“Bob Dylan is by no means a key participant in the history of electronic music. But as rock figures go, none may be more closely affiliated with the consequences of electricity.”
That’s how a new essay I’ve published at newmusicbox.org begins. The essay went up today.
In the piece, “Juiced In It: Bob Dylan and the Consequences of Electricity,” I parse his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One, for what it has to say about electronically mediated sound: “Now, if only due to his legendary act of having plugged in, Dylan’s autobiographical musings would be worth parsing for their electric content. And as it turns out, the exercise rewards Brian Eno completists, copyleft advocates, and, especially, students of the recording studio as musical instrument.”
Read the full thing at newmusicbox.org.