‘Ocean of Sound’ by David Toop was first published over a decade ago but still reads as a highly contemporary if occasionally confusing account of experimental music in the 21st century.
Toop, born in 1949, is described as a musician, author and music curator. He’s a regular contributor to The Wire magazine and has released half a dozen solo albums of instrumental electronica. On top of this, he’s also been involved in numerous collaborations with artists like Eno. Prince Far I, John Zorn, Derek Bailey and (rather less fashionably) The Flying Lizards.
The book is subtitled ‘Aether Talk, Ambient Sound and Imaginary Worlds’ and its stated aim is “to explore is the path by which sound (and music in particular) has come to express [an] alternately disorientating and inspiring openness through which all that is solid melts into aether”.
Clear? I didn’t think so! Continue reading
Good interview with Brian Eno in today’s Observer by Paul Morley.
