Written by artists, producers and participants in alternative music-making, and including a companion CD, Experimental Music: audio explorations in Australia explores the development of forms, ideas and scenes from the 1970s to the present. It brings together a wide range of musical experimentation, from post-punk, noise, appropriation, electronic dance and listening music, to free improv, computer process music, experimental radio, instrument building and audiovisual fusions. Experimental Music illustrates how these forms have influenced each other to create a fertile and diverse musical culture in Australia, and highlights why it is vital to question, experiment and break the rules.

Here you will find additional information, images, sound and video files to further augment the publication.

Experimental Music: audio explorations in Australia,
published by UNSW Press in November 2008
RRP $34.95
Available from these bookshops
Or by mail order

Experimental Music: audio explorations in Australia is one of a series of books commissioned by the Music Board of the Australia Council.

REVIEWS

RealTime 93 Oct/Nov 2009
by Stephen Adams

"Experimental Music: audio explorations in Australia fills a cultural gap, documenting local audio culture and providing a useful taxonomy of the main modes of practice in Australia frequently understood as ‘experimental music.’"

Experimental Melbourne
by Clinton Green

"Experimental music: audio explorations in Australia arrives as a well overdue but welcome resource to anyone interested in the outer limits of Australian music."

MC Reviews: Culture and Media
by Adam Dodds

"Whether you are part of the scene, a casual observer, or simply interested in what 'music' actually is, Experimental Music: Audio Explorations in Australia will undoubtedly leave you with a greater appreciation of the aural realm, and a better understanding of the cultures invested in constantly expanding it."

The Wire 301 - March 2009
by Nick Cain

"The accompanying nine-track CD is evenly split between genres, with recordings from 1971-2007. Taken together they certainly convey the richness and diversity of Australia's history of experimental music."