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Electric Wizards: A Tapestry of Heavy Music, 1968 to the Present by [JR Moores]

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JR Moores

Electric Wizards: A Tapestry of Heavy Music, 1968 to the Present Kindle Edition

by JR Moores (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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It began with The Beatles’ ‘Helter Skelter’. It was distilled to its dark essence by Black Sabbath. And it has flourished into a vibrant modern underground, epitomized by Newcastle’s Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. This is the evolution of heavy music, and Electric Wizards is your sonic gazetteer.
The voyage is as varied as it is illuminating: from the lysergic blunt trauma of Blue Cheer to the locked grooves of Funkadelic, the aural frightmares of Faust to the tectonic crush of Sleep, alighting on post-punk, industrial, grunge, stoner rock and numerous other genres along the way.
Ranging from household names to obscure cult heroes and heroines, Electric Wizards demonstrates how each successive phase of heavy music was forged by what came before, outlining a rich and eclectic lineage that extends far beyond the usual boundaries of heavy rock or heavy metal. It extols those who did things differently, who introduced something fresh and exciting into this elemental tradition, whether by design, accident or sheer chance. In doing so, Electric Wizards weaves an entirely new tapestry of heavy music.

Print length

417 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Reaktion Books
Publication date

13 September 2021
File size

4112 KB
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"As a compendium of leap-off points, Electric Wizards is a mind-riot... Heavy music has deserved its own tome but the only thing heavy about his book is its weight--its tone and style are illuminatingly light and wonderfully convivial throughout. Someone get Electric Wizards on the national music curriculum now."-- "Wire"

"An enthrallingly funny read, and one that's hard to put down despite its girth."-- "Record Collector"

"A depth-charge exploration to the bloodied heart of heavy. Essential, energetic writing--Moores is the netherworld guide we always needed."--Harry Sword, author of Monolithic Undertow: In Search of Sonic Oblivion

"Moores covers a rich landscape of sounds. . . . What's more, he achieves a rare feat in rock criticism of saying something fresh and interesting about the Beatles."--Dan Franklin, author of HEAVY: How Metal Changes the Way We See the World

"The landscape of heavy music is vast, its existence is ever evolving. There is no better person to explore its dynamic terrain than Moores."--Matt Baty, member of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs

"Simultaneously hilarious, provocative, and sensitive; wildly entertaining while always getting to the heart of the matter. . . . Just take my goddamned bitcoin already."--John Doran, cofounder and editor of the Quietus

"This book will open a wormhole in your brain."--Joe Thompson, cofounder of the band Hey Colossus --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author

JR Moores is the resident psych-rock columnist for both the Quietus and Record Collector, and his work has also appeared in the Wire, Guardian, Bandcamp Daily, and Vice. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09BRH623F
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Reaktion Books (13 September 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4112 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 417 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 277,211 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 21 in Heavy Metal Music (Kindle Store)
- 111 in Heavy Metal Music (Books)
- 159 in Popular Music (Kindle Store)

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43 ratings

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JR Moores

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JR Moores is resident psych-rock columnist for both The Quietus and Record Collector, and his work has also appeared in The Wire, The Guardian, Bandcamp Daily and Vice.

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4 star		23%
3 star		10%
2 star		3%
1 star		3%

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S. Gorman

Absolute nonsense

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 October 2021

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Neatly sidesteps having to have any knowledge of music or writing ability by getting the exceedingly well worn and trite "heaviness is objective" spiel in as early as possible. Just about as misinformed and lazy as a music writer could get. Continues with a statement that "very nearly" negates the influence and achievements of every stream of jazz,blues, rock & roll, classical music and every other genre pre 1961 in favour of the man who wrote The Frog Chorus. Riddled with mistakes, omissions and line after line of over trodden tedium, there is barely an original thought or statement in nearly 450 pages. I would heartily recommend avoiding this book as strenuously as is possible. Get everything said here the same way this author did - just skim through a few hundred Google search results and read the first line. If you are tempted, pop down to my local Oxfam where I deposited my copy within two days of receipt.

25 people found this helpful

Helps

An Absolutely Lovely Little Shuffle Though Music's Space and Time

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 October 2021

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Let's get one thing out of the way before I get onto the good. I would have loved some sort of summing up of the bands and why the writer thought they were heavy. He has such a nice relaxed, yet engaging, prose style that I would have loved some 'Heaviness' little asides to each of the parts and bands he talks about. You know to keep the thread of the book, to act as little breathers. But maybe I'm too literal ...

... because the way JR shoots through a history of heavy guitar based music is super lovely. He keeps it all jogging on nicely. His love of music is there for all to see. And the pacing never lets the beat drop and there are enough great stories and bands that I might have sidelined at the time to pique my interest. I had completely forgotten about Tad. Why?

It's like a perfect mix tape of thoughts, stories and through-lines. I'm half way through but it's a nice little trip down memory lane and reaffirmation of everything I love about music.

And he's right about Mclusky and Future of the Left, they're the UK's most underrated 'heavy' band. But was disappointed that the crazy London outfit Sheep on Drugs wasn't mentioned in the Industrial Rock section. Maybe he'll go have a listen whilst I'm listening to Tad.

I guess there's only so much you can fit on a C90.

10 people found this helpful

A C L

Bloody marvellous!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 October 2021

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Brilliant book written by an great music writer. Highly recommended

10 people found this helpful

Mr D Trent

This morning

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 December 2021

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My child said to me this morning 'What was that?'

I had played Cake of Light by Pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs as loud as my speaker would go while I brushed my teeth and had a shower. My wife had left early for Pilates and my son has been late to his Psychology a level class by up to half an hour on at least 20 occasions.

I had just read the part of the book about pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs. I forget about them often. We saw them at green man once, we turned up at the stage to hear them say 'thanks a lot green man'

I said to him 'Its cake of light by pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs, it's a song about Aleister Crawley who was a very satanic whitchlike magical man going on great British bake off but I couldn't make out the lyrics, did you like it?'

He said he did at first but then it went on for six minutes and I should never ever do that again. My wife had gone to Pilates so she had no opinion although I am certain that she wouldn't have enjoyed the experience in any way.

My son was still 7 minutes late to college this morning.

This book is excellent for reminding me about bands I read about when I was too young to have the disposable income to be able to hear them in a time before Spotify.

Pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs don't qualify in this respect but all the Albini related stuff does. And the Melvins.

I like it. I have reccomended it to my friends. Just don't expect it to get your son to school on time.

2 people found this helpful

melissa

Birthday present

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 February 2022

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Brought this for my Dad for his birthday and he loves it

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Electric Wizards: A Tapestry of Heavy Music, 1968 to the Present Kindle Edition

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JR Moores

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