The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds Paperback – 26 September 2013

A book about Dadaism, chaos theory, synchronicity, the ideaspace with the occasional mention of everyone's favourite ice cream van driving band. The book is fascinating if not what I thought it would be about!!

Nothing can be really said about this novel that is fair enough. If you like electronic music from the 90s and you enjoy surprises, you definitely need to read this.

Bruciare un milione di sterline, Gli Illuminati, numero 23, Doctor Who, Doctorin' the Tardis, Justified and Ancient of Mu Mu, Sample dagli ABBA non legali, bruciare dischi illegali in un prato di un contadino e farsi sparare addosso, 2 tipi poco stabili mentalmente, LSD e MDMA, KLF (King Lucifer Forever o Kopyright Liberation Front), tirare una pecora morta + sangue a un gruppo Death Metal vegetariano, Caos, squat, casino, mondo dello spettaccolo, Stadium House music, Chill Out...ciò di cui parla un pò il libro, ma pochissimi riferimenti alla loro bellissima musica.Libro pazzo, inglese scorrevole.

There are very few bands whose musical output is eclipsed by their legend as much as the KLF. This book tells the story of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, pop’s most unusual act since well, ever? It also tells plenty of adjacent stories, of the discordian movement, of chaos magic, and of Bill and Jimmy’s influences both in the musical world and beyond. It is also very, very funny.Was the infamous burning of the million pounds a, in Alan Moore’s words, ‘powerful magical event? Or was it just Bill and Jimmy being a ‘pair of attention seeking a*holes’ (Higgs)? Why not both? As per Drummond’s philosophy, sometimes you need to accept the contradictions.

This is about so much more than the KLF. So much more that you don't need to know who the KLF are to buy it. But it might help if you have a smattering of interest in post-punk psychedelia and trance music, or just generally pop, art, ideas and (Alan) Moore. John Higgs writes beautifully, moving nimbly from topic to topic with a keen intelligence that he wears incredibly lightly. I have given this book as a present five times since I read it about two weeks ago.