Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture [Paperback]

'An exceptional book. Reynolds has tracked the unfolding sounds and rituals of ''the (al)chemical generation'' so comprehensively that he virtually obviates the need for any further literature on the period' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'enthusiasm, passion and knowledge . . . seeps out of every page' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Yields new insights across 424 sharply funny, accessible pages. A great achievement from a world class writer' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'A classic chronicle of the Nineties rave movement . . . Striking and well-reported' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Crucially, Reynolds concentrates every bit as much on the music itself... as on the culture of people, places and events...as fascinating and informative as it is enthusiastic and entertaining'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

`Dance music's defining tome gets a remix.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'This expanded edition of Reynold's brilliant dance music study was first published in 1998...best book written on rave explosion...' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'...definitive history of rave and what followed has now been updated...guide to the soundtrack to endless nights of ecstasy.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'...manages to chronicle how rave culture coalesced into being...for the subject is apparently inexhaustible and enjoyably infectious.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

This work tells the story of rave culture and explores the origins of this dance music, chronicling the ways in which its reverberations have influenced 1990s pop. Examining the music as well as the drugs, the book traces how Chicago house and Detroit techno catalyzed the rave and "Madchester" ferment of 1988-90, then follows the music into the early-1990s. It surveys the confusion of post-rave styles and scenes: jungle, electronica, drum and bass, trance, trip hop, and Big Beat. The book also looks at the role of Ecstasy in the dance-and-drug culture. It includes interviews with Paul Oakenfold, Derrick May, 808 State, Stone Roses, A Guy Called Gerald, The KLF, Primal Scream, Orbital, The Prodigy, Goldie, 4 Hero, Aphex Twin, Tricky, Jeff Mills, Carl Craig, Richie Hawtin, DJ Shadow and many more. A CD is included, featuring 15 seminal dance tracks from ten years of rave.

It’s a remix! Twenty years since acid house and Ecstasy revolutionized pop culture, here’s the expanded and updated version of Simon Reynolds’ landmark history of rave. Containing substantial new material covering dance-music developments in the ten years since its original publication, Energy Flash is now even more definitive. Blending vivid reporting, probing research and passionate opinion in the style of his acclaimed post-punk history Rip It Up and Start Again, Reynolds guides the reader on a thrilling journey from the druggy daze of Ibiza and Madchester via London’s gritty pirate-radio culture of jungle and garage to the elegantly wasted clubland of contemporary Berlin. From trance to 2step, microhouse to grime, electro to dubstep, Reynolds tracks the scenes and sounds that have kept electronic music at the vanguard of pop culture. Now more essential and authoritative than ever, Energy Flash is the classic chronicle of rave’s quest for the perfect beat and the ultimate rush. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Simon Reynolds is the author of several highly acclaimed books about music, most recently Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-84 and Bring the Noise: 20 Years of Writing About Hip Rock and Hip Hop . He is a freelance contributor to publications including the New York Times , the Observer, Salon, the Guardian, Uncut, and The Wire, and also operates the weblog Blissblog at http://blissout.blogspot.com. Born in London in 1963, he lives with his wife and two children in New York. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.