Questions

So what's the general consensus on this amongst those who've read it? It is worth getting a copy of?

I have, or have heard, pretty much everything he lists in his top 20 albums at least, and obviously have my own opinions about all this stuff. Is there anything particularly revelatory Cope has to say?

Entertaining but frustrating & on balance, I'd advise you not to bother with it. It's the basic lack of facts & fact-checking that I find wearying. He writes about a lot of artists about which I have no great knowledge but I do know enough about Les Rallizes Denudes to know that half of that chapter is pure bull. And he knows it, but seems to actively want to print the legend, in the John Ford-ian sense, not the actual history. So I have no faith in what he writes about the other artists, which may or may not be true.

It's a frustrating missed opportunity, IMHO. The only other English language book about this scene that I'm aware of is the Sonore encyclopaedia, which is very dry & not really a book to be read, just dipped into, so I did have (perhaps foolishly) high hopes for this. But that book does have more actual facts in their one page on Rallizes than Cope has in his entire chapter.

Then there are the huge gaps in Cope's musical landscape...free jazz, avant folk, barely mentioned. If you want a hyperbolic, hypercharged trip through Cope's gonzo psyche, and are prepared to fling the book down in frustration many times & shout & argue with it, it is a fun read, but take everything with liberal doses of salt and be under no illusion you're getting the full story.

< my first post - been lurking for a while - hi everyone >

Welcome to the board, and thanks for your reply.

Entertaining but frustrating & on balance, I'd advise you not to bother with it.

This is kind of the reply I was expecting to hear...

The only other English language book about this scene that I'm aware of is the Sonore encyclopaedia, which is very dry & not really a book to be read, just dipped into, so I did have (perhaps foolishly) high hopes for this. But that book does have more actual facts in their one page on Rallizes than Cope has in his entire chapter.

I wrote that Rallizes piece in the Sonore book, back then there was very little to go on; nothing at all in English, other than something I think Alan C had run in the Wire magazine. Obviously in the 7 or so years since the Sonore book came out, a bit more information has surfaced, but I doubt there'd really be enough to fill a book chapter without resorting to a lot of conjecture and myth-building. I guess Cope had people to help him with translations of the various Japanese articles out there on the Rallizes, etc.

i was extremely pleased with his article on Magical Power Mako