Bring the Noise: 20 Years of Writing About Hip Rock and Hip Hop

465 Pages·11.991 MB·English

by  Simon Reynolds

U.S. $16.95 MUSic
Weaving together interviews, reviews, essays, and features to create a critical
history of the last twenty years of pop culture, Bring the Noise juxtaposes the 2b
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voices of many of rock and hip-hop’s most provocative artists—Morrissey,  
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Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, The Stone Roses, P.J. Harvey, Radiohead—
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with Reynolds’ own passionate analysis. With all the energy and insight you
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would expect from the author of Rip it Up and Start Again, Bring the Noise on
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tracks the alternately fraught and fertile relationship between white bohemia  W
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and black street music.
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These selections transmit the immediacy of their moment while offering a gt

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running commentary on the broader enduring questions of race and resistance,
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multiculturalism, and division. From grunge to grime, from Manchester to o
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the Dirty South, Bring the Noise chronicles hip hop and alternative rock’s t e
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competing claims to be the cutting edge of innovation and the voice of
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opposition in an era of conservative backlash.  n
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Alert to both the vivid detail and the big picture, Simon Reynolds has shaped a o
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compelling narrative that cuts across a thrillingly turbulent two-decade period  a
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of pop music. d
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“If I had to choose just one commentator to guide me through the last
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quarter-century of popular (and not so popular) music it would have
to be—on the basis of depth of knowledge, range of reference, soundness bring tHe noise
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of judgment, and fluency of style—Simon Reynolds.” —Geoff Dyer
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“Reynolds’ writing [is] a perfect alchemy of lightly worn erudition ni
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20 Years of Writing about 
and focused enthusiasm.” —The Village Voice o
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CoveR deSIgn by JaSon SnydeR
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ISBN 978-1-59376-401-2
51695
Soft Skull Press s i m o n  r e Y n o l d s
An Imprint of COUNTERPOINT
www.softskull.com SoFT
SkUll
Distributed by Publishers Group West 9 781593 764012 PRESS Author of Rip It Up and Start Again
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BRING THE NOISE
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by the same author
Blissed Out: The Raptures of Rock
The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock ’n’ Roll (with Joy Press)
Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture
Rip It Up And Start Again: Post-punk 1974–84
Bring the Noise_[FIN]:bring the noise 3/28/11 11:16 AM Page iii
SIMON REYNOLDS
BRING THE NOISE
20 Years of Writing About Hip
Rock and Hip Hop
Soft Skull Press
an imprint of
COUNTERPOINT BERKELEY
Bring the Noise_[FIN]:bring the noise 3/28/11 11:16 AM Page iv
First published in the U.K. in 2009 by Faber and Faber Limited
First American edition, 2011
Copyright © 2009 by Simon Reynolds.
Except “The Blasting Concept,” which originally appeared in a slightly different
version in the U.K. edition of Rip It Up and Start Again, copyright © 2005 by
Simon Reynolds
American edition copyright © 2011 by Simon Reynolds
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reynolds, Simon.
Bring the noise : 20 years of writing about hip rock and hip hop / Simon
Reynolds.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59376-286-5
1. Rock musicians—Interviews. 2. Rock music—History and criticism. I.
Title.
ML385.R49 2010
781.66—dc22
2010013032
Cover design by Jason Snyder
Interior design by Faber and Faber Limited
Printed in the United States of America
Soft Skull Press
An Imprint of Counterpoint LLC
1919 Fifth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
www.softskull.com
www.counterpointpress.com
Distributed by Publishers Group West
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Tomy girls, Joy and Tasmin
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CONTENTS
Introduction x
Author’s Note xiv
What’s Missing? The State of Pop (1985) 1
The Redskins, live (1985) 9
Zapp, live (1986) 11
Younger than Yesterday: Indie-pop’s Cult of Innocence (1986) 13
Nasty Boys: Rap (1986) 20
Beat Happening: Beat Happening(1986) 24
Backs to the Future: The Folk and Country Resurgence in Alternative
Rock (1986) 27
Hip Hop and House Singles Reviews (1987) 31
Husker Du: Warehouse: Songs and Stories(1987) 36
Mantronix, interview (1987) 38
The Smiths: AEulogy (1987) 42
Public Enemy, interview (1987) 47
LL Cool J, interview (1987) 57
Dinosaur Jr, interview (1987) 63
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, live (1988) 69
Morrissey, interview (1988) 71
The Pixies, interview (1988) 90
Living Colour, interview (1988) 97
Various Artists: Sub Pop 200(1989) 102
The Stone Roses, interview (1989) 104
The Caring Colonialists: A Critique of ‘World Music’ (1989) 108
Positivity: De La Soul, Soul II Soul, Deee-lite and New Age House
(1990) 112
Rap’s Reformation: Gangsta Rap versus Conscious Rap (1990) 116
Madchester versus Dreampop: Happy Mondays and Ride
(1990) 120
Manic Street Preachers, interview (1991) 124
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s Pavement, live (1991) 132
t
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e Nirvana, live (1991) 134
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n N-Joi/K-Klass/Bassheads/M-People, live (1991) 137
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c RRRRRRush!: Hardcore Rave and London Pirate Radio
(1992) 139
Wasted Youth: Grunge and the Return of ‘Heavy’ (1992) 142
Welcome to the Jungle? (1993) 145
Let the Boys be Boys: Onyx interview/Gangsta Rap as Oi!
(1993) 148
State of Interdependence: Britain, America, and the ‘Special
Relationship’ in Pop Music (1993) 152
MTV: The Revolution Will Not be Televised (1993) 157
PJ Harvey, interview (1993) 162
It’s a Dogg’s Life: Dr Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg (1993) 168
Against the Grain: Thinking about the Voice in Pop (1993) 171
Pearl Jam vs Nirvana (1993) 174
The Beastie Boys, interview (1994) 178
Post-Rock (1994) 186
Swingbeat and the New R&B (1994) 194
Ragga (1994) 197
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, live (1995) 200
Blur versus Oasis (1995) 203
Pulp: Different Class(1995) 206
R&B: The Sound of 1997(1997) 209
Roni Size/Reprazent: New Forms(1997) 212
Feminine Pressure: 2-Step and UK Garage (1999) 215
King and Queen of the Beats: Timbaland and Missy Elliott
(1999) 226
Hate Me Now: Puff Daddy and the Player Hater Syndrome
(1999) 231
For the Love of Money: Lil Wayne, Cash Money and New Orleans
Rap (1999) 236
Street Rap (1999) 240
We Are Family: The Rise of the Rap Clan and the Hip Hop Dynasty
(2000) 243
Roots ’n’ Future: The Disappearing Voice of Reggae (2000) 248
Euro: Trance Music and the People-Pleasing Power of ‘Cheese’
(2000) 264
Miles Davis: Live-Evil/Black Beauty/In Concert/Dark Magus
(1997) 268
Pure Fusion: Multiculture versus Monoculture (2000) 272
Radiohead versus Brit-rock/Thom Yorke, interview (2000/2001) 282
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2-Step and R&B Critiqued (2000) 301 c
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Faves of 2000: Dancehall (2000) 306 n
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Historia Electronica: The Case for Electronic Dance Music Culture n
(2001) 312 ts
B-Boys on E: Hip Hop Discovers Ecstasy (2001) 330
So Solid Crew: They Don’t Know(2002) 336
The Streets: Original Pirate Material(2002) 339
Who Says the British Can’t Rap? The UK’s New Wave of MCs
confront American Hip Hop Isolationism (2002) 342
Rave-Punk: The Genre Soon-to-be-Known-as Grime Emerges
(2002) 347
Rap Videos and the ‘One White Dude’ (2003) 352
Dizzee Rascal: Boy in Da Corner(2003) 355
Kanye West (2004) 358
Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz: Crunk Juice(2005) 362
Mother Nature’s Sons: Animal Collective and Ariel Pink (2005) 365
Against All Odds: 2005, Grime’s Make-Or-Break Year (2005) 377
2005: The Year Black Pop and White Pop Stopped Talking
(2006) 387
Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
(2006) 390
Green-Eyed Soul: Hot Chip and Scritti Politti (2006) 398
Bonus Material 403
M.I.A.: Piracy Funds What? 405
Notes on the Noughties: Is M.I.A Artist of the Decade? 407
The People vs. Vampire Weekend 411
Notes on the Noughties #2:
When Will Hip Hop Hurry Up And Die? 414
Bring the Noise: A Listening List 419
Acknowledgements 431
Index 433
For deleted scenes, out-takes, news and other related material, visit the
Bring the Noiseblog at http://bringthenoisesimonreynolds.blogspot.com/
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