In our quarterly reading list, we select some of our favourite books from outside Velocity Press. From the latest music writing releases to club culture classics, we’ve got your summer reading list sorted. It has been a quiet summer for electronic music publishing, but here are our top picks.
While the decadence and glamour of some of New York’s most legendary discos and clubs can seem alien to the DIY attitude of the UK’s first ravers, it sure does make for some great stories. Having managed the Roxy, the Tunnel and Avalon, Steve Adelman could be considered a veteran quartermaster of New York clubbing’s elite spots in the 80s and 90s, and he has plenty of tales to tell.
If you’re looking for an exclusive porthole into the after-hours ostentatiousness of New York Nightlife in the 80s and 90s, look no further than Nocturnal Admissions.
Re-Sisters: The Lives and Recordings of Delia Derbyshire, Margery Kempe and Cosey Fanni Tutti
One of the most visceral voices in electronic music and experimental art, Cosey Fanni Tutti returns to Faber for her latest release, Re-Sisters.
A three-pronged examination of womanhood, creative practice and freedom of expression that delves into the lives of Delia Derbyshire, Margery Kempe and Tutti herself, Re-Sisters is less a biography and more an extended musing on what it means to create as a woman, both inside and outside of electronic music.
Assembling a Black Counter Culture
Until recently, the African-American roots of techno and its associated genres have long been overlooked and glossed over, with popular culture only taking a passing, token interest in the black origins of the sound.
In Assembling a Black Counter Culture DeForrest Brown Jr provides a comprehensive chronicle of the black innovators that created what we now know as ‘techno’ and cross-examines this history using the writings of African American autoworker and political activist James Boggs. It’s time to Make Techno Black Again and Deforrest Brown Jr.’s book is an essential educational tool for achieving this.
Electronically Yours: Vol. I: My Autobiography
While the 80’s ushered in a new era of electronic pop music built from synthetic sounds, in this autobiography Martyn Ware delves into the human details behind his artistic practice and career making machine music.
From his staunchly socialist political motivations to his love of Venice, interest in in 60’s cinema and passion for Sheffield Wednesday, in Electronically Yours Ware gives himself over to the reader entirely. More than a template rags-to-riches tale, it is an essential snapshot into the life of one of the most prolific figures in British electronic pop. No matter how personal or down-to-earth, Ware unpacks all the muses, interests and inspirations behind his work as a founding member of the Human League, Heaven 17 and as Tina Turner’s record producer. Electronic pop music has never seemed so human.
