Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music
First edition cover | |
| Authors | S. Alexander Reed |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Music, Industrial music |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Publication date | 2013 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 376 |
| ISBN | 9780199832606 |
Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music is a 2013 book by S. Alexander Reed, published by Oxford University Press,[1] and bills itself as "the first serious study published on industrial music."
Synopsis
The book is an attempt to chart the history of industrial music as a genre from its early influences (including art music, Italian Futurism, Situationism, and the works of Antonin Artaud and William S. Burroughs) to the present day (including its connections to political radicalism, the gothic subculture, and dance music).
The book is divided into five parts:
- Technology and the Preconditions of Industrial Music
- Industrial Geography
- Industrial Musical Style
- Industrial Politics
- People and Industrial Music
The foreword is written by Stephen Mallinder of first-wave industrial act Cabaret Voltaire.
Release and reception
The book received a subvention by the American Musicological Society[2] and a certificate of merit for research in rock music by the Association for Recorded Sound Collections.[3] It attracted attention in the field of popular music studies, appearing on syllabi at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, and at Ithaca College. It received favorable reviews in Popular Music,[4] Music & Letters,[5] Popular Music and Society,[6] Music Theory Online,[7] Rock Music Studies,[8] and Choice.[9]
In popular media, it was covered by Brainwashed,[10] WNYC,[11] and Keith Moliné reviewed it in The Wire.[12] In the lead up to release, the introduction was reproduced by PopMatters.[13]
Music site Heathen Harvest discussed the thesis at length, noting the "bulk of Reed’s book aims precisely at showing that, in fact, there are unifying elements that run through the main stages of industrial music."[14]
The book was translated into French and published in 2018 by Éditions du Camion Blanc.[15]
References
- ^ Reed, S. Alexander (2013). Assimilate. doi:10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199832583.001.0001. ISBN 9780199832583.
- ^ "AMS 75 PAYS Subventions". American Musicological Society. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- ^ "2014 Winners: ARSC Awards for Excellence". Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC). Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- ^ Collier, David (2015). "Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music. By S. Alexander Reed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. 368 pp. ISBN 978-0-199-83260-6". Popular Music. 34 (1): 172–174. doi:10.1017/S0261143014000890. ISSN 0261-1430. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
- ^ Upton, Rob (2015). "Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music. By S. Alexander Reed". Music and Letters. 96 (3): 498–500. doi:10.1093/ml/gcv044. ISSN 0027-4224. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
- ^ Lunceford, Brett (2015). "Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music". Popular Music and Society. 38 (1): 104–106. doi:10.1080/03007766.2014.892686. ISSN 0300-7766. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
- ^ Heetderks, David (June 2014). "Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music". Music Theory Online. 20 (2): 1–5. doi:10.30535/mto.20.2.8. ISSN 1067-3040.
- ^ Brown, Steven Caldwell (4 May 2014). "Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music". Rock Music Studies. 1 (2): 193–195. doi:10.1080/19401159.2013.855422. ISSN 1940-1159. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
- ^ "Assimilate: a critical history of industrial music". Choice Reviews Online. 51 (05): 51–2573–51-2573. 1 January 2014. doi:10.5860/CHOICE.51-2573. ISSN 0009-4978. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
- ^ ""Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music"". Brainwashed. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
- ^ "Industrial Music: The Ultimate Protest Music?". WNYC. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- ^ Moliné, Keith (March 2014). "Assimilate: A Cultural History of Industrial Music by S. Alexander Reed". The Wire (361): 78.
- ^ Reed, S. Alexander (22 August 2013). "Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music". PopMatters. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ^ Marini, Simone (4 January 2016). ""Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music" by S. Alexander Reed". Heathen Harvest. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
- ^ Reed, Alexander (17 February 2018). Assimilate: Une histoire critique de la musique industrielle (in French). Camion Blanc. ISBN 978-2-37848-021-9.