Rating: 
Summary: Ambience explored...
Review: This is not some gratuitous little fanboy picture-book along the lines of countless tomes churned out to cater to the prepubescent fans of Britney, N-Sync et-al. Rather, it is the story of the development of `Ambient' music over the past 100 years, as the subtitle puts it, "from Mahler to Trance - the evolution of sound in the electronic age."Mark Predergast is a respected author and critic, born in Dublin and now living in London, who has written extensively and authoritatively about ambient and electronic music for over two decades. This book is about what he considers to be the "classical music of the future;" Ambient. The book is divided into four main parts: Part I: The Electronic Landscape
Part II: Minimalism, Eno and the New Simplicity
Part III: Ambience in the Rock Era
Part IV: House, Techno, and 21st Century Ambience The book starts with a Forward by Brian Eno, the British pop/rock/avante-guard/neo classical musician who actually invented, and coined the term, "Ambient Music;" music that should be, in his words, "as ignorable as it is interesting." "Part I" charts the move away from rigid, Germanic orchestrations, to Romanticism and Modernity, first seen in Gustav Mahler's "Symphony No. 3," written in 1895. It details the works of some of the greatest composers of the last century, not only Mahler, but Debussy, Ravel - without whom Torvil and Dean would have hard a hard time winning their Olympic Gold! - Delius, Schoenberg, Stokowski, Messien, and many others. He also explores the development of electronic instrumentation, vital to the production of what we now know as Ambient Music. It looks in detail at the work of Leon Theremin, who's other-worldly sounding "Theremin," was used to such wonderful effect on the Beach Boys "Good Vibrations," and the soundtrack to "Forbidden Planet." Also explored are the developments of Maurice Martenot, Daphne Oram, the coming of the true synthesizers, first the monophonic "Moog," then the endless range of polyphonic synthesizers that went on to revolutionized the creation and production of modern rock and Ambient Music. It also looks at the career and work of one of the first great interpreters of the electronic keyboard, Wendy (Walter) Carlos, the Worlds most famous transsexual composer and performer of classical and neo-classical music! "Part II" investigates the influence of American Minimalism, exemplified by Philip Glass and Steve Reich, on modern 70's rock, specifically Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," and Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells." These two seminal albums greatly influenced Brian Eno in his search for an alternative way forward in modern music. This part also investigates, in great detail, Eno's use of the studio itself as an instrument, as much responsible for the final sound of a recording as the acoustic/electric/electronic instruments actually played by the performers. As well as Eno, Glass and Reich, other important composers/performers careers and works are explored in detail, these include La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Michael Nyman, Arvo Part, Henryk Gorecki and John Tavener. Also investigated is the influence of the two recording labels ECM (Editions of Contemporary Music) in Germany, and Windham Hill in the USA, on shaping the public awareness, and acceptance of, Ambient/Minimalist Music. "Part III," the largest part of the book, fully explores, in detail, the development and influence of Minimalism and Ambience on 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's rock music. This starts with the "Innovators," Leo Fender and Les Paul, who, between them, changed forever the sound of the electric guitar, and what discussion of instrumental innovators would be complete without a look at the work of Robert Moog, who gave his name to the ubiquitous Moog Synthesizer. It then looks in detail at the musical innovators of the times; The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Ravi Shankar, The Velvet Underground and Nico. And then there was the all too brief but incendiary career of Jimi Hendrix, who single-handedly redefined what exactly could, and could not, be done with a Fender or Les Paul. Then there are the Germans, or "Kraut Rockers." There is an enormous amount of the book devoted to the likes of Tangerine Dream, who practically invented modern electronic rock, Kraftwerk, Can, and Klaus Shultz. The influence of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulz, especially, cannot be overlooked, with their experimentation in hardware and soundscapes, they created entirely new musical worlds and experiences. There is also a complete mini-biography of Pink Floyd and Mike Oldfield, plus a discussion of the rampant excesses of British Progressive Rock, which reached its bloated nadir with the release of "Tales from Topographic Oceans" by Yes... and before you say a word, I'm a Yes fan! "Part IV" explores the latest evolutionary step in Ambience and Minimalism, rooted in the "Club Culture" of London and Europe. This is traced in detail from the Disco world of 70's and 80's gay bars and clubs in New York, to the "Aciiiid!" fueled mega-raves of the late 80's and 90's in the British countryside. From crazed clubbers dancing for 24+ hours straight, fueled by a veritable cornucopia of drugs and alcohol, to the blissed-out "E" generation, chilling to continuous trance/trip-hop and minimalist mixes, Ambient music continues to evolve in endlessly surprising ways. "The Ambient Century" is an incredibly rich and detailed book, written in an immediately accessible style for the listener of Ambient; you DON'T need a doctorate in musical theory to enjoy this work!!! There are many criticisms of this book in other reviews; these tend to focus on minutia of detail such as the EXACT model of synth Wendy Carlos played, or the accepted name of a particular synth module. For anyone with a serious interest in Ambient/Minimalist music, I can't recommend this book highly enough; the nitpickers will ALWAYS find something to criticize!
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but could have more...
Review: Where's Throbbing Gristle? Where's Captain Beefheart(except for the very very small mention)? Although it has good enough backgrounds on many experimental composers of the early 20thC and electronic/avant innovators of the 60's & 70's, this book could have gone more in depth. It has a nice section on the Krautrock movement with all the major and minor players, though. I just don't know why Moby made it into the book and TG and Beefheart didn't.
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