Hole (band)
Hole was an American alternative rock band formed by singer and guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson in Los Angeles, California in 1989. Influenced by Los Angeles' punk rock scene, produced by Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, the band's debut album, Pretty on the Inside, attracted critical interest from British and American alternative press, their second album, Live Through This, released 1994 by DGC Records, which featured less aggressive melodies and more restrained lyrical content, was acclaimed and reached platinum status within a year of its release. Their third album, Celebrity Skin, which garnered them four Grammy nominations, marked a notable departure from their earlier punk influences, boasting a more commercially viable, "mature" sound; the band had a revolving line-up of bassists and drummers, their most prolific being drummer Patty Schemel, bassists Kristen Pfaff and Melissa Auf der Maur. In 2002 the group disbanded to pursue other projects. Eight years in 2010, Hole was reformed by Love with new members, despite Erlandson's claim that the reformation breached a mutual contract he had with Love.
The reformed band released the album Nobody's Daughter, conceived as Love's second solo album. In 2013, Love retired the Hole name, touring as a solo artist. Hole has been noted for being one of the most commercially successful female-fronted rock bands of all time, selling over three million records in the United States alone and having a far-reaching influence on contemporary female artists. Music and feminist scholars have recognized the band as the most high-profile musical group of the 1990s to discuss gender issues in their songs, due to Love's aggressive and violent lyrical content, which addressed themes of body image and sexual exploitation. Hole formed after Eric Erlandson responded to an advertisement placed by Courtney Love in Recycler in the summer of 1989; the advertisement read: "I want to start a band. My influences are Big Black, Sonic Youth, Fleetwood Mac." "She called me up and talked my ear off," said Erlandson. "We met at this coffee shop, I saw her and I thought "Oh, God.
Oh, no, What am I getting myself into?" She grabbed me and started talking, she's like "I know you're the right one", I hadn't opened my mouth yet." In retrospect, Love said that Erlandson "had a Thurston quality about him" and was an "intensely weird, good guitarist." In his 2012 book, Letters to Kurt, Erlandson revealed that he and Love had a sexual relationship during their first year together in the band, which Love confirmed. Love had been living a nomadic life, immersing herself in numerous music scenes and living in various cities along the west coast. After unsuccessful attempts at forming bands in San Francisco and Portland, Love relocated to Los Angeles, where she found work as an actress in two Alex Cox films. Erlandson was a California native and a graduate of Loyola Marymount University, was working as a royalties manager for Capitol Records at the time he met Love. Love had wanted to name the band Sweet Baby Crystal Powered by God, but opted for the name Hole instead. During an interview on Later... with Jools Holland, Love claimed the name for the band was inspired by a quote from Euripides' Medea that read: "There is a hole that pierces right through me."
Love cited a conversation with her mother as the primary inspiration for the band's name, in which her mother told her that she couldn't live her life "with a hole running through her." Love acknowledged the "obvious" genital reference in the band's name, alluding to the vagina, though stated that the primary source of the name was the conversation between her and her mother. In the months preceding the band's full formation and Erlandson would write and record in the evenings at a rehearsal space in Hollywood, loaned to them by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Hole's first official rehearsal took place at Fortress Studios in Hollywood with Love and Lisa Roberts on bass. According to Erlandson, "these two girls show up dressed crazy, we set up and they said, "okay, just start playing something." I started playing and they started screaming at the top of their lungs for two or three hours. Crazy lyrics and screaming. I said to myself, "most people would just run away from this fast, but I heard something in Courtney's voice and lyrics."
The band had no percussion until Love met drummer Caroline Rue, recruited a third guitarist, Mike Geisbrecht. Hole's first show took place at Raji's, a small bar in Hollywood, in September 1989. By early 1990, Geisbrecht and Roberts had both left the band, which led to the recruitment of bassist Jill Emery. Hole released their no wave-influenced debut single "Retard Girl" in April 1990, followed it with "Dicknail" in 1991, released on Sympathy for the Record Industry and Sub Pop, respectively. According to disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer, Love would approach him at a Denny's on Sunset Blvd. where he went for coffee in the mornings, convinced him to give "Retard Girl" airtime on his station KROQ-FM. In 1991, the band signed onto Caroline Records to release their debut album, Love sought Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth to produce the record, she sent a letter, a Hello Kitty barrette, copies of the band's early singles to her, mentioning that the band admired Gordon's work and appreciated "... the production of the SST record".
Gordon, impressed by the band's singles
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer and musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the rock band Nirvana. Cobain is remembered as one of the most iconic and influential rock musicians in the history of alternative music. Born in Aberdeen, Cobain formed the band Nirvana with Krist Novoselic and Aaron Burckhard in 1987 and established it as part of the Seattle music scene which became known as grunge. After signing with major label DGC Records, Nirvana found success with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from their second album Nevermind. Following the success of Nevermind, Nirvana was labelled "the flagship band" of Generation X, Cobain was hailed as "the spokesman of a generation". During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction and chronic health problems such as depression, he struggled with the personal and professional pressures of fame, his marriage to musician Courtney Love. On April 8, 1994, at the age of 27, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle, police concluded he died on April 5 from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to his head.
Cobain has been described as a "Generation X icon". He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Nirvana bandmates Dave Grohl and Novoselic, in their first year of eligibility in 2014. In 2003, David Fricke of Rolling Stone ranked him the 12th greatest guitarist of all time, he was ranked 7th by MTV in the "22 Greatest Voices in Music". In 2006, he was placed 20th by Hit Parader on their list of the "100 Greatest Metal Singers of All Time". Cobain was born at Grays Harbor Hospital in Aberdeen, Washington on February 20, 1967, the son of waitress Wendy Elizabeth and automotive mechanic Donald Leland Cobain, his parents were married on July 1965, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. His ancestry included Dutch, French, German and Scottish, his Irish ancestors emigrated from Carrickmore, County Tyrone in 1875. Researchers found that they were shoemakers named "Cobane", who came from Inishatieve, a townland within Carrickmore, they first settled in Cornwall, Canada, in Washington.
Cobain himself believed his family came from County Cork. His younger sister, was born on April 24, 1970. Cobain's family had a musical background, his maternal uncle, Chuck Fradenburg, played in a band called The Beachcombers. Kurt was described as being a happy and excitable child, who exhibited sensitivity and care, his talent as an artist was evident from an early age, as he would draw his favorite characters from films and cartoons, such as the Creature from the Black Lagoon and Donald Duck, in his bedroom. This enthusiasm was encouraged by his grandmother, Iris Cobain, a professional artist. Cobain began developing an interest in music at a young age. According to his aunt Mari, he began singing at the age of two. At age four, he started singing, writing a song about a trip to a local park, he listened to artists like the Ramones and Electric Light Orchestra, from a young age, would sing songs like Arlo Guthrie's "Motorcycle Song," The Beatles' "Hey Jude," Terry Jacks' "Seasons in the Sun", the theme song to the television show of the band The Monkees.
When Cobain was nine years old, his parents divorced. He said that the divorce had a profound effect on his life, while his mother noted that his personality changed dramatically. In a 1993 interview, he elaborated: I remember feeling ashamed, for some reason. I was ashamed of my parents. I couldn't face some of my friends at school anymore, because I wanted to have the classic, you know, typical family. Mother, father. I wanted that security, so I resented my parents for quite a few years because of that. Cobain's parents both found new partners after the divorce. Although his father had promised not to remarry, after meeting Jenny Westeby, he did, to Kurt's dismay. Cobain, his father and her two children and James, moved into a new household together. Cobain liked Westeby at first. In January 1979, Westeby gave birth to Chad Cobain; this new family, which Cobain insisted was not his real one, was in stark contrast to the attention Cobain was used to receiving as an only boy, he soon began to express resentment toward his stepmother.
Cobain's mother began dating a man, abusive. Cobain witnessed the domestic violence inflicted upon her, with one incident resulting in her being hospitalized with a broken arm. Wendy steadfastly refused to press charges, remaining committed to the relationship. Cobain behaved insolently toward adults during this period of his youth, began bullying another boy at school; such misconduct caused his father and Westeby to take him to a therapist, who concluded that he would benefit from a single family environment. Both sides of the family to no avail. On June 28, 1979, Cobain's mother granted full custody to his father. Cobain's teenage rebellion became overwhelming for his father, who placed his son in the care of family and friends. While living with the born-again Christian family of his friend Jesse Reed, he became a devout Christian and attended church services, he renounced Christianity, engagi
Live Through This
Live Through This is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Hole. It was released by DGC Records on April 12, 1994, one week after frontwoman Courtney Love's husband, Kurt Cobain, died by suicide in their home, it is the only Hole album to feature bassist Kristen Pfaff before her death in June 1994. Recorded in October 1993, Live Through This marked a divergence from the band's unpolished hardcore aesthetics to more refined melodies and structure. Love publicly commented on her aspirations to make a classic rock record at the time; the album was produced by Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie and mixed by Scott Litt and J Mascis; the lyrics and packaging reflect Love's thematic preoccupations with beauty, motifs of milk, anti-elitism, violence against women, while Love derived the album title from a quote in Gone with the Wind. At the time of its release, Live Through This was met with critical acclaim, though critical and public discussion surrounding it was marked by unsubstantiated rumors that Cobain helped write the album.
It earned top-100 chart spots in seven countries and went multi-platinum in December 1994. In critical circles it is considered a contemporary classic, was included in Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, as well as being featured on the list 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die; the album was named the 84th greatest album of all time in a list produced by NME in 2013. As of 2010, it has sold over 1.6 million copies in the United States. Hole released their debut studio album, Pretty on the Inside, in 1991. Despite moderate sales, the album was a critical success among American press. In March 1992, following the album tour, drummer Caroline Rue and bassist Jill Emery left the band due to artistic differences. In April 1992, vocalist Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson arranged auditions for a drummer at the Jabberjaw in Los Angeles and recruited drummer Patty Schemel; the band relocated to Carnation, Washington to a house owned by Love and her husband, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, began rehearsing and writing their second album.
"We had been going more pop, less journal-entry noise stuff," said Erlandson. Love said: "I was competitive with Kurt because I wanted more melody, but I wanted that before Live Through This."Originally signed to Caroline Records in the United States and City Slang in Europe, Hole began record deal negotiations with Geffen Records in early 1992. In February 1992, they signed a seven-album deal with Geffen subsidiary DGC Records with "an advance of a million dollars and a royalty rate higher than Nirvana's". On November 8, 1992, Hole recorded "Beautiful Son," "20 Years in the Dakota" and "Old Age" at Word of Mouth Recording in Seattle with producer Jack Endino; the songs were released in April 1993 as Hole's fourth single on the City Slang label. On January 21, 1993, Love and Schemel recorded five demos at BMG Ariola Ltda. in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Produced by Craig Montgomery, the session was a demo session for Nirvana, who were recording material for their upcoming studio album In Utero. During breaks in Nirvana's session and Schemel recorded a number of songs featured on Live Through This, including "Miss World," "She Walks on Me," "I Think That I Would Die" and "Softer, Softest".
In Los Angeles, Hole recruited former Janitor Joe bassist Kristen Pfaff in early 1993. Erlandson said of Pfaff's membership: "That's when we took off, all of a sudden we became a real band." After a brief tour of the United Kingdom in mid-1993, the band sent a series of demos to the record label. "When we got the Live Through This demos, I realized quickly that Hole had gotten a new rhythm section," said producer Sean Slade. "It was much more musical." The recording sessions for Live Through This began on October 8, 1993 at Triclops Sound Studios in Marietta, Georgia. The studio was booked at the recommendation of The Smashing Pumpkins, who had recorded their second studio album, Siamese Dream there; the assigned producers were Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade; the first week of recording was spent recording basic tracks, including drums, scratch guitars, scratch vocals. After basic tracks were completed, Love's husband, Kurt Cobain, joined the band in-studio before Nirvana were set to tour to promote In Utero.
Cobain was presented with the basic tracks and the band invited Cobain to sing on a few unfinished numbers. Cobain refused, due to being unfamiliar with the material; when Cobain asked, "how can I sing on it if I haven't heard it?," Love answered by encouraging him to "just sing off the top of head." Cobain is known to have provided backing vocals to "Asking for It" and "Softer, Softest," however Kolderie has said Cobain "sang on about five or so "Violet", "Miss World" and "Doll Parts, I can't remember any of the others." After taking a break for dinner, the session devolved into a "formless jam" with Cobain on drums and Erlandson on guitars and producer Sean Slade on bass. Musician Dana Kletter was asked to sing backing vocals on the record, appears on seven songs, including "Violet", "Miss World", "Asking For It", "Doll Parts", "Softer Softest", "She Walks On Me". Producer Slade said, "I think one of the reasons that "Doll Parts" might have been a hit is that harmony Dana does on the "You will ache like I ache" part, it's like an Appalachian close harmony against what Courtney is doing.
It's melancholic." Slade and Paul Koderie avoided doubling Love's vocals, as they felt it "took the fierceness away." Certain imperfections were left in the final mixes, including Love's voice cracking in "Doll Parts," which Geffen executives had ori
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Paul O'Neill who succeeded Kevin O'Sullivan on 5 April 2017; the Irish Times is published every day except Sundays. It employs 420 people. Though formed as a Protestant nationalist paper, within two decades and under new owners it had become the voice of British unionism in Ireland, it is no longer marketed as a unionist paper. The editorship of the newspaper from 1859 until 1986 was controlled by the Anglo-Irish Protestant minority, only gaining its first nominal Irish Catholic editor 127 years into its existence; the paper's most prominent columnists include writer and arts commentator Fintan O'Toole and satirist Miriam Lord. The late Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald was once a columnist. Senior international figures, including Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, have written for its op-ed page, its most prominent columns have included the political column Backbencher, by John Healy, Drapier and Reason and the long-running An Irishman's Diary.
An Irishman's Diary was written by Patrick Campbell in the forties. After Myers' move to the rival Irish Independent, An Irishman's Diary has been the work of Frank McNally. On the sports pages, Philip Reid is the paper's golf correspondent. One of its most popular columns was the biting and humorous Cruiskeen Lawn satire column written in Irish in English, by Myles na gCopaleen, the pen name of Brian O'Nolan who wrote books using the name Flann O'Brien. Cruiskeen Lawn is an anglicised spelling of the Irish words crúiscín lán, meaning'full little jug'. Cruiskeen Lawn made its debut in October 1940, appeared with varying regularity until O'Nolan's death in 1966; the first appearance of a newspaper using the name The Irish Times occurred in 1823, but this closed in 1825. The title was revived as a thrice-weekly publication by Major Lawrence E. Knox, with the first edition being published on 29 March 1859, it was founded as a moderate Protestant Nationalist newspaper, reflecting the politics of Knox, who stood unsuccessfully as a parliamentary candidate for Isaac Butt's Home Rule League.
Its headquarters were at 4 Lower Abbey Street in Dublin. Its main competitor in its early days was the Dublin Daily Express; the Irish Times supported Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom and was allied to the Irish Unionist Alliance. After Knox's death in 1873, the paper was sold to the widow of Sir John Arnott, MP, a former Lord Mayor of Cork and owner of Arnotts, one of Dublin's major Department stores; the sale, for £35,000, led to two major changes. Its headquarters was shifted to 31 Westmoreland Street, remaining in buildings on or near that site until 2005, its politics shifted becoming predominantly Protestant and Unionist, it was associated with the Irish Unionist Alliance. The paper, along with the Irish Independent and various regional papers, called for the execution of the leaders of the failed 1916 Easter Rising. Though the paper became a publicly listed company in 1900, the family continued to hold a majority shareholding until the 1960s; the last member of the Arnott family to sit on the paper's board was Sir Lauriston Arnott, who died in 1958.
The editor during the 1930s, R. M. Smyllie, had strong anti-fascist views: he angered the Irish Catholic hierarchy by opposing General Franco during the Spanish Civil War; the Irish Times, like other national newspapers, had problems with Irish Government censorship during World War II. The Times was pro-Allied and was opposed to the Éamon de Valera government's policy of neutrality. In 1974, ownership was transferred to The Irish Times Trust; the former owner, Major Thomas McDowell, was made "president for life" of the trust which runs the paper and was paid a large dividend. However several years the articles of the Trust were adjusted, giving Major McDowell 10 preference shares and one more vote than the combined votes of all the other directors should any move be made to remove him. Major McDowell died in 2009; the Trust was set up in 1974 as "a company limited by guarantee" to purchase The Irish Times Limited and to ensure that The Irish Times would be published as an independent newspaper with specific editorial objectives..
The Trust is regulated by a legal document, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, controlled by a body of people under company law. It does not have charitable status, it has no beneficial shareholders and it cannot pay dividends. Any profits made by The Irish Times cannot be distributed to the Trust but must be used to strengthen the newspaper, directly or indirectly; the Trust is composed of a maximum of 11 Governors. The Trust appoints Governors who are required to be "representative broadly of the community throughout the whole of Ireland"; as of June 2012, Ruth Barrington is the chair of the trust, the governors are Tom Arnold, David Begg, Noel Dorr, Margaret Elliott, Rosemary Kelly, Eoin O'Driscoll, Fergus O'Ferrall, Judith Woodworth, Barry Smyth, Caitriona Murphy. In 1969, the longest-serving editor of The Irish Times, Douglas Gageby, was called a "white nigger" by the company chairman (a former Irish Bri
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital of Wales, its largest city. The eleventh-largest city in the United Kingdom, it is Wales's chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural institutions and Welsh media, the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. At the 2011 census, the unitary authority area population was estimated to be 346,090, the wider urban area 479,000. Cardiff is a significant tourist centre and the most popular visitor destination in Wales with 21.3 million visitors in 2017. In 2011, Cardiff was ranked sixth in the world in National Geographic's alternative tourist destinations. Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan. Cardiff is part of the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a major port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region contributed to its rise as a major city. In 1905, Cardiff was made a city and proclaimed the capital of Wales in 1955. At the 2011 Census the population was 346,090.
The Cardiff Built-up Area covers a larger area outside the county boundary and includes the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth. Since the 1980s, Cardiff has seen significant development. A new waterfront area at Cardiff Bay contains the Senedd building, home to the Welsh Assembly and the Wales Millennium Centre arts complex. Current developments include the continuation of the redevelopment of the Cardiff Bay and city centre areas with projects such as the Cardiff International Sports Village, a BBC drama village, a new business district in the city centre. Sporting venues in the city include the Principality Stadium—the national stadium and the home of the Wales national rugby union team—Sophia Gardens, Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff International Sports Stadium, Cardiff Arms Park and Ice Arena Wales; the city hosted Commonwealth Games. The city was awarded the title of European City of Sport twice, due to its role in hosting major international sporting events: first in 2009 and again in 2014.
The Principality Stadium hosted 11 football matches as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics, including the games' opening event and the men's bronze medal match. Caerdydd derives from the earlier Welsh form Caerdyf; the change from -dyf to -dydd shows the colloquial alteration of Welsh f and dd, was also driven by folk etymology. This sound change had first occurred in the Middle Ages. Caerdyf has its origins in post-Roman Brythonic words meaning "the fort of the Taff"; the fort refers to that established by the Romans. Caer is Welsh for fort and -dyf is in effect a form of Taf, the river which flows by Cardiff Castle, with the ⟨t⟩ showing consonant mutation to ⟨d⟩ and the vowel showing affection as a result of a genitive case ending; the anglicised form Cardiff is derived from Caerdyf, with the Welsh f borrowed as ff, as happens in Taff and Llandaff. As English does not have the vowel the final vowel has been borrowed as; the antiquarian William Camden suggested that the name Cardiff may derive from *Caer-Didi, a name given in honour of Aulus Didius Gallus, governor of a nearby province at the time when the Roman fort was established.
Although some sources repeat this theory, it has been rejected on linguistic grounds by modern scholars such as Professor Gwynedd Pierce. Archaeological evidence from sites in and around Cardiff: the St Lythans burial chamber near Wenvoe,. A group of five Bronze Age tumuli is at the summit of the Garth, within the county's northern boundary. Four Iron Age hill fort and enclosure sites have been identified within Cardiff's present-day county boundaries, including Caerau Hillfort, an enclosed area of 5.1 hectares. Until the Roman conquest of Britain, Cardiff was part of the territory of the Silures – a Celtic British tribe that flourished in the Iron Age – whose territory included the areas that would become known as Breconshire and Glamorgan; the 3.2-hectare fort established by the Romans near the mouth of the River Taff in AD 75, in what would become the north western boundary of the centre of Cardiff, was built over an extensive settlement, established by the Romans in the 50s AD. The fort was one of a series of military outposts associated with Isca Augusta that acted as border defences.
The fort may have been abandoned in the early 2nd century. However, by this time a civilian settlement, or vicus, was established, it was made up of traders who made a living from the fort, ex-soldiers and their families. A Roman villa has been discovered at Ely. Contemporary with the Saxon Shore Forts of th
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian and in the early 1980's was a deejay on the Penn radio station, WXPN-FM. Just prior to graduating in late 1982, he started reviewing records for Op magazine, which marked the start of his career as a freelance writer. From 1985 to 1991, Unterberger was an editor for Option. Since 1993, he has been a prolific contributor to AllMusic, the on-line database of music biographies and album reviews, for which he has written thousands of entries, many of his on-line contributions have been printed in the AllMusic guide series. Unterberger contributes to various local and national publications, including Mojo, Record Collector, Rolling Stone, Oxford American, No Depression, he has written liner notes for dozens of CD reissues from labels like Rhino, Collectors' Choice, Sundazed.
Unterberger's books draw extensively on first-hand interviews with their associates. Unterberger has given numerous talks on music and popular culture at public libraries in San Francisco and San Mateo County, California, he is a speaker at area bookstores, including The Booksmith in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. Unterberger has written on travel, including The Rough Guide to Seattle, is co-author of The Rough Guide to Shopping with a Conscience, a book about ethical products and related topics, he has traveled to more than thirty countries and is an advocate of independent travel and alternative culture. His nephew, Andrew wrote for Stylusmagazine.com, in 2007 was part of the winning team on VH1's World Series of Pop Culture. He has been featured contributor on a number of music or sports blogs, his books include: 1998: Unknown Legends of Roll. Profiles of 60 underappreciated cult rock artists of all styles and eras 1999: The Rough Guide to Music USA. A guidebook to the evolution of regional popular music throughout America in the twentieth century 2000: Urban Spacemen & Wayfaring Strangers: Overlooked Innovators and Eccentric Visionaries of'60s Rock.
Another look at underappreciated cult rock artists 2002: Turn! Turn! Turn!: The'60s Folk-Rock Revolution. The first part of a history of folk rock 2003: Eight Miles High: Folk-Rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock; the second part of a history of folk rock 2006: The Unreleased Beatles: Music and Film. An illustrated 400-page guide to music that the Beatles recorded but did not release, as well as musical footage of the group that has not been made commercially available 2009: White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day-by-Day 2009: The Rough Guide to Jimi Hendrix. 2011: Won't Get Fooled Again: The Who from Lifehouse to Quadrophenia 2002 interview with Unterberger Richie Unterberger's Unknown Legends at www.richieunterberger.com Profile at Rough Guides // Allmusic.com // IMDb Article about Richie Unterberger in the SF Weekly The WELL interviews on Turn! Turn! Turn! // Eight Miles High // The Unreleased Beatles Book review: Fleetwood Mac: The Complete Illustrated History by Richie Unterberger / Rocker Magazine
Post-punk
Post-punk is a broad type of rock music that emerged from the punk movement of the 1970s, in which artists departed from the simplicity and traditionalism of punk rock to adopt a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and diverse influences. Inspired by punk's energy and DIY ethic but determined to break from rock cliches, artists experimented with sources including electronic music and black styles like dub, free jazz, disco. Communities that produced independent record labels, visual art, multimedia performances and fanzines developed around these pioneering musical scenes, which coalesced in cities such as London, New York, Melbourne and San Francisco; the early post-punk vanguard was represented by groups such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Public Image Ltd, the Pop Group, Cabaret Voltaire, Pere Ubu, Gang of Four, Joy Division, Talking Heads, Throbbing Gristle, the Slits, the Cure, the Fall, Au Pairs. The movement was related to the development of ancillary genres such as gothic rock, neo-psychedelia, no wave, industrial music.
By the mid-1980s, post-punk had dissipated while providing the impetus for the New Pop movement as well much subsequent alternative and independent music. Post-punk is a diverse genre. Called "new musick", the terms were first used by various writers in the late 1970s to describe groups moving beyond punk's garage rock template and into disparate areas. Sounds writer Jon Savage used "post-punk" in early 1978. NME writer Paul Morley stated that he had "possibly" invented the term himself. At the time, there was a feeling of renewed excitement regarding what the word would entail, with Sounds publishing numerous preemptive editorials on new musick. Towards the end of the decade, some journalists used "art punk" as a pejorative for garage rock-derived acts deemed too sophisticated and out of step with punk's dogma. Before the early 1980s, many groups now categorized as "post-punk" were subsumed under the broad umbrella of "new wave", with the terms being deployed interchangeably. "Post-punk" became differentiated from "new wave".
Nicholas Lezard described the term "post-punk" as "so multifarious that only the broadest use... is possible". Subsequent discourse has failed to clarify whether contemporary music journals and fanzines conventionally understood "post-punk" the way that it was discussed in years. Music historian Clinton Heylin places the "true starting-point for English post-punk" somewhere between August 1977 and May 1978, with the arrival of guitarist John McKay in Siouxsie and the Banshees in July 1977, Magazine's first album, Wire's new musical direction in 1978 and the formation of Public Image Ltd. Simon Reynolds' 2005 book Rip It Up and Start Again is referenced as post-punk doctrine, although he has stated that the book only covers aspects of post-punk that he had a personal inclination toward. Wilkinson characterized Reynolds' readings as "apparent revisionism and'rebranding'". Author/musician Alex Ogg criticized: "The problem is not with what Reynolds left out of Rip It Up... but, that too much was left in".
Ogg suggested that post-punk pertains to a set of artistic sensibilities and approaches rather than any unifying style, disputed the accuracy of the term's chronological prefix "post", as various groups labeled "post-punk" predate the punk rock movement. Reynolds defined the post-punk era as occurring between 1978 and 1984, he advocated that post-punk be conceived as "less a genre of music than a space of possibility", suggesting that "what unites all this activity is a set of open-ended imperatives: innovation. AllMusic employs "post-punk" to denote "a more adventurous and arty form of punk". Many post-punk artists were inspired by punk's DIY ethic and energy, but became disillusioned with the style and movement, feeling that it had fallen into a commercial formula, rock convention, self-parody, they repudiated its populist claims to accessibility and raw simplicity, instead of seeing an opportunity to break with musical tradition, subvert commonplaces and challenge audiences. Artists moved beyond punk's focus on the concerns of a white, working-class population and abandoned its continued reliance on established rock and roll tropes, such as three-chord progressions and Chuck Berry-based guitar riffs.
These artists instead defined punk as "an imperative to constant change", believing that "radical content demands radical form". Though the music varied between regions and artists, the post-punk movement has been characterized by its "conceptual assault" on rock conventions and rejection of aesthetics perceived of as traditionalist, hegemonic or rockist in favor of experimentation with production techniques and non-rock musical styles such as dub, electronic music, noise, free jazz, world music, the avant-garde; some previous musical styles served as touchstones for the movement, including particular brands of krautrock, art rock, art pop and other music from the 1960s. Artists once again approached the studio as an instrument, using new recording methods and pursuing novel sonic territories. Author Matthew Bannister wrote that post-punk artists rejected the high cultural references of 1960s rock artists like the Beatles and Bob Dylan as well as paradigms that defined "rock as progressive, as art, as'sterile' studio perfectionism... by adopting an avant-garde aesth
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