The Recording Angel: Explorations in Phonography [Paperback]

"The Recording Angel throws out one arresting idea after another." Timothy Day, author of A Century of Recorded Music"

First published in 1987, Evan Eisenberg's The Recording Angel has been translated into several languages and is now considered a classic by those with an interest in the intersection of music and technology. Eisenberg offers an unusually well written and thought provoking study of how the phonograph and related media have transformed music into a tangible commodity and relegated live performance to the background of Western culture. In this newly expanded edition of the book, the author takes fully into account developments related to the era of digital sound recording. The book is essential reading for anyone curious about recording as an art in itself, any collector of recorded music, and any owner of the first edition who has wishes to read more of what Evan Eisenberg has to say about music, how it is created, and how recorded sound has changed the human condition. "The Recording Angel throws out one arresting idea after another." Timothy Day, author of A Century of Recorded Music

Evan Eisenberg's writings on music, culture, and technology have appeared in The New Republic, The Village Voice, The New Yorker, The Nation, and other periodicals. His most recent book is The Ecology of Eden.