How to Wreck a Nice Beach [Hardcover]

I can only echo Stimpy's earlier review: this book had all the ingredients to become a classic, but is sadly - and massively - let down by a couple of fatal flaws. First, the author's writing style is comically longwinded and pretentious - nothing is ever explained in a straightforward, accessible way, while tiny, irrelevant details are puffed up to imply some spurious significance. To put it bluntly, Tompkins seems to be pushing the tolerance - and patience - of his readers.
Which is a shame, because he has a great story to tell, less about the technology than about the amazing cast of characters involved in the Vocoder, its precursors and successors. And Tompkins does have some fascinating points to make - drawing out links between the Vocoder and technology, culture, warfare and much more.
I'd really like to be able to give this a better review - Tompkins is usually a brilliant writer, but in this case he's really dropped the ball.

usually i write the odd review on vocoder music artists and electro cds so writing a book review is new to me so please be patient.

i was recommended this book by someone who knew the auther in some way and also knows that i own a classic E M S SYSTEM 2000 vocoder. i immediately reserved my copy and waited for it to arrive on my door step.

firstly the book is really 2 books in one. the first book talks about and deals with the time of the 30s and the 2nd world war and how these military machines were used by the likes of Churchill and his allies not to mention stalin in the 2nd world war to communicate thier voices in a decoded and compressed manner to avoid the enemy from detecting them, as they talked war plans over the telephone lines. later we find ourselves hearing about the Jonzun crew and their o v c and pack jam. miami sound of maggotron and dxj.

book 2 starts in the 60s with J F Kennedy and such subjects as nixon and the vietnam war. the vocoder was there too. this leads nicely to the 70s and 80s as regards music from E L O and later electro and the hip hop scene not to mention stevie wonder and herbie hancock and also the talk box and roger troutman. finally a piece and autotunes.

the whole book lets old beat boys like me find out how and where the vocoder came from and who used it and how the sounds came about. i found out all sorts of stuff like who invented the "AH THIS STUFF IS REALLY FRESH" smaple came from and what an O V C was regarding Jonzun crew.

generally i couldnt put the book down and when i read or saw pictures of the albums featured in the book that i have in my collection i felt compelled to play them just to hear the voices. i do have a couple of points to point out though.

firstly i wish the book was more linear in time i.e. start with the world fair of 39 and move on through time to hip hop and not split things up a bit.

secondly i wish the 'mini autobigraphies' could have kept mor to the point. for example there is a whole chapter on ramelzee and not much mentioned on vocoders and why he used them. (i wanted to skip this chapter but didnt in case i missed something.

thirdly sometimes you find yourself off the beaten track as regards the auther's writing (one minute you are in war torn europe then in some other time and place).

overall i love my vocoder bible and although more science in bite size bits would be nice as to how the whole device works, i would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest or owns a vocoder.

welldone for giving me the the chance to own a book like this.

its just a shame there isnt a cd with the book giving people the chance to hear samples of the voices talked about. i can 'picture' the voices because i have heard and collected vocoder music in all its forms for 25 years but to those who havent it would have been nice to hear daisy daisy.

Tompkins has written an engaging, pacy book about the Vocoder and associated technologies (Sonovox etc) which covers all the essential historical points as well as discussing it's impact on music - primarily US hip-hop. It's beautifully presented and illustrated with many interesting pictures, if a few too many tatty 12" single sleeves.

BUT, there's too much nebulous arty-farty 'sixth-form creative writing' attempting to describe WHAT the Vocoder does and too little hard factual descriptions of HOW it does it. Having read this book, I have a grasp of the history of the device, some good pointers to obscure 80s Miami hip-hop records that used it but absolutely no really knowledge of the workings of the Vocoder.

In essence, this book largely focuses on the ART of the Vocoder and not the SCIENCE of it.

Having said all that, if you're interested in vintage, analogue music technology then it's an essential book but ultimately, there's still room for a deeper investigation into the development and evolution of Vocoding from a technical perspective.

In summary: A missed opportunity.