Modulations: A History of Electronic Music: Throbbing Words on Sound

by Simon Reynolds, Peter Shapiro (Contributor)

Edited by Peter Shapiro. Contributions by Iara Lee, David Toop. Text by Kodwo Eshun, Michael Berk, Tony Marcus, Kurt Reighley, Simon Reynolds, Michael Rubin, Chris Sharp, Rob Young.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction, Hip Hop

264 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2000

About the author

Simon Reynolds is one of the most respected music journalists working today, and his writing is both influential and polarizing. He draws on an impressive range of knowledge, and writes with a fluid, engaging style. His books Rip it Up and Start Again and Generation Ecstasy are well-regarded works about their respective genres, and RETROMANIA may be his most broadly appealing book yet. It makes an argument about art, nostalgia, and technology that has implications for all readerswhether diehard music fans or not. Its an important and provocative look at the present and future of culture and innovation."

Reviews

[Lsmith]

"...the supposedly dehumanizing machine might actually make actually make us more human."
Genesis P-Orridge interiew "There lies the problem of punk to me - they wanted to learn to play music. To learn to play music based on rhythm and blues to become a slave of the system once more, so if you're going to play slave music, let it be about post-industrial slave society, where people worked in factories and mills. No one had really done that. No one had actually decided to make music rooted in the experience of western European and industrial society, so that's what we did."

[anon · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's some interviews and articles by really great artists (Moog, Giorgio Moroder, Squarepusher, etc.) and writers (Kodwo Eshun), so I was really excited about this, but ultimately it fell a bit short for me. Solid book of history but was expecting some juicy povs. Interviews were a letdown.

[Yassine Kawana · Rating 4 out of 5]

je dois le relire encore une fois un livre très passionnant

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intended as an accompaniment to the film. Highly indepth in exploring the various and early genres in electronic music. Takes a thorough approach to production and over all importance of underground electronic music in a post rave, global community. Ponders on the importance of various forms and how they have or have not achieved heights and distances that were unintended by the original producers and champions of sound. I find the book to offer more robust content than the film in addition to a dozen more genres. It is interesting to note that there is no mention of trance even in its pre-breakbeat, post acid house, ambient era.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps a bit dated now, but since I was looking for background and development its age didn't bother me too much. Also, I wasn't interested in scholarly slog through the history of electronic music so even though some chapters were more informative than others, the fairly casual writing was just perfect. Overall it was informative and engaging.

I definitely enjoyed the style and layout of the book even if it desperately needs additional editing. It just has a fun feel. And as a librarian, I loved the extensive indexing, timelines, play lists, etc. all of which make it incredibly easy to flip through and extract information. Yay!

[Michiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very comprehensive and nearly complete overview of electronic music in the 20th century. Neary, because the history of electronic music is never complete, and the writers of this book will be the first to admit this. Also, the book mainly focusses on electronic dance music (ie. house, drum 'n' bass etc.) and less on 'serious' electronic music (ie. Cage, Stockhausen, Reich etc.).

I got more enthousiastic about something I was already enthousiastic about. Highly recommended for anyone who had a passion for music in general.

[Jaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminds me of good days. An interesting though not comprehensive look at electronic music.

[Eric Orchard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm actually reading the English version...

[Evey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but not terribly engaging either.