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Metal Machine Music:
Technology, Noise, and Modernism in Industrial Music 1975-1996
A Dissertation Presented
by
Jason James Hanley
to
The Graduate School
in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements
for the Degree of
Doctor of Philsophy
in
Music
(Music History)
Stony Brook University
August 2011
Copyright by
Jason James Hanley
2011
Stony Brook University
The Graduate School
Jason James Hanley
We, the dissertation committee for the above candidate for the
Doctor of Philosophy degree, hereby recommend
acceptance of this dissertation.
Judith Lochhead – Dissertation Advisor
Professor, Department of Music
Peter Winkler - Chairperson of Defense
Professor, Department of Music
Joseph Auner
Professor, Department of Music
David Brackett
Professor, Department of Music
McGill University
This dissertation is accepted by the Graduate School
Lawrence Martin
Dean of the Graduate School
ii
Abstract of the Dissertation
Metal Machine Music:
Technology, Noise, and Modernism in Industrial Music 1975-1996
by
Jason James Hanley
Doctor of Philosophy
in
Music
(Music History)
Stony Brook University
2011
The British band Throbbing Gristle first used the term Industrial in the mid-1970s to describe
the intense noise of their music while simultaneously tapping into a related set of aesthetics and
ideas connected to early twentieth century modernist movements including a strong sense of
history and an intense self-consciousness. This model was expanded upon by musicians in
England and Germany during the late-1970s who developed the popular music style called
Industrial as a fusion of experimental popular music sounds, performance art theatricality, and
avant-garde composition. As a result, the first generation of Industrial music (1975-1983) can be
understood as a modernist endeavor that connected philosophical ideals, including a Marxist
critique of contemporary capitalist society and author William Burroughs’ concept of the
information war, with specific musical techniques mined from the past including the use of
noise, indeterminacy, timbral exploration, and electronic and tape-based music. Throughout the
dissertation I focus on how Industrial musicians, journalists, and fans worked to construct an
iii
active, self-conscious history for themselves in a subculture that viewed musical sound as a form
of political action.
This dissertation traces both the creation and breakdown of a modernist ideology within the
history of Industrial music. I illustrate how the various modernist strands that led to the
emergence of Industrial music in the 1970s were understood and combined, and how the
eventual breakdown of that modernist paradigm in the mid-1990s resulted in the deterioration of
the subculture. I do this by examining what I have labeled as three separate generations of
Industrial music, mapping out the sound of each using phenomenologically based musical cues
that musicians combined to compose a series of musical archetypes. The first generation (1975-
1983) assembled the past into a unified subcultural and musical style. The second generation
(1983-1989), including Front 242, Skinny Puppy, and Ministry attempted to assimilate
contemporary popular music styles into the modernist framework in order to diversify their
sound and reach a larger audience. During the third generation (1989-1996) bands like Nine Inch
Nails and Marilyn Manson worked with music producers who had devised a sonic “formula” for
the creation of Industrial music that eventually led to the music’s absorption into the mainstream
of the popular music industry.
iv
For my wife Christine,
And my children Maisie, Ella, and Hannah
v
Table of Contents
List of Examples . . . . . . . . viii
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . x
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . xi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . 1
I. Modernisms: The Historical and Cultural Framework . . . 22
Toward an operational definition of Modernism in the 20th Century . . 27
Philosophers of Modernism . . . . . . . 33
Understanding Modernisms – Artistic Aesthetics and Political Systems . 45
Machines and Manifestos – Futurism and Dada . . . . 47
Modernism and Politics from 1920 to 1945 . . . . . 61
Modernism, Utopia and Dystopia in Fictional Literature and Film
before 1950 . . . . . . . . 71
Inside Industrial Music . . . . . . . 81
II. Musical Modernisms and the Post-War Avant-garde . . . . 83
Luigi Russolo . . . . . . . . . 90
Edgard Varèse and Organized Sound . . . . . . 94
Pierre Schaeffer and Musique Concrète . . . . . 99
Karlheinz Stockhausen . . . . . . . 105
John Cage – Silence, Noise, and Indererminacy . . . . 112
LaMonte Young and Terry Riley: Minimalism . . . . 119
III. Musical Modernisms in Popular music 1967-1974 . . . . 124
New York City Proto-Punk – The Velvet Underground . . . 134
Space Rock – Pink Floyd . . . . . . . 139
Krautrock – Kosmische Musik in West Germany . . . . 148
Can – “It’s the Rhythm” . . . . . . 151
Tangerine Dream – “It’s the Synthesizers” . . . . 158
Kraftwerk – “It’s the Future” . . . . . . 163
Introduction: Part Two . . . . . . . 173
IV. Building the Machine: The Story of Throbbing Gristle and Industrial Records 189
Beginnings: The Status Quo . . . . . . . 298
vi
Beginnings: Genesis P-Orridge (TG 1 of 4) . . . . . 202
Beginnings: COUM Transmissions . . . . . . 205
Beginnings: Throbbing Gristle . . . . . . 212
Sounds/Tapes: Early Sonic Experimentation . . . . . 218
Beginnings: The Formation of Industrial Records . . . . 223
Noise and Fury: The Second Annual Report . . . . . 230
V. “Spread the Virus”: The First Generation of Industrial Music and Culture
1975-1983 . . . . . . . . 236
Reporting on the Subculture . . . . . . . 239
Tracks and Elements: Industrial Music Archetypes and Stylistic Cues . 250
Punk-Garage . . . . . . . . 254
Ambient Noise . . . . . . . 260
Experimental Noise . . . . . . . 266
Metallic Percussion . . . . . . . 274
Synthesizer-based . . . . . . . 280
Mixture . . . . . . . . 283
VI. “Assimilate”: Dance Beats, Electronic Noise, and Rock and Roll 1983-1989 . 288
Reboot ’83: The Second Generation of Industrial Music . . . . 292
Historical Interlude: Synth-Pop 1977-1983 . . . . . 299
Front 242 and RRE . . . . . . . . 313
Skinny Puppy and Nettwerk Records . . . . . . 331
Ministry and Wax Trax! Records . . . . . . 346
VII. Splinter and Crack: The Third Generation of Industrial Music 1989-1996 . . 358
Pop Industrial: Nine Inch Nails and Pretty Hate Machine (1989) . . . 360
Turning Away 1990-1995: How John Fryer Ruined Industrial Music . . 368
The Theater is Closed: Marilyn Manson and Antichrist Superstar (1996) . . 381
Epilogue . . . . . . . . . 389
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . 391
Appendix A: Discography . . . . . . . 403
Appendix B: Selected Additional Listening . . . . . 407
Appendix C: Videography . . . . . . . 409
Appendix D: Industrial Music Styles . . . . . . 410
vii
List of Examples
I.1 Industrial.org discussion, “Who Originated the Industrial Genre of Music” . 14
I.2 Industrial Culture Handbook reading/listening lists . . . . 16
1.1 AIR Ammo Box Poster . . . . . . . 26
1.2 The Machine Demon Moloch in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis . . . 80
2.1 Beguine rhythmic pattern in “The Dada Man” . . . . 85
2.2 Sound map of the opening section of “The Dada Man” . . . 86
2.3 Measures 59-62 of Hyperprism (1923) by Edgard Varèse . . . 96
2.4 Sound map of the first two minutes of Etude aux Chemins de Fer . . 103
3.1 Form and Pitch comparison of “Zyklon B Zombie and “I Heard Her
Call My Name” . . . . . . . 126
3.2 Sleeve cover to the 45rpm of “Zyklon B Zombie” . . . . 129
3.3 Lyrics to the first verse of “Zyklon B Zombie” . . . . 130
3.4 Musical Form in Pink Floyd, “Interstellar Overdrive” . . . 143
3.5 Guitar and Bass riff from Pink Floyd, “Interstellar Overdrive” . . 144
3.6 Musical Structure in Can, “Hallelujah” . . . . . 156
IT.1 Cues, Archetypes, and Sub-styles . . . . . . 184
4.1 Sample rhythmic/pitch patterns in Throbbing Gristle’s “Final Muzak” . 221
4.2 Sound layers in Throbbing Gristle’s “Final Muzak” . . . . 222
4.3 “Music from the Death Factory” artwork . . . . . 229
4.4 Front Cover of The Second Annual Report of Throbbing Gristle . . 231
5.1 Musical Form and Chord Progression in “Here She Comes Now” . . 256
5.2 Ambient noise versus Vocal Samples in “Vally of the Shadow of Death” . 265
5.3 Amplitude waveform graph of “Slogun” by SPK . . . . 269
5.4 Frequency Spectrum analysis graph of “Slogun” by SPK . . . 271
5.5 Frequency Spectrum analysis graph of “Here She Comes Now”
by the Velvet Underground . . . . . . 271
5.6 Metal columns reverb effect in Einstürzende Neubauten’s “Stahlversion” . 277
5.7 Opening Factory Rhythm of “Stahlversion” measures 1-8 . . . 278
5.8 Synthesizer rhythmic/pitch pattern in “Blank Clocks: by The Future . 282
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