There's a new title from November of 2022 which I've really wanted to read but after losing my job and fighting for over 8 weeks with still not a penny in unemployment benefits and likely another 8 weeks before I see a payment (if at all), I've had to rein in all non-critical spending so I haven't ordered a copy yet. Hopefully by next June I'll be employed again and can treat myself to the book for my birthday, but all my career hunting options have dried up so it's not looking good.
Turn On, Tune In, Drift Off: Ambient Music's Psychedelic Past is the third major academic work on the ambient music genre and is
published by Oxford University Press. I have copies of its predecessors,
The Ambient Century (2000) by Mark J. Prendergast and
Ocean of Sound (1995) by David Toop.
The latest book is by Victor Szabo, whose work broadly addresses the socioaesthetics of 20th and 21st century popular and electronic music. He's previously published articles on Eno's
Airports and a piece on "Ambient Music as Popular Genre," but
Turn On... is his first proper book.
News of the book was hyped by DJ Food and widely-promoted by Hearts of Space, so I've really wanted to get my hands on a copy.
Has anyone else read this yet? I'd love to hear what readers thought about it. I've stalked book review sites but there is very little reader feedback so far. If you've read it I can live vicariously through you until I'm able to save up for a copy.
Thanks.
(Image is of DJ Food's copy)
UPDATE: I found a copy of the PDF version and read it cover to cover this morning. I'll likely order a physical copy later this year if I can find a job to show my support to the author.
At least I've scratched that itch.