Power electronics is a genre of industrial or ‘noise’ music that utilises feedback and synthesizers to produce an intense, loud, challenging sound. To match this sonic excess, power electronics also relies heavily upon extreme thematic and visual content — whether in lyrics, album art, or live performance. The result is a violent, ecstatic, and potentially consciousness-altering spectacle, and a genre that often invites strong reactions from both listeners and critics.
Fight Your Own War is the first English-language book primarily devoted to power electronics. Written by artists, fans, and critics from around the world, its essays and reviews explore the current state of the genre, from early development through to live performance, listener experience, artist motivation, gender and subcultures such as ‘Japanoise’.
In considering this ‘spectacle’ of noise, how far can we simply label power electronics as a genre of shock tactics or of transgression for transgression’s sake?
Contributors:
Mikko Aspa, Tom Bench, Bindweed, Scott Candey, Nathan Clemence, Andrew Cooke, Mike Dando, Sonia Dietrich, d foist, Spencer Grady, Clive Henry, Grant Hobson, Kevin Matthew Jones, Paul Margree, Nick Nihilist, Jack Sargeant, Stephen Sennitt, Richard Stevenson, Duncan Taylor, Philip Taylor, Jennifer Wallis, Daniel Wilson, Ulex Xane
Audio download exclusive to the special edition hardback:
The special hardback edition of Fight Your Own War comes with eight exclusive tracks by contributing authors. The tracks come as MP3 and FLAC. Special edition customers will receive a download link on purchase. (Please allow 48 hours for the code.) Track listing:
1. Streicher – England Lives! And Marches On!
2. Gruntsplatter – Burned Over District
3. Maskirovka – Limping Towards the Moral High Ground
4. Now Wash Your Hands – Salmonella
5. Hardworking Families – Bongo Vacantia
6. WeaklingChild – Phlegethon
7. unwashed – ho$anna
8. Deathtripping – 23