In 1970, Gertrude Kurath, on an anthropology grant, was tasked with writing a book of the basic history and techniques associated with modern experimental rock music. Kurath, while being a leading scholar on both American Indian and modern American dance, was not well-versed in the form, and sought help from Roger Miller, a guitarist and composer who would later co-found seminal postpunk band Mission of Burma. At the time, Miller led a band called Sproton Layer, and gave Kurath a copy of their first (and ultimately, only) full length album, “With Magnetic Fields Disrupted.”
“With Magnetic Fields Disrupted” explores modern rock techniques and sounds that were later subsequently categorized as no wave and proto-punk. The text accompanying Miller’s score, drawings, and lyrics, by Kurath and Miller, is a technical treatise on the conceptual and sonic techniques used to make the album.
