He is also the author of England's Hidden Reverse (Strange Attractor Press), a history of the UK's post-punk/Industrial underground, as well as To Run Wild In It and Empty Aphrodite, (Rough Trade Books), two experimental novellas, and the co-designer, alongside Sophy Hollington, of his own tarot pack, the Autonomic Tarot (Rough Trade Books). The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. You will certainly get more out of it if you’re a fan of Coil, C93, or NWW, but even if you’re not, it’s a fascinating window into the lives and opinions of an exceptional group of people, spanning several distinct eras. England Hidden Reverse is a celebration of the UK's esoteric underground, written by Wire contributor David Keenan. It's a tragedy reading it in hindsight of John Balance's death, since we can see the chaotic impulses and self-destructiveness in some of his behaviour and music, and we know how it all ends.

Over four decades, the three intertwined groups have maintained a symbiotic, yet uneasy, relationship with the mainstream of popular culture, even as their music, beliefs, and practices have repelled them from it. Leading to a chain of unpleasant retorts, reprimands and bitter critiques in the Letters section of the aforementioned Wire. I was absolutely devastated, and coincidentally it was the start of a dark time in my own life for various reasons.Neuware -An expanded edition of the classic exploration of the English esoteric musical underground with the first biography of Coil, Current 93, and Nurse With Wound. I think the sections with David Tibet are the most exciting, but I'm a bit biased because I connect with his music the most on a personal level and he's a friend of mine. Because I’m a weirdo, my last few years of high school were soundtracked by Coil, C933, NWW and Throbbing Gristle.

England’s Hidden Reverse chronicles the history of the post-industrial experimental music scene that emerged in the wake of Throbbing Gristle and industrial music, and positioned Coil, C93 and NWW as central to a secret history of transgressive and outsider art that influences and shapes English underground culture that takes in artists and occultists like Austin Osman Spare, Weird fiction authors like Arthur Machen and Thomas Ligotti, and experimental film artists like Derek Jarman and Pier Paolo Pasolini.I can't quite put my finger on why I feel this way - but I felt like the author was one of those people that was a bit stuck in an either/or mentality when it came to underground music versus that which is more pop - or just more well known.