It’d be a shame to go down the path of highly visual songwriting without referencing the Books. Hailing from New York City, this duo defined an experimental genre that’s been described as Folktronica, or perhaps more aptly, a sound collage.
The Books made a name for themselves by removing sampled voices and compositions from their original contexts, and crafting them into new emotional compositions. Moments of contemplation, understanding, excitement and refinement are cataloged, transformed and infused with new meaning, creating aleatoric, yet highly controlled experimentation.
Over a backdrop of electric guitars, eclectic samples, and incessant clicking, Nick Zammuto reveals hidden melody in Be Good to Them Always by singing in concert with the Books’ familiar sampled voices. This duet tends to take the edge off phrases like “you are doing something the whole world is doing” and “this great society is going smash.”
t. woodford
