I cannot believe no-one else has reviewed this book, it is possibly one of the best books on music I have ever read, both in terms of pointing you in the direction of new things to listen to, and massively expanding your understanding of familiar old chestnuts.
Whilst the book shows its limitations by essentially focussing on the music of the mid 90s, and the trends leading up to this period (think tresor-style techno and jungle, not all that boring britpop stuff), this narrowing of attention give eshun the chance to run wild with the fictions hidden within the music he chooses to cover. The sections on Goldie and Jeff Mills are truly amazing, doing far more than merely re-hashing the artist's personal mythologies (like many books on music). His timing also neatly avoids all that "urban" stuff about black music, whilst firmly establishing jungle/techno/electro etc. as musics of black origin and confounding the common racist cant that says "house and techno=white, hip hop=black".
The only thing missing is a chapter on uk garage, grime etc (it wasn't really invented when this book was written), but I somehow suspect that it would fail to make the grade compared to the gothic edifices erected by goldie, origin unknown, the wu tang clan and the like in the early to mid 90s; "garridge" has always seemed a little cheap and cheerful to me anyway!
Also included are discussions of dub, acid house (remember when house was scary and meant something?) and fusion styles of music, always taking care to trace the rhythms and technologies that make up these musical forms with care and diligence, whilst simultaneously tracing the post-human, sci-fi narratives encompassed in this music with the tracking abilities of a bloodhound.
Conclusion: this book is an excellent companion for those of us who prefer to stay in and listen to mentalist "dance" music rather than go out and be bored witless by mindless djs; it is a portrait of a time and specific musical journey, and reads unlike any other book on music. A must have.
