Monolithic Undertow: In Search of Sonic Oblivion
- Downloads：5374
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-23 13:51:51
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Harry Sword
- ISBN：1474615236
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
Monolithic Undertow alights a crooked path across musical， religious， and subcultural frontiers， exploring a concept that is often described as 'the drone'。 Harry Sword traces the line from neolithic Indo-European traditions to the modern underground by way of mid-20th Century New York， navigating a beguiling topography of archeoacoustics， ringing feedback， chest plate sub bass， avant-garde eccentricity， and fervent spiritualism。 From ancient beginnings to bawdy medieval troubadours， Sufi mystics to Indian raga masters， North Mississippi bluesmen to cone-shattering South London dub reggae sound systems， Hawkwind's Ladbroke Grove to the outer reaches of Faust， Ash Ra Temple and sonic architects like La Monte Young， Brian Eno， and John Cale。 the opium-fueled fug of The Theatre of Eternal Music to the caveman doom of Saint Vitus。 the cough syrup reverse hardcore of Swans to the seedy VHS hinterland of Electric Wizard， ritual amp worship of Earth and Sunn O））） and the many touch points in between， Monolithic Undertow probes the power of the drone: something capable of affording womb-like warmth or evoking cavernous dread alike。 This story does not start in the twentieth century underground: the monolithic undertow has bewitched us for millennia。 The book takes the drone not as codified genre but as an audio carrier vessel deployed for purposes of ritual， personal catharsis， or sensory obliteration， revealing also a naturally occurring auditory phenomenon spanning continents and manifesting in fascinatingly unexpected places。 Monolithic Undertow will be a book about music and the very human need for transcendence and intoxication through sound。 It seeks to reveal the drone as a tool of personal liberation that exists far outside the brittle confines of commodity culture。
Reviews
Iain
，
This was a great trip through all things drone， with some minor hang-ups I'll discuss later in this review。 I discovered some great music that I hadn't listened to and read some spirited descriptions of some of my favourite musicians。 Monolithic Undertow is quite linear in structure but extremely wide in its focus。 There is a definite chronology in music。 Everyone owes a debt to someone else。 If I was trapped in a room Oldboy style for most of my life with no view of culture I wouldn't be asking This was a great trip through all things drone， with some minor hang-ups I'll discuss later in this review。 I discovered some great music that I hadn't listened to and read some spirited descriptions of some of my favourite musicians。 Monolithic Undertow is quite linear in structure but extremely wide in its focus。 There is a definite chronology in music。 Everyone owes a debt to someone else。 If I was trapped in a room Oldboy style for most of my life with no view of culture I wouldn't be asking for a guitar when I was released。 Every artist decides to make art based off the art of another and Sword does a great job tracing the lineage of drone throughout this book。 Every artist has to be inspired。 For example Sunn O））） and Earth would never have made drone metal if the Melvins did not release the album Lysol。 Much of this book is Sword describing someone's art， the scene around them and then how those inspired by the music would go on to create their own music。 This is much more than a history of the drone and I want to give you an idea of the books layout and if it might interest you。 I'll do this with a brief look at each chapter， my thoughts on each chapter and my closing thoughts。Prologue:Great introduction chapter。 The drone in: doom metal， household appliances， the womb， drones flying over warzones， industrial music， actual industry and the universe itself。 This chapter is great as it really shows Sword setting out his stand and what he’s going to offer you in this book。 It is never single minded， he’s great at looking at the drone from the countless angles you can examine it from。Chapter 1: Enter the Chamber In a chapter mainly focused on Archaeoacoustics， Sword travels to Malta to experience the mysterious acoustics of the Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni。 Archaeoacoustics is a fascinating discipline which attempts to figure out why ancient tombs have the acoustic properties they do。 From there， Sword discusses Newgrange in Ireland and the peculiar properties of the famous passage tomb。 This is one of the best chapters in the entire book。 It clearly shows Sword wondered “where does this all come from” in human terms。 He found a solid angle from which to examine where our ancestors utilized drones。 It’s a beautiful chapter examining our history as a species。 I’d recommend the book for this chapter alone。Chapter 2: Chant Ecstatic A wide ranging chapter initially covering the drone in the religious vocal traditions of Asia。 The Om， Tuvan throat singing and their sustained notes as a sort of religious yearning and expression of the infinite。 He even mentioned The HU， a metal band which uses Tuvan in their music showing how this kind of drone is still contemporary。 Then The Gnawa and the Master Musicians of Joujouka in Morocco the latter which would be discovered by Burroughs， Gysin and Brian Jones of Rolling Stones fame。 This chapter was fascinating mainly due to the insight on Burroughs and Gysin for me。 Tangiers was clearly massively influential to them and by extension the rest of the 60s beat scene and by extension of inspiring the beats you inspired the entire 60s rock scene。 This is practically shown by the telling of Brian Jones time with the Joujouka。 Thanks to Brian a record of the Joujouka at that time exists。 A great chapter which shows the odd way in which people being inspired spreads out and inspires other people。Chapter 3: Midnight RagaThe drone in Indian music and its discovery by The Beatles and other rockers in the 60s， Ravi Shankar， LSD & Sitars and the way in which they've been linked， LSD and the Drone and the way they break down the barriers of reality。 The psych rock awakening in the US and John Coltrane and others bringing that Indian influence into the Jazz world。 The insight on John Coltrane was great。 While I love jazz I haven’t really listened to Coltrane but Sword provides a great account of his work and how his wife Alice took up the jazz drone torch upon his passing。 Some critics of the time alleged she only had a career due to her husband but I think she has rightfully been reassessed since then。 She still arguably deserves more attention which Sword thankfully affords her through an examination of her body of work。Chapter 4: Drone of the Holy Numbers A look at the more avant-garde end of things relating to the drone in the 60s and onwards。 Really interesting to read about John Cale in the 60s pre velvet underground。 La Monte Young is a charlatan and reading about him and how he treated his collaborators just made me angry。 I mean lets be honest if you're making music and Yoko Ono is around you're doing it wrong。 Respect to Terry Riley and Conrad and others who while making weird music at least didn't disappear up their own asses like Young always has。 Genuinely this is the worst chapter along with the final one。 This chapter is bad due to La Monte Young being a pretentious ass， albeit an influential pretentious ass。 Still interesting to read about but frustrating at the same time。Chapter 5: Do the Ostrich A shorter chapter that follows on from the avant-garde exploration。 Sword charts the origins and development of The Velvet Underground and the drones influence on the band。 Lou Reed’s solo career post Velvet is briefly covered as well。 TVU are a great band， I don’t need to tell you that but an underrated aspect of their sound is the drone and Sword highlights that brilliantly。Chapter 6: Kommune A large chapter that initially serves as deep dive on all things drone within Krautrock。 Faust， Amon Düül II， Ash Ra Temple， Cluster and Popol Vuh。 I hadn't heard much of these bands my Krautrock knowledge only really extended to CAN before reading this chapter， its some fascinating music。 The chapter closes out with a brief exploration of Hawkwind and Spacemen 3 and their use of the drone and general musical approaches。 This chapter was one of my favourite moments of the book as I listened to each band while reading about them。 A really comfy experience。Chapter 7: Reverse HardcoreInitially covering Iggy and The Stooges this chapter moves out looking at The Ramones and Rhys Chatham。 From there we go to New York and the infamous No Wave scene of the late 70s。 In the 80s you had Sonic Youth and Swans two of my favourites。 The drone hangs heavy and runs through all of these musicians blood。 Black Flag， Butthole surfers and other bands are discussed in the chapters end。 I’m very familiar with No Wave and most of the bands covered here so this band was a pleasure。 While I’m glad Sword mentions Swans he should have given more attention to their later albums which have way more drones than the ones he covers。 Still this is a great chapter。Chapter 8: Beyond the Electric CaravanAll things metal。 Black Sabbath of course stands as the monolithic doom laden blues blooded foundation from which doom and drone metal would eventually sprout。 Here we get a host of metal bands which incorporate the drone into their sound。 Huge amount of bands covered here as is the case with metal in general， there are too many brilliant metal bands。 I particularly enjoyed reading about Sleep， Melvins， Sunn O））） and Neurosis as they’re some of my favourite bands。 A brilliant chapter for any metal fan but it may convince those outside the scene to explore some drone metal。Chapter 9: Infinite LoopsThis chapter is an odd one as it’s not as focused on a scene or genre as the other chapters are。 I loved the Brian Eno bit。 You have Aphex Twin， Godflesh and other stuff in this chapter。 It’s great albeit not as focused as other chapters。 It kind of felt like a “what have I left out？” kind of chapter to me。Chapter 10: The Closing of the CircleThe weakest chapter of the entire book closes it out。 An annoyingly political and unfocused chapter meanders along before ending。 I don’t care about Swords half assed political points I bought this to read about the drone， not how someone playing a violin reflects Brexit and how some other album reflects late stage capitalism。 I really enjoyed most of this book but to end it on such a bum note is embarrassing。 It’s like a flight to Mars where the La Monte Young chapter was an asteroid shower which hammered the ship and this final chapter is the ship crash landing and exploding。 My advice to Sword and White Rabbit would be to edit this out of subsequent runs and actually write a decent conclusion， not whatever this ball-less political preening was attempting to be。Overall a brilliant book which face plants at its final moment。 It gets 4 stars because the good chapters are genuinely that good。 With a decent conclusion it would be 5 stars but Sword thought he would inject his twitter feed into the end of his book for some reason。 Ignore his political posturing （I’M PROGRESSIVE， I KNOW ITS ENTIRELY IRRELEVANT TO WHAT I’M CURRENTLY DISCUSSING BUT DON’T YOU ACCEPT ME FOR MY VIEWS） when he should be consolidating his books content and you’ll have a great time。 。。。more
Chad
，
Transcendent
Brett
，
Interesting in its narration of how genres get deconstructed （i。e。 Black Sabbath to Melvins to Earth to Sunn O）））） and end up sharing common elements in other similarly deconstructed genres （usually via droning， physically impactful volume）。 I was kind of hoping there would be a bit more to it， especially as it starts off very philosophical about drone， but I enjoy a lot of the music in question so it’s not a huge negative。
Stagger Lee
，
This goes straight into my top five music books already， this is really special - Sword manages to be informative and wide ranging but always passionate and personal。 You normally get one or the other。 I learned loads， listened to loads， would have happily read lots more about some aspects Like with any music book， I have minor quibbles* but it's pretty fucking great nonetheless。* It needs more editing - a lot of phrases repeated numerous times （is all scrumpy psychedelic？）， stuff like that; the This goes straight into my top five music books already， this is really special - Sword manages to be informative and wide ranging but always passionate and personal。 You normally get one or the other。 I learned loads， listened to loads， would have happily read lots more about some aspects Like with any music book， I have minor quibbles* but it's pretty fucking great nonetheless。* It needs more editing - a lot of phrases repeated numerous times （is all scrumpy psychedelic？）， stuff like that; there's definitely some mission creep， artists included because he loves them; the writing becomes a bit sloppy in the metal section - I think he got overexcited; and did we really need 10 pages on Electric Wizard？; etc etc 。。。more
Jay Rothermel
，
A great collection of anecdotes and globe-trotting in the style of a Robert Macfarlane book。
Joseph
，
Not life changing for me because I already know and love so much of the music discussed。 But it has changed my perspective by showing the thread that connects drone-adjacent music。 I understand more and will listen differently。 So maybe it is life changing。 Also， John Cale rules。
Michael
，
My perfect book。 Sounds I didn’t know I needed， worlds I didn’t know of。 Many hours of listening to come。 So easy to read and get lost in。
John Hobson
，
A history of drone music has been long overdue， so Harry Sword is to be congratulated in trying to bring form to its evolution and growth。 （Previously， drone is either briefly alluded to in works on electronic/minimalist music or ignored entirely）。tSword starts in the beginning， literally as Big Bang had its own note， the original drone that he traces through the earliest types of music associated with pipes （and if you wonder why ancient Greeks used two pipes， one was the drone） its life in the A history of drone music has been long overdue， so Harry Sword is to be congratulated in trying to bring form to its evolution and growth。 （Previously， drone is either briefly alluded to in works on electronic/minimalist music or ignored entirely）。tSword starts in the beginning， literally as Big Bang had its own note， the original drone that he traces through the earliest types of music associated with pipes （and if you wonder why ancient Greeks used two pipes， one was the drone） its life in the religious music of east went and through to its resurgence with La Monte Young。 And Black Sabbath。 What makes Monolithic Undertow so interesting is that Sword strays beyond the obvious in tracing drone with a large section on Doom Metal and if you cannot see their significance， you will after reding it。 One word of warning: its pointless reading this without tracking down the music mentioned， there is so much to savour。 You Tube does appear to have everything which even the likes of Spotify are missing。tOnly two real areas of omission。 The Punk/New Wave era is missed when groups like Wire went from one-minute songs to drone in a few years。 And Sword as a complete blind spot on the biggest drone community in the British Isles， bagpipe players。 tDrone is the most marmite of music。 Sword asks at the end do we play the drone or does it play us。 I’d go further: drone is music that picks you to be a listener， not something you choose。 。。。more
Martin Raybould
，
"The drone has always been inextricably bound to the human needs of identity， spirituality and escapism"。 In this magnificent book， Harry Sword takes us literally from the sounds in the womb right to the present day living in what he rightly calls "the hideous times of endgame capitalism"。 His writing is articulate， passionate， informed and at times hilarious。 This is quite simply one the finest music books I have ever read。 "The drone has always been inextricably bound to the human needs of identity， spirituality and escapism"。 In this magnificent book， Harry Sword takes us literally from the sounds in the womb right to the present day living in what he rightly calls "the hideous times of endgame capitalism"。 His writing is articulate， passionate， informed and at times hilarious。 This is quite simply one the finest music books I have ever read。 。。。more
George Bate
，
An interesting meander through the drone-iverse。 It's best to approach this as a conversational piece that piques the interest across a range of loosely connected musics， rather than as something that will provide a deep exploration of a particular subject or idea。 There's nothing wrong with that of course， but those looking for any kind of formalised academic exercise should search elsewhere; this is very much a "popular music book" about not so popular music！ Sword's is an enjoyable prose， and An interesting meander through the drone-iverse。 It's best to approach this as a conversational piece that piques the interest across a range of loosely connected musics， rather than as something that will provide a deep exploration of a particular subject or idea。 There's nothing wrong with that of course， but those looking for any kind of formalised academic exercise should search elsewhere; this is very much a "popular music book" about not so popular music！ Sword's is an enjoyable prose， and he sometimes comes up with a stonking description， though he also occasionally over-relies on certain tics （"ley lines" was a bit annoying for me）。 A throughly enjoyable read though for sure。 There's certainly a few more artists that have gone onto my "to hear" list as a result of reading。 。。。more
Phil Jenkins
，