STRANGE SOUNDS: OFFBEAT INSTRUMENTS
AND SONIC EXPERIMENTS IN POP
BY MARK BEND
BACKBEAT BOOKS
AND SONIC EXPERIMENTS IN POP
BY MARK BEND
BACKBEAT BOOKS
Accounts of the innovation and drive of electronic inventors, such as legendary eccentric Joe
Meek, are told alongside the history of weird and wonderful instruments like the sitar. The
‘Washboards and Whispering Foils’ chapter reveals the lengths people will go to make music
out of non-musical instruments, which ends up saying much about the human spirit. Strange
Sounds is ultimately about the evolution of pop music, and how now, in this post-OK
Computer/Missy Elliot age, sonic experimentation is no longer an anomaly in rock and hip-
hop; it’s just expected. Non-musicians will get lost in the explanations of how you play certain
instruments (not the fault of the writer, just an inevitability), but thankfully there are plenty of
photos and a CD of samples (most specially recorded). Readers will undoubtedly feel the
urge to set aside the book many times in order to download those songs that marked odd and
groundbreaking moments in both sound and pop.
--Bart Bealmear
Meek, are told alongside the history of weird and wonderful instruments like the sitar. The
‘Washboards and Whispering Foils’ chapter reveals the lengths people will go to make music
out of non-musical instruments, which ends up saying much about the human spirit. Strange
Sounds is ultimately about the evolution of pop music, and how now, in this post-OK
Computer/Missy Elliot age, sonic experimentation is no longer an anomaly in rock and hip-
hop; it’s just expected. Non-musicians will get lost in the explanations of how you play certain
instruments (not the fault of the writer, just an inevitability), but thankfully there are plenty of
photos and a CD of samples (most specially recorded). Readers will undoubtedly feel the
urge to set aside the book many times in order to download those songs that marked odd and
groundbreaking moments in both sound and pop.
--Bart Bealmear
Want to know the initial pop artist to use a drum machine on
record? What ‘70s toy did Kraftwerk use on “Pocket
Calculator”? Which mammoth Top 40 hit was the first to feature
electronic sound prominently? These and other enthralling
tales of advancement are uncovered in the pages of Strange
Sounds, where those curious about unusual instrumentation in
pop music will be surprised by many of the stories, and pleased
at the lengths author Mark Bend goes to find truth in history.
record? What ‘70s toy did Kraftwerk use on “Pocket
Calculator”? Which mammoth Top 40 hit was the first to feature
electronic sound prominently? These and other enthralling
tales of advancement are uncovered in the pages of Strange
Sounds, where those curious about unusual instrumentation in
pop music will be surprised by many of the stories, and pleased
at the lengths author Mark Bend goes to find truth in history.