Electronic Inspirations

"Electronic Inspirations offers a number of interesting and worthwhile insights into the avant-garde electronic music of the 1950s, both in terms of historical detail and theoretical interpretation, synthesizing a great deal of published and unpublished material." -- Sam Ridout, Transposition "This book is addressed to an audience not only of experts but also of students and music lovers. Iverson's effort to introduce the actors, networks, and music to all kinds of readers in an astute way is very compelling. Anyone interested in electronic music and its networks will find much to enjoy in Iverson's work." -- João Romão, Revue de musicologie "A brilliant book, pulsating with excitement: Iverson makes instant connections faster than an electric circuit, transmits information more accurately than magnetic tape, and creates a network of actors more complex than the Cologne Radio Station." --Alexander Rehding, Fanny Peabody Professor of Music, Harvard University "This fascinating account of the Cologne West German Radio Station and its famous underground electronic music studio traces how international networks, surplus cold war technology, and cybernetic visions and imaginaries shaped and inspired the new genre. Born from repression, the dance of agency between humans and technology, Iverson argues, is the key to understanding how this music developed. Ironically it would eventually transmogrify into today's joyous Electronic Dance Music - capital city: Berlin!" --Trevor Pinch, author of Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer "Taking the studio as an object of scholarly inquiry...helps to make legible a dynamic that is often only dimly discernible." -- Matthew Mendez, Yale University, Society for Music Theory "The greatest achievement in Iverson's book is that she documents and brings into focus the collaborative spirit of larger networks of actors and institutions, with regards both to the activities in WDR and the discourse between composers internationally...This makes her book a very worthwhile read for all interested in the early foundations of electronic music and for all engaged in the contemporary development of a plurality of new electronic music dialects." -- Jøran Rudi, Organised Sound