Ocean of Sound

Ambient sound and radical listening in the age of communication

By: David Toop

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Paperback | 29 August 2018 | Edition Number 2

At a Glance

Paperback
320 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
2 x 12.8 x 19.7

Paperback

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The classic account of ambient music, with a new foreword by Michel Faber.

David Toop's extraordinary work of sonic history travels from the rainforests of Amazonas to the megalopolis of Tokyo via the work of artists as diverse as Brian Eno, Sun Ra, Erik Satie, Kate Bush, Kraftwerk and Brian Wilson.

Beginning in 1889 at the Paris exposition when Debussy first heard Javanese music performed, Ocean of Sound channels the competing instincts of 20th century music into an exhilarating, path-breaking account of ambient sound.

About the Author

David Toop is an English musician, author and professor of audio culture and improvisation at the London College of Communication. He was a member of the Flying Lizards and a contributor to the British magazine The Face . He is a regular contributor to The Wire , has recorded Yanomami shamanism in Amazonas, appeared on Top of the Pops, exhibited sound installations in Tokyo, Beijing and London's National Gallery, and performed with artists ranging from John Zorn, Evan Parker, Bob Cobbing and Ivor Cutler to Akio Suzuki, Elaine Mitchener, Lore Lixenberg and Max Eastley. He has published five books, including Ocean of Sound , and released eight solo albums.

Industry Reviews

This history of ambient music, starting with Debussy, is a minor masterpiece * Observer '50 greatest music books ever' *
An encyclopaedic work, uncommonly knowledgeable and wide in its scope ... a rare and subversive read * DJ Magazine *
A masterfully innovative and radical work * Melody Maker *
A scintillating and illuminating read * Mojo *
Buy it, read it and let it remix your head * i-D *
A ground-breaking history of ambient music * Independent *
Partly a mediation on the development of modern music, but there's no single term that is adequate to describe what Toop has accomplished here ... mixing interviews, criticism, history, and memory, Toop moves seamlessly between sounds, styles, genres, and eras, using listening as a tool in a search for a deeper understanding * Pitchfork's '60 Favourite Music Books' *
An erudite and entertaining chauffeur, Toop shows us a way of listening differently ... Ocean of Sound puts Toop up there with Eno as a theorist of ambient music * Wired *
Ocean of Sound's parallels aren't music books at all, but rather Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, William Gibson's Neuromancer ... Ocean of Sound is as alien as the 20th century, as utterly now as the 21st * Wire *
Ocean of Sound has gained a fervent cult audience ... the best music-related book of the 90s * Chicago Reader *
Ocean of Sound brilliantly elaborates [trends in music], like sonic fact for our sci-fi present, a martian chronicle from this planet earth * Face *
A heroic endeavour brought off with elegance and charm * NME *
David Toop is the brilliant voyager of our sonic century, for whom music is a map of our dreams -- Steve Erickson

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