Books on Music

Pearsall

Prodigal Son
Not read that.

The most fun book I've ever read about music was the Motley Crue autobiography The Dirt. I have no interest in their music but it's a compulsive page turner.

You might be after something more serious, though.
 

satanmcnugget

Well-known member
laffs...i can almost imagine what that one is about without even reading it..pageturner, indeed, especially if debauchery is your thing :)

confession: i was a HUGE Crue fan as a teen...makes devil horn signs at the room! :)
 

Pearsall

Prodigal Son
satanmcnugget said:
laffs...i can almost imagine what that one is about without even reading it..pageturner, indeed, especially if debauchery is your thing :)

confession: i was a HUGE Crue fan as a teen...makes devil horn signs at the room! :)

And your imagination is, well, almost certainly correct.
 

Backjob

Well-known member
"Love saves the day; a history of american dance culture 1970-79" is absolutely bloody incredible. Solidly researched, and full of great first-hand anecdotes and loads of great musical recommendations. Really inspiring.
 

Flyboy

Member
Currently reading Seduced and Abandoned: Essays On Gay Men And Popular Music by Richard Smith which I heartily recommend - it's not entirely dissimilar to Jon Savage's Time Travel - ie, a bunch of short pieces on individual bands or movements or issues, which are connected by various ideas about pop, culture, sexuality, etc. These books only work if the author is a pop fan first and a theorist second (so I reckon, anyway), which both these two are, fortunately.
 

wonk_vitesse

radio eros
For those in London, 'Give the anarchist a cigarette' by Mick Farren provides a fascinating insight into the early psychedelic scene. He was the doorman for the UFO club and saw it all. It's interesting to note the similarities and differences in London's night life back then. His description of the Ally Pally gig in '67 where Pink Floyd played is very memorable. He describes a whole emergent culture we take for granted now becoming real under his feet.
 

mms

sometimes
recently read Lords of chaos about norwegian black metallers and their ideas and practices, basically an investigation of al that murdering and church burning and why and what happened next. A pretty deep almost academic book.
It's excellent , even if you are a metal layperson which i am.
 

Jim Daze

Well-known member
Just read that book about Dennis Brown by Penny Reel, really good with some amazing photos of old reggae clubs in Hackney and Stoke Newington, The Four Aces etc (anyone else used to go to Club Labyrinth). Reccomend this book.
 

satanmcnugget

Well-known member
a book about Dennis Brown??????????? oh man!!!!!! ty Simon!!!!!! Dennis Brown is like a GOD to me!!!!! i HAVE to track that down!!!!!!
 

francesco

Minerva Estassi
mms said:
recently read Lords of chaos about norwegian black metallers and their ideas and practices, basically an investigation of al that murdering and church burning and why and what happened next. A pretty deep almost academic book.
It's excellent , even if you are a metal layperson which i am.


Nice book about nice people... :eek:
too much Burzum interview anyway... and very little about the music, but i recommend it too

Did someone read the book on death metal "Choosing Death"? i wanted to buy it but i want an opinion, for what i know it could be shit...


anyboby has news when the new Simon Reynolds book will get in print? Really waiting for that.


ciao da francesco
 

grimly fiendish

Well-known member
satanmcnugget said:
any recommendations?

i assume you've read words and music, the morley thing? i've just been commenting on that in another thread, oddly. it's a sprawling work of sporadic genius, but if you're not a morley fan (ie if you're not willing to indulge him) then you're gonna hate it ;)

the other one i always recommend to people is ways of hearing by ben thompson. the funny thing is, i can't remember a thing about it. but i know i loved it. his "sunshine on putty", about british comedy, is also well worth a read (although the cover of the new, revised version is fucking terrible. is that meant to be steve coogan at the back?!)

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robin

Well-known member
yeah i really liked that ways of hearing book too
that book mentioned on the philip sherburne site looks interesting too

i read a great book about music recently,albeit a partially fictional one
its called coming through slaughter by michael ondaatje
its about buddy bolden,the cornet player from new orleans
the descriptions of new orleans at the start of the 20th century are incredible

anyone else read it?
 

paul

Member
Although I rarely listen to his stuff these days, the Bob Dylan memoir Chronicles is really good, very well written.
 

Alan Connor

New member
robin said:
yeah i really liked that ways of hearing book too

My <i>Ways Of Hearing</i> ended up covered in circles of red pencil, transferred to paper in my pocket and then into puchases for the next few years. There's not a much bigger tribute I can make to a book, apart from the fact that it's a good, funny read.

I still prefer the previous one, <i>Seven Years Of Plenty</i>, though. Rounded up some of the tracks I never found when I first had broadband access this year. It's a really wonderful book.

I never did find the specific Genaside II tracks I wanted, though.

Is it vulgar to link to one's own site here? If not, I've made a list of great books <i>by</i> musicians <a href="http://www.lnreview.co.uk/music/002606.php">here</a>.
 

stelfox

Beast of Burden
mms said:
recently read Lords of chaos about norwegian black metallers and their ideas and practices, basically an investigation of al that murdering and church burning and why and what happened next. A pretty deep almost academic book.
It's excellent , even if you are a metal layperson which i am.

i strongly recommend that no one else buys this book. michael moynihan, its author, is a cunt: a racist, anti-semitic shitbag who you should really not want to give your money to.

<b>This piece reprinted from searchlight magazine, originally published in 1999</b>

Antihuman - Misanthropy Records

Hadleigh in Suffolk may seem an odd place for Britain's Black Metal inner sanctum, but it is here, in this picturesque English village, that some of the key players reside. Not only is it home to Cradle of Filth, a commercially-minded mainstream Black Metal band, but it is also the base for the secretive Misanthropy Records, a key component of the international National Socialist Black Metal scene. Chris Cayton reports.
Misanthropy Records, launched in 1993, plays a pivotal role in producing and distributing some of the most extreme Black Metal and industrial music in the world. Misanthropy produces a dozen bands through its own labels, as well as acting as distributor for approximately another 50 acts. Its latest catalogue proudly boasts the entire back catalogue of the Norwegian Black Metal band Burzum, as well as CDs from bands as diverse as the Black Metal arsonists Mayhem to the Italian industrialists Ain Soph and Michael Moynihan's Blood Axis. Apart from the distribution of CDs, Misanthropy does a thriving trade in publications, t-shirts, badges and videos.

It is run by a 27-year-old German woman named Tiziana Stupia, who also goes under the name of Diamanda.

Misanthropy was originally created to assist the Norwegian nazi Varg Vikernes, who sings as the one-man band Burzum, in releasing his musical material, as no other record company would entertain this fascist. Vikernes has an unenviable reputation for violent and extremist politics.

In 1994 he was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the murder of the founder of Black Metal, Oystein Aarseth, and for setting fire to historical churches. For these crimes Vikernes was fined a total of 23 million Norwegian Kroner (£1.8 million). Despite this he has continued to be a major influence on the underground Black Metal scene and national socialist politics.

Vikernes has long been associated with Satanism, a label he is keen to dismiss. Asked if he was a Satanist in the Norwegian nazi publication, Fritt Forum, Vikernes replied: "No I have never been a Satanist. I have on the other hand used the term in the meaning as an opponent of all Jewish religions. Christendom, Satanism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism etc are all foreign religions, which have nothing to do with our race".

Misanthropy has become the main supporter and promoter of Vikernes's political and musical projects and despite his incarceration, it has little difficulty obtaining his work. Its mail order operation sells and promotes the entire Burzum catalogue of music and other merchandise including the notorious Burzum t-shirt and flag, "Support your local Einsatzkommando", which come complete with a death's-head symbol. Much of this seems to be organised by Rainer, the main influence and writer of the Burzum website.

Despite an announcement by Misanthropy that it intends to cease business, it has only recently released the latest Burzum CD, Hlidskjalf.

Misanthropy is not solely a distributor of Black Metal music. Its catalogue contains a wide variety of musical styles. Indeed it has a sub-genre label, Elfenblut, which specialises in what is known as dark ambient music. One thing binds them all. They are all considered extreme forms of music and some of the other bands have similar, if not identical, politics to Vikernes.

Like many distributors of nazi music, Misanthropy claims that it can dissociate itself from the politics and philosophies of the artists. It claims to be upholding free speech and simply to be providing a service to listeners. These claims fall flat, when one realises that its website is linked to some of the most extreme nazi sites across the world, including those of the Heathen Front and the Thulean brotherhood.

Misanthropy's extremist merchandise is not confined to the works of Vikernes. Among other items distributed is material by the American band Blood Axis and Allerseelen, the musical project of the Austrian known as Kadmon

Blood Axis is run by the Oregon-based extremist Michael Moynihan. Moynihan is a well known Satanist and nazi who has been an influence on the Black Metal scene since he wrote Lords of Chaos: the bloody rise of the Satanic Metal Underground. This book was written in conjunction with the former Morgenbladet journalist Didrik Soderlind, who now plies his trade for the Norwegian edition of Playboy magazine.

When Moynihan was asked by the Scottish based fanzine Compulsion whether he considered himself a fascist, he replied: "I will say outright: if fascism will restore some sense of order, discipline and responsibility to the world, then I am all for it".

One Blood Axis CD sold by Misanthropy Records is Blot - Live in Sweden. This album opens with a recording of a speech by the British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley, which begins "Brother blackshirts, my comrades in struggle. Our fight is for the soul and in that battle we go forward together until victory be won."

Politically, Moynihan courts controversy. His views range from outright fascism and Satanism, to a keen interest in paganism and social Darwinism. He denies being a nazi and has denounced the personality cult around national socialism, believing it too limited. However, when asked in an interview: "If you were given the opportunity to gas blacks and Jews, would you do it?" he replied: "If I were given the opportunity to start the next Holocaust, I would definitely have far more lenient entrance requirements than the Nazis did".

Kadmon, the man behind Allerseelen, also produces pamphlets on his particular form of nazi paganism and ultra nationalism. Included in Allerseelen's written works available from Misanthropy are tracts on Leni Riefenstahl, Vikernes, Nordic religions and the "volkish way". His music includes the single Kaferlied which is a tribute to the nazi and occultist Ernst Junger.

A more secretive figure involved in Misanthropy is Steven O'Malley. Formerly resident in England, O'Malley was deported back to Los Angeles in 1998 after failing to extend his work permit. Despite returning to America, he remains connected to Misanthropy.

Aside from Misanthropy, O'Malley produces and publishes the underground magazine Descent, a glossy and well produced publication for bands on the extreme fringes of music. The links with Misanthropy and those who are around them are obvious. As well as giving credits to Tiziana, O'Malley carries articles from Misanthropy's friends Blood Axis and Allerseelen, alongside advertisements for the Nazi skin band Rahowa from Resistance Records and Burzum.

Despite Misanthropy's extensive mail order and CD operation, readers may be surprised to hear that the company, Misanthropy Records Ltd, has no income. The directors' report attached to its latest financial statements, filed at Companies House, claims that the company has had no income or expenditure. And this seems to have been the case for the past four years. The explanation may be that Misanthropy is also the name of a linked unincorporated business, which would not have to file any accounts.

Misanthropy Records Ltd may claim to be up for sale, but it is likely that it will re-emerge in one form or another. The cynical may think that the timing of the sale is a little too convenient and aimed at deflecting any official interest in its links with Vikernes.

If Misanthropy does re-emerge, there is little doubt that it will continue to promote the nazis who use its services as a badge of convenience.

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Copyright © 1999, Searchlight,
 
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rob_giri

Well-known member
Interesting, i'll remember to keep my hands away from that one. Damn fascists metalheads

Down a slightly calmer avenue, can't go wrong with David Toop's books.

Just read Ocean of Sound. Brilliant read. Scattered all over the place but still incredible. From Sun Ra to Telepathic Fish, to Varese to Ryuichi Sakamoto, from Richard Maxfield to a strange and intriguingly unexplained venture into the Amazon to record the sounds of Shamans in ibena rituals. Funny at times for its unconnected, erratic nature and for Toop's own idiosyncratic sense of humour concerning his ability to tie in stories such as the said mosquito-riddled journey into the general theme of ethereal ambient culture. Well worth a read

Haunted Weather, which i am about to commence, also looks very interesting. Hardly Viking Metal, though :cool:
 

mms

sometimes
misanthropy etc is covered in the revised edition of the book, clearly stated it's a nazi publication, as is blood axis records, within context that they released vikernes music, the idea that the writers are nazis doesn't sit tidily with the way the book is written and the criticism/reflections on the artists and their actions, as well as reflections from across the board.

stephen o'malley is a suprise though if there is ny truth in it , being the guy behind sun 0))) and southern lord records, who released among things boris from japan , the probot lp with lemmy, max cavallera (a brazillian) and dave grohl from nirvana, I know he published descent but i didn't think he had ties with misanthropy.

Also the decisions from alot of labels and distributors to not support pro-nazi music , ie vme in finland/sweden is widely discussed. black metal doesn't necessarily equal nazisim afterall.
 

stelfox

Beast of Burden
i could link to moynihan's blog; a total cesspool of extreme-right propaganda, social darwinism and outright racism but i really don't want to give him the traffic.
 
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