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| As well as having a snazzy new cover and subtitle, The Ambient
Century has had a radical overhaul since the first edition appeared
in 2000/2001. First off it ends with a look at Moby, the world's best-selling
Ambient Techno artist and a fine composer to boot. There's a certain
ellipsis in ending with Moby as he talks about Satie, one of the influential
(classical) artists who began the book in the first place. Secondly
there was a set of parameters I put the first edition through before
I said the printers could go. And these divided down into four sets
of distinct patterns.
The first was a hard look at any proof reading or editing errors which occurred at the final stages of the 2000 edition. This time I had the advice of a keen musicologist who debated with me interpretations and whatnot of musical forms. The second was any necessary death changes, which in the case of Can's Michael Karoli or Popol Vuh's Florian Fricke were mandatory. The third was an essential album revision ie those new albums in the interim too crucial or important to ignore. The fourth was a veritable update of certain sections in the light of new developments for example the history of Compact Disc has been revolutionised by the superior fidelities offered by Super Audio Compact Disc and the, as yet to come, Blu-ray Disc. As well as a new Index there is also a new Afterword which aims to clarify the gestation and reason behind Ambient Century with unexpected references to Sigur Ros and Radiohead. To quote in part "The Ambient Century is a journey through the evolution of sound in the twentieth century. It is a journey borne out of personal experience and curiosity. It is not supposed to be a definitive textbook aiming to include everyone and anyone who has ever worked on sonic innovation. The book is not designed solely as a reference work, though many say it can be used in that way. Each section is written in a chronological manner and by reading the short essays at the beginning of each section and then reading the sections slowly you should get a genuine feel of the drift of change through time". Finally I'd like to say two new things. Anyone out there who
can identify what's on the new cover deserves a tilted hat. And
thank you Holly Roberts, at Bloomsbury, for your shrewd editing
and proof reading skills during preparation of the new version in
early 2003. Mark Prendergast |
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