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David Toop

David Toop

An experimental composer/musician who has worked with musicians ranging from Brian Eno to Prince Far I, David has written many exceptional pieces for THE FACE, ARENA, MOJO, THE TIMES and his own early '80s magazine COLLUSION. He is the author of The Rap Attack (now in its third edition), Ocean of Sound and Exotica. He also curated Sonic Boom, a major exhibition of sound art for the Hayward Gallery in 2000. He once appeared on Top Of The Pops, though has yet to see this performance on TOTP2.

David Toop's blog

David Toop on the RBP podcast

108 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Adeva, Kool and the Gang, Van Dyke Parks: Kool and the Gang: Sweat (Phonogram 838233-1); Van Dyke Parks: Tokyo Rose (Warner Bros 925968-1)

Review by David Toop, The Times, 2 September 1989

Moving forward to the past ...

Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (R&S/Apollo Double 12"/CD); Polygon Window: Surfing On Sine Waves (Warp LP7 Double 12"/CD)

Review by David Toop, The Wire, February 1993

ALWAYS PREJUDGE the intentions of a piece of music by its title. The judgement may not be entirely fair, yet its accuracy is frequently uncanny. ...

Aphex Twin, µ-ziq, Daniel Pemberton: Up to something in the bedroom

Report and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 29 April 1994

They're hot in the clubs, but low in social skills. David Toop meets techno's bores with attitude ...

Arrested Development, Da Lench Mob, Ice Cube: Da Lench Mob, Ice Cube, Arrested Development: Looking for a reason in rhyme

Report by David Toop, The Times, 12 March 1993

The angry sound of inner-city America is giving way to a stronger, more reflective and more commercial rap. David Toop reports ...

Babyface, N.W.A, Saw Throat: Babyface: Tender Lover; NWA: Straight Outta Compton; Various artists: Grind Crusher; Saw Throats: Indestroy

Review by David Toop, The Times, 26 August 1989

Conventional Black ...

Burt Bacharach: Lost Horizon

Interview by David Toop, GQ, June 1996

NOTE: This is the "director's cut" version of an interview published by GQ in 1996. ...

Burt Bacharach, Portishead: Ballads: Heart of Darkness

Essay by David Toop, The Face, September 1996

Can the ballad survive in the post-soul '90s, asks David Toop. ...

The Beach Boys, Charles Manson: 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, 1963 What were the connections between Beach ...

John "Jellybean" Benitez, Madonna: Jellybean Benitez: Spinning the Globe

Interview by David Toop, The Face, October 1987

First it was Jellybean the DJ playing disco in a Bronx salsa club and helping launch post-video game dance music from New York's Funhouse. Then it was Jellybean the producer working with megastars like Whitney Houston and Madonna. ...

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." ...

Björk: Alone in the Dark: Björk on Vespertine

Interview by David Toop, The Wire, September 2001

Björk's eerie night songs are infused with the mythological landscapes of her native Iceland and the concrete fjords of Manhattan. She tells David Toop about ...

Björk: SelmaSongs (One Little Indian TPLP1 51 CD)

Review by David Toop, The Wire, November 2000

THE FIRST admission to make is that I haven't yet seen Lars Von Trier's Dancer In The Dark, the film that stars Björk and features ...

Blaze, Marshall Jefferson, Jomanda, Kym Mazelle, Ce Ce Rogers, Ten City: Post House: Paradise Regained

Report by David Toop, The Face, December 1988

When New York's Paradise Garage closed, the city lost part of its pulse, leaving only a brand of Eighties disco called Garage. In Chicago, it ...

Jon Bon Jovi: Q&A: Jon Bon Jovi

Interview by David Toop, The Face, December 1992

Jon Bon Jovi has had his hair cut off and been remixed by Jesus Jones. What's going on? ...

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

Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, 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: ...

Bros: Teenage Clean Wave

Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, April 1988

BROS and their fans are tired of the grown-up messages of adult pop. The girls that cluster outside their house every day represent a new era in ...

Bros: The only way is where?

Profile by David Toop, The Times, 18 August 1989

Bros, Britain's favourite pop group, play Wembley Stadium tomorrow. David Toop asks whether this sets the seal on their success or marks the beginning of ...

Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers, Experience Unlimited (EU), Redds And The Boys, Trouble Funk: DC Freeze: Staying Alive in the Chocolate City

Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, April 1985

Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, New York... The urban sound off black America is synonymous with these places. So what of Washington DC, the first US city ...

Harold Budd, Cocteau Twins, Andy Partridge: Harold Budd: Sonic archaeologist

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

What unearthly music is Harold Budd exhuming now? ...

LTJ Bukem, Coldcut: A step ahead of fashion — and the law

Report by David Toop, The Times, 26 November 1993

The hottest sounds buzzing around our cities are frequently also illegal. David Toop reports on the wild and wilful world of pirate radio, and its ...

John Cage, Brian Eno, Keith LeBlanc, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ultramarine: Ambient: The Chill-Out Zone

Essay by David Toop, Mixmag, October 1992

Ambient music: not just a soundtrack for the chill-out room, more a sound of the future. David Toop gets deep. Very deep. ...

Vinicius Cantuária, Arto Lindsay: Arto Lindsay and Vinicius Cantuária: Songs for modern lovers

Interview by David Toop, The Wire, April 1999

Arto Lindsay transformed himself from extreme noise guitarist into the age's most intimate lover through his archaeology of Brazilian modernism. Now working in tandem with ...

Walter/Wendy Carlos: Wendy Carlos: Switched-On Boxed Set (East Side Digital ESD 81422 4xCD)

Review by David Toop, The Wire, December 1999

GOD KNOWS, there are enough CDs out there that clamour to be recognised as expressions of posthuman synthesis and the 21st century Zeitgeist. Then a ...

Dina Carroll, Monie Love, Alexander O'Neal: Warming up at last — Alexander O'Neal, Dina Carroll, Monie Love: Alexandra Park, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 29 June 1993

SOUL IN THE PARK: David Toop at a north London gathering of night owls in the sunshine ...

Sheila Chandra: Voicing her own identity

Interview by David Toop, The Times, 25 September 1992

Sheila Chandra, a singer drawing on Asian, African and European sources, talks to David Toop ...

Tracy Chapman: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 17 November 1989

A glum, tedious sing-along ...

Tracy Chapman, Jimi Hendrix, Living Colour, Prince, Dan Reed Network: Black Rock

Essay by David Toop, The Face, July 1990

White Rock we know about, but why should the idea of Black Rock be so difficult to comprehend? When Prince says his current tour is rock'n'roll based, he ...

Don Cherry, The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, The Watts Prophets: The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy, Don Cherry, the Watts Prophets: Word Power — West Coast Rap goes Radical

Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, February 1992

Rap music has become less experimental, but on America's West Coast, groups like The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy and New World Rhythm are trying to ...

Ornette Coleman: In perfect harmolodics

Interview by David Toop, The Times, 30 September 1995

Jazz giant Ornette Coleman would like to teach the world to sing — if it understood him. David Toop reports ...

Willie Colon, Gilberto Gil, Dizzy Gillespie, Milton Nascimento: ¿Te Gusta La Musica Latina?

Overview by David Toop, The Face, August 1986

FROM PANAMA DOWN THROUGH VENEZUELA TO BRAZIL, THIS MUSIC IS THE PULSE OF A CONTINENT. IN SOUTH AMERICA, SAMBAS CARRY SOCIAL STATEMENTS. THE DANCING IS ...

John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: The Complete Masters (USM/Impulse/Verve)

Review by David Toop, The Wire, November 2015

The complete session of the landmark John Coltrane album underlines the solemn rigour of the ritual.  ...

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, ...

Cypress Hill: Black Sunday (Columbia 474075 2)

Review by David Toop, The Times, 30 July 1993

The days of whine and razors ...

D'Angelo: Soul Asylum

Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Face, September 1995

Is D'Angelo the last soul man or simply the finest new voice of the Nineties? ...

Hugh Davies (1943–2005)

Obituary by David Toop, The Wire, February 2005

David Toop laments the passing of a meticulous British improvisor and instrument builder ...

Dismember, N.W.A: Art on Trial

Comment by David Toop, The Wire, April 1993

By downplaying or ridiculing the potential impact of extreme artforms such as death metal and hardcore HipHop, do the defences in censorship trials call into ...

Bob Dylan, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Daniel Lanois, The Neville Brothers, U2: Daniel Lanois: Let the music speak

Interview by David Toop, The Times, 2 February 1990

David Toop meets Daniel Lanois, the hit producer of albums for U2, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan, now a performer himself on record and visiting ...

Gloria Estefan: Spanish is the loving tongue

Interview by David Toop, The Times, 9 July 1993

For her latest album, Gloria Estefan went home — metaphorically — to Cuba. David Toop talked to her ...

Georgie Fame, Billy Fury, Malcolm McLaren, Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde: Larry Parnes: The past master in idol speculation

Obituary by David Toop, The Times, 7 August 1989

David Toop on how Larry Parnes, who died last week, invented the British pop music star as a result of a meeting in a coffee ...

Jem Finer, The Pogues: Cross Platform: Jem Finer

Interview by David Toop, The Wire, May 2004

Sound in other media. This month: David Toop talks to Jem Finer about his transition from banjo plucking with The Pogues to computer-decomposed improvisations and ...

Diamanda Galás, John Paul Jones: Diamanda Galás and John Paul Jones: Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 4 November 1994

Monster mosh ...

General Levy: Jungle fever — hot heavy and here

Report and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 24 June 1994

Rap, reggae, ragga and soul have combined in a heady brew. David Toop talks to toastmaster General Levy ...

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 ...

Goldie: Metal Guru

Interview by David Toop, The Face, July 1995

Ten years ago, David Toop met a young graffiti artist named Goldie. "When I was a kid," he said, "I had nothing to look at ...

Grand Mixer D.ST, Jalal Mansur Nuriddin: Rappers: Jalal Nuriddin

Report by David Toop, The Face, October 1984

EARLIER THIS year, just when it seemed safe to assume that the message rap genre had run out of self-righteous steam, two 12-inch records popped ...

Lily Greenham, Daphne Oram: Daphne Oram: Oramics/Lily Greenham: Lingual Music (Paradigm Discs)

Review by David Toop, The Wire, March 2007

David Toop recovers past visions of the future from the audio fragments of two English women in experimental music ...

The Grid, Us3: Us3 and the Grid: Could Ludwig Van be techno's main man?

Report and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 20 May 1994

Sampling jazz rarities on to dance tracks could become old hat, now musicians can concoct raves from the grave. David Toop reports ...

Jon Hassell: Behind the Blue Screen: Jon Hassell

Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Wire, 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 ...

Hot House, M People: M People

Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Face, December 1994

THE "DISCO SUCKS" MENTALITY REARS ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN. JUST AS M PEOPLE'S STAR REACHES ITS ZENITH, THEIR AWARD-WINNING SHEEN BURNING BRIGHT, THE MUSIC WORLD DISSENT ...

Billy Idol: Mobile sneer and ultimate throb makes Idol rich

Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 20 August 1990

Fame in America but indifference at home: the strange fate of the textbook rock 'n' roller Billy Idol told by David Toop. ...

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

Guide by David Toop, The Wire, 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 ...

Brian Jones, Bill Laswell, The Master Musician of Jajouka, The Rolling Stones: Master Musicians of Jajouka: Stoned on the best Moroccan

Retrospective by David Toop, The Times, 22 July 1995

Rolling Stone Brian Jones was intoxicated by the music of the Master Musicians of Jajouka, says David Toop. Now they are in London. ...

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 ...

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Best all-rounder since Botham?

Interview by David Toop, The Times, 22 March 1996

David Toop meets Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, ubiquitous superstar of world music ...

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parveen: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Subcontinental Drift

Report and Interview by David Toop, The Wire, May 1996

In this extended edition of our monthly survey of sounds from around the planet, David Toop reports from the teeming streets, temples and concert halls ...

Kraftwerk: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 23 July 1991

FOLLOWING THIS year's release of a remix album, a greatest hits by any other name, Kraftwerk fans have been forced to ask themselves whether this ...

k.d. lang: Back to the emotional basics

Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 25 May 1990

A WOMAN who favours the use of lower-case letters for her name rather than capitals, k.d. lang claims to have given up intellectualizing country music. ...

Bill Laswell: An Interview with Bill Laswell

Interview by David Toop, The Wire, 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 ...

Larry Levan 1954-1992

Obituary by David Toop, The Face, January 1993

JUST BECAUSE remix culture confuses our sense of history, this doesn't mean that DJs don't have heroes. Larry Levan was one of the few DJs ...

Larry Levan Dies

Obituary by David Toop, Mixmag, January 1993

The legendary Paradise Garage DJ passed away in November. David Toop pays tribute. ...

Levitation, Spiritualized: Spiritualized, Levitation: Hackney Empire, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 6 April 1993

Drifting together ...

LL Cool J: Def Jam: The Rap Brat Pack

Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, 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 ...

M/A/R/R/S

Profile and Interview by David Toop, Spin, January 1988

M/A/R/R/S BEGAN AS A collaboration between Martyn and Steve Young of the 4AD band Colourbox and Alex and Rudi of A. R. Kane. ...

Baaba Maal: Jazz Café, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 4 November 1992

Riveted by the rhythm — African sounds are sheer joy ...

Manic Street Preachers: Generation Terrorists (Columbia 471060 2)

Review by David Toop, The Times, 15 February 1992

Genuinely hopeless? ...

Barry Manilow: Palladium, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 1 February 1990

Falling for the master of charm ...

MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice: Hooked on Rap

Comment by David Toop, The Face, January 1991

David Toop on the rise of Hammer and Ice ...

Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer: Giorgio Moroder: Throbbery With Intent

Retrospective and Interview by David Toop, The Wire, April 1992

David Toop takes the pulse of disco pioneer GIORGIO MORODER ...

Motörhead: Metal Guru

Profile and Interview by David Toop, Spin, December 1987

T-shirts may change, but Motörhead goes on. ...

Pete Namlook

Interview by David Toop, The Wire, 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 ...

Youssou N'Dour: Hammersmith Palais, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 20 November 1990

YOUSSOU N'DOUR has been described as the first World Music superstar; as meaningless titles go, this is hard to beat and offers the remarkable Senegalese ...

Youssou N'Dour, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Ryuichi Sakamoto: Dominion, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 27 March 1990

Dissolving the borders ...

Paul Oakenfold, Danny Rampling: From Acid House to the Balearics

Report by David Toop, The Times, 18 August 1988

What is the link between acid and House, between Ibiza and a music that does not exist? ...

Alexander O'Neal: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 4 December 1989

Tenderness to spare ...

Buck Owens: Myths of the honky-tonker

Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 25 March 1989

On the eve of the Wembley country, festival, Buck Owens tells David Toop of the horrors of assembly-line music ...

Evan Parker, Keith Rowe: Keith Rowe: Harsh, Guitar Solo; Evan Parker/Keith Rowe: Dark Rags

Review by David Toop, The Wire, December 2000

"AFTER SEVERAL years of bizarre playing in a sort of anti-jazz style that always ill-suited his supposed role of rhythm guitarist, Rowe now seems on ...

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

Review by David Toop, The Wire, 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 ...

Lee "Scratch" Perry: Lee Perry: Man, myth and magician

Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 13 April 1990

Jamaican musician Lee Perry, re-emerging after a long period of semi-retirement, talks to David Toop ...

Astor Piazzolla: Maria Susana Azzi & Simon Collier: Le Grand Tango – The Life & Music Of Astor Piazzolla (Oxford University Press)

Book Review by David Toop, The Wire, September 2000

THE REVOLUTIONARY tango music of Argentinian composer and bandoneon virtuoso Astor Piazzolla is one of the great treasures of 20th century art. ...

Prince’s Crown Starts to Slip: Love Sexy

Review by David Toop, The Sunday Times, 22 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 ...

Prince of Confusion

Essay by David Toop, The Face, September 1994

David Toop listens to the old and the new and wonders which is which ...

Arthur Russell

Retrospective by David Toop, The Wire, 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 ...

Arthur Russell: The Flying Heart

Retrospective by David Toop, The Wire, January 2004

Arthur Russell is the great enigma of New York's music scene. A cellist, Buddhist and former music director at the legendary Kitchen, he was seduced ...

Scritti Politti: The Green Manifesto

Interview by David Toop, The Face, 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 ...

Tupac Shakur: Farewell to Arms

Retrospective by David Toop, The Face, November 1996

Tupac Shakur was the rapper whose lyrics merged poetry with pain to make him an icon for America's doom generation. On September 13, at the ...

Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: New Waves — The insider's guide to the Next Big Thing: Snoop Doggy Dogg

Comment by David Toop, The Times, 29 October 1993

SOMETIMES A musician is so obviously the next big thing that hailing the fact in advance seems like cheating. Only a small sample of Snoop ...

The Stylistics: Style Wars

Interview by David Toop, Black Echoes, 24 August 1985

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

Taku Sugimoto: Italia (A Bruit Secret)

Review by David Toop, The Wire, September 2001

David Toop praises guitarist Taku Sugimoto's clerical era ...

Sun Ra: Not-so-lucky old Sun shines on

Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 8 June 1990

David Toop talks to Sun Ra; supremely idiosyncratic veteran US bandleader ...

Sweet Tee & Jazzy Joyce: Queens of the Bronx

Interview by David Toop, The Face, May 1987

"HIP HOP is such a beats orientated music. It's just beats and a bass line. If you put anything else to it like keyboards and ...

David Sylvian: Blemish

Review by David Toop, The Wire, June 2003

With contributions from Derek Bailey and Christian Fennesz, David Sylvian's new record is his most adventurous departure yet. ...

David Toop: Tokyo without a map

Report by David Toop, The Wire, May 2000

Sonic Boom curator David Toop visits the Japanese capital to network with a gaggle of young electronic sound artists, and finds the megalopolis as perplexing ...

Ali Farka Touré: Ronnie Scott's Club, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 26 April 1990

A modern primitive ...

Tricky: Pre-Millennium Tension (Fourth & Broadway BR 623 CD/MC/LP)

Review by David Toop, The Wire, October 1996

ANY MUSICIAN who debuts at creative boiling point is going to slap into problems before too long. A couple of years of press saturation, blind ...

Luther Vandross: Let's Start with Pacman

Interview by David Toop, The Face, March 1987

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

Barry White: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 13 March 1992

In the name of love ...

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

Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Face, 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 ...

John Zorn: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 30 November 1989

Art of musical autopsy in reverse ...

John Zorn: The master of mixture

Interview by David Toop, The Times, 5 November 1988

John Zorn, whose group Naked City makes a rare appearance in London tomorrow, has turned sheer eclecticism into an art form. David Toop did some ...

List of genre pieces

Drug Culture As Pop Culture

Overview by David Toop, Mixmag, June 1992

WHEN PHUTURE'S 'Acid Tracks' hit the decks in 1987, the title of this minimalist techno-homage to the Roland TR-303 blinded most of us to the ...

Island Records: The man who sold the world?

Report by David Toop, The Times, 2 August 1989

Chris Blackwell, the idiosyncratic founder of Island Records, has sold out to one of the music industry giants, Polygram. David Toop asks whether the spirit ...

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

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

Stand By Yer Samplers

Essay by David Toop, Mixmag, September 1992

Dance music is under attack. The establishment is swamping us with double packs and pointless pop product posing as dance music. Dance music is no ...

Timothy Day: A Century Of Recorded Music – Listening To Musical History (Yale University Press)

Book Review by David Toop, The Wire, February 2001

BANISH RECORDED MUSIC and 41 pages, including record company advertisements, vanish from the pages of last month's Wire. Erase any evidence, awareness or memory of ...

All Mix & No Master

Essay by David Toop, The Wire, 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 ...

Electro: The Beatbox Bites Back

Essay by David Toop, The Face, 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, The Wire, 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 ...

The A-Z of Electro

Guide by David Toop, The Wire, 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, ...

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