Musique Concrète (Genre: A 33 1/3 Series)

When musique concrète first hit the airwaves, plenty of listeners reached for the earplugs. It ignored melody, meter and even instruments, instead turning recorded sound into raw material, from trundling trains to clattering saucepans, manipulated on tape and phonograph records into something uncanny and new.

It was never a mainstream hit, but its studio language travelled far, influencing everyone from Frank Zappa to The Who, and reaching The Beatles on their eight-and-a-half-minute musique concrète excursion Revolution 9.

In this book, Christian Kriticos follows the story of musique concrète from the 1940s into the 21st century, through the eccentric figures who shaped it. He links its ideas to hip-hop, mashups, plunderphonics and ambient music, making a strong case that its influence is still everywhere.