (often with weird, and actually useless, spectrographic images).

From what I remember, the only "politically correct" commentary was in regards to Genocide Organ?  But very clearly he was only listening/aware of their early works.

[VORACLE]

I am already doubtful due knowing books is supposed to be quite "academic" so to say. Many times language used in such texts makes it almost unbearable reading material.

Yes that´s a big turn-off... the overtly pedantic dissection in "Fight Your Own War" got on my nerves already.

Despite it's faults, Fight Your Own War is one of the better books on noise/industrial that have come out in semi-recent years.

Agreed. I've read that one numerous times now.

[Earth O.D.]

I am already doubtful due knowing books is supposed to be quite "academic" so to say. Many times language used in such texts makes it almost unbearable reading material.

Yes that´s a big turn-off... the overtly pedantic dissection in "Fight Your Own War" got on my nerves already.

Despite it's faults, Fight Your Own War is one of the better books on noise/industrial that have come out in semi-recent years.

Agreed. I've read that one numerous times now.

I agree it has its merits and it´s still a keeper.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Compared to Hegarty, that one is not too "academic" in the way that I think you mean.  It's actually quite the opposite, focusing on "close listening" without much theoretical structuring.  At first I really liked the idea of that, but in reality the book is mostly just him describing the sound changes in a given noise album in micro-detail (often with weird, and actually useless, spectrographic images).

From what I remember, the only "politically correct" commentary was in regards to Genocide Organ?  But very clearly he was only listening/aware of their early works.

I would be interested to hear what you make of his analysis of Grunt.

I guess it is not really "polically correct" observation, but after length GO text about controversial lyrics, in Grunt it merely casually mentions "accused of having ties to National Socialism", which is of course true, but very little to do with release that is being dealt with in the book. Double tape has way more focus on things like animal rights, consumer society, social alienation, and so on.

In GO chapter, author insists it is hard to digest the content that doesn't take stand. Don't remember the exact phrasing, but it does make one think... stand to what? Like name dropping songs like "Negros In Sky-Wars", and it could be that a lot of people will get stuck simply on the word negro and not thinking any further. I can't be sure, but I assume this song deal with the Tuskegee Airmen. Negroes trained in alabama, to fight against fascists and nazis in WWII (more GO'ish topic possible!?!?). Back in 1989 when Leichenlinie came out, it was many years before topic was popularized in hollywood movie and unlikely most of people would have any idea what it is about. Like so many of GO tracks, it would require not only intelligence but study of largely overlooked (fringe) history. Now anyone can just click couple buttons and get brief overview of topic from wikipedia or follow links to further.

Anyways, I have not read entire book yet, but indeed, it is very detailed noise listening to point where deconstruction of noise elements begin to lose point. I don't reject idea of diving deep into micro detail, and neither use of spectrographic images, but at times it feel like can't see the forest for the trees -phenomena. There is noise that can be dissected and deconstructed, but there are other noise where only emerging wholeness matters and focusing on micro detail can be fetishistic, but sort of irrelevant as it tells very little of the work of art.

[Balor/SS1535]

Compared to Hegarty, that one is not too "academic" in the way that I think you mean.  It's actually quite the opposite, focusing on "close listening" without much theoretical structuring.  At first I really liked the idea of that, but in reality the book is mostly just him describing the sound changes in a given noise album in micro-detail (often with weird, and actually useless, spectrographic images).

From what I remember, the only "politically correct" commentary was in regards to Genocide Organ?  But very clearly he was only listening/aware of their early works.

I would be interested to hear what you make of his analysis of Grunt.

I guess it is not really "polically correct" observation, but after length GO text about controversial lyrics, in Grunt it merely casually mentions "accused of having ties to National Socialism", which is of course true, but very little to do with release that is being dealt with in the book. Double tape has way more focus on things like animal rights, consumer society, social alienation, and so on.

In GO chapter, author insists it is hard to digest the content that doesn't take stand. Don't remember the exact phrasing, but it does make one think... stand to what? Like name dropping songs like "Negros In Sky-Wars", and it could be that a lot of people will get stuck simply on the word negro and not thinking any further. I can't be sure, but I assume this song deal with the Tuskegee Airmen. Negroes trained in alabama, to fight against fascists and nazis in WWII (more GO'ish topic possible!?!?). Back in 1989 when Leichenlinie came out, it was many years before topic was popularized in hollywood movie and unlikely most of people would have any idea what it is about. Like so many of GO tracks, it would require not only intelligence but study of largely overlooked (fringe) history. Now anyone can just click couple buttons and get brief overview of topic from wikipedia or follow links to further.

Anyways, I have not read entire book yet, but indeed, it is very detailed noise listening to point where deconstruction of noise elements begin to lose point. I don't reject idea of diving deep into micro detail, and neither use of spectrographic images, but at times it feel like can't see the forest for the trees -phenomena. There is noise that can be dissected and deconstructed, but there are other noise where only emerging wholeness matters and focusing on micro detail can be fetishistic, but sort of irrelevant as it tells very little of the work of art.

It reminds me of some post or article that I came across some years ago where the author was commenting that people might get offended at the idea of a project called "Genocide Organ"---but then be at a total loss of what exactly the name means?  The more one tries to tie the project down to particular interpretations, especially if you are approaching it as "another right-wing industrial project," seems to quickly slip and slide into confusion and indelicate interpretations.

I forget if I mentioned it above, but I thought that the more theoretical introduction was probably the best part of the book.  I liked his breakdown of the history of noise music too.

Another thing about the book, I think it has one of the better analyses of Merzbow that can be found right now.  Of course the Merzbook really sets the standard here, but sometimes a person with a bit of a critical distance can say some useful things.  A bunch of other others (especially Hegarty and Voegelin) just emphasized the "excessive" aspects of the project, not least the sheer number of releases.  On the one hand, they are totally right about this.  Graham points out, however, that Merzbow's output can actually be organized into rough periods.  I think that's a really interesting observation in contrast to the "excessive" reading of the project, in that it actually suggests that there is an organization behind everything.  In a way, the more Merzbow releases, the better we, as listeners, come to understanding the scope of the project---making it less excessive and more summarizable.

[Penon]

I was listening to few tapes of Cauldhame which is kind of PE/noise crossover I like - agressive and violent but with this ethereal synth lurking in the background making it sound more atmospheric and sophisticated than just an in-your-face sonic assault.

I was googling for more info about the project and found that the guy behind the project wrote PhD thesis on power electronics! Here is the link to the full thing: https://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/bitstream/10443/4890/1/Blenkarn%20M%202020.pdf

[post-morten]

Nicolas Ballet - Shock Factory (588 pages)

This book aims to introduce the visual and aesthetic elements of industrial culture to a general history of contemporary art by analysing the different approaches taken and topics addressed by the primary protagonists of the movement.

https://www.intellectbooks.com/shock-factory

Now this is a tome that seems mandatory, although with a price tag as heavy as its content...

‐------------------------

Foreword
  Pascal Rousseau

Acknowledgements

Introduction
  Alternative Postmodernity
  Graphical Perspectives
  Cultural Registers and Industrial Themes
  Artistic Hybridizations

Part I. The Last of England: Post-Industrial Trauma and a Tradition of Subversion

Chapter 1. Dystopia for Utopia

"Prolétariat & Industrie": Marginality and Post-Industrial Change
        Post-Industrial Context: Transformation of the Nature of Power
        Irony and Industrial Détournements
        Post-Industrial Zeitgeist and "Global Village"
        Atomic Paranoia: The Post-Apocalyptic Iconography of the Nuclear Age
        Survivalism, Paramilitary Decorum and the Fear of Death
        Breakdown and Continuity of Post-Psychedelic Violence
        Post-Beat Culture

Transgression and Destruction: An Aesthetic of Carnage
        Post-Apocalyptic Perspectives and Junk Culture
        Urban and Industrial Ruins: Dissidence of "Dark Romanticism"
        Aesthetics of Destruction: Confrontational Attitudes and Visual Parasites
        Bodily Mutilation: The "Industrial Disease"
        Industrial Pain
        Cultural Terrorism 

Chapter 2. The Legacy of Modernity and Postmodern Challenges

Informed, Marginalized Generation
        Culture Clash: A Diversity of Artistic Traditions Collides
        Knowledge of Previous Movements and Experimental Shifts
        Redefining the Avant-Garde in the Post-Modern Era                     
Future Tense: Reinterpreting Futurism
        Manifesto Culture
        Rupture
L'Ordre par le Bruit: Constructivist and Suprematist Precedents
        Influence of Propaganda
        Constructive Destruction
        "Mechanical Eye": Organic Machine
Dadaist Offensive
        Subversive Cabaret
        The Dada Cyborg: Doubting the Man-Machine
        Post-War Trauma and Prosthetic Men
        The Duchampian Model of "Anti-Art"
        Alternative Networks

Imaginary Surrealists
        Dark Surrealism: Altered Reality
        The "Uncanny" of a Mechanical

Sexuality  Dreams Less Sweet: Surrealist Dreams

The Neo-Avant-Gardist Factory
        "Fluxshoe": Behavioural Experiments
        Actionist Radicality
        Post-Situationist Détournements

Part II Nothing Short of a Total War: Industrial Dissidence and Shock Tactics

Chapter 3. "Persuasion": Burroughsian Strategies of Reversing Mind Control

"Spread the Virus": Electronic Revolution and Industrial Cut-Ups
        Post-Industrial Biopolitics and Strategy of Recycling
        The "Control Process" and Disruptive Advertising
        Televisual Piracy
        Bioelectronic Virus

Duty Experiment: Military and Civilian Scientific Experiments
        Experimental Scientific Protocols and Torture
        "War of Nerves": Acoustic Warfare and Crowd Control Military Infiltration and Civilian Conditioning
        Attacking and Hijacking Popular Culture

Chapter 4. Symphony for a Genocide: Industrial Music and Totalitarianism 

Détournement of Trauma and Industrial Provocation
        Death Factory: Dictatorship of the Mass Media and "Dark Situationism"
        Paramilitary Fetishism and Transgressive Attitudes
        Laboratory of Ambiguity
        Industrial Anti-Fascism 

Industrial Catharsis: Psychological Mechanisms and Cognitive Tests
        Shock Impressions and Historical Boundaries
        Overplaying Totalitarian Brutality
        Human Atrocities: Countering the Inhuman

Industrial Excesses and Political Manipulation
        (Re)discovering the Shoah

        Fascination for the Historical Archive and the Effect of Complacency
        Radicalization of a Political Scene
        Fear of Cultural Disappearance

Chapter 5. "Suture Obsession": Aestheticization of Horror

The Atrocity Exhibition: Anti-Psychiatric Interference and Tolerance Thresholds
        Reflective Tradition of the Unbearable Image
        Science of Perception: Psychiatric Perversion and Shock Treatment
        "The Cathedral of Death"
        True Gore: Fascination and Repulsion of the Unbearable Image
        The Toilet Exhibition: Shared Trauma

Bleeding Images: Criminal Anxiety
        The Manson Family/Jonestown: Sectarian Lure and Collective Suicide
        Warped Portrait of a Serial Killer
        Murderous Impulses and Creative Desires
        Criminal Experience
        Sex Crime Atrocities

Chapter 6. "Prostitution": Sexual Reconfiguration and Industrial Feminism 

White Souls in Black Suits: Pornographic Abuse and BDSM Subculture
        "Degree Xerox" and Sexual Repression
        Psychopathia Sexualis and the Fascination with Sexual Transgression
        Sexual Discipline: Effects of Fetishization and Reconfiguration of Pain
        Unusual Perversions: Bondage Subculture
        Crash Biomechanical Sexual Mutation

Brutality as a Masquerade
        Gender Relations Within the Movement
        "Obsession": Infiltration Tactics and Appropriation of the Female Body
        "Alpha Females": Violence and the Power of Gendered Deconstruction
        Engaging the Industrial Male

Part 3 "Body and Soul": Industrial Occulture

Chapter 7. Pagan Day: Occult Rituals and the Re-Enchantment of Reality

Third Esoteric Revival
        (Revolutionary) Social Utopias of Magical Awakening
        (Re)discovery of Occult and Artistic Practices

Crowleymass: Rehabilitated Contemporary Occultism
        Magia Sexualis: Influence of a Magical System 
        Writing and the Language of the Occult
        Astral Explorations and Queer Mysticism 

Zos Kia Cultus: The Legacy of Austin Osman Spare
        Sigils and Graphic Work
        Automatic Drawings Under Spiritual Influence
        The Alchemical "Whole": Occult Androgyny and Hermetic Challenges

The Process: Sectarian Systems and Informal Satanism
        "Psychedelic Fascism": Influential Processes at the Margins
        Transparency, Devotion and Overthrow of the Guru
        Industrial Satanism 
        Demonic Possessions and Religious Reconfigurations

Modern Primitives: Neopaganism and Ritualized Body Modification
        Wicca Tradition: Nature Worship
        "The Orgastic Potency of the Primitives": The Anthropological Turn
        "Traces of the Sacred": Marks of the Body and Mind

Conclusion

        Authoritarian Reconfiguration and Cultural Assimilation
        Extra-Planetary Village

Archives and Interviews

Bibliography

[Balor/SS1535]

Nicolas Ballet - Shock Factory (588 pages)

This book aims to introduce the visual and aesthetic elements of industrial culture to a general history of contemporary art by analysing the different approaches taken and topics addressed by the primary protagonists of the movement.

https://www.intellectbooks.com/shock-factory

Now this is a tome that seems mandatory, although with a price tag as heavy as its content...

‐------------------------

Foreword
  Pascal Rousseau

Acknowledgements

Introduction
  Alternative Postmodernity
  Graphical Perspectives
  Cultural Registers and Industrial Themes
  Artistic Hybridizations

Part I. The Last of England: Post-Industrial Trauma and a Tradition of Subversion

Chapter 1. Dystopia for Utopia

"Prolétariat & Industrie": Marginality and Post-Industrial Change
        Post-Industrial Context: Transformation of the Nature of Power
        Irony and Industrial Détournements
        Post-Industrial Zeitgeist and "Global Village"
        Atomic Paranoia: The Post-Apocalyptic Iconography of the Nuclear Age
        Survivalism, Paramilitary Decorum and the Fear of Death
        Breakdown and Continuity of Post-Psychedelic Violence
        Post-Beat Culture

Transgression and Destruction: An Aesthetic of Carnage
        Post-Apocalyptic Perspectives and Junk Culture
        Urban and Industrial Ruins: Dissidence of "Dark Romanticism"
        Aesthetics of Destruction: Confrontational Attitudes and Visual Parasites
        Bodily Mutilation: The "Industrial Disease"
        Industrial Pain
        Cultural Terrorism 

Chapter 2. The Legacy of Modernity and Postmodern Challenges

Informed, Marginalized Generation
        Culture Clash: A Diversity of Artistic Traditions Collides
        Knowledge of Previous Movements and Experimental Shifts
        Redefining the Avant-Garde in the Post-Modern Era                     
Future Tense: Reinterpreting Futurism
        Manifesto Culture
        Rupture
L'Ordre par le Bruit: Constructivist and Suprematist Precedents
        Influence of Propaganda
        Constructive Destruction
        "Mechanical Eye": Organic Machine
Dadaist Offensive
        Subversive Cabaret
        The Dada Cyborg: Doubting the Man-Machine
        Post-War Trauma and Prosthetic Men
        The Duchampian Model of "Anti-Art"
        Alternative Networks

Imaginary Surrealists
        Dark Surrealism: Altered Reality
        The "Uncanny" of a Mechanical

Sexuality  Dreams Less Sweet: Surrealist Dreams

The Neo-Avant-Gardist Factory
        "Fluxshoe": Behavioural Experiments
        Actionist Radicality
        Post-Situationist Détournements

Part II Nothing Short of a Total War: Industrial Dissidence and Shock Tactics

Chapter 3. "Persuasion": Burroughsian Strategies of Reversing Mind Control

"Spread the Virus": Electronic Revolution and Industrial Cut-Ups
        Post-Industrial Biopolitics and Strategy of Recycling
        The "Control Process" and Disruptive Advertising
        Televisual Piracy
        Bioelectronic Virus

Duty Experiment: Military and Civilian Scientific Experiments
        Experimental Scientific Protocols and Torture
        "War of Nerves": Acoustic Warfare and Crowd Control Military Infiltration and Civilian Conditioning
        Attacking and Hijacking Popular Culture

Chapter 4. Symphony for a Genocide: Industrial Music and Totalitarianism 

Détournement of Trauma and Industrial Provocation
        Death Factory: Dictatorship of the Mass Media and "Dark Situationism"
        Paramilitary Fetishism and Transgressive Attitudes
        Laboratory of Ambiguity
        Industrial Anti-Fascism 

Industrial Catharsis: Psychological Mechanisms and Cognitive Tests
        Shock Impressions and Historical Boundaries
        Overplaying Totalitarian Brutality
        Human Atrocities: Countering the Inhuman

Industrial Excesses and Political Manipulation
        (Re)discovering the Shoah

        Fascination for the Historical Archive and the Effect of Complacency
        Radicalization of a Political Scene
        Fear of Cultural Disappearance

Chapter 5. "Suture Obsession": Aestheticization of Horror

The Atrocity Exhibition: Anti-Psychiatric Interference and Tolerance Thresholds
        Reflective Tradition of the Unbearable Image
        Science of Perception: Psychiatric Perversion and Shock Treatment
        "The Cathedral of Death"
        True Gore: Fascination and Repulsion of the Unbearable Image
        The Toilet Exhibition: Shared Trauma

Bleeding Images: Criminal Anxiety
        The Manson Family/Jonestown: Sectarian Lure and Collective Suicide
        Warped Portrait of a Serial Killer
        Murderous Impulses and Creative Desires
        Criminal Experience
        Sex Crime Atrocities

Chapter 6. "Prostitution": Sexual Reconfiguration and Industrial Feminism 

White Souls in Black Suits: Pornographic Abuse and BDSM Subculture
        "Degree Xerox" and Sexual Repression
        Psychopathia Sexualis and the Fascination with Sexual Transgression
        Sexual Discipline: Effects of Fetishization and Reconfiguration of Pain
        Unusual Perversions: Bondage Subculture
        Crash Biomechanical Sexual Mutation

Brutality as a Masquerade
        Gender Relations Within the Movement
        "Obsession": Infiltration Tactics and Appropriation of the Female Body
        "Alpha Females": Violence and the Power of Gendered Deconstruction
        Engaging the Industrial Male

Part 3 "Body and Soul": Industrial Occulture

Chapter 7. Pagan Day: Occult Rituals and the Re-Enchantment of Reality

Third Esoteric Revival
        (Revolutionary) Social Utopias of Magical Awakening
        (Re)discovery of Occult and Artistic Practices

Crowleymass: Rehabilitated Contemporary Occultism
        Magia Sexualis: Influence of a Magical System 
        Writing and the Language of the Occult
        Astral Explorations and Queer Mysticism 

Zos Kia Cultus: The Legacy of Austin Osman Spare
        Sigils and Graphic Work
        Automatic Drawings Under Spiritual Influence
        The Alchemical "Whole": Occult Androgyny and Hermetic Challenges

The Process: Sectarian Systems and Informal Satanism
        "Psychedelic Fascism": Influential Processes at the Margins
        Transparency, Devotion and Overthrow of the Guru
        Industrial Satanism 
        Demonic Possessions and Religious Reconfigurations

Modern Primitives: Neopaganism and Ritualized Body Modification
        Wicca Tradition: Nature Worship
        "The Orgastic Potency of the Primitives": The Anthropological Turn
        "Traces of the Sacred": Marks of the Body and Mind

Conclusion

        Authoritarian Reconfiguration and Cultural Assimilation
        Extra-Planetary Village

Archives and Interviews

Bibliography

It seems like a semi-academic book (which is in no way a bad thing), but it does explain the price.  For the length, though, the paperback seems pretty fair.

I have a copy on pre-order.  Very much looking forward to this.

[moozz]

Looks like an interesting book for sure! At least for me the (semi?) academic nature would be a put-off. And that might mean it is mostly text with minimal imagery. If this is an image-heavy book then for sure it will be worth the heavy price tag. Over 50 GPB to read how everything is about Duchamp or the Futurists is not my thing. Looking forward to reviews once it is out.

[post-morten]

Looks like an interesting book for sure! At least for me the (semi?) academic nature would be a put-off. And that might mean it is mostly text with minimal imagery. If this is an image-heavy book then for sure it will be worth the heavy price tag. Over 50 GPB to read how everything is about Duchamp or the Futurists is not my thing. Looking forward to reviews once it is out.

My mate that bought it says it's rich in visual content too. And for a book that purports to explore the imagery and iconography of the industrial scene, and how it ties in with art history, you'd sure expect it to be.

Here's a peek inside,
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19Mu8b22j5/

[Theodore]

Although looks interesting I am almost sure that if I read it I will understand nothing, haha. Part my bad English, part my ignorance, big part of what it is , as it is stated : "This book aims to introduce the visual and aesthetic elements of industrial culture to a general history of contemporary art by analysing ..." . Book's purpose, I don't care at all.

Also is author having a genuine interest in industrial or was it just a task / research / job ?

Interested to read reviews too, by fans, not 'art' guys.

[urall]

Looks like an interesting book for sure! At least for me the (semi?) academic nature would be a put-off. And that might mean it is mostly text with minimal imagery. If this is an image-heavy book then for sure it will be worth the heavy price tag. Over 50 GPB to read how everything is about Duchamp or the Futurists is not my thing. Looking forward to reviews once it is out.

My mate that bought it says it's rich in visual content too. And for a book that purports to explore the imagery and iconography of the industrial scene, and how it ties in with art history, you'd sure expect it to be.

Here's a peek inside,
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19Mu8b22j5/

Hah, i was looking out for this one as well, but it seems to be more text than i hoped, especially when it'll be too academic haha