European subcultures reading list

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

Hello all,

Seeing all that is happening during this absolutely mental time, and beginning to feel the drain of age creep up on myself (we’ve all been there), I’ve been watching the news with adoration at what young people carry on their shoulders these days. Thinking about the whole topic of youth and change I must admit I’m not very well read on it, so I was hoping to get as many as possible recommendations for books on subcultures of the 21st and late 20th century (worldwide, forgive the title). I was going to say whether it be about music or not, but I think each revolution naturally has its own soundtrack doesn’t it?

Anyway, cheers everyone and keep safe

Kris

5 Likes
#2

Not sure how far back you want to go, but this book was excellent.

7 Likes
#3

I done some reading about the 60s a few years ago, so I think this a good place to pick up from, cheers

1 Like
#4

Stranger than we can imagine - John higgs

Noise: a political economy of music - Attali

A thousand plateaus - deleuze and guattari

2 Likes
#5

High Weirdness is a great recent book that’s about Californian psychedelic subculture/counterculture in the 70s - right around when the 60s utopia was taking on major hues of nightmarishness and paranoia - looking at the transformative mystical experiences of Philip K. Dick, Terence McKenna, and Robert Anton Wilson in particular. Notable because it’s not just about that specific period or those specific people, but generally about ‘high weird’ countercultures and what they mean, techniques on how to parse them, the effect they have on people, and what you can take away from them. Erik Davis is an academic but he writes in an amazing pseudo-academic evocative style, and his ambitions with the book are as lofty as the summary suggests: “Davis explores the complex lattice of the strange that flowed through America’s West Coast at a time of radical technological, political, and social upheaval to present a new theory of the weird as a viable mode for a renewed engagement with reality.”

6 Likes
#6

“Our band could be your life” Subcultures by way of various US band biographies over a decade:

IMG_20200602_103942
IMG_20200602_1039421728×2304 1.49 MB

4 Likes
#7

These three books were absolute bibles to me 25ish years ago.

image
image706×947 200 KB

image
image698×945 296 KB

image
image425×695 260 KB

1 Like
#8

Wow… Rapid Eye!!! Those were the days.

1 Like
#9

shib
shib379×650 17.2 KB

One of my Fav’s.

1 Like
#10

Specifically European, and more related directly to music, this is a massive book that covers The scene surrounding Coil, Current 93 and Nurse With Wound.

image
image544×799 518 KB

England’s Hidden Reverse: A Secret History of the Esoteric Underground (Strange Attractor Press) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1907222170/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ytR1EbXZC9Y5N

2 Likes
#11

Also Cosey Fanni Tutti’s brilliant autobiography covering COUM Transmissions, Throbbing Gristle, Chris & Cosey, etc.

image
image799×1240 508 KB

3 Likes
#12

Last one, I promise! This one has something for everyone.

image
image801×1140 983 KB

4 Likes
#13

Cheers, will definitely check them out!

#14

Thanks, looks great!

#15

Cheers mate, some great recommendations there, should keep me busy for a weeks! Hidden reverse and tape delay looks amazing

1 Like
#16

This.

#17

Just got it. Thanx

#18

If you’ll forgive the not completely Euro focus and that it’s a documentary, i’d highly recommend Waxtrax: Industrial Accident

3 Likes
#19

from Amazon, the horror!

4 Likes
#20

These two books cover probably the most innovative British music in the latter half of the 1900s. The Beatles book is phenomenal, as it goes over every single track, how it was written and the cultural context at the time :yellow_heart:

1 Like