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 GOTH
NET
Rik reviews Mick Mercer's directory of Goth websites
21st Century Goth
Reynolds & Hearn Ltd
2002
256 pp
£15.95
I'm far too old to belong to a youth cult of any sort, although I do
favour wearing black clothes and have been attracted to Gothic-looking
women long before the Goth cult existed. Now while most Goths are probably
not quite as old as me, many people would assume that they must be getting
on a bit. Not so, if you look at the images in Nick Mercer's 21st
Century Goth.
The book is about Gothdom as seen through the Internet and is essentially
a directory of websites. Indeed, some bands are included on the strength
of having websites alone. The URLs will inevitably rot, and - unlike on
the web itself - will not be correctable. So the obvious question is:
why is this directory in book form and not itself a website? Mick hints
at part of the answer in his peculiarly defensive introduction. If this
book were a website, it would just be one of many, whilst as a book it
is unique and carries more impact. Another problem, of course, is that
the Web is just not a remunerative outlet for professional writers because
people expect online content to be free.
But although they cannot be updated like websites, books still have plenty
of pluses. The pretty girl on the glossy colour cover, the clearly arranged
and crisply-printed text, and the superbly well-chosen illustrations make
this book a pleasure to behold. It might be tedious to have to type in
rather than click on hyperlinks of interest and there is no electronic
searching, but the quality and comprehensiveness of a book is almost immediately
apparent.
This book is divided into eleven sections covering bands, clothing, clubs,
locations, people, resources, Goth websites, sites of interest, ‘visual
rock’, webrings and zines. Each entry has a title and URL, but not
necessarily a description. The sections are divided by photos of pretty
goth babes and more of these are spread throughout the text for decoration.
The band coverage is more orientated to goth rock in contrast to FluxEuropa's
neofolk centre of gravity, but there is much common ground. Although Sol
Invictus only gets a minimal entry (without the http://www.tursa.com
URL) I'm glad to see Mick shares my love for Ataraxia. And many thanks,
Mick, for the references and links to FluxEuropa. Mick's comments
are pithy. I like that. Marilyn Manson - a particular butt of the author's
disapproval - is briefly dismissed as a "Bowie tribute band".
The entries run from a couple of lines to a few column inches, except
for the Mothburner one which contains a complete interview spread over
several pages. Perhaps one of these two Cornish witches put a spell on
him. There are a lot of bands here I've never heard of, but I'm looking
forward to following them up. I'll have to do this before the links rot
(dig, dig). On the other hand, Mick, copies of your book will still be
in existence long after FluxEuropa has ceased to flicker on screens.
The clothing (and Goth-related businesses) section is particularly extensive,
the clubs less so. The 'Locations' section appears to be Goth information
resources with some sort of geographical focus or limitation. The 'People'
section consists of personal websites, but these have only been included
where they relate to something wider. There's lots of these as you would
expect. The 'Resources' section covers portals, databases and link lists,
i.e. sites devoted to other sites. The 'Goth websites' section covers
premier Goth sites like ‘Dark Side Of The Net' as well as many more
obscure ones. By now I am getting a little uncertain about the exact meaning
and criteria for these different sections, but I suppose some attempt
has to be made at classification if only to handle the numbers. I think
my confusion is about to get worse as the next section is entitled 'Sites
of interest'. Perhaps their subject matter is peculiarly specialist and/or
more tangential. The strangely entitled 'Visual Rock' section turns out
to be Japanese poppy rock bands whose visual style is Goth-influenced.
The Webrings section speaks for itself. There's quite a few of them.
Finally there are the ‘Zines’ - sites with a periodical feel
and/or some other pretension to grandeur. Owing to a typo the page headers
mistakenly revert to 'Locations' part way through. This is where FluxEuropa
is listed as "Part zine, part resource" and "worth bookmarking for the
excellent news updates". Thanks again. Now although I’ve always thought
of FluxEuropa as a webzine, I'm not entirely sure how it should
be defined. Reviews are now published on a basically topical basis, i.e.
recent albums, recent films, recent books, but the reviews remain on line
- if not hyperlinked from the homepage - even when the album, books and
films are less recent. The content constantly accumulates, but the older
content is almost as accessible as the newer content, forming a sort of
database. Basically the web blurs distinction between all the categories
the author attempts to impose. This is not a criticism of this book: it's
an observation on the intrinsically postmodern nature of the web.
Despite the inevitable difficulties of classification, this is a very
useful resource and a great snapshot of the Goth scene, so go to Mick’s
site and order a copy, as well as checking out his photographic projects.
And, Mick, about that introduction: you're doing a grand job - so take
no notice of the critics.
Rik – 27 June 2002
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