Strange Sounds: Offbeat Instruments and Sonic Experiments in Pop - Softcover

Brend, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0879308559 ISBN 13: 9780879308551

Publisher: Backbeat Books, 2005

Synopsis

What do David Bowie, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Radiohead, The Troggs, The Human League, The Osmonds and The Beach Boys have in common? They've all used unusual musical instruments on big hit records. Strange Sounds tells the stories behind these recordings and many more. It includes some of the biggest names in pop music from the 1950s to the present, explaining and illustrating what instruments were used – their history, how they were played, how the artists came to choose them – and in the process uncovering a parallel history of pop music, one where guitars and drums make way for claviolines, ocarinas and stylophones. The accompanying CD includes demonstration recordings of many of the instruments documented, as well as incidental music composed by the author, recorded using a unique line-up of the instruments featured in the book.

About this title

Review

'entertaining and informative throughout'

9 out of 10 -- Future Music - Decmebr 2005

'scholarly'

4 out of 5 -- Record Collector - January 2006

A great read ... this is a real treat. -- Mojo, March, 2006

â Peculiarly absorbing.â -- The Times, Books for Christmas, December 3, 2005

Edition details

• Publisher: Backbeat Books
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0879308559
• ISBN 13: 9780879308551
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192