Alex Binnie Scum (1984)
I know of Alex Binnie only from Pure, an arguably seminal group who never quite emerged from the formative power electronics scene, but who contributed a couple of reasonably devastating tracks to Broken Flag's Statement album, of which No's Knife was lyrically and thematically similar to this book. Scum was first published in 1984 and, according to the cover, was originally written to be read aloud at punk poetry events Binnie performed at with the likes of Kathy Acker. It's essentially a thirty page nihilist monologue viciously illustrating the futility of everything, ultimately including itself. It could probably be considered a tough read if you're not already accustomed to writing quite so happy to stick it in and wiggle it around a bit, but there's a certain poetry to the kicking it delivers with such ruthless enthusiasm, almost a suggestion of contemplative tendencies and a sense of progress, if you've been paying attention. Scum has thought about what it's doing, and it really isn't just some heavy metal fan trying to gross you out with a list of horrible things. This additionally means that it's actually surprisingly readable for something so defiantly astringent, although we should probably be glad that it isn't any longer.
For anyone with a genuine interest in the history of that which certain clowns have apparently decided constitutes industrial music, this is an arguably important tract*, or at least important in so much as that anything can ever be considered important.
Someone needs to reissue that Pure material in some form.
*: If you're able to answer questions such as which was the best Skinny Puppy album? then it's probably not for you, me old sausage.
I know of Alex Binnie only from Pure, an arguably seminal group who never quite emerged from the formative power electronics scene, but who contributed a couple of reasonably devastating tracks to Broken Flag's Statement album, of which No's Knife was lyrically and thematically similar to this book. Scum was first published in 1984 and, according to the cover, was originally written to be read aloud at punk poetry events Binnie performed at with the likes of Kathy Acker. It's essentially a thirty page nihilist monologue viciously illustrating the futility of everything, ultimately including itself. It could probably be considered a tough read if you're not already accustomed to writing quite so happy to stick it in and wiggle it around a bit, but there's a certain poetry to the kicking it delivers with such ruthless enthusiasm, almost a suggestion of contemplative tendencies and a sense of progress, if you've been paying attention. Scum has thought about what it's doing, and it really isn't just some heavy metal fan trying to gross you out with a list of horrible things. This additionally means that it's actually surprisingly readable for something so defiantly astringent, although we should probably be glad that it isn't any longer.
For anyone with a genuine interest in the history of that which certain clowns have apparently decided constitutes industrial music, this is an arguably important tract*, or at least important in so much as that anything can ever be considered important.
Someone needs to reissue that Pure material in some form.
*: If you're able to answer questions such as which was the best Skinny Puppy album? then it's probably not for you, me old sausage.
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