SAF Publishing

Although they are perhaps the most consistently innovative group of
artists for the past two decades of underground music, the English
post-industrial bands that evolved from the cultural monolith of
Throbbing Gristle have long remained under the radar of the music
press. Many of these "esoteric" artists thrived throughout the 1980s
and have persisted until today, but most have been ignored by critics
and writers, surviving only because of a loyal cult following bordering
on the zealous. Only recently have established publications such as
The Wire
begun to validate these artists by documenting their activities and
placing their music into the larger context of modern avant-garde
experimentalism. Anyone who has followed these unique musicians knows
that this attention is long overdue. David Keenan, a frequent
contributor to
The Wire and
Mojo, has authored
England's Hidden Reverse.
Subtitled "A Secret History of the Esoteric Underground," Keenan has
chosen to focus on the scene's three most enduring artists—Current 93,
Nurse With Wound and Coil. The story of these three is told in
chronological order, with Keenan attempting to give equal coverage to
each. The prevailing thesis of his book is that David Tibet, Steven
Stapleton, John Balance, and Sleazy Christopherson are not
idiosyncratic madmen that fell from the sky, but are rather quite
naturally following in the footsteps of a long line of English
eccentrics and outsiders. To support this contention, Keenan takes the
reader for many tangential side-trips, telling the stories of great and
obscure figures such as Louis Wain, Aleister Crowley, Austin Osman
Spare, William Lawes, Eric Count Stenbock and a host of others. It
provides interesting background information, quite valuable for a
deeper understanding of many of the lyrical themes of Current 93, the
occult influences on Coil and the surrealist aesthetic of Nurse With
Wound. For fans of these artists who have already digested the numerous
interviews, fanzines and website material that has been available for
years, this book offers a treasure trove of completely new revelations.
Some of the startling anecdotes revealed in the book are truly
unbelievable, such as the first meeting between David Tibet and Jhon
Balance (which I won't reveal, except to say that it involves someone
getting urinated on). Keenan does an admirable job of placing these
musicians into the context of the post-industrial scene, giving a
liberal amount of time to trace their connection to concurrent acts
like Whitehouse, Psychic TV, 23 Skidoo and Sol Invictus. Keenan has
interviewed a staggering number of the people who were there—the
musicians, the scenesters and the witnesses—and the substantial amount
of direct quotes lends credibility to the project. The book is
copiously illustrated with hundreds of previously unpublished
photographs. Although it is unmistakably a thorough study, there are a
few nagging problems with
England's Hidden Reverse. Among these
is the disproportionate amount of time spent on the formative period of
the timeline, to the detriment of the last decade of activity, which is
the most fertile creative period for these artists. Latter-day
masterpieces like Current 93's
All The Pretty Little Horses and Coil's
Musick to Play in the Dark
are given only a few paragraphs each, which is unequal to their
significance. Perhaps the most flagrant problem with this book is the
near-total absence of any material regarding one of the best and
brightest of the esoteric scene: Douglas Pearce. Death in June most
certainly exerted a hefty influence on the development of Current 93's
brand of "apocalyptic folk." Before David Tibet met Douglas P., his
music was all tape loops and dense noisescapes. After their
partnership, Current 93 adopted Death in June's approach, appropriating
the sounds and aesthetics of 1960s psychedelic folk. Despite all this,
and the fact that David Tibet and John Balance have frequently
collaborated with Death in June over the years, Douglas P. was not
interviewed for the book and his influence and importance in the scene
is played down. Certainly Death in June's
But, What Ends When the Symbols Shatter? and
Rose Clouds of Holocaust are as epoch-defining as Current 93's
Thunder Perfect Mind, Nurse With Wound's
Soliloquy for Lilith and Coil's
Love Secret Domain.
Despite these glaring omissions, David Keenan's book is certainly an
entertaining and essential document. Even those who are not already
ardent fans will find much to like about Keenan's engaging prose and
analysis. Also included with each hardcover edition is a CD collecting
some of the most representative tracks from the three groups. All
things considered,
England's Hidden Reverse exceeds expectations as a captivating history of the most unique grouping of experimental musicians working today.