The Acid House


Book Description

Irvine Welsh's scintillating, disturbing, and altogether outrageous collection of stories—the basis for the 1998 cult movie directed by Paul McGuigan. He is called "the Scottish Celine of the 1990s" (Guardian) and "a mad, postmodern Roald Dahl" (Weekend Scotsman). Using a range of approaches from bitter realism to demented fantasy, Irvine Welsh is able to evoke the essential humanity, well hidden as it is, of his generally depraved, lazy, manipulative, and vicious characters. He specializes particularly in cosmic reversals—God turn a hapless footballer into a fly; an acid head and a newborn infant exchange consciousnesses with sardonically unexpected results—always displaying a corrosive wit and a telling accuracy of language and detail. Irvine Welsh is one hilariously dangerous writer who always creates a sensation.




Altered State


Book Description

From its first publication in 1997, Altered State established itself as the definitive text on Ecstasy and dance culture. This new edition sees Matthew Collin cast a fresh eye on the heady events of the acid house 'Summer of Love' and the rave scene's euphoric escalation into commercial excess as MDMA became a mass-market narcotic. Altered State is the best-selling book on Ecstasy culture, using a cast of memorable characters to track the origins of the scene and its drug through psychedelic subcults, underground gay discos and the Balearic paradise of Ibiza, to the point where Tony Blair was using an Ecstasy anthem as an election campaign song. Altered State critically examines the ideologies and myths of the scene, documenting the criminal underside to the blissed-out image, shedding new light on the social history of the most spectacular youth movement of the twentieth century.




The True Story of Acid House: Britain’s Last Youth Culture Revolution


Book Description

The arrival of a new style of music and a new type of drug in 1988 ignited a revolution. To coincide with the 25th anniversary of the second summer of love, this is the definitive story of the seismic movements in music and youth culture that changed the cultural landscape forever. Luke Bainbridge is uniquely positioned to tell this story, having connections both in the industry, through nearly two decades as a music journalist, and on the dancefloor, through two decades of dancing, promoting and DJing. Bainbridge has interviewed most of the protagonists who led the revolution, from the DJs and musicians to the promoters, gangsters and ravers, and built up a relationship of trust and mutual respect. This will be true story of acid house, from the DJ box to the dance floor. He examines the legacy and lasting impact of acid house, and how the second summer of love is viewed 25 years on. How has acid house been assimilated into mainstream culture? How did the change in drugs, away from ecstasy towards other drugs, affect the music and the party scene? Why has the free party scene never really been replicated, despite new technology greater capacity to organise events and disseminate information? Did the summer of 1988 leave us with a generation of drug users? Has there been any lasting effect of such an explosion in drug use? Who were the real winners and casualties in the story? Do the world's current biggest DJs Tiesto, Swedish House Mafia, David Guetta have any connection to the original scene? Where next for house and dance music in general?




Class of 88


Book Description

What went on behind the Acid House dream? The raves and huge dance parties of the late-1980s changed the face of popular culture, as hundreds of thousands of youngsters enjoyed the illicit thrills of ecstacy and vast, illegal all-nighters. Yet beneath the bright surface was a world of drug deals, violence, exploitation, protection rackets and armed robbery. In this book, Wayne Anthony tells the story of his two years as an illegal dance party organizer and promoter. In those two years he was beaten up, menaced by criminals and blackmailers, confronted with sawn-off shotguns, kidnapped and threatened with murder.




The Acid House


Book Description

"Irvine Welsh's scintillating, disturbing, and altogether outrageous collection of stories—the basis for the 1998 cult movie directed by Paul McGuigan"--




Irvine Welsh


Book Description

Irvine Welsh's fiction has defined an era, and this first full-length study provides a sustained textual and contextual analysis of all his work, from 'Trainspotting' and 'The Acid House' to 'Glue' and 'Porno'. A detailed chronological survey also considers the appropriateness of cultural, postmodern and postcolonial theories to Welsh's incendiary fiction. Kelly gives a fascinating insight into the writer's formal and political ambitions, placing him in the context of the 'brat pack' which exploded onto the Scottish literary scene in the 1990s. He explores the social, class and political conditioning of Welsh's early life, and its impact on his motivations for writing. Clearly written and accessible, this will be a key resource for students and academics alike. Choose 'Irvine Welsh'!




The Oxford Handbook of Music Making and Leisure


Book Description

The Oxford Handbook of Music Making and Leisure presents myriad ways for reconsidering and refocusing attention back on the rich, exciting, and emotionally charged ways in which people of all ages make time for making music. Looking beyond the obvious, this handbook asks readers to consider anew, "What might we see when we think of music making as leisure?"




The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English


Book Description

Booklist Top of the List Reference Source The heir and successor to Eric Partridge's brilliant magnum opus, The Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, this two-volume New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English is the definitive record of post WWII slang. Containing over 60,000 entries, this new edition of the authoritative work on slang details the slang and unconventional English of the English-speaking world since 1945, and through the first decade of the new millennium, with the same thorough, intense, and lively scholarship that characterized Partridge's own work. Unique, exciting and, at times, hilariously shocking, key features include: unprecedented coverage of World English, with equal prominence given to American and British English slang, and entries included from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, South Africa, Ireland, and the Caribbean emphasis on post-World War II slang and unconventional English published sources given for each entry, often including an early or significant example of the term’s use in print. hundreds of thousands of citations from popular literature, newspapers, magazines, movies, and songs illustrating usage of the headwords dating information for each headword in the tradition of Partridge, commentary on the term’s origins and meaning New to this edition: A new preface noting slang trends of the last five years Over 1,000 new entries from the US, UK and Australia New terms from the language of social networking Many entries now revised to include new dating, new citations from written sources and new glosses The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English is a spectacular resource infused with humour and learning – it’s rude, it’s delightful, and it’s a prize for anyone with a love of language.




Pursuit of Ecstasy


Book Description

The authors have produced the first "on the ground" study (not just clinical or chemical) of MDMA (3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), or "ecstasy" as it is frequently designated. A psychoactive substance related to both the amphetamines and mescaline, MDMA has become popular in recent years as one of the new "designer" drugs. First used in therapeutic treatment, its recreational or street use has increased in recent years. The authors track the efforts (with psychiatrists and researchers in opposition) of the DEA to ban the drug.




Youth Media


Book Description

Part of the successful Routledge Introductions to Media and Communications series which provides concise introductions to key areas in contemporary communications, Bill Osgerby's innovative Youth Media traces the development of contemporary youth culture and its relationship with the media. From the days of diners, drive-ins and jukeboxes, to today's world of iPods and the Internet, Youth Media examines youth media in its economic, cultural and political contexts and explores: youth culture and the media the 'Fab Phenomenon': markets, money and media generation and degeneration in the media: representations, responses and 'effects' media, subculture and lifestyle global media, youth culture and identity youth and new media. Analyzing the nature of different forms of communication as well as reviewing their production and consumption, this is an essential introduction to this key area in communication and cultural studies.