Book: Monolithic Undertow by Harry Sword

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angelsighs
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Book: Monolithic Undertow by Harry Sword

Post by angelsighs »

This book may interest some here, an examination of the drone in music. A good idea for a book as you can cover everything from Ravi Shankar to the Velvets to Sunn O)))
I've just started it so not sure if lives up to expectations but seems good so far.

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/harry-swo ... c-undertow
purespace
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Re: Book: Monolithic Undertow by Harry Sword

Post by purespace »

Thanks for that, ordered!
I think I feel it coming on
toomilk
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Re: Book: Monolithic Undertow by Harry Sword

Post by toomilk »

Ordered as well! It's a shame I couldn't find it anywhere that ships from the US, so I got it from Rough Trade. Looking forward to it! Thanks
angelsighs
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Re: Book: Monolithic Undertow by Harry Sword

Post by angelsighs »

No worries, had a feeling that a few here might be interested
SpEnCeR1
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Re: Book: Monolithic Undertow by Harry Sword

Post by SpEnCeR1 »

looks awesome, thanks for heads up. on amazon @ £16

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Monolithic-Und ... 167&sr=8-1
niamhm
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Re: Book: Monolithic Undertow by Harry Sword

Post by niamhm »

Just coming to the end of this, enjoyable read covering a fair bit of ground, some stuff I knew about and other stuff not so much, makes some good points and connects some ideas I hadn`t really thought about tbh, solid 8/10
angelsighs
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Re: Book: Monolithic Undertow by Harry Sword

Post by angelsighs »

glad you enjoyed it Gary, for me it was more like a 7/10 perhaps I wanted a bit more digging deeper around why drones are so pleasing and transcendent to hear. he also seemed to have more of a liking of the heavier rock end of things than me, and equated heavy sustain very closely to drone.

still, a great read and it certainly gave me new artists to investigate. ashamed to say I'd never properly heard Ash Ra Tempel before, that first album is a beast. and then the solo album Inventions for Electric Guitar- damn that's so ahead of it's time, basically trance rock made totally with guitars on a 4 track- yet another one to add to the list of music that resembles Electric Mainline!! (we should make a playlist)
angelsighs
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Re: Book: Monolithic Undertow by Harry Sword

Post by angelsighs »

Lightning Strike by Lenny Kaye.
https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/lenny-kay ... aa3dcb2048
Looks like a good examination of crucial years in rock history

There's a chat with Lenny Kaye here about this book. Interestingly right near the end he mentions that he was recently interviewed by Jason Pierce. Doesn't say in what context or what for, but something to watch out for.
https://youtu.be/yyyqKnWw7_Y
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