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David Toop

Ocean of Sound Paperback – June 1, 2001

by David Toop (Author)

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Ocean of Sound: Ambient sound and radical listening in the age of communication
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Ocean of Sound begins in 1889 at the Paris Exposition when Debussy first heard Javanese music performed. A culture absorbed in perfume, light and ambient sound developed in response to the intangibility of 20th century communications. David Toop traces the evolution of this culture, through Erik Satie to the Velvet Undergound; Miles Davis to Jimi Hendrix.

David Toop, who lives in London, is a writer, musician and recording artist. His other books are Rap Attack 3 and Exotica.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Toop is a highly regarded author, music critic and musician. Since 1995 he has released three solo albums, curated five compilation albums (including the soundtrack to Ocean of Sound), and the sound and music exhibition at the Hayward Gallery - 'Sonic Boom'. His music journalism appears in The Wire, Village Voice, The Times and The Face.

Product details

Publisher : Serpent's Tail; 0005- edition (June 1, 2001)
Language: : English
Paperback : 320 pages
ISBN-10 : 1852427434
ISBN-13 : 978-1852427436
Item Weight : 7.9 ounces
Dimensions : 5 x 0.8 x 7.7 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,396,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #241 in MIDI & Mixers
- #505 in Ethnomusicology (Books)
- #4,533 in Music History & Criticism (Books)

Customer Reviews:
27 ratings

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4 star		24%
3 star		3%
2 star		3%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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DutchBreeze

Great thought provoking material

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2011

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I love David Toop and any work he's involved in. From music to academic writing, this guy knows his stuff. He's very well versed in music and has done his research thoroughly you can tell.. He has a unique way of explaining sound and its magic, definitely grab any books he's written on the subject of sound.

One person found this helpful

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Gene B

Nice overview of music that falls thru the cracks-great chapter ...

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2014

Verified Purchase

Nice overview of music that falls thru the
cracks-great chapter on the Ambient scene in
England in the nineties.

Helpful

Philip Marlowe

Fascinating and frustrating

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2001

Incredible in many ways, Toop's book attempts to trace a quiet revolution in twentieth century music. One cannot deny the impressive breadth of his knowledge, from Stockhausen to Miles all the way to Future Sound of London and their ilk. His writing is quite often beautiful, if occasionally one feels like he is writing too many words to actually say anything.
Ultimately, however, I leave the book feeling a bit underwhelmed. Ironically, it is the book's very eclecticism that works against it. I personally did not see the connectionsbetween, say, the music of Kraftwerk and Toop's (admittedly fascinating) discussion of the sound of the Amazon jungle. These disgressions ultimately make the book useless as a survey. Of course, I doubt that it was meant to be so, but Toop fails to make the kinds of connections that have given books by Greil Marcus and others a fascinating unity.
Perhaps, though, this is the point. Much like the ambient music that serves as the centerpoint of the book, this book simply floats by, not asking you to make any conclusions. It is probably best read in bits, before bed or in the bathroom, where the individual moments of brilliance can be better appreciated. Very ambient, indeed.

18 people found this helpful

Helpful

A guide to a new musical world

Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2008

As an eager but somewhat overwhelmed newcomer to the world of ambient music, I've found this overview to be informative & invaluable. It's constructed like many ambient pieces: layers of information & exotica that overlap, shade into one another, and in many ways recreate in prose the experience of the music. Yet at the same time, there's a clarity & focus to the writing, which becomes apparent as the reader flows from one topic to the next. By the end, I'd not only gained some real knowledge & understanding, I'd been given some excellent starting points for further exploration. An exemplary volume, highly recommended!

8 people found this helpful

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T. Ryan

Liked it a lot

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2005

If you like ambient, or....atmospheric music of any sort you should give this book a chance as it a nice erudite survey of the various genres and musicians that are linked to..or been influenced by ambient music. It is not a linear survey thru time, but rather this book reminds me of a map which Toop rolls around visiting here and there with a few jumps now and then as he discusses how in the last 100 years "music has reflected the world back to itself and to its listeners". The writing is enjoyable, and full of poetry, such that I kept finding myself underlining odd bits and pieces every few pages and I wound up compiling them for myself for future reference. There is also a nice bibliography and discography at the end of the book.

6 people found this helpful

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Darren R. Chandler

Broaches a vast subject in an engaging and refreshing way

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2006

I love to read about music, but there are so few good music writers it seems. This book approaches the development of incidental, ambient, experimental, avant garde, and world musics in a way that mimics the music itself - with random bursts of observations, anecdotes, interviews, and just plain bizarre missives. I encourage anyone with a sense of adventure and an open mind to grab a copy.

There is a similarly-titled double CD which came out to accompany the book, but I can't see it on Amazon. It is as eclectic as the book and features a lot of the artists interviewed and mentioned - Sun Ra, Aphex Twin, and others. I have played the CD to death and would recommend it. You gotta respect a compilation that puts The Beach Boys right next to African Headcharge, or My Bloody Valentine next to Brian Eno - and makes it work so well.

The book also features a list of albums and artists in the appendix, which I found useful as a way of doing further research.

Another book in a similar vein is Kodwo Eshun's "More Brilliant Than The Sun", though it focuses solely on the innovators in electronic music.

3 people found this helpful

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Neil Morris

Not an easy read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2018

Verified Purchase

My music teacher recommended this book but I didn't get on with it so much.

The book covers a lot of ground and if you don't already know your music and music history you won't learn much. David uses words [I think] to reflect how music makes him feel. He doesn't describe the music or explain what he's doing or where he's going so if you don't pick up on it (or agree) it's all going to be rather garbled. Sometimes full stops are for other people.

I felt David says a lot without telling you anything, explaining anything or justifying anything. And when an author says, 'The first time I met ...,' you know he's showing off. He's clearly well read, uses a lot of quotes but for me the book didn't hang together into a digestible whole.

One person found this helpful

Russell J. Weston

I love this book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2016

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I love this book. I bought it many years ago when I was living in London, but somewhere along the line, loaned it out & never got it back.

I read it not just for the information, but for the ambience of the writing itself. I feel the writer captures much of what I love about "ambient" music, in words - no easy task.

For anyone looking for a place to start exploring this ever-morphing and expanding genre, I would highly recommend this book. It's one of the most interesting & enjoyable books about music that I have ever read.

Amazon Customer

90's electronic scene in a paperback

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 2, 2019

Verified Purchase

Still reading the book, but this is pretty amazing view about certain time when musical ideas seemed to appear from nowhere and synthesize into new sounds, songs, styles and genres. This book gives you very good overview they did already exist in global human mind.

Mr. David Mason

Rich context

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 20, 2015

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This is a most interesting book that delivers so much music info and rich context that does not make the headlines.

N. Rudd

Highly recommended

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is a re-read so know the book already. Highly recommended.

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