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Volcanic Tongue
A Time-Travelling Evangelist’s Guide to Late 20th-Century Underground Music
Brief Description
Volcanic Tongue presents the first ever collection of multi-award-winning author David Keenan's music writings. A thing of beauty — DAVID HOLMES A celebration of obsessives, misfits and single-minded outsider — HERALD A colossal triumph — WENDY ERSKINE Keenan has been writing about music since publishing his...
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Volcanic Tongue
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A collection of the multi-award-winning author's best music writing
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Description
Volcanic Tongue presents the first ever collection of multi-award-winning author David Keenan's music writings.
A thing of beauty
— DAVID HOLMES
A celebration of obsessives, misfits and single-minded outsider
— HERALD
A colossal triumph
— WENDY ERSKINE
Keenan has been writing about music since publishing his first fanzine, inspired by The Pastels and by Glasgow (and Airdrie's) DIY music scene, in 1988. Since then, he has written about music for Melody Maker, NME, Uncut, Mojo, The New York Times, Ugly Things, The Literary Review, The Social and, most consistently, The Wire. Volcanic Tongue was also the name of the record shop and mail order that Keenan ran with his partner, Heather Leigh, in Glasgow from 2005–2015.
Volcanic Tongue features the best of his reviews, interviews and think pieces, with exclusive in-depth conversations between Keenan and Nick Cave, members of legendary industrial bands Coil and Throbbing Gristle, krautrock legends like Faust, Shirley Collins, the first lady of English folk, Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine, German auto-destructives Einsturzende Neubauten, as well as discographical analysis of the back catalogues of groups like Sonic Youth and musicians like John Fahey. It includes extensive writings on free jazz and obsessive in-depth digs into favourites like Pere Ubu, Metal Box-era Public Image Ltd, Sun Ra, guitarist and vocalist John Martyn, and many more. It is an essential addition to any music fan's bookshelf.
This first collection of his legendary criticism functions as an extended love letter to the revolutionary music of the 20th century and the incredible culture that sustained it.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781399624961
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 05 March 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: White Rabbit
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 38.0mm
Width: 126.0mm
Height: 196.0mm
Weight: 396g
Pages: 544
Collections
About the Author
David Keenan is the author of six critically-acclaimed novels; the cult classic This is Memorial Device, which won the London Magazine Prize; For the Good Times, which won the Gordon Burn Prize and was shortlisted for the Encore Award; The Towers The Fields The Transmitters, Xstabeth, which was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, Monument Maker, which was a Rough Trade Book of the Year and Industry of Magic & Light. He is also the author of England's Hidden Reverse, a history of the UK's post-punk and Industrial music scenes. He has been writing about music since he was seventeen years old, most consistently for The Wire, and between the years 2005-2015 he co-ran the cult Glasgow record shop Volcanic Tongue.
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