Listen free for 30 days
-
Monolithic Undertow
- In Search of Sonic Oblivion
- Narrated by: Harry Sword
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Arts & Entertainment, Music
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £21.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Tenement Kid
- By: Bobby Gillespie
- Narrated by: Bobby Gillespie
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tenement Kid is Bobby Gillespie's story up to the recording and release of the album that has been credited with 'starting the 90's', Screamadelica. Born into a working-class Glaswegian family in the summer of 1961, Bobby's memoirs begin in the district of Springburn, soon to be evacuated in Edward Heath's brutal slum clearances. Leaving school at 16 and going to work as a printers' apprentice, Bobby's rock 'n' roll epiphany arrives like a bolt of lightning shining from Phil Lynott's mirrored pickguard at his first gig at the Apollo in Glasgow.
-
-
Glad he doesn't sing like he narrates
- By David L. Hamilton on 21-02-22
-
Doomed to Fail
- The Incredibly Loud History of Doom, Sludge, and Post-Metal
- By: J.J. Anselmi, Cat Jones - foreword
- Narrated by: Adam Lofbomm
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Doomed to Fail explores the heaviest music the world has ever heard, tracing doom, sludge, and post-metal as their own distinct (and incredibly loud) traditions. Anselmi covers the bands and musicians that have impacted those styles most - Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Melvins, Eyehategod, Godflesh, Neurosis, Saint Vitus, and many others - while diving into the cultural doom that has spawned such music, from the bombing of Birmingham and hurricane devastation of New Orleans to glaring economic inequality, industrial alienation, climate change, and widespread addiction.
-
-
Really Enjoyable
- By Slug on 06-01-21
-
Medical Grade Music
- By: Steve Davis, Kavus Torabi
- Narrated by: Kavus Torabi, Steve Davis
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of two outsiders and obsessives whose collision prompted an evangelistic alliance on the furthest frontiers of underground music. Steve Davis first met Kavus Torabi - guitarist with Gong, Guapo, Cardiacs and Knifeworld - in the mid-2000s at a gig by French underground rock legends Magma. Over the next few years, this unlikely duo's shared affinity for visionary psychedelic music would become the foundation of not only a firm friendship, but also the most infectiously inclusive broadcasting style since the much-mourned death of John Peel.
-
-
This is a joyous book - wonderful musical memories and a stackful of new music recommendations ...
- By Zzorchering on 16-04-21
-
William Blake vs the World
- By: John Higgs
- Narrated by: John Higgs
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poet, artist, visionary and author of the unofficial English national anthem 'Jerusalem', William Blake is an archetypal misunderstood genius. In this radical new biography, we return to a world of riots, revolutions and radicals, discuss movements from the Levellers of the sixteenth century to the psychedelic counterculture of the 1960s, and explore the latest discoveries in neurobiology, quantum physics and comparative religion to look afresh at Blake's life and work—and, crucially, his mind.
-
-
An Exceptionial Artist - A Wonderful Exposition
- By N. Walsh on 12-06-21
-
Man in the Music
- By: Joseph Vogel
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first book dedicated solely to exploring his creative work, Man in the Music guides us through an unparalleled analysis of Jackson’s recordings, album by album, from his trailblazing work with Quincy Jones to his later collaborations with Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Rodney Jerkins. Drawing on rare archival material and on dozens of original interviews with many who helped bring the artist’s music into the world, Jackson expert and acclaimed cultural critic Joseph Vogel reveals what gave rise to an immortal body of work.
-
-
Brilliant MJ book.
- By david healy on 11-12-21
-
Voice of the Fire
- 25th Anniversary Edition
- By: Alan Moore
- Narrated by: Maxine Peake, Jason Williamson, Toby Jones, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Northampton. The center of England. Twelve extraordinary characters transport you through 6,000 years of astonishing history. As Alan Moore’s place-writing masterpiece reaches its 25th anniversary, New Perspectives brings this expansive work to life through twelve immersive audio journeys.
-
-
fantastic
- By Greg Walker on 08-12-21
-
Tenement Kid
- By: Bobby Gillespie
- Narrated by: Bobby Gillespie
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tenement Kid is Bobby Gillespie's story up to the recording and release of the album that has been credited with 'starting the 90's', Screamadelica. Born into a working-class Glaswegian family in the summer of 1961, Bobby's memoirs begin in the district of Springburn, soon to be evacuated in Edward Heath's brutal slum clearances. Leaving school at 16 and going to work as a printers' apprentice, Bobby's rock 'n' roll epiphany arrives like a bolt of lightning shining from Phil Lynott's mirrored pickguard at his first gig at the Apollo in Glasgow.
-
-
Glad he doesn't sing like he narrates
- By David L. Hamilton on 21-02-22
-
Doomed to Fail
- The Incredibly Loud History of Doom, Sludge, and Post-Metal
- By: J.J. Anselmi, Cat Jones - foreword
- Narrated by: Adam Lofbomm
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Doomed to Fail explores the heaviest music the world has ever heard, tracing doom, sludge, and post-metal as their own distinct (and incredibly loud) traditions. Anselmi covers the bands and musicians that have impacted those styles most - Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Melvins, Eyehategod, Godflesh, Neurosis, Saint Vitus, and many others - while diving into the cultural doom that has spawned such music, from the bombing of Birmingham and hurricane devastation of New Orleans to glaring economic inequality, industrial alienation, climate change, and widespread addiction.
-
-
Really Enjoyable
- By Slug on 06-01-21
-
Medical Grade Music
- By: Steve Davis, Kavus Torabi
- Narrated by: Kavus Torabi, Steve Davis
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of two outsiders and obsessives whose collision prompted an evangelistic alliance on the furthest frontiers of underground music. Steve Davis first met Kavus Torabi - guitarist with Gong, Guapo, Cardiacs and Knifeworld - in the mid-2000s at a gig by French underground rock legends Magma. Over the next few years, this unlikely duo's shared affinity for visionary psychedelic music would become the foundation of not only a firm friendship, but also the most infectiously inclusive broadcasting style since the much-mourned death of John Peel.
-
-
This is a joyous book - wonderful musical memories and a stackful of new music recommendations ...
- By Zzorchering on 16-04-21
-
William Blake vs the World
- By: John Higgs
- Narrated by: John Higgs
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poet, artist, visionary and author of the unofficial English national anthem 'Jerusalem', William Blake is an archetypal misunderstood genius. In this radical new biography, we return to a world of riots, revolutions and radicals, discuss movements from the Levellers of the sixteenth century to the psychedelic counterculture of the 1960s, and explore the latest discoveries in neurobiology, quantum physics and comparative religion to look afresh at Blake's life and work—and, crucially, his mind.
-
-
An Exceptionial Artist - A Wonderful Exposition
- By N. Walsh on 12-06-21
-
Man in the Music
- By: Joseph Vogel
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first book dedicated solely to exploring his creative work, Man in the Music guides us through an unparalleled analysis of Jackson’s recordings, album by album, from his trailblazing work with Quincy Jones to his later collaborations with Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Rodney Jerkins. Drawing on rare archival material and on dozens of original interviews with many who helped bring the artist’s music into the world, Jackson expert and acclaimed cultural critic Joseph Vogel reveals what gave rise to an immortal body of work.
-
-
Brilliant MJ book.
- By david healy on 11-12-21
-
Voice of the Fire
- 25th Anniversary Edition
- By: Alan Moore
- Narrated by: Maxine Peake, Jason Williamson, Toby Jones, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Northampton. The center of England. Twelve extraordinary characters transport you through 6,000 years of astonishing history. As Alan Moore’s place-writing masterpiece reaches its 25th anniversary, New Perspectives brings this expansive work to life through twelve immersive audio journeys.
-
-
fantastic
- By Greg Walker on 08-12-21
-
The Foghorn's Lament
- The Disappearing Music of the Coast
- By: Jennifer Lucy Allan
- Narrated by: Jennifer Lucy Allan
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does the foghorn sound like? It sounds huge. It rattles. It rattles you and it hooks you. A booming, lonely sound echoing into the vastness of the sea. When Jennifer Lucy Allan hears the foghorn's colossal bellow for the first time, it marks the beginning of an obsession and a journey deep into the history of a sound that has carved out the identity and the landscape of coastlines around the world, from Scotland to San Francisco.
-
-
Where were the foghorns?
- By Karl Wooldridge on 15-06-21
-
Art Sex Music
- By: Cosey Fanni Tutti
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Baker
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Art Sex Music is the autobiography of a musician who, as a founding member of the avant-garde group Throbbing Gristle and electronic pioneers Chris & Cosey, has consistently challenged the boundaries of music over the past four decades. It is the account of an artist who, as part of COUM Transmissions, represented Britain at the IXth Biennale de Paris, whose Prostitution show at the ICA in 1976 caused the Conservative MP Nicholas Fairbairn to declare her, COUM and Throbbing Gristle "Wreckers of Civilisation".
-
-
Cosey Nights In
- By Anonymous User on 05-09-20
-
The KLF
- Chaos, Magic and the Band Who Burned a Million Pounds
- By: John Higgs
- Narrated by: John Higgs
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The strange tale of the death, life and legacy of the hugely successful band. They were the best-selling singles band in the world. They had awards, credibility, commercial success and creative freedom. Then they deleted their records, erased themselves from musical history and burnt their last million pounds in a boathouse on the Isle of Jura. And they couldn't say why.
-
-
This book Is worth listening to several times
- By Michelle S. on 09-04-18
-
From Manchester with Love
- The Life and Opinions of Tony Wilson
- By: Paul Morley
- Narrated by: Paul Morley
- Length: 22 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To write about Tony Wilson, a.k.a. Anthony H. Wilson, is to write about a number of public and private characters and personalities, a clique of unreliable narrators, constantly changing shape and form. At the helm of Factory Records and the Haçienda, Wilson unleashed landmark acts such as Joy Division and New Order into the world as he pursued myriad other creative endeavours, appointing himself a custodian of Manchester's legacy of innovation and change.
-
-
An unconventional account of an unconventional man
- By Robert Smith on 11-11-21
-
Ghosts of My Life
- Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures
- By: Mark Fisher
- Narrated by: Tom Lawrence
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This collection of writings by Mark Fisher, author of the acclaimed Capitalist Realism, argues that we are haunted by futures that failed to happen. Fisher searches for the traces of these lost futures in the work of David Peace, John Le Carré, Christopher Nolan, Joy Division, Burial, and many others.
-
-
Jumble of previously published articles, well-read
- By Howard on 25-01-21
-
The Perfect Golden Circle
- By: Benjamin Myers
- Narrated by: Tim Key
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, 1989. Over the course of a burning hot summer, two very different men—traumatised Falklands veteran Calvert and affable, chaotic Redbone—set out nightly in a clapped-out camper van to undertake an extraordinary project. Under cover of darkness, the two men traverse the fields of rural England in secret, forming crop circles in elaborate and mysterious patterns. As the summer wears on, and their designs grow ever more ambitious, the two men find that their work has become a cult international sensation.
-
-
A beautiful book which touches on so many subjects
- By Anonymous User on 13-06-22
-
England's Dreaming
- The Sex Pistols and Punk Rock
- By: Jon Savage
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 21 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England's Dreaming is the ultimate book on punk, its progenitors, the Sex Pistols, and the moment they defined for music fans in England and the United States. Savage brings to life the sensational story of the meteoric rise and rapid implosion of the Pistols through layers of rich detail and exclusive interviews. This fully revised and updated edition of the book covers the legacy of punk 25 years later and provides an account of the Pistols' 1996 reunion as well as a completely new introduction.
-
-
insightful
- By Jackie on 02-03-22
-
Good Pop, Bad Pop
- By: Jarvis Cocker
- Narrated by: Jarvis Cocker
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a Gold Star polycotton shirt to a pack of Wrigley's Extra, from his teenage attempts to write songs to the Sexy Laughs Fantastic Dirty Joke Book, this is the hard evidence of Jarvis's unique life, Pulp, 20th-century pop culture, the good times and the mistakes he'd rather forget. And this accumulated debris of a lifetime reveals his creative process—writing and musicianship, performance and ambition, style and stagecraft.
-
-
I could have listened to this forever.
- By Rebecca Morgan on 11-06-22
-
Ten Thousand Apologies
- Fat White Family and the Miracle of Failure
- By: Adelle Stripe, Lias Saoudi
- Narrated by: Emily Spowage, Lias Saoudi
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the mountains of Algeria to the squats of South London via sectarian Northern Ireland, Ten Thousand Apologies is the sordid and thrilling story of the country's most notorious cult band, Fat White Family. Loved and loathed in equal measure since their formation in 2011, the relentlessly provocative, stunningly dysfunctional 'drug band with a rock problem' have dedicated themselves to constant chaos and total creative freedom at all costs.
-
-
touch the leather
- By A. Peacock on 05-05-22
-
High Weirdness
- Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies
- By: Erik Davis
- Narrated by: Erik Davis
- Length: 20 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A study of the spiritual provocations to be found in the work of Philip K. Dick, Terence McKenna, and Robert Anton Wilson, High Weirdness charts the emergence of a new psychedelic spirituality that arose from the American counterculture of the 1970s. These three authors changed the way millions of readers thought, dreamed, and experienced reality - but how did their writings reflect, as well as shape, the seismic cultural shifts taking place in America?
-
-
Superb - an excellent work
- By Anonymous User on 23-09-20
-
Creation Stories
- Riots, Raves and Running a Label
- By: Alan McGee
- Narrated by: Phil McKee
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alan McGee's role in shaping British musical culture over the past 30 years is hard to overstate. As the founder of Creation Records, he brought us the bands that defined an era. A charismatic Glaswegian, who partied just as hard as any of the acts on his notoriously hedonistic label, he became an infamous character in the world of music.
-
-
Cut off
- By Anonymous User on 05-05-22
-
Sing Backwards and Weep
- By: Mark Lanegan
- Narrated by: Mark Lanegan
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Mark Lanegan first arrived in Seattle in the mid-1980s, he was just 'an arrogant, self-loathing redneck waster seeking transformation through rock 'n' roll'. Little did he know that within less than a decade, he would rise to fame as the front man of the Screaming Trees, then fall from grace as a low-level crack dealer and a homeless heroin addict, all the while watching some of his closest friends rocket to the forefront of popular music.
-
-
Compelling and sad
- By Mr. S. Burgess on 16-05-20
Summary
Monolithic Undertow alights a crooked path across musical, religious and subcultural frontiers. It traces the line from ancient traditions to the modern underground, navigating archaeoacoustics, ringing feedback, chest plate sub-bass, avant-garde eccentricity, sound weaponry and fervent spiritualism.
From Neolithic beginnings to bawdy medieval troubadours, Sufi mystics to Indian raga masters, cone shattering dubwise bass, Hawkwind's Ladbroke Grove to the outer reaches of Faust and Ash Ra Temple; the hash-fueled fug of The Theatre of Eternal Music to the cough syrup reverse hardcore of Melvins, seedy VHS hinterland of Electric Wizard, ritual amp worship of Earth and Sunn O))) and the many touch points in between, Monolithic Undertow explores the power of the drone - an audio carrier vessel capable of evoking womb like warmth or cavernous dread alike.
In 1977 Sniffin' Glue verbalised the musical zeitgeist with their infamous 'this is a chord; this is another; now form a band' illustration. The drone requires neither chord nor band, representing - via its infinite pliability and accessibility - the ultimate folk music: a potent audio tool of personal liberation. Immersion in hypnotic and repetitive sounds allows us to step outside of ourselves, be it chant, a 120dB beasting from Sunn O))), standing front of the system as Jah Shaka drops a fresh dub or going full headphone immersion with Hawkwind. These experiences are akin to an audio portal - a sound Tardis to silence the hum and fizz of the unceasing inner voice. The drone exists outside of us, but also - paradoxically - within us all; an aural expression of a universal hum we can only hope to fleetingly channel....
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic reviews
"An inspired and intuitive navigation of the drone continuum...with a compass firmly set to new and enlightening psychedelic truths." (Beck)
What listeners say about Monolithic Undertow
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bewarethetoon
- 01-04-21
Underground, Overground, wandering feedback....
Ever wondered what links the Big Bang theory, Black Sabbath, Alice Coltrane, Ravi Shankar & Doom Metal?
Reading the list of bands on the back cover of the book read like snapshot of my record collection.
The first few pages name checks Alice Coltrane, Bongripper, Basic Channel, Doom Metal, Sunn O))) & Indian Ragas, which read like my playlist for the day, that’s it, I was sold, I was all in, I bought the book & the audiobook ( yes it’s that good) and I wasn’t disappointed, Monolithic Undertow is a deep dive into the drone that weaves a path through Neolithic structures, spiritualism, underground music through the decades to the present day, & ties it all together, it was like a lightbulb going off, this is why I’ve been obsessively hunting out certain types of music, I’ve been chasing the drone in search of my own sonic oblivion!
Even if you’re not familiar with many of the bands namechecked here, this is a fantastic book about music, both ancient, and modern.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kenneth Mattholie
- 13-10-21
Droning on and on.
Whilst very informative and revelatory it is tarnished at times by the authors style which is a bit too academic in places and reminds me of Paul Morley whom also likes the scan / sound of his own prose rather than subject. That and the occasional venting of his own obviously frustrated political view on brexit shadowing the subject matter.
Having said that it’s well read by the author and worth a read /listen.
2 people found this helpful