"Industrial" is a descriptor that fans and critics have applied to
a remarkable variety of music: the oildrum pounding of Einsturzende
Neubauten, the processed electronic groans of Throbbing Gristle,
the drumloop clatter of Skinny Puppy, and the synthpop songcraft of
VNV Nation, to name just a few. But the stylistic breadth and
subcultural longevity of industrial music suggests that the common
ground here might not be any one particular sound, but instead a
network of ideologies. This book traces industrial music's
attitudes and practices from their earliest articulations--a
hundred years ago--through the genre's mid-1970s formation and its
development up to the present and beyond.
Taking cues from radical intellectuals like Antonin Artaud, William
S. Burroughs, and Guy Debord, industrial musicians sought to
dismantle deep cultural assumptions so thoroughly normalized by
media, government, and religion as to seem invisible. More extreme
than punk, industrial music revolted against the very ideas of
order and reason: it sought to strip away the brainwashing that was
identity itself. It aspired to provoke, bewilder, and roar with
independence. Of course, whether this revolution succeeded is
another question...
Assimilate is the first serious study published on industrial
music. Through incisive discussions of musicians, audiences,
marketers, cities, and songs, this book traces industrial values,
methods, and goals across forty years of technological, political,
and artistic change. A scholarly musicologist and a longtime
industrial musician, S. Alexander Reed provides deep insight not
only into the genre's history but also into its ambiguous
relationship with symbols of totalitarianism and evil. Voicing
frank criticism and affection alike, this book reveals the
challenging and sometimes inspiring ways that industrial music both
responds to and shapes the world.
Assimilate is essential reading for anyone who has ever imagined
limitless freedom, danced alone in the dark, or longed for more
noise."
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