Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 130 pages
- Published by: The MIT Press March 1, 2004
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 026263287X
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0262632874
-
Book Dimensions:
7.6 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
- Weighs: 5.6 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
DJ/conceptual artist/author Paul Miller's pseudonym is at once an arcane reference to William S. Burroughs's Nova Express and a childlike recognition of the sometimes eerie, disembodied sounds he gathers—an immediate indicator of the gleeful enthusiasm with which both his "mixes" and his first book juxtapose cultures high and low, new and old, avant-garde and "street." Son of Howard University's dean of law (who died when Miller was three) and a mother who ran an international fabric shop off Dupont Circle, Miller spent much of his childhood in Washington, D.C.'s nurturing bohemia before studying philosophy and literature at Bowdoin. That his thesis was on Richard Wagner—whose theory of gestamtkunstwerk (the total art work) presages much of today's "new media" revolution—is no surprise. The emerging aesthetic he describes is one in which the proliferating technologies of sampling and studio manipulation have eroded the distinction between music's producers and consumers. From "dub" in Jamaica to the turntablism of the South Bronx, how music was manipulated by listeners after the fact has become as important as how it was "originally" made. The range of reference Miller brings to his description of these phenomena reaches back to Vico and Emerson and forward to Eminem, giving "DJ culture" the broad contextualization its innovations have long warranted. Though much of what Miller describes is hardly new either to listeners or practitioners, his insights as a practicing and successful DJ are fresh and unpretentious. The enclosed CD, an expert full-length mix that moves from Artaud to Morton Feldman, then Patti Smith without blinking, paradoxically points out that Miller is still a better DJ than writer; its effortless juxtapositions cohere in a way his text (including 45 minimalist illustrations) rarely manages. But even such writer/musicians as John Fahey and Glenn Gould rarely accomplished that, and Miller has certainly earned a place in their company.
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Product Review
" [A] huge leap for the culture of the now. It's
software for your head. Upgrade your grey matter."
—
Roy Christopher,
Slap"Rhythm Science is a compelling book written by a formidable intellecta pivotally important manifesto for DJs."
—
Christian Carey,
Splendid"A densely allusive manifesto that is itself an objet d'art with a die-cut cover and a Dj Spooky sampler CD."
—
Josh Glenn,
Boston Sunday Globe"In
Rhythm Science Miller remixes sounds and ideas with equal dexterity. A new vibe for a new world."
—
John Akomfrah, film director
"It wouldn't much surprise me if DJ Spooky invigorates the intellectual world someday as Professor Spooky or even Chancellor Spooky."
—
Bruce Sterling, author of
The Hacker Crackdown and
Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years"Miller gets his points across in novel and affecting ways.a singular voice."
—
Larry Blumenfeld,
Jazziz"Miller raises compelling questions about the philosophy behind the DJ mix and the role the DJ plays in society."
—
Doree Shafrir,
Philadelphia Weekly"Miller's insights as a practicing and successful DJ are fresh and unpretentious."
—
Publisher's Weekly"Once again, Paul Miller has pushed the sonic arts and sciences to a new level, and in the process re-mastered literary form. I guarantee, this book will mess with your head, but in a funky way."
—
Robin D.G. Kelley, author of
Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination"The writing drifts easily, while cool design from COMA and a CD round out the package."
—
Anne York,
Res Magazine"We've ended the century of broadcast culture—when manufacturers produced the culture we consume. In this brilliant and gorgeous book, Paul Miller gives us the rhythm of sampled culture—culture created by those who can remix, and by technologies that enable anyone to remix.
Rhythm Science is science; it is art; it is the story of how freedom would build better science and art. Dark, with bright flashes, in tempo, with syncopation, it is a companion to the next stage, if we're allowed that next stage despite law that would keep us locked in the past."
—
Lawrence Lessig, Stanford Law School, author of
The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World
Reader ReviewsI like to think of this as a gimmick-packaged CD instead of a book. Paul D. Miller has assembled a remarkable mix of music. It's a shame that the words accompanying the music almost spoils it. I might have liked it better if the thing wasn't so ugly to look at. Like some of MIT's other Mediaworks pamphlets, Rhythm Science is over-designed to the point that discerning the text is a chore. Unlike other publications in this series (e.g. Shaping Things by Bruce Sterling) the thoughts contained within do not really justify struggling through the various typefaces. Miller's prose is not well written nor does it contain any arresting new ideas; he seems content to regurgitate rhetoric and jargon. I understand that part of Miller's intent is to apply DJ principles to prose. His facile attempts do not compare favourably with, say, Brion Gysin's & William Burroughs's cut-up & fold-in experiments in the '50s & '60s, or even to Jeff Noon's attempts at word remixing in his novels. However don't let the disappointingly pseudo-intellectual and pseudo-hip writing put you off the music. Five stars for the CD, 1 star for the book: my overall rating is the median of the two.
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