Paul Hegarty

The original edition of Beyond and Before extends an understanding of “progressive rock” by providing a fuller definition of what progressive rock is, was and can be. Called by Record Collector “the most accomplished critical overview yet” of progressive rock and one of their 2011 books of the year, Beyond and Before moves away from the limited consensus that prog rock is exclusively English in origin and that it was destroyed by the advent of punk in 1976. Instead, by tracing its multiple origins and complex transitions, it argues for the integration of jazz and folk into progressive rock and the extension of prog in Kate Bush, Radiohead, Porcupine Tree and many more. This 10-year anniversary revised edition continues to further unpack definitions of progressive rock and includes a brand new chapter focusing on post-conceptual trends in the 2010s through to the contemporary moment. The new edition discusses the complex creativity of progressive metal and folk in greater depth, as well as new fusions of genre that move across global cultures and that rework the extended form and mission of progressive rock, including in recent pop concept albums. All chapters are revised to keep the process of rethinking progressive rock alive and vibrant as a hybrid, open form.

The original edition of Beyond and Before extends an understanding of “progressive rock” by providing a fuller definition of what progressive rock is, was and can be. Called by Record Collector “the most accomplished critical overview yet” of progressive rock and one of their 2011 books of the year, Beyond and Before moves away from the limited consensus that prog rock is exclusively English in origin and that it was destroyed by the advent of punk in 1976. Instead, by tracing its multiple origins and complex transitions, it argues for the integration of jazz and folk into progressive rock and the extension of prog in Kate Bush, Radiohead, Porcupine Tree and many more. This 10-year anniversary revised edition continues to further unpack definitions of progressive rock and includes a brand new chapter focusing on post-conceptual trends in the 2010s through to the contemporary moment. The new edition discusses the complex creativity of progressive metal and folk in greater depth, as well as new fusions of genre that move across global cultures and that rework the extended form and mission of progressive rock, including in recent pop concept albums. All chapters are revised to keep the process of rethinking progressive rock alive and vibrant as a hybrid, open form.

Noise has become a model of cultural and theoretical thinking over the last two decades. Following Hegarty's influential 2007 book, Noise/Music, Annihilating Noise discusses in sixteen essays how noise offers a way of thinking about critical resistance, disruptive creativity and a complex yet enticing way of understanding the unexpected, the dissonant, the unfamiliar.It presents noise as a negativity with no fixed identity that can only be defined in connection and opposition to meaning and order. This book reaches beyond experimental music and considers noise as an idea and practice within a wide range of frameworks including social, ecological, and philosophical perspectives. It introduces the ways in which the disruptive implications of noise impact our ways of thinking, acting, and organizing in the world, and applies it to 21st-century concerns and today’s technological ecology.

Noise has become a model of cultural and theoretical thinking over the last two decades. Following Hegarty's influential 2007 book, Noise/Music, Annihilating Noise discusses in sixteen essays how noise offers a way of thinking about critical resistance, disruptive creativity and a complex yet enticing way of understanding the unexpected, the dissonant, the unfamiliar.It presents noise as a negativity with no fixed identity that can only be defined in connection and opposition to meaning and order. This book reaches beyond experimental music and considers noise as an idea and practice within a wide range of frameworks including social, ecological, and philosophical perspectives. It introduces the ways in which the disruptive implications of noise impact our ways of thinking, acting, and organizing in the world, and applies it to 21st-century concerns and today’s technological ecology.

Peter Gabriel is one of contemporary music's great experimenters. From his work in the progressive group Genesis, through his pioneering solo albums, to his enthusiastic embrace of world music and new technologies, Gabriel has remained steadfastly consistent in his redefinition of music's boundaries and influence: geographical, virtual and thematic. At the heart of Paul Hegarty's astute analysis is the idea of locatedness: what it means to be in a specific place at a given time, and to reflect on that time and the changes which inevitably occur. Gabriel's work, Hegarty argues, can be understood as a series of reflections on the `where' of being - and this includes politics, psychology, philosophy, psychogeography and inward reflection. Peter Gabriel offers a nuanced and trenchant insight into this enigmatic musician and his works, an artist whose constant travelling - through identities, influences and media - defines him as one of modern culture's truly global citizens.

This is a book about video art, and about sound art.The thesis is that sound first entered the gallery via the video art of the 1960s and in so doing, created an unexpected noise. The early part of the book looks at this formative period and the key figures within it - then jumps to the mid-1990s, when video art has become such a major part of contemporary art production, it no longer seems an autonomous form.Paul Hegarty considers the work of a range of artists (including Steve McQueen, Christian Marclay, Ryan Trecartin, and Jane and Louise Wilson), proposing different theories according to the particular strategy of the artist under discussion. Connecting them all are the twinned ideas of intermedia and synaesthesia. Hegarty offers close readings of video works, as influenced by their sound, while also considering the institutional and material contexts. Applying contemporary sound theory to the world of video art, Paul Hegarty offers an entirely fresh perspective on the interactions between sound, sound art, and the visual.

This is a book about video art, and about sound art.The thesis is that sound first entered the gallery via the video art of the 1960s and in so doing, created an unexpected noise. The early part of the book looks at this formative period and the key figures within it - then jumps to the mid-1990s, when video art has become such a major part of contemporary art production, it no longer seems an autonomous form.Paul Hegarty considers the work of a range of artists (including Steve McQueen, Christian Marclay, Ryan Trecartin, and Jane and Louise Wilson), proposing different theories according to the particular strategy of the artist under discussion. Connecting them all are the twinned ideas of intermedia and synaesthesia. Hegarty offers close readings of video works, as influenced by their sound, while also considering the institutional and material contexts. Applying contemporary sound theory to the world of video art, Paul Hegarty offers an entirely fresh perspective on the interactions between sound, sound art, and the visual.

Dennis Cooper's writing has acquired a ferocious reputation for its bold experimentation, its transgressive content, and its emotional content, which is both Romantic and touching, whilst cold and hard-edged. For over twenty years Cooper has explored the boundaries of human living, and sexuality's centrality to that living. The extreme situations he develops in his writing bring out parts of gay experience that a consensual 'community' often shies away from, likewise the heterosexual mainstream. His most important genre is undoubtedly fiction, but Cooper has also written poetry, large quantities of journalistic works, notably for 'Artforum' and 'Spin', and, recently has had great success and recognition with theatrical works. The book enters deep into the worlds Cooper fabricates -- and into the coolness of his expression. This challenging work is addressed by a group of mostly young and new critical writers and academics who provide creative responses to Cooper's artistry. The contributions, which cover the breadth of Cooper's work, develop themes and devices that advance his profound and disturbing world view. In addition to the artistic responses, the topics in the critical pieces range from sexuality in the suburbs, to neurological responses to the work, via the limits and possibilities of bodies. Others look at the implications of contemporary electronic communication as outlined in Cooper's recent work, or the use of space. Cooper's writing receives a multi-faceted contextualisation, and his literary ideas are made accessible to any reader interested in learning why Cooper is today regarded as one of the foremost writers in expressing the psychological point behind the centrality of sexual expression.

This is a brilliant new survey of progressive rock, from its roots through to more contemporary artists who share similar traits including Sonic Youth and Radiohead. A sleeping new study, "Beyond and Before" considers the high period of the early to mid-1970s, where there was widespread acceptance of the 'progressive' approach of detailed instrumentation, extended tracks and conceptual linkage and development across albums. Hegarty and Halliwell assess the roots of progressive rock, arguing convincingly that a fusion of styles, approaches and genres defined the 1970s period, and the authors develop tools to assess other, later progressive musics. Each set of connections are justified and grounded by close textual readings of musical works, a consideration of their material presentation, and an examination of performance and cultural contexts. Through close analysis, the authors show that something 'progressive' underpins many subgenres of rock. Featuring discussions not just of the obvious subjects and albums, but also of music by artists as diverse as Kate Bush, Talk Talk, Mars Volta, Tortoise, Joanna Newsom, Sonic Youth and Radiohead, "Beyond and Before" is ideal reading for anyone who's interested in exploring the history and meaning of progressive rock in all its forms.

"Noise/Music" looks at the phenomenon of noise in music, from experimental music of the early 20th century to the Japanese noise music and glitch electronica of today. It situates different musics in their cultural and historical context, and analyses them in terms of cultural aesthetics. Paul Hegarty argues that noise is a judgement about sound, that what was noise can become acceptable as music, and that in many ways the idea of noise is similar to the idea of the avant-garde. While it provides an excellent historical overview, the book's main concern is in the noise music that has emerged since the mid 1970s, whether through industrial music, punk, free jazz, or the purer noise of someone like Merzbow. The book progresses seamlessly from discussions of John Cage, Erik Satie, and Pauline Oliveros through to bands like Throbbing Gristle and the Boredoms. Sharp and erudite, and underpinned throughout by the ideas of thinkers like Adorno and Deleuze, "Noise/Music" is the perfect primer for anyone interested in the louder side of experimental music.

Jean Baudrillard's work on how contemporary society is dominated by the mass media has become extraordinarily influential. He is notorious for arguing that there is no real world, only simulations which have altered what events mean, and that only violent symbolic exchange can prevent the world becoming a total simulation. An ideal introduction to this most singular cultural critic and philosopher, Jean Baudrillard: Live Theory offers a comprehensive, critical account of Baudrillard's unsettling, visionary and often prescient work. Baudrillard's relation to a range of thinkers as diverse as Nietzsche, Marx, McLuhan, Foucault and Lyotard is explained, and the impact of his thought on contemporary politics, popular culture and art is analysed. Finally, in the new interview included here, Baudrillard outlines his own position and responds to his critics.

Long recognized in France as a central figure in French cultural thought, the range and significance of Batille's ideas are now being grasped in the English speaking world. His influence on Derrida, Foucault, Kristeva and Baudrillard is now more clearly understood and Bataille has emerged as a front-rank cultural theorist who posed questions and paradoxes that were extraordinarily prescient. This book offers a comprehensive and detailed presentation and analysis of the full range of his writings - political, philosophical, aesthetic, literary, anthropological and cultural. And tackles his thoughts on waste, sacrifice, death, eroticism, surplus, ecstasy and drunkenness, offering the best available guide to this challenging and utterly unique thinker.