Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; Introduction Part I: Electrification 1. Recording Angels, by Erik Davis 2. On the MIC, by Ian Penman 3. The Jerrybuilt Future, by Christopher Cox 4. Worship the Glitch, by Rob Young Part II: Occultism 5. The Eternal Drone, by Marcus Boon 6. Slapping Pythagoras, by Rob Young 7. The Ragged Trousered Anthologists, by Peter Shapiro and Philip Smith 8. The Solar Myth Approach, by Ken Hollings Part III: Mechanism 9. Humans, Are They Really Necessary?, by David Toop 10. Automating the Beat, by Peter Shapiro 11. The Autobahn Goes on Forever, by Biba Kopf 12. Rock Concrete, by Edwin Pouncey 13. Deck Wreckers, by Peter Shapiro Part IV: Freedom 14. Destroy All Music, by Mark Sinker 15. The Limits of Language, by Julian Cowley 16. The Music of Chance, by Andy Hamilton 17. Smiling Faces Sometimes, by Peter Shapiro 18. Frames of Freedom, by David Toop 19. Generation Ecstasy, by Tom Roe

About the Author

The Wire is a collectively-owned magazine based in London. Publisher Tony Herrington says, "We don't sees ourselves as outside commentators but very much as part of a community of musicians and listeners."

Reviews

"Equal parts historical exhumation and agenda-setting exposition, Undercurrents' themes treat music as a medium engaged with contexts and brushed by various tines of culture...The book divulges countless secrets...But Undercurrents' most revealing secret lies in the way it makes margins and headlines part of the same text."--Andy Battaglia, The Onion, 2/26/03

"Engrossing..."--Rolling Stone

'Rammed full with historical details....Great for those who want to delve deeper into why today's music sounds like it does.' --Straight No Chaser

"The facts you learn from Undercurrents will help you navigate your next coctail party, but its concepts may have a more lasting effect: changing the way you listen." --XLR8R

"This engrossing collection...illuminates everything from Harry Smith's folk anthologies to sound sculpture to glitch techno....insightful and persuasively argued."--Rolling Stone, April 3, 2003

"Undercurrents' 20 essays...draw interesting and intriguing connections with often fervid rhetoric that nonetheless simmers with good insights. Undercurrents is a good book that belongs on the shelf of every maker and maven of adventurous music." Christo

"Published in 2002 to coincide with The Wire's 20th anniversary, this anthology of essays...outlines the key concepts and underlying themes hardwired into the radical music of the past 100 years." --The Wire Books, 01/09/09