NOSTATIC!
MARTIN HALL
ESSAYS
OCTOBER 2012
GAFFA FORLAG (ISBN 978-87-90575-13-7)
Nostatic! is a book gathering Martin Hall’s most extensive essays about the (primarily) European music scene 1977–1984. The book is illustrated by the Danish painter and musician Knud Odde.
The title consists of twelve chapters, articles and essays about the genres punk, postpunk, goth, new romantic, industrial and spoken word that Hall wrote for the Danish music magazine GAFFA during 2011 in relation to a given occasion (such as a jubilee or a reunion of a band).
Martin Hall’s series of writings can be read as a coherent tale about the period and the music scene around 1980, a cultural happening that had great impact on the writer’s own life as a teenager.
Nostatic! is a journalistic enquiry that doesn’t merely present its reader to a line of portraits of bands and artists, but also unravels the influences and circumstances of the era through references to matters such as situationism, amphetamine, French lyricism and Satanism.
Genre: Essays (illustrated)
Pages: 232
Design: Katrine Skriver Christensen
Drawing: Knude Odde
“Martin Hall keeps a fine balance between his vast knowledge and his burning commitment. In short, he writes with style.”
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Jyllands-Posten (Denmark’s biggest newspaper)
”Martin Hall writes well and appetizing. The book is unsentimental all the way through, interesting and the handling of the individual subjects is distinctly catching.”
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Politiken (the Danish equivalent to The Guardian)
“Outstanding essays: Even at the level of details the book is eminent.”
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Fyens Stiftstidende (major regional newspaper)