From Damon.Fairclough Sent Thu, Jan 22nd 1998, 13:37
From Damon.Fairclough Sent Thu, Jan 22nd 1998, 13:37
On Thu, 22 Jan 1998 07:38:52 +0200 "Irene McC" <xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx> wrote: Re: the book 'Altered State' by Matthew Colin: >I have avoided any of the books in this genre, since it seems like a bit of bandwagon jumping. There's been a plethora of _definitive_ rave scene explorations in print, but this one does seem to have captured the spirit. < Just to reiterate the quality of this book - it's a pretty exhaustive account of the rise of dance music and its effect on Britain's social landscape. Stuffed with first-hand accounts and very well reasoned, it's largely the story of how an illegal drug was used in conjunction with house music (initially), and how the authorities responded. The balance between the rather different experiences of the London scene in the south and the Manc/Sheffield/Nottingham etc. scenes in the north is also well handled, and it completely avoids any of that mystical, we're-all-ravers-together, positivity stuff. It's far more tightly written and argued than that. Just beware though, specially if you're from outside the UK - although there's plenty about the music (going back to the latter days of disco in the States and reaching as far as early '97), it's really a book about the effects that music and drugs have had in Britain. All right mate? 'Avin a good time? Bangin. Damon. np: Future Sound Of Chicago vol 1