Preface Vision Culture Artefact Worlds Persona Texts Words Postscript
Celebrated UK musician and academic Pete Astor analyzes one of the seminal albums of the New York punk era from both scholarly and subjective perspectives.
Pete Astor is Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster, UK. He also writes songs, sings and plays the guitar.
The 33 1/3 book series started in 2003, analyzing 'seminal' rock
albums in the manner of great literature novels-but also adding the
personal insights that only the true rock n' roll fan can deliver.
#92 looks at Richard Hell and the Voidoids' Blank Generation
(1977). On the heels of #91, on Gang of Four's Entertainment (1979)
the releases really are two of a pair-the arch “art punk”
statements of the '70s-though Gang of Four is more political and
Richard Hell thoroughly nihilistic. The analytical approach can
have its pitfalls: Astor is so intent on the importance of
listening on vinyl that he traces the history of recording
technology back to Edison, to make the point that the album has to
be heard on that medium. But Astor brilliantly places Blank
Generation in the 70's lower East Side New York art world, with all
the squalor evoked by Richard Hell's songs, as well as depicting
Hell as a poet with a comprehensive artistic vision. In his own
way, Hell was the voice of a generation.
*SLUG Magazine*
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
