Futuromania by Simon Reynolds
Pre-order Simon Reynold's forthcoming Still in a Dream: Shoegaze, Slackers, and the Reinvention of Rock, 1984-1994, publishing June 2026. Simon Reynolds's first book in eight years is a celebration of music that feels like a taste of tomorrow. Sounds that prefigure pop music's future - the vanguard genres and heroic innovators whose discoveries eventually get accepted by the wider mass audience. But it's also about the way music can stir anticipation for a thrillingly transformed world just around the corner: a future that might be utopian or dystopian, but at least will be radically changed and exhilaratingly other. Starting with an extraordinary chapter on Giorgio Moroder and Donna Summer, taking in illuminating profiles of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Boards of Canada, Burial, and Daft Punk, and arguing for Auto-Tune as the defining sound of 21st century pop, Futuromania shapes over two-dozen essays and interviews into a chronological narrative of machine-music from the 1970s to now. Reynolds explores the interface between pop music and science fiction's utopian dreams and nightmare visions, always emphasising the quirky human individuals abusing the technology as much as the era-defining advances in electronic hardware and digital software. A tapestry of the scenes and subcultures that have proliferated in that febrile, sexy and contested space where man meets machine, Futuromania is an enthused listening guide that will propel readers towards adventures in sound. There is a lifetime of electronic listening here.
A captivating celebration of the music that pushes us forward * Record Collector *
Should be guaranteed a place on the bookshelf of everyone who claims to be a music lover * Blitzed Magazine *
Read it and you will believe he believes in life after love * Mojo *
The deeper he digs, the better it gets - his explanation of Auto-tune is fascinating * Uncut *
Should be guaranteed a place on the bookshelf of everyone who claims to be a music lover * Blitzed Magazine *
Read it and you will believe he believes in life after love * Mojo *
The deeper he digs, the better it gets - his explanation of Auto-tune is fascinating * Uncut *
Simon Reynolds is the author of Energy Flash: A Journey through Rave Music and Dance Culture, Blissed Out: The Raptures of Rock, The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellions and Rock and Roll (co-written with Joy Press), Rip it Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978 - 1984 and, most recently, Bring the Noise: Twenty Years of Hip Hop and Hip Rock.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781399618335 |
| ISBN 10 | 1399618334 |
| Title | Futuromania |
| Author | Simon Reynolds |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Orion Publishing Co |
| Year published | 2024-04-11 |
| Number of pages | 416 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |