Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The role of sound and digital media in an information-based society: artists--from Steve Reich and Pierre Boulez to Chuck D and Moby--describe their work.

If Rhythm Science was about the flow of things, Sound Unbound is about the remix--how music, art, and literature have blurred the lines between what an artist can do and what a composer can create. In Sound Unbound, Rhythm Science author Paul Miller aka DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid asks artists to describe their work and compositional strategies in their own words. These are reports from the front lines on the role of sound and digital media in an information-based society. The topics are as diverse as the contributors: composer Steve Reich offers a memoir of his life with technology, from tape loops to video opera; Miller himself considers sampling and civilization; novelist Jonathan Lethem writes about appropriation and plagiarism; science fiction writer Bruce Sterling looks at dead media; Ron Eglash examines racial signifiers in electrical engineering; media activist Naeem Mohaiemen explores the influence of Islam on hip hop; rapper Chuck D contributes "Three Pieces"; musician Brian Eno explores the sound and history of bells; Hans Ulrich Obrist and Philippe Parreno interview composer-conductor Pierre Boulez; and much more. "Press 'play,'" Miller writes, "and this anthology says 'here goes.'"

The groundbreaking music that accompanies the book features Nam Jun Paik, the Dada Movement, John Cage, Sonic Youth, and many other examples of avant-garde music. Most of this content comes from the archives of Sub Rosa, a legendary record label that has been the benchmark for archival sounds since the beginnings of electronic music. To receive these free music files, readers may send an email to the address listed in the book.

Contributors
David Allenby, Pierre Boulez, Catherine Corman, Chuck D, Erik Davis, Scott De Lahunta, Manuel DeLanda, Cory Doctorow, Eveline Domnitch, Frances Dyson, Ron Eglash, Brian Eno, Dmitry Gelfand, Dick Hebdige, Lee Hirsch, Vijay Iyer, Ken Jordan, Douglas Kahn, Daphne Keller, Beryl Korot, Jaron Lanier, Joseph Lanza, Jonathan Lethem, Carlo McCormick, Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid, Moby, Naeem Mohaiemen, Alondra Nelson, Keith and Mendi Obadike, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Pauline Oliveros, Philippe Parreno, Ibrahim Quaraishi, Steve Reich, Simon Reynolds, Scanner aka Robin Rimbaud, Nadine Robinson, Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), Alex Steinweiss, Bruce Sterling, Lucy Walker, Saul Williams, Jeff E. Winner

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword (p. ix)
• 1 An Introduction, or My (Ambiguous) Life with Technology (p. 1)
• 2 In Through the Out Door (p. 5)
• Sampling and the Creative Act
• aka Dj Spooky that Subliminal Kid
• 3 The Future of Language (p. 21)
• 4 The Ecstasy of Influence (p. 25)
• A Plagiarism Mosaic
• 5 "Roots and Wires" Remix (p. 53)
• Polyrhythmic Tricks and the Black Electronic
• 6 The Life and Death of Media (p. 73)
• 7 Un-imagining Utopia (p. 83)
• 8 Freaking the Machine (p. 91)
• A Discussion about Keith Obadike's Sexmachines
• 9 Freeze Frame (p. 97)
• Audio, Aesthetics, Sampling, and Contemporary Multimedia
• aka Dj Spooky that Subliminal Kid
• 10 A Theater of Ideas (p. 109)
• An Interview with Steve Reich and Beryl Korot on Three Tales
• 11 Quantum Improvisation (p. 119)
• The Cybernetic Presence
• Pauline Oliveros
• 12 The Ghost Outside the Machine (p. 131)
• Scanner aka Robin Rimbaud
• 13 The Musician as Thief (p. 135)
• Digital Culture and Copyright Law
• 14 Integrated Systems (p. 151)
• Mobile Stealth Unit
• 15 An Interview with Moby (p. 155)
• 16 Zing! Went the Strings (p. 161)
• 17 Renegade Academia (p. 171)
• 18 The World of Sound (p. 181)
• A Division of Raymond Scott Enterprises
• 19 From Hip-Hip to Flip-Flop (p. 203)
• Black Noise in the Master-Slave Circuit
• 20 South Africa's Rhythms of Resistance (p. 215)
• 21 The Virtual Breeding of Sound (p. 219)
• 22 Zoom (p. 227)
• Mining AccelerationLiminal Product
• 23 An Interview with Alex Steinweiss (p. 233)
• 24 Stop. Hey. What's That Sound? (p. 245)
• 25 Permuting Connections (p. 265)
• Software for Dancers
• 26 On Improvisation, Temporality, and Embodied Experience (p. 273)
• 27 Spin the Painting (p. 293)
• An Interview with Nadine Robinson
• 28 Camera Lucida (p. 299)
• Three-dimensional Sonochemical Observatory
• 29 Fear of a Muslim Planet (p. 313)
• Hip-Hop's Hidden History
• 30 Three Pieces (p. 337)
• 31 Bells and Their History (p. 343)
• 32 What One Must Do (p. 353)
• Comments and Asides on Musical Philosophy
• 33 An Interview with Pierre Boulez (p. 361)
• Hans-Ulrich Obrist and Philippe Parreno
• 34 Adh'an (p. 375)
• The Sounds of an Islamized Orthodoxy
• 35 Theater of the Spirits (p. 377)
• Joseph Cornell and Silence
• 36 Where Did the Music Go? (p. 385)
• Audio CD Credits (p. 391)
• Index (p. 395)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

This sprawling and varied work features 36 essays on digital sampling, music, sound, and culture. The range of topics is vast, covering the invention of the synthesizer, an interview with Moby, the history of bells, and Muzak. The international cast of contributors--composers Steve Reich and John Cage, rapper Chuck D, sf novelist Bruce Sterling, and Dick Hebdige (Subculture: The Meaning of Style), among many others--is equally so. The collection bears the stamp of its editor, the multitalented Miller (Rhythm Science). Miller is best known for his experimental and hip-hop recordings in the "illbient" (a cross between ill, as in cool, and ambient) and trip genres and his numerous collaborations, and his characteristic eclecticism and ability to draw together disparate influences are much in evidence throughout. The pieces are generally brief, but the sheer breadth of topics is boggling, perhaps to a fault. The foreword, introduction, and Miller's opening piece do little to shed light on the unifying idea behind the collection. Still, this is a provocative and intriguing text, of interest to anyone working in or studying contemporary experimental music. Recommended for music libraries.--Dave Valencia, Seattle P.L. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Miller's subtitle is perfection. The book is a metaphor, in prose, for an audio "remix" created from samples. This notion is reinforced by the accompanying compact disc, which comprises largely remixes. Here are 36 articles: scholarship, criticism, confession. Included are an interview with Pierre Boulez and poetry by Chuck D. Some pieces are about art, some are art. Some are substantial enough to work outside the remix context. The CD, 45 short tracks, runs the gamut from Edgard Varese to Miller's own pieces and reveals commonalities between "serious" and "popular" electronic music. Finding an analog to this book from a mainstream press would be difficult. One wonders, of course, about the staying power of such an endeavor, although some of John Cage's "remixes" have held up reasonably well after 50 years or more. Summing Up: Recommended. All music collections. B. J. Murray Brevard College