David Toop

Björk: Björk: Dancer In the Dark

Interview by David Toop, bjork.com, 2000

"I STILL HAVE so much music in my head," said Maurice Ravel. "I haven't said anything yet, and I have still so much to say." ...

Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.

Report and Interview by David Toop, Face, The, January 1990

A LITTLE suburban parking spot in Carson, Los Angeles, and balmy tranquility hangs in the air like Valium fallout. There are harsh alien sounds, though: ...

Cypress Hill: III – Temple Of Boom

Review by David Toop, MOJO, December 1995

HIP HOP innovations are so swiftly assimilated and processed into cliché that their initial impact can become lost in foggy video memories of oversized hats, ...

Goldie: Timeless

Review by David Toop, MOJO, September 1995

WITH A FEW notable exceptions, Jungle has thus far been a music for singles and endless drum 'n' bass compilations. As the genre's first high ...

Jon Hassell: Behind the Blue Screen: Jon Hassell

Profile and Interview by David Toop, Wire, The, August 1994

Jon Hassell's music with his group Bluescreen is an exotic domain of ritualised sex, strange tonalities, erotic transgressions and invisible connections. David Toop enters the ...

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Obituary by David Toop, MOJO, October 1997

"MUSIC IS THE HEALING FORCE OF the universe," So said saxophonist Albert Ayler, whose body was found floating in New York’s East River many years ...

Bill Laswell: An Interview with Bill Laswell

Interview by David Toop, Wire, The, December 1994

For almost two decades, Bill Laswell's music has traced a long, humid trail across continents, genres, moods, atmospheres and numerous collaborations. David Toop met him ...

LL Cool J: Def Jam: The Rap Brat Pack

Report and Interview by David Toop, Face, The, March 1986

THE GREATEST CREATIVE CONVERGENCE IN 20th Century music has been the American Jewish/Black independent record company. Reel 'em off: Herman Lubinsky and Savoy Records, Hy ...

Charles Manson, Beach Boys, The: Surfin' Death Valley USA

Essay by David Toop, Collusion, February 1982

"WE'LL GET THE ROUGHEST AND THE TOUGHEST INITIATION WE CAN FIND"from Our Car Club (Brian Wilson/Mile Love) Beach Boys, 1963What were the connections between Beach ...

Pete Namlook: Peter Namlook

Interview by David Toop, Wire, The, September 1994

Pete Namlook is one of the more remarkable figures of 90s electronic music. Since December 1992, he has released over 150 albums on his own ...

Prince’s Crown Starts to Slip: Love Sexy

Review by David Toop, Sunday Times, May 1988

It is difficult these days to find a pop musician who enjoys general critical euphoria, but for the past few years Prince has escaped the ...

Arthur Russell

Retrospective by David Toop, Wire, The, April 1995

This New York composer, who died in obscurity of AIDS in 1992, was a true visionary, traversing dub, disco and minimalism and anticipating the '90s ...

Scritti Politti: The Green Manifesto

Interview by David Toop, Face, The, 1988

The only pop artist who can incorporate Miles Davis and Jacques Derrida into the same repertoire, Green Gartside is still pondering the "the undecideability of ...

Stylistics, The: The Stylistics: Style Wars

Interview by David Toop, Black Echoes, August 1985

DAVID TOOP talks to the world's greatest soft soul harmony group – THE STYLISTICS ...

Luther Vandross: Let's Start with Pacman

Interview by David Toop, Face, The, March 1987

LUTHER VANDROSS SPRAWLS UNTIDILY ACROSS THE COUCH AND SHOOTS THAT LOOK. "MS PACMAN," HE CORRECTS. ...

Jah Wobble & Evan Parker: Passage To Hades (30 HERTZ)

Review by David Toop, Wire, The, February 2001

PERHAPS THIS IS a disingenuous flash of hindsight on my part, but I'm convinced that when I heard Public Image Limited's first album, back in ...

Womack and Womack (and Womack): Bring The Family Back

Profile and Interview by David Toop, Face, The, December 1985

BORN IN THE SOUL YEARS, SURVIVING THE LEAN YEARS, THE WOMACK FAMILY HAVE PUT A LIFETIME'S EMOTIONS INTO THEIR MUSIC. BUT CECIL AND LINDA WOMACK ...

All Mix & No Master

Essay by David Toop, Wire, The, September 1992

"Whoever doesn't like what I did, 20 years from now they can go back and redo it."Teo Macero, discussing his method of recording Miles Davis ...

Dub It Up: A Whistlestop Tour Through Reggae's Echo Chambers

Guide by David Toop, Wire, The, May 1994

A is for Alpha & Omega The odd couple of '90s roots and culture. Bassist Christine Woodbridge and melodica puffer John Sprosen conjure cultural spirits ...

Electro: The Beatbox Bites Back

Essay by David Toop, Face, The, May 1984

1984: Two a.m. at The Funhouse and the giant video screen fills with the image of the Master O.C.'s hands scratching an Enjoy 12 inch. ...

Incredible Strange and Highly Exotic

Essay by David Toop, Wire, The, October 1994

The Incredibly Strange Music books are mondo archaeology for vinyl fetishists. They exhume a hidden world of plastic where exotic Easy Listening, modern primitives, suburban ...

Rap It Up! Street-corner jive that brought discos alive

Retrospective by David Toop, History of Rock, The, 1984

Unless you were a streetwise native New Yorker, the source of the new underground black music that was appearing on disc in 1979 seemed unfathomable. ...

The A-Z of Electro

Guide by David Toop, Wire, The, March 1996

In its original incarnation, Electro was black science fiction teleported to the dancefloors of New York, Miami and LA; a super-stoopid fusion of video games, ...