RE/Search #6/7: Industrial Culture Handbook

RE/Search #6/7: Industrial Culture Handbook documents the early industrial music and performance art scene through interviews and essays. The book features nine key artists and groups including Throbbing Gristle, SPK, Non, Monte Cazazza, and others who shaped this underground movement. The interviews explore each artist's creative methods, philosophical views, and relationship to technology and mechanization. Photographs, artwork, and ephemera from performances and releases provide visual context for the movement's aesthetic and goals. The text charts the development of industrial music from its origins in the mid-1970s through the early 1980s, with artists discussing their influences and techniques. Technical details about equipment, recording methods, and live performances give insight into the practical aspects of creating industrial music. This handbook captures a pivotal moment in underground music history while examining broader themes of control, power, and humanity's relationship with machines. The artists' radical approaches to sound and performance challenged conventional ideas about music and art.

Readers describe this book as a detailed documentation of 1980s industrial music culture through interviews with key artists like Throbbing Gristle, SPK, and Monte Cazazza. Readers appreciated: - The rare photographs and visual materials - In-depth interviews that reveal artists' philosophies and creative processes - Historical context for industrial music's development - Documentation of pre-internet underground culture Common criticisms: - The book's rarity makes it expensive to obtain - Some found the layout and typography difficult to read - A few readers noted the interviews can be meandering Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 4.32/5 (107 ratings) Amazon: 4.7/5 (12 ratings) One reader noted: "The interviews capture a moment when industrial music was truly experimental and dangerous." Another mentioned: "The DIY aesthetic of the book itself reflects the movement it documents." The book regularly sells for $100+ on used book sites due to limited availability.

Apocalypse Culture by Adam Parfrey Collection of essays and interviews documenting fringe movements, extreme ideologies, and underground subcultures of the late 20th century.

Angry Women by V. Vale Interviews with female artists and musicians who challenged social norms through performance art, music, and radical politics in the 1980s and 1990s.

England's Hidden Reverse by David Keenan Chronicles the history of three experimental British music groups - Coil, Current 93, and Nurse With Wound - and their influence on industrial culture.

Industrial Culture by Alexander Reed Examination of industrial music's development through its cultural, political, and technological contexts from the 1970s through the 1990s.

Tape Leaders by Ian Helliwell Documentation of early electronic music pioneers in Britain who created experimental sounds using tape machines and homemade electronic devices.

📚 The Industrial Culture Handbook was one of the first publications to document the emerging industrial music scene, featuring in-depth interviews with pioneering artists like Throbbing Gristle, SPK, and Non. 🎸 The book helped establish the term "industrial culture" as more than just a music genre, positioning it as a multimedia art movement encompassing performance art, video, literature, and fashion. 🖋️ V. Vale founded RE/Search Publications from the remnants of his punk rock zine "Search & Destroy," which was partially funded by Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. 🎭 Many artists featured in the book used pseudonyms and created elaborate alternate personas - for example, Genesis P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle later founded a "pandrogyny" project to blur gender identity through surgical modifications. 📖 The book's distinctive interview format and stark black-and-white aesthetic influenced countless underground music publications and fanzines throughout the 1980s and 1990s.