Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music

(Paperback, Main)

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Rob Young investigates how the idea of folk has been handed down and transformed by successive generations - song collectors, composers, Marxist revivalists, folk-rockers, psychedelic voyagers, free festival-goers, experimental pop stars and electronic innovators.

In a sweeping panorama of Albion's soundscape that takes in the pioneer spirit of Cecil Sharp; the pastoral classicism of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Peter Warlock; the industrial folk revival of Ewan MacColl and A.L. Lloyd; the folk-rock of Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, Shirley Collins, John Martyn and Pentangle; the bucolic psychedelia of The Incredible String Band, The Beatles and Pink Floyd; the acid folk of Comus, Forest, Mr Fox and Trees; The Wicker Man and occult folklore; the early Glastonbury and Stonehenge festivals; and the visionary pop of Kate Bush, Julian Cope and Talk Talk, Electric Eden maps out a native British musical voice that reflects the complex relationships between town and country, progress and nostalgia, radicalism and conservatism.

An attempt to isolate the 'Britishness' of British music - a wild combination of pagan echoes, spiritual quest, imaginative time-travel, pastoral innocence and electrified creativity - Electric Eden will be treasured by anyone interested in the tangled story of Britain's folk music and Arcadian dreams.

Reviews

""Electric Eden "is a stunning achievement." --Simon Reynolds, author of "Rip It Up and Start Again
""I'm currently on my sixth album purchase because of this book. The guy should be getting a kickback from Amazon, he really should." --Robin Turner, "Caught by the River
""Hugely ambitious . . . A thoroughly enjoyable read and likely to remain the best-written overview [of the modern British folk phenomenon] for a long time . . . I've already made several precious musical discoveries thanks to this book and I expect to make more." --Michel Faber, "Guardian Book of the Week
""Young's grasp of context is enviable, his knowledge encyclopaedic . . . "Electric Eden" constructs a new mythography out of old threads, making antiquity glow with an eerie hue." --Peter Murphy, "Sunday Business Post
""Stunning . . . The thread of mapping modern instruments on to traditional folk tunes leads Young from Peter Warlock to Bert Jansch, Steeleye Span and the Aphex Twin, via

"Electric Eden "is a stunning achievement. Simon Reynolds, author of "Rip It Up and Start Again
"Im currently on my sixth album purchase because of this book. The guy should be getting a kickback from Amazon, he really should. Robin Turner, "Caught by the River
"Hugely ambitious . . . A thoroughly enjoyable read and likely to remain the best-written overview [of the modern British folk phenomenon] for a long time . . . Ive already made several precious musical discoveries thanks to this book and I expect to make more. Michel Faber, "Guardian Book of the Week
"Youngs grasp of context is enviable, his knowledge encyclopaedic . . . "Electric Eden" constructs a new mythography out of old threads, making antiquity glow with an eerie hue. Peter Murphy, "Sunday Business Post
"Stunning . . . The thread of mapping modern instruments on to traditional folk tunes lead

Author Bio

Rob Young graduated in 1989 and was the editor of The Wire for 4 years up to 2004. He has recently been series editor of Black Dog's stylish monographs of influential record labels - including books on Warp Records and Rough Trade. He is currently in the middle of a novel based on the life of 17th century Jesuit polymath, Athanasius Kircher.