Electronic music is now ubiquitous, from mainstream pop hits to
the furthest reaches of the avant-garde. The future, a long time coming,
finally arrived. But how did we get here? In Mars by 1980, David Stubbs
charts the evolution of electronic music from the earliest mechanical
experiments in the late nineteenth century to the pre-World War 1
inventions of the Futurist Luigi Russolo, author of the 'Art Of Noises'
manifesto. He takes us through the musique concrete of radical composers
such as Edgard Varese, Pierre Schaeffer, and Karlheinz Stockhausen, to
the gradual absorption of electronic instrumentation into the
mainstream: be it through the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and the work of
pioneers like Delia Derbyshire, grandiose prog rock, or the more DIY
approach of electronica, house, and techno. It's a tale of mavericks and
future dreamers overcoming Luddite resistance, malfunctioning devices,
and sonic mayhem. Its beginnings are in the world of avant-classical
composition, but the book also encompasses the cosmic funk of Stevie
Wonder, Giorgio Moroder, and unforgettable 80s electronic pop from the
likes of Depeche Mode, the Pet Shop Boys, and Laurie Anderson - right up
to present day innovators on the underground scene. But above all, it's
an essential story of authenticity: is this music? Is it legitimate?
What drew its creators to make it? Where does it stand, in relation to
rock and pop, classical and jazz music, to the modern society that
generated it? And why does it resonate more strongly than ever in our
own postmodern, seemingly post-futurist times? Mars by 1980 is the
definitive account that answers these questions.
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