LISTEN TO THIS. Copyright © 2010, 2011 by Alex Ross.
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The following essays were originally published, in slightly different form, in
The New Yorker:
“Listen to This” (February 16, 2004); “Infernal Machines,” which incorporates portions of two
New Yorker
articles, “The Record Effect” (June 6, 2005) and “The Well-Tempered Web” (October 22, 2007); “The Storm of Style” (July 24, 2006); “Orbiting” (August 20, 2001), originally as “The Searchers”; “The Anti-Maestro” (April 30, 2007); “Great Soul” (February 3, 1997); “Emotional Landscapes” (August 23, 2004), originally as “Björk’s Saga”; “Symphony of Millions” (July 7, 2008); “Song of the Earth” (May 12, 2008); “Verdi’s Grip” (September 24, 2001); “Almost Famous” (May 21, 2001); “Edges of Pop,” which incorporates four
New Yorker
articles, “Grand Illusions” (May 19, 2003), “The Art of Noise” (July 13, 1998), “Eighty-two Very Good Years” (May 25, 1998), and “Generation Exit” (April 25, 1994); “Learning the Score” (September 4, 2006); “Voice of the Century” (April 13, 2009); “The Music Mountain” (July 29, 2009); “The End of Silence” (October 4, 2010), originally as “Searching for Silence”; “I Saw the Light” (May 10, 1999), originally as “The Wanderer”; and “Fervor” (September 25, 2006).
Portions of “Blessed Are the Sad” originally appeared in
The New Republic
as “Why Is Light Given” (March 23, 1998).
Owing to limitations of space, all illustration credits and acknowledgments for permission to reprint lyrics can be found on pages 379—380.
First published in the United States by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Designed by Jonathan D. Lippincott
eISBN 9781429977616
First eBook Edition : January 2012
The Library of Congress has cataloged the Farrar, Straus and Giroux edition as follows:
Ross, Alex, 1968-
Listen to this / Alex Ross.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-374-18774-3
1. Musical criticism. 2. Popular music and art music. 3. Music—History and criticism. 1. Title.
ML3785 .R67 2010
780—dc22
2010010283
Picador ISBN 978-0-312-61068-5
First Picador Edition: November 2011