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This Is Not a Rave: In the Shadow of a Subculture by Tara McCall  (3)  $19.95

Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 by Simon Reynolds  (14)

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From Publishers Weekly
"I finally grasped viscerally why the music was made the way it was; how certain tingly textures goosepimpled your skin and particular oscillator riffs triggered the E-rush.... Finally, I understood ecstasy as a sonic science. And it became even clearer that the audience was the star." British-born Spin magazine senior editor Reynolds (Blissed Out; coauthor, The Sex Revolts) offers a revved-up, detailed and passionate history and analysis of the throbbing transcontinental set of musics and cultures known as rave, covering its brightly morphing family tree from Detroit techno and Chicago house to Britain's 1988 "summer of love," on through London jungle and the German avant-garde to the current warehouse parties and turntables of Europe and America. One chapter explains, cogently, the pleasures and effects of the drug Ecstasy (MDMA, or "E"), without which rave would never have evolved; others describe the roles of the DJ, the remix and pirate radio, the "trance" and "ambient" trends of the early 1990s, the rise and fall of would-be stars, the impact of other drugs and the proliferation of current club "subsubgenres." Assuming no prior knowledge in his readers, Reynolds mixes social history, interviews with participants and scene-makers and his own analyses of the sounds, saturating his prose with the names of key places, tracks, groups, scenes and artists. Reynolds prefers and champions the less intellectual, more anonymous and dance-crazed parts of the rave galaxy, "from the most machinic forms of house... through... bleep-and-bass, breakbeat house, Belgian hardcore, jungle, gabba, street garage and big beat." If you don't know what those terms mean, here's how to find out. Two eight-page b&w photo inserts and a discography.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

The Washington Post Book World, Mary Ishimoto Morris
While disappointed that Reynolds doesn't mention the unofficial raver credo of PLUR (peace, love, unity, respect), I appreciate that Generation Ecstasy is a labor of love. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

First Sentence:
To promote Kraftwerk's 1991 remixed "greatest hits" compilation The Mix, the group's American label, Elektra, came up with an amusing ad: a simulation of the famous one-and-only photo of blues pioneer Robert Johnson, but with his suit filled by a robot's body. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
electronic listening music, looped breakbeats, intelligent drum, dego mcfarlane, breakbeat hardcore, intelligent techno, happy hardcore, spiral tribe, digital hardcore, hardcore rave, rave dream, breakbeat house, detroit techno, voodoo ray, speed garage, ecstasy culture, techno producers, derrick may, funky breaks, piano vamps, rave music, ambient jungle, acid tracks, rave experience, alec empire Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Age, Jeff Mills, Public Enemy, Black Dog, Foul Play, Happy Mondays,