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2000: the modulations book. Modulations is the book portion of a larger project encompassing a documentary film on the history and development of electronic music and a definitive soundtrack/CD compilation that will give an audio history of the same territory.Modulations will cover all facets of electronic music from its theoretical inception during the Italian Futurist movement of the early part of this century to its current position of pre-eminence in the music industry. Rather than following an encyclopedia/record guide format that would date the volume immediately, the book will be organized into several large essays written by experienced journalists and musical participants that will provide historical and critical surveys of every genre of electronic music. At the end of each chapter there will be a list, with brief commentary, of the 20 most important records from the genre covered. In addition to the essays and record suggestions, there will be sidebars throughout each essay devoted to important labels, sub-genres, interesting stylistic developments and enigmatic personalities. This approach will appeal to both a general audience with little more than a passing familiarity with electronic music looking for a fascinating story and serious music fans looking for a reference book. The design will be cutting edge including photos stills from the film Modulations in addition to a series of photographs shot throughout the production of the film. Proposed Outline for Modulations
Five-to-ten-page explanation of the thrust of the book, the importance of the music and the threads that tie the story together. Writer: Peter Shapiro
Essay covering early avant garde explorations of the possibilities of electronic sound. Beginning with Luigi Russolo and the Italian Futurists who proposed an "Art of Noises" in tune with the sounds and rhythms of industrial machinery and moving through the musique concrète of Pierres Henry and Schaeffer, Varèse's Poème Electronique, Stockhausen's explorations of both pure electronic noise and manipulations of "natural" sounds, Robert Moog's synthesizers, Cage's Imaginary Landscape, Iannis Xenakis' use of computers to create music based on probabilities and Terry Riley's obsessive repetitions, the essay will make the complex ideas of these composers accessible and interesting to the casual fan. Artists featured: Pierre Henry, Stockhausen, Edgard Varese, John Cage, Iannis Xenakis. Writer: Rob Young (editor Wire Magazine)
A short essay giving an overview of the important contributions to electronic music made by such German artists as Kraftwerk, Can, Manuel Götsching and Cluster. Artists: Can, Kraftwerk, Faust, Cluster Writer: Simon Reynolds (editor Spin Magazine, author Ecstacy Generation)
Disco (10-15 pages) As perhaps the most under-appreciated musical genre, disco is in need of critical re-evaluation. As the first musical form to explore the relationship between the machine and the body, works by artists and producers like Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer, Patrick Cowley, Sylvester and Bobby O were crucial in creating a sense of mechano-eroticism. There is also some cross-over with ground-breaking funk recordings like Parliament's "Flash Light" (the first record that used a synthesized bassline) and the vocoder records of Roger Troutman and Zapp. Artists: Sylvester/Patrick Crowley, Prelute and West End labels, Salsoul Records, Parliament-Funkadelic, the JBs, Girogio Moroder, Donna Summer Writer: Peter Shapiro (writer The Wire, Spin, The Village Voice)
Hip-Hop (10-15 pages) The music will be recognized as grassroots musique concrète and be placed in a historical context of black innovation with new musical technology. While celebrating hip-hop's turntable collages and sampling maestros, the essay will also cover the equation of machines and funkiness articulated by electro's drum-machine rhythms and breakdancers' imitations of video game movements. Artists: Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Arthur Baker, Gerald Calliste, Double Dee & Steinski, The Bomb Squad/Public Enemy, Prince Paul, Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Xecutioners Writer: David Toop
House (10-15 pages) The essay will cover the development of both Chicago House and New York Garage as outgrowths of disco with an emphasis on the way musicians picked up on the capabilities of cheap technology. As House music made its way across the Atlantic, the music was fused with Ecstasy to create perhaps the most important sub-cultural movement in British history. Artists: Marshall Jefferson, Larry Heard, DJ Pierre, Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Cajmere, Derrick Carter Writer: Kodwo Eshun
Techno (10-15 pages) Inspired by both Kraftwerk and New York electro, a small network of kids in Detroit made some of the most powerful electronic music ever created. While the Detroit version of Techno was both cold and deeply melodic, the rest of the world seemed to hear the music as a series of progressively minimal and aggressive blips and bleeps. The resulting recordings stripped music down to its bare-bones: rhythm and texture. Artists: Derrick May, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Underground Resistance, Jeff Mills, LFO, Joey Beltram Writer: Mike Rubin
Jungle (10-15pages) In response to the combination of Ecstasy and Speed, producers in Britain began to meld together Hardcore Techno, Hip-House (the combination of hip-hop and House) and old breakbeat records to create what would eventually be called Jungle or drum 'n' bass, the first specifically British form of dance music. Artists: A Guy Called Gerald, Goldie, 4 Hero, Moving Shadow Records, Suburban Base Records, Production House Records, Roni Size, Aphrodite, Slipmatt, Prodigy Writer: Chris Sharp
Ambient (10-15 pages) The essay will cover the history of ambient music from Brian Eno's coining of the term in the mid-70s to the contemporary use of the genre's conventions to explore the most extreme sonic boundaries. Artists: Brian Eno, Mixmaster Morris, Rising Force Records, Pete Namlook, Tetsu Inoue, Bill Laswell Writer: Tony Marcus
Electronica/Downtempo (10 pages) The chapter will cover music that is defined by the British press as electronica (rather than the catch-all term used by the American media). The term refers to electronic music that uses some of the sounds and techniques of Techno, but to an effect that eschews the dancefloor in favor of creating "home listening music." Downtempo's aims are similar, but its influences come from Jamaican dub and hip-hop. Artists: Aphex Twin, µziq, Luke Vibert, Coldcut, Mo' Wax Records, Autechre, Black Dog/Plaid, Mouse on Mars Writer: Kurt Reighley
Post-Punk (10 pages) As punk and rock continue to show their lack of new ideas, many bands unwilling to forsake the guitar-bass-drum format have started to incorporate many ideas from electronic music into their own work. Artists: Tortoise Writer: Peter Shapiro
Technology (10 pages) A short essay written in layman's terms describing the most important machines used to create electronic music from the theremin through the Moog Synthesizer to the Roland TB 303 bassline machine. In addition, there will be a list of major records that use these machines as an illustration of their sounds. Writer: Mike Berk
Sidebars:
Fusion (1-2 pages) As the combination of jazz and electronics, fusion explored many of the ideas discussed above. Artists: Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Weldon Irvine, Billy Cobham and Chick Corea. Writer: Simon Reynolds
Dub (2 pages) In 1970s Jamaica reggae producers and sound system operators started exploring the possibilities offered by the recording studio to extend the grooves and sense of space in their records. Dub as created by people like King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Joe Gibbs and Mikey Dread was an important precursor to the techniques and sounds employed by many artists today. Artists: King Tubby, Lee Perry, Scientist, Keith Hudson, Prince Jammy Writer: Peter Shapiro
Synth Pop (1 page) During the early 1980s, the charts were dominated by post-post-punk Brits like who combined disco's sheen with punk's detachment by dressing up and playing Yamaha and Korg keyboards. Artists: Gary Numan, Human League, Yaz(oo), Depeche Mode Writer: Peter Shapiro
Breakbeats (1 page) Hip-hop DJs in the 70s first started the idea of the breakbeat (the part of a record where everything drops out except the drum groove) and extended it by cutting back and forth between two copies of the same record. As the precursor to sampling culture, the cult of the breakbeat was responsible for the idea that anything can be funky. Artists: Bob James, Rufus Thomas, Billy Squier, James Brown Writer: Chris Sharp
Latin Freestyle (1 page) An offshoot of both disco and electro, freestyle was a heavily stylized form of music that talked about romance over stiff, angular electronic beats that was incredibly popular in New York and Miami. Many of today's major House DJs and producers cut their teeth on freestyle records. Artists: Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam Writer: David Toop
Miami Bass (1 page) Filthy, dirty, scatalogical and also a lot of fun, Bass music is also the repository of some stunning electronic music. An often unacknowledged fact is that Miami Bass is probably the closest relative to Detroit Techno. Artists: Two Live Crew, Luke Skywalker, 95 South, 69 Boyz, Magic Mike, Quad City DJs Writer:
David Toop
Peter
Shapiro
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