What's this? A new must-read music book that's NOT published by White Rabbit? Electric Wizards: A Tapestry Of Heavy Music, 1968 To The Present - to dignify JR Moores' hefty debut tome with its full title - was officially unleashed upon the world by Reaktion yesterday. My copy's on order, but I'm certainly sensing that it'll be a perfect companion-piece to Monolithic Undertow, fellow Quietus writer Harry Sword's exploration of drone in all its various forms.
To mark the book's publication, Joe Thompson invited Moores to join him for a Wrong Speed Record Chat and talk about all things heavy, which included Melvins' Gluey Porch Treatments and Lulu, Metallica's much-derided collaboration with Lou Reed (he's got a soft spot for artists who take pleasure in persistently annoying their own fans).
It was strange to hear my own opinions echoed so often - whether on not trusting anyone who proclaims not to like the Beatles; on the importance of Nirvana as a gateway drug; on the way Sonic Youth's music initially seemed so incomprehensible and yet so full of potent magic, and the value of the service they provided in turning people on to other artists; on the majestic weightiness of Low (borne out by new LP HEY WHAT); or on a love of the CD format and the chronic inability to purge your collection of misjudged acquisitions.
The pair's discussion also touched on the lost art of critical reviewing (prompted, inevitably, by Moores' scything takedown of the most recent IDLES album Ultra Mono), how editors always want some kind of story to hang an interview feature on, the joys of Beatdown Records in Newcastle (also talked up by Matt Baty of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs in a previous chat), memories of the Thurston Moore-curated Nightmare Before Christmas ATP (why the hell didn't I go?!), Hair Police flogging George Michael albums on their merch desk and, perhaps most improbably, Mariah Carey's Christmas album.
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