Myths of the Near Future

J.G. Ballard (1930-2009)

One of my favorite writers ever passed away last week, the great British author J.G. Ballard. Once you read him he never leaves your brain — didn’t for me, anyway. I’ve basically thought of him daily for the last twenty-five years. Burroughs may have inhabited the information future in the ’60s, but JGB was kicking it eco-dystopian style 40+ years ago. In the midst of all the hoo-hah written about him — the best example of which is likely by my old friend Simon Reynolds — many have written about JGB’s influence on music.

“No other writer has had as much influence on pop music as JG Ballard,” the Guardian states flatly in their piece; the BBC and Mother Jones also chimed in with interesting music-based tributes. Wikipedia’s list of musicians and works inspired by Ballard includes the following: Metamatic by John Foxx, various songs by Joy Division (most famously “The Atrocity Exhibition” from Closer), the song “Down in the Park” by Gary Numan and “Warm Leatherette” by The Normal. This agile thinker will definitely be missed!

—DJ Yeti