Electric Eden

Rob Young''s Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain''s Visionary Music is a seminal book on British music and cultural heritage, that spans the visionary classical and folk tradition from the nineteenth-century to the present day. ''A thoroughly enjoyable read and likely to remain the best-written overview for a long time.'' GUARDIAN ''A perfectly timed, perfectly pitched alternative history of English folk music . . . wide-ranging, insightful, authoritative, thoroughly entertaining.'' NEW STATESMAN ''A stunning achievement.'' SIMON REYNOLDS ''A masterpiece.'' CAUGHT BY THE RIVER ''Excellent . . . blissfully quotable.'' NEW YORK TIMES ''An authoritative account.'' THE TIMES ''Consistently absorbing.'' INDEPENDENT ''An impassioned and infectious rallying cry of a book.'' SUNDAY TIMES In this groundbreaking survey of more than a century of music making in the British Isles, 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. ''A treat.'' TIME OUT ''Young is a fine writer.'' MOJO ''Young''s immense narrative is both educative and gripping.'' UNCUT ''A multitudinous, fascinating and beautifully written account.'' TLS