England's Hidden Reverse : Coil-Current 93-Nurse With Wound

Rating:
Summary: Essential reading...
Review: ...for fans of C93, NWW, and/or Coil. But also for anyone interested in the postpunk, postindustrial explosion taking place in and around London in the early 1980s. Keenan painstakingly explores the collection of bands, performance artists, and various hangers-on in the wake of Throbbing Gristle's demise--the primordial soup that gave rise to Psychic TV, Whitehouse, Coil, Current 93, and others.

Other reviewers have noted Keenan's disjointed time line and magazine-article approach (lots of extended quotes), and while these are valid criticisms, I thought Keenan did great research and footwork, tracking down a lot of the people involved with the "scene," both then and now. From Genesis P-Orridge and John Fothergill to Tony Wakeford and Nick Cave, Keenan gets a diverse group of people to talk about the "secret history" of this music, painting a vivid portrait of the obsessions, the madness, and the sheer creativity that spawned the incredible music these three groups made.

I'm not a NWW or Coil fan (I bought the book largely because I love Current 93), but nevertheless I found myself interested in the other bands' stories, intertwined as they were in the development of C93. I still may not fully appreciate Steve Stapleton's surrealist music, but Keenan made me appreciate the mind and the creative approach behind NWW. Same with Coil, although I found myself less interested in their history, which seems to find them mostly wallowing in epic drug and alcohol binges.

The book also features tons of great photos from past and present--these alone are almost worth the price.

My only disappointment with "England's Hidden Reverse"--and it's a slight one--is Keenan's ultimate failure to get in touch with Death in June's Douglas Pearce, a key C93 collaborator and erstwhile friend of David Tibet. Keenan discloses that he tried to contact Pearce, but he never returned phone calls. Too bad--and very petty of Pearce, I thought. I would have liked a bit more illumination on just why Pearce's close friendship with Tibet fell apart. (Keenan attributes it to Pearce's objection to Tibet's association with the allegedly homophobic Tiny Tim, but that doesn't seem like it could be the only source of the extreme vitriol Pearce seems to have for Tibet nowadays, as evident on Death in June's "All Pigs Must Die" CD.)

Still, "England's Hidden Reverse" is an invaluable book, and I couldn't put it down until I'd read it twice through. Congratulations to Mr. Keenan on a fine job.

Rating:
Summary: Reverse Hidden England - BUY ME!!!
Review: I just received this book last week after placing an order for it on September 27th 2002! What an incredible read. I have followed all three of these bands from the start. The book is very well written (thank you David!) and will give long-time fans a deeper perception of where the three bands are coming from. They all have had very quirky, interesting lives (to say the least ;~) Also includes some excellent photographs of all three bands (including some incredible photos of the Nurses house and yard) A must have for any serious fan of Coil, C93 & NWW. GET IT WHILE IT LASTS!!!

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting, no really
Review: I only purchasing this book to read up on the life of David Tibet of Current 93 and I'm not dissapointed as I was aware this book shared info with many groups and people on this label. The writing style is interesting but the book is split up so that it's not exactly in order of group or events which makes for a hard to follow timeline, assuming you care about timeline.

I am a big fan of Coil's recent music but have little interest in their art or personal life.

If your a fan of any group in this book, it's probably worth a read.

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting, no really
Review: I only purchasing this book to read up on the life of David Tibet of Current 93 and I'm not dissapointed as I was aware this book shared info with many groups and people on this label. The writing style is interesting but the book is split up so that it's not exactly in order of group or events which makes for a hard to follow timeline, assuming you care about timeline.

I am a big fan of Coil's recent music but have little interest in their art or personal life.

If your a fan of any group in this book, it's probably worth a read.

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous & informative but superficial
Review: I was awaiting this book with anxiety, as there isn't much literature on these three bands - who I have followed for quite some time.

And when I finally received it through mail, I was very pleased with how it looked - really very well published, with beautiful rare photographs and a cd.

Unfortunately, the actual reading was a bit of a disappointment - after a while reading quotes all the time gets quite tiring. You can feel very strongly that the writer is a journalist, and the chapters feel very much like articles for a magazine. And a series of these articles do not make up a very gripping tale.

I felt that David Keenan should have reflected more on the music, instead of just filling the pages with quotes and commenting now and then superficially on the music, in a typical journalistic way.

I would have liked some more insights on musical development, some kind of concluding thoughts about what these artists are all about and - well, in general, more reflection instead of mere citation of insiders.

But still this is an invaluable book, with loads of information and background on these intriguing and brilliant artists.

Rating:
Summary: Essential reading...
Review: Keenan does a fine job introducing the people and events of an important and unfairly neglected era of modern music.

For readers unfamiliar to NWW, C93, and Coil, Keenan gives ample background, carefully reveals the appeal of his subjects' characters, and avoids becoming bogged down in esoteric details. Also, the included CD provides an excellent overview of the artists involved.

The retelling of the sometimes contradictory tales using the voices of those present keeps the reader guessing and keeps the mysterious nature of the groups somewhat intact -- a mysterious nature which is highly important to the reception of their music.

The weaknesses of the book really amounts to nitpicking since having such a voluminous biography of subjects with so little previous biographical information is rather miraculous. But here they are anyway:

Why include Coil? Apart from a few collaborations they aren't really very much a part of the NWW/C93 world.

Why focus on Tibet? Stapleton's musical history is longer and his world seems much more fascinating.

Why skim over the actual recordings? Not enough attention seems to be paid to a majority of recordings. Information about United Dairies is sketchy. More about the UD artists, especially Robert Haigh, would be welcomed. And the collective aesthetic that the UD, Come, LAYLAH and Le Rey record labels created seems to be a subject better explored.

A NWW/C93 only book might have had a better focus, and illuminated their world a little more thoroughly.

Otherwise, the book is a pearl.

Can't wait to see "England's Second Hidden Reverse: Colin Potter, Andrew Chalk, and Jonathan Coleclough".

Rating:
Summary: Secret History of Music
Review: Keenan does a fine job introducing the people and events of an important and unfairly neglected era of modern music.

For readers unfamiliar to NWW, C93, and Coil, Keenan gives ample background, carefully reveals the appeal of his subjects' characters, and avoids becoming bogged down in esoteric details. Also, the included CD provides an excellent overview of the artists involved.

The retelling of the sometimes contradictory tales using the voices of those present keeps the reader guessing and keeps the mysterious nature of the groups somewhat intact -- a mysterious nature which is highly important to the reception of their music.

The weaknesses of the book really amounts to nitpicking since having such a voluminous biography of subjects with so little previous biographical information is rather miraculous. But here they are anyway:

Why include Coil? Apart from a few collaborations they aren't really very much a part of the NWW/C93 world.

Why focus on Tibet? Stapleton's musical history is longer and his world seems much more fascinating.

Why skim over the actual recordings? Not enough attention seems to be paid to a majority of recordings. Information about United Dairies is sketchy. More about the UD artists, especially Robert Haigh, would be welcomed. And the collective aesthetic that the UD, Come, LAYLAH and Le Rey record labels created seems to be a subject better explored.

A NWW/C93 only book might have had a better focus, and illuminated their world a little more thoroughly.

Otherwise, the book is a pearl.

Can't wait to see "England's Second Hidden Reverse: Colin Potter, Andrew Chalk, and Jonathan Coleclough".

Rating:
Summary: The God's Got Three Faces yet the Childs Got no Name
Review: Nurse With Wound, Coil and Current 93 are musically manifestation of the same creative force. They are interdependent and each compliments the others. David Keenen describes this connection beautifully in this work. It begins by describing the musical scene out of which the bands all took their shape. In the strange days of the early eighties the post punk musical world was really going into several directions: oblivious pop, new wave pretension, industrial and Goth and finally bands like Current 93 Coil and NWW. These sounded more similar in there early days than they do now but still have the same vibe. What's most interesting about them is that they keep artistic focus and this book tells this story in a beautifully bound form.

The book uses a lot of quotes and pictures to tell the story of these bands using information from collaborators of the bands. It is very well researched and while many have said it reads like journalism it seems more like academia to me. The style is great and with so little actual documentation to work with quotes are one of the few viable options. It is really interesting to peer into the lives of these individuals and sometimes it is stranger than fiction: Tibet Balance Stapleton and Christofersen lead bizarre lives. This is a part of why they make such interesting work. It would have been more interesting to me if there was more said about the specific influences of the artists and the works. While we can infer much there could certainly be more here. Nevertheless what is written in this book is very enlightening to me. We as fans of the work often dissociate Coil and John Balance as a distant cousin to c93 and NWW but reading this really put the perspective in order. This book puts the artists in perspective so that even a non fan would find it interesting.

Overall I really appreciated reading this book. Being a huge fan of these bands I would be happy with anything and have often been placated by reading incomplete web pages and bad 'zine articles. This book is far better than that and really makes me appreciate the music all the more. It is by no means definitive and is missing many other bands (most notably Death In June). But I guess the book would loose focus if it were to contain more bands. This is a book that you will love to have and read again and again. Being fans of musicians that the mainstream media doesn't care about or cant understand we are thrilled to see stuff like this.

-- Ted Murena

Rating:
Summary: brilliant
Review: The first question that comes to mind is: how can there be a biography of three bands in the same book? For me, the answer is quite simple...c93, NWW and Coil are pretty much three different and very individual manifestations of the same thing that moves all of them: strong vision and its brave living/making manifest through art, passion and honesty that come with it and, of course, complete integrity. So, actually i can't understand people who like coil and dont like c93, or like nww and dont like coil etc...i guess that reason for such "disliking" is pretty much always lack of understanding. Everybody's soul is potentially large enough to understand everything that is or can be.

The book is beautifully produced, just like every other reviewer has said. It is very well written, meaning it is very well investigated, with lots of information and many providers of these informations, so when the book discusses something, you will always get opinions from pretty much everybody relevant for the particular discussion. It follows bands chronologicaly, and there is no real "story" element, like many reviewers have said, but i quite like this since i find it more objective because of this. Also, the "lack of criticism" that other reviewers have mentioned is definitely there, but i like that too, since Keenan doesnt push his opinions on us, but rather lets people whose biography this is talk, and also lets us, the readers, have our own critic approach to the untainted facts and thoughts of people who we are reading about.

When it comes to balance between the three bands in the book, i guess its pretty much even, every band gets about one third of the book. Also, i don't think Keenan is drooling over david tibet in it, like some reviewers have stated.

It has to be mentioned that the first part of the book also deals with a lot of other relevant bands, since they were/are in one way or another related to nww/coil/c93, bands like whitehouse, crass, and, of course, throbbing gristle and psychic tv, and i mention this since they are MUCH more than just mentioned here. also, the book provides us with a great number of informations/thoughts from lots of people (pretty much everybody) involved with nww/coil/c93 throughout their history.

Another thing that i really like is that the book NEVER interferes with the really personal stuff of balance, sleazy, tibet or stapleton, like really specific things about relationships, friendships and so on...there is always some distance when it comes to privacy, which makes the whole thing really decent. this book lets privacy stay sacred and there is absolutely no voyeurism that is otherwise so present in today's media that it completely sickens me.

all in all, this is a great, very well done book, beautifully produced, and if you have the money and love these bands, just buy it, i really dont think you'll regret a single penny. i know i haven't.