KEN HOLLINGS - Destroy All Monsters - Cassette

These recordings, made in 2001 in the weeks before September 11, constitute a unique historical document. They are spoken-word adaptations of scenes taken from Destroy All Monsters, the first book by acclaimed writer and 'pop culture alchemist' Ken Hollings. A multistranded postmodern epic, Destroy All Monsters offers a radical retelling of Desert Storm, America's military operation targeting Iraq, using imagery derived from MTV videos, CNN news reports, Japanese kaiju movies and anime, Hong Kong action flicks and tales of alien abduction. The book's entire narrative nervously unfolds in an unstable of world of terror monsters, wrecked cities and dangerously tall buildings: where an event like 9/11 is inevitable. The book was officially launched on September 13, but distribution in the United States was delayed when ports on the Eastern Seaboard were closed to ping post 9/11, leaving copies of the book stranded in the Atlantic. 'Published the very week of the "attac
About this Item

The item format is a Cassette
This specific sale is a new release, shipped direct from the manufacturer
The Artist Name is KEN HOLLINGS
The Title is Destroy All Monsters

Condition New

Other Comments
These recordings, made in 2001 in the weeks before September 11, constitute a unique historical document. They are spoken-word adaptations of scenes taken from Destroy All Monsters, the first book by acclaimed writer and 'pop culture alchemist' Ken Hollings. A multistranded postmodern epic, Destroy All Monsters offers a radical retelling of Desert Storm, America's military operation targeting Iraq, using imagery derived from MTV videos, CNN news reports, Japanese kaiju movies and anime, Hong Kong action flicks and tales of alien abduction. The book's entire narrative nervously unfolds in an unstable of world of terror monsters, wrecked cities and dangerously tall buildings: where an event like 9/11 is inevitable. The book was officially launched on September 13, but distribution in the United States was delayed when ports on the Eastern Seaboard were closed to ping post 9/11, leaving copies of the book stranded in the Atlantic. 'Published the very week of the "attacks on America",' Toby Litt wrote at the time, 'Destroy All Monsters is genuinely, spookily prescient…as a progress report on Planet Earth, it seems to have timeslipped onto the front pages.' Lydia Lunch praised it as 'a hallucinogenic spiral into future nightmare', while The Scotsman called it 'mind bending reading.' In the summer of 2001, Ken Hollings was approached by sound designer and electronic music composer Simon James, who wanted to create an audio adaptation of scenes from the novel to share with subscribers to a spoken word channel launched by totallyradio. The idea was to record Ken reading his own words and then embed them in a soundscape that evoked the fragmented complexity of the original text. Ken concentrated on a small handful of threads from the overall narrative, while Simon directed and engineered the final recording. This resulted in the two sequences of words, sounds and electronic tonalities contained on this audiocassette: an unsettling portrait of people about to be overtaken by events. In October 2001, having just got married in London, Ken and Rachel Hollings went to New York for their honeymoon, just as they had originally planned. They spent an unforgettable week in a city struggling to recover from the seismic changes that had just taken place while a sudden wave of anthrax attacks on government and media offices filled the news cycles. Rachel took a photograph of Ken at Ground Zero, where crowds of onlookers continued to gather, and the air still smelled of burning. Ken Hollings is a writer and broadcaster whose main concern is the relation between culture and technology. He has written and presented numerous critically acclaimed features for BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and Resonance 104.4 FM His other books include Welcome to Mars, The Bright Labyrinth, The Space Oracle and Inferno all available from Strange Attractor/MIT Press. His latest book, Purgatory, is due from Strange Attractor in Spring 2022. Simon James is a producer, musician and sound designer based in Brighton, UK, whose work combines electronic sources with field recording techniques and sound treatments, using sound to transport the listener to fantastical audio worlds. Simon's latest release, Electro Smog, collects electromagnetic field recordings from Shenzhen's electronic markets, recorded while he was in China at the invitation of Musicity and The British Council. The Destroy All Monsters audio adaptations marked the first occasion Ken and Simon worked together – subsequently they collaborated on the 12-part series Welcome to Mars for Resonance 104.4 FM and Connecting, an audio portrait of the original 'phone phreaks', for BBC Radio 3. In 2021 they teamed up again to make Fast Forward, a six-part documentary series for Kasperksy Lab.

The Media Condition is New

This is new and unplayed

The Sleeve Condition is New

New unplayed

We Use Stock Images
Because we have over 2 million items for sale we have to use stock images, this listing does not include the actual image of the item for sale. The purchase of this specific item is made with the understanding that the image shown in this listing is a stock image and not the actual item for sale. For example: some of our stock images include stickers, labels, price tags, hyper stickers, obi's, promotional messages, signatures and or writing which may not be available in the actual item.

Unless a new release, cassette tapes are generally very old, a product typically of the 80s.  Tapes can look great, but we cannot guarantee the quality of the sound, speed or any distortions as age and time are not the best friends for tape cassettes.  For this reason, if any of the cassettes are pre-2000 they are sold as/is based on a visual appearance.


The Sleeve
When we describe the sleeve we are describing the printed paper cover or booklet that is included inside the case.  The case is not part of the sleeve.
 

Cassettes Version
Cassettes are released in many editions and variations, such as standard edition, re-issue, demonstration (demo), not for sale, promotional (promo), special edition, limited edition, and many other editions and versions.  The cassettes you receive could be any of these editions or variations. If you are looking for a specific edition or version please contact us to verify what we are selling before you buy it.

This Cassette Inner and Outer Sleeve
For this specific sale, the cassette sleeve condition refers only to the inner paper insert sleeve and does not refer to the outer casing. While we ship all items with some outer casing for this specific sale we are selling only the inner paper sleeve and cassettes only, as specifically outlined in the description of this listing. (we make this disclaimer as some collectors are looking for a specific outer case type). The outer casing is replaceable and has no value and is provided within this sale as packaging only. We make this disclaimer as the outside sleeve casing can be damaged or scratched, and for this reason, the outer casing is not offered as part of this sale as the Buyer can easily replace the outer casings for the inner sleeve and cassettes.
 

Gift Ideas
This is a great gift idea.

Hours of Service
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Location ID 659z

iHaveit SKU ID 1353240169

Unique Reference Number 2784488091