The Books
Encyclopedia
The Books are an American duo, formed in New York City
in 1999, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong. Their releases typically incorporate samples of obscure sounds and speech. They have released three critically acclaimed albums on the German label Tomlab
, and released their fourth studio album, The Way Out
, on Temporary Residence Limited
in July 2010.
in 1999 as they shared the same apartment building. De Jong invited Zammuto to dinner at his apartment, where he played him some of his collection of audio and video samples, including a Shooby Taylor
record. Zammuto said of their meeting that "we both kind of knew at that moment that we listened (to music) in interesting ways and had similar approaches to music." Soon after, they began playing what they considered to be pop music
, in comparison to their own works, under the name The Books.
In 2000, The Books started work on what would become their début album Thought for Food
. Zammuto and de Jong moved locations constantly during this time, recording in New York, Los Angeles
, Boston
, and finally in the basement of a hostel in North Carolina
where Zammuto worked for a while after hiking the Appalachian Trail
.
Thought for Food was released on October 22nd, 2002. Praised by critics for its distinctive sound, it featured extensive sampling from obscure sources coupled with mostly acoustic instrumentation.
, near where Zammuto had graduated from Williams College
in 1999, studying chemistry
and visual arts
. Zammuto and de Jong began the recording of The Lemon of Pink
around this time. Anne Doerner, a guest vocalist on the album, said the process was much more arduous than the recording of Thought for Food, with Zammuto working on the album for five straight months.
The Lemon of Pink was released to critical acclaim on October 7th, 2003. It is similar in style to Thought for Food, but oriented more around vocals performed mostly by Anne Doerner.
of this work in 2006, under the name Music for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by the Books
.
On April 5, 2005, The Books released their third studio album, Lost and Safe
. Zammuto has a greater vocal presence in this album, and the album was criticized for this change of sound. Aside from this, Lost and Safe was well received by critics. Throughout early 2005, The Books collobarated with the electronica artist Prefuse 73. The Books appear on his album Surrounded by Silence
("Pagina Dos"), and the E.P. Prefuse 73 Reads the Books E.P.
collects remixes of material sourced from The Books' albums.
Before starting a three-month tour of North America in April 2006, The Books had played only one concert, in October 2003 at a festival in Chicago, Illinois. Zammuto has expressed apprehensiveness towards touring, but says it is necessary to make a living, given his belief that people downloading The Books' music via file-sharing has put him under financial strain.
.
In 2007, The Books released Play All, a DVD of thirteen music videos and three previously unreleased tracks. The Play All videos are composed of found footage transformed into a collage that matches their music. The Books often screen these videos during their live performances.
The Books toured heavily between 2005 and 2007, including two tours in Europe and two Canadian shows. In early 2009 The Books covered the Nick Drake
song "Cello Song" in collaboration with José González
for the Red Hot Organization
's Dark Was the Night
fund-raising album.
The Books began working on The Way Out
in late 2008. Zammuto spoke of the album's New Age
themes in an interview in April 2009, saying they took samples from self-help
and hypnotherapy
cassettes. When asked to describe the album, Zammuto said "You're getting verrry sleepy." On April 5, 2010, the duo announced that The Way Out would be released through Temporary Residence Limited
in July. On April 27 Pitchfork Media
began streaming the track "Beautiful People", which Zammuto described as "a three part christian harmony mixed with a sort of euro-disco-trash beat, an orchestra’s worth of sampled brass and lyrics about the twelfth root of two (my favorite irrational number), trigonometry
and tangram
s". The album was released on July 20.
The Books played the ATP New York 2010
music festival in Monticello, New York, in September 2010 and are currently touring North American tour with the Black Heart Procession. The band have been chosen by Portishead & ATP to perform at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror
festival that they will curate in July 2011 at London's Alexandra Palace.
. Although they have said that their influences include Nirvana
, David Bowie
, Roxy Music
as well as new wave
and classical music, these do not show prominently in their music, though Zammuto was directly influenced by electronic
musicians Squarepusher
, Aphex Twin
and Boards of Canada
. The Books' music usually consists of acoustic instrumentation of folk
melodies usually played on guitar
, cello
, banjo
and more, combined with a diverse range of samples obtained from cassettes found in thrift stores, which are digitally processed and edited. They also rarely use a drum kit
in recordings and performances, instead favouring inanimate objects like children's toys and filing cabinets, which are sampled and looped. Some observers contend that their music is aleatoric, but Zammuto has disagreed, saying the music is very tightly controlled.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1999, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong. Their releases typically incorporate samples of obscure sounds and speech. They have released three critically acclaimed albums on the German label Tomlab
Tomlab
Tomlab is a German record label based in Köln. It has released works by bands such as The Books, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Deerhoof, Thee Oh Sees, Les Georges Leningrad, and acts associated with Blocks Recording Club, such as Final Fantasy, Ninja High School, and The Hank...
, and released their fourth studio album, The Way Out
The Way Out (The Books album)
The Way Out is the fourth studio album by American music duo The Books. It is the first album The Books have released in five years, and their first album with Temporary Residence Limited....
, on Temporary Residence Limited
Temporary Residence Limited
Temporary Residence Limited is a Brooklyn, New York-based record label. TRL was started in Baltimore, Maryland in late 1995. The label's first release was The Concord Anthology Process/Nero split 7", released April 1, 1996. After moving the operation to Portland, Oregon, owner/operator Jeremy...
in July 2010.
1999–2002: Thought for Food
Zammuto and de Jong first met in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1999 as they shared the same apartment building. De Jong invited Zammuto to dinner at his apartment, where he played him some of his collection of audio and video samples, including a Shooby Taylor
Shooby Taylor
William "Shooby" Taylor is famous for scat singing over various records, including the Ink Spots, the Harmonicats and Cristy Lane in a baritone voice...
record. Zammuto said of their meeting that "we both kind of knew at that moment that we listened (to music) in interesting ways and had similar approaches to music." Soon after, they began playing what they considered to be pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, in comparison to their own works, under the name The Books.
In 2000, The Books started work on what would become their début album Thought for Food
Thought for Food
Thought for Food is The Books' first album. It contains all the characteristic elements of their sound: rich and varied sampling from a variety of mundane and instrumental sources, combined into surprisingly coherent songs.-Reception:...
. Zammuto and de Jong moved locations constantly during this time, recording in New York, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, and finally in the basement of a hostel in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
where Zammuto worked for a while after hiking the Appalachian Trail
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...
.
Thought for Food was released on October 22nd, 2002. Praised by critics for its distinctive sound, it featured extensive sampling from obscure sources coupled with mostly acoustic instrumentation.
2002–2003: The Lemon of Pink
Shortly after the release of Thought for Food, the band relocated to North Adams, MassachusettsNorth Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,708 as of the 2010 census, making it the least populous city in the state...
, near where Zammuto had graduated from Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
in 1999, studying chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and visual arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
. Zammuto and de Jong began the recording of The Lemon of Pink
The Lemon of Pink
The Lemon of Pink is the second album by The Books, released October 7, 2003 on the Tomlab record label.-Reception:Initial critical response to The Lemon of Pink was very positive...
around this time. Anne Doerner, a guest vocalist on the album, said the process was much more arduous than the recording of Thought for Food, with Zammuto working on the album for five straight months.
The Lemon of Pink was released to critical acclaim on October 7th, 2003. It is similar in style to Thought for Food, but oriented more around vocals performed mostly by Anne Doerner.
2003–2006: Lost and Safe, Music for a French Elevator, Prefuse 73 Reads The Books
In 2004, the French Ministry of Culture asked The Books to compose music for a new elevator in their building. The Books released a Mini CDMini CD
Mini CDs, or “pocket CDs” are CDs with a smaller diameter and one third the capacity.-Formats:Amongst the various formats are the* Mini CD single, a small disc. The format is mainly used for audio CD singles in certain regions , much like the old vinyl single...
of this work in 2006, under the name Music for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by the Books
Music for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by the Books
Music for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by The Books is a 2006 release by The Books. It is a compendium on mini CD of four pieces created for the "1%" art and sound installation in the Ministry of Culture in Paris, France in 2004...
.
On April 5, 2005, The Books released their third studio album, Lost and Safe
Lost and Safe
Lost and Safe is the third album by The Books. It is in the same style of their previous albums, continuing their rich use of samples as diverse as Raymond Baxter , W. H...
. Zammuto has a greater vocal presence in this album, and the album was criticized for this change of sound. Aside from this, Lost and Safe was well received by critics. Throughout early 2005, The Books collobarated with the electronica artist Prefuse 73. The Books appear on his album Surrounded by Silence
Surrounded by Silence
Surrounded by Silence is the third full-length album by Prefuse 73, released March 21, 2005 on Warp Records. The album features collaborations with a variety of musicians, from rock bands to rappers, both underground and mainstream...
("Pagina Dos"), and the E.P. Prefuse 73 Reads the Books E.P.
Prefuse 73 Reads the Books E.P.
Prefuse 73 Reads the Books E.P. was an EP created by both Prefuse 73 and The Books. Surrounded by Silence includes track "Pagina Dos," from "Prefuse 73 Reads the Books E.P." as well as many other collaborations with artists other than The Books....
collects remixes of material sourced from The Books' albums.
Before starting a three-month tour of North America in April 2006, The Books had played only one concert, in October 2003 at a festival in Chicago, Illinois. Zammuto has expressed apprehensiveness towards touring, but says it is necessary to make a living, given his belief that people downloading The Books' music via file-sharing has put him under financial strain.
2006–present: Break, The Way Out
Following the release of Music for a French Elevator, the band took a break from recording to tend to their new families, tour in support of their albums, and pursue some of their own projects, which included Zammuto scoring a feature documentary about the Biosphere 2Biosphere 2
Biosphere 2 is a structure originally built to be an artificial, materially-closed ecological system in Oracle, Arizona by Space Biosphere Ventures, a joint venture whose principal officers were John P. Allen, inventor and Executive Director, and Margret Augustine, CEO...
.
In 2007, The Books released Play All, a DVD of thirteen music videos and three previously unreleased tracks. The Play All videos are composed of found footage transformed into a collage that matches their music. The Books often screen these videos during their live performances.
The Books toured heavily between 2005 and 2007, including two tours in Europe and two Canadian shows. In early 2009 The Books covered the Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
song "Cello Song" in collaboration with José González
José González
José González is a Swedish-Argentine indie folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Gothenburg, Sweden.González is also a member of Swedish band Junip, along with Elias Araya and Tobias Winterkorn.- Biography :...
for the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
's Dark Was the Night
Dark Was the Night
Dark Was the Night is the twentieth compilation release benefiting the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS...
fund-raising album.
The Books began working on The Way Out
The Way Out (The Books album)
The Way Out is the fourth studio album by American music duo The Books. It is the first album The Books have released in five years, and their first album with Temporary Residence Limited....
in late 2008. Zammuto spoke of the album's New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
themes in an interview in April 2009, saying they took samples from self-help
Self-help
Self-help, or self-improvement, is a self-guided improvement—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. There are many different self-help movements and each has its own focus, techniques, associated beliefs, proponents and in some cases, leaders...
and hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is a therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis.The word "hypnosis" is an abbreviation of James Braid's term "neuro-hypnotism", meaning "sleep of the nervous system"....
cassettes. When asked to describe the album, Zammuto said "You're getting verrry sleepy." On April 5, 2010, the duo announced that The Way Out would be released through Temporary Residence Limited
Temporary Residence Limited
Temporary Residence Limited is a Brooklyn, New York-based record label. TRL was started in Baltimore, Maryland in late 1995. The label's first release was The Concord Anthology Process/Nero split 7", released April 1, 1996. After moving the operation to Portland, Oregon, owner/operator Jeremy...
in July. On April 27 Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
began streaming the track "Beautiful People", which Zammuto described as "a three part christian harmony mixed with a sort of euro-disco-trash beat, an orchestra’s worth of sampled brass and lyrics about the twelfth root of two (my favorite irrational number), trigonometry
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...
and tangram
Tangram
The tangram is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective of the puzzle is to form a specific shape using all seven pieces, which may not overlap...
s". The album was released on July 20.
The Books played the ATP New York 2010
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
music festival in Monticello, New York, in September 2010 and are currently touring North American tour with the Black Heart Procession. The band have been chosen by Portishead & ATP to perform at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festival that they will curate in July 2011 at London's Alexandra Palace.
Musical style
The Books are commonly cited by critics to be of a genre of their own,. Zammuto has described it as collage musicSound collage
In music, montage or sound collage is a technique where sound objects or compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as montage, the use of portions of previous recordings or scores...
. Although they have said that their influences include Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
as well as new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
and classical music, these do not show prominently in their music, though Zammuto was directly influenced by electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
musicians Squarepusher
Squarepusher
Squarepusher is the performing pseudonym of Tom Jenkinson, an English electronic music artist signed to Warp Records. He specialises in the electronic music genres of drum and bass and acid, with a significant jazz and musique concrète influence....
, Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin
Richard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
and Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin...
. The Books' music usually consists of acoustic instrumentation of folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
melodies usually played on guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
and more, combined with a diverse range of samples obtained from cassettes found in thrift stores, which are digitally processed and edited. They also rarely use a drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
in recordings and performances, instead favouring inanimate objects like children's toys and filing cabinets, which are sampled and looped. Some observers contend that their music is aleatoric, but Zammuto has disagreed, saying the music is very tightly controlled.
Studio albums
- Thought for FoodThought for FoodThought for Food is The Books' first album. It contains all the characteristic elements of their sound: rich and varied sampling from a variety of mundane and instrumental sources, combined into surprisingly coherent songs.-Reception:...
(2002) - The Lemon of PinkThe Lemon of PinkThe Lemon of Pink is the second album by The Books, released October 7, 2003 on the Tomlab record label.-Reception:Initial critical response to The Lemon of Pink was very positive...
(2003) - Lost and SafeLost and SafeLost and Safe is the third album by The Books. It is in the same style of their previous albums, continuing their rich use of samples as diverse as Raymond Baxter , W. H...
(2005) - Music for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by the BooksMusic for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by the BooksMusic for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by The Books is a 2006 release by The Books. It is a compendium on mini CD of four pieces created for the "1%" art and sound installation in the Ministry of Culture in Paris, France in 2004...
(EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, 2006) - The Way OutThe Way Out (The Books album)The Way Out is the fourth studio album by American music duo The Books. It is the first album The Books have released in five years, and their first album with Temporary Residence Limited....
(2010)
External links
- http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/dailyloaf/2010/11/02/collective-memory-an-interview-with-the-books/ Interview with The Books