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Keith Rowe: The Room Extended
The first and only authorized biography about Keith Rowe, his solo career, and his influence as the guitarist in the cult British improvised music band AMM, a group who counted Syd Barrett from Pink Floyd, Sonic Youth, and composer Christian Wolff as admirers.
In London, in the fall of 1965, a group of four musicians, dissatisfied with the confines they had encountered in the British jazz scene, came together with a highly thought-out agenda to revolutionize the way music was created: no repertoire, no solos, no regular rhythms, no melodies, no fear of silence, 100% improvised. This rejected rules firmly in place then, as now, among even the most forward-looking of musicians.
Keith Rowe was one of the founding member of this collective. They called themselves AMM and soon added the composer Cornelius Cardew, an associate of John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen, who was seeking to escape what he thought were equivalent strictures in the avant-garde classical world. As a quintet, AMM created music unlike anything else being done at the time and, being immersed in the London scene of the mid-60s in which musical boundaries were amorphous, found themselves on the one hand sharing bills with nascent bands like Pink Floyd, The Who, and Cream while on the other working with and alongside Yoko Ono and Christian Wolff.
Rowe, a guitarist trained as a painter, adapted to his guitar the lessons he'd learned in the visual arts, placing it flat on a table or the ground as Jackson Pollock had done with his canvases, using it as a sound source to be approached with all manner of implements, opening up a vast new territory of exploration, one which would be enormously influential in rock and contemporary classical, as well as the field of free improvisation.
Over 12 years in the making and via exhaustive research and exclusive interviews Brian Olewnick has traced Rowe's life from childhood through the present, with focuses on London's mid-60s experimental music scene, the political unrest of the late 60s, the radical politics of the early 70s, the ongoing saga of AMM through the 90s and the accompanying advance of creative music over that time period, centered around Rowe's participation in those events and his major contributions to the contemporary avant-garde environment. Through the many ups and downs of AMM and beyond, Rowe has become an �minence grise to generations of musicians and is still today continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible in the world of sound.
In London, in the fall of 1965, a group of four musicians, dissatisfied with the confines they had encountered in the British jazz scene, came together with a highly thought-out agenda to revolutionize the way music was created: no repertoire, no solos, no regular rhythms, no melodies, no fear of silence, 100% improvised. This rejected rules firmly in place then, as now, among even the most forward-looking of musicians.
Keith Rowe was one of the founding member of this collective. They called themselves AMM and soon added the composer Cornelius Cardew, an associate of John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen, who was seeking to escape what he thought were equivalent strictures in the avant-garde classical world. As a quintet, AMM created music unlike anything else being done at the time and, being immersed in the London scene of the mid-60s in which musical boundaries were amorphous, found themselves on the one hand sharing bills with nascent bands like Pink Floyd, The Who, and Cream while on the other working with and alongside Yoko Ono and Christian Wolff.
Rowe, a guitarist trained as a painter, adapted to his guitar the lessons he'd learned in the visual arts, placing it flat on a table or the ground as Jackson Pollock had done with his canvases, using it as a sound source to be approached with all manner of implements, opening up a vast new territory of exploration, one which would be enormously influential in rock and contemporary classical, as well as the field of free improvisation.
Over 12 years in the making and via exhaustive research and exclusive interviews Brian Olewnick has traced Rowe's life from childhood through the present, with focuses on London's mid-60s experimental music scene, the political unrest of the late 60s, the radical politics of the early 70s, the ongoing saga of AMM through the 90s and the accompanying advance of creative music over that time period, centered around Rowe's participation in those events and his major contributions to the contemporary avant-garde environment. Through the many ups and downs of AMM and beyond, Rowe has become an �minence grise to generations of musicians and is still today continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible in the world of sound.
- GenresMusicNonfictionBiography
500 pages, Hardcover
Published June 26, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 23, 2018
(...)
Keith Rowe: The Room Extended is an artistic biography, so do not expect a lot of private information. Rowe’s marriages, him being a father and his day jobs are mentioned, but generally only in passing. The focus is clearly on the ideas and the artistic community Rowe is part of.
The bulk of this book is a history of AMM. The second important part of Rowe’s career – his solo and collaborative work outside AMM – starting somewhere around the turn of the century, is only dealt with rather briefly at the end of the book. If I’m honest, I would have liked this to be more in balance. For me, Rowe has been making his best work this last decade, in his 70ies – something that’s exceptional in whatever art form. I’m guessing the reason for this decision is that Rowe’s late history is much more easily available online. Still, a bit more behind the scenes information – like the telling anecdote on how parts of his 2010 duo recording with Radu Malfatti came about – would have increased the value for us listeners immensely.
So – AMM. Is there enough drama there for the mere casual experimental music fan to enjoy and be persuaded to buy this book? Is there enough history for the general art theorist to do the same?
(...)
Please visit Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It for the full review
Keith Rowe: The Room Extended is an artistic biography, so do not expect a lot of private information. Rowe’s marriages, him being a father and his day jobs are mentioned, but generally only in passing. The focus is clearly on the ideas and the artistic community Rowe is part of.
The bulk of this book is a history of AMM. The second important part of Rowe’s career – his solo and collaborative work outside AMM – starting somewhere around the turn of the century, is only dealt with rather briefly at the end of the book. If I’m honest, I would have liked this to be more in balance. For me, Rowe has been making his best work this last decade, in his 70ies – something that’s exceptional in whatever art form. I’m guessing the reason for this decision is that Rowe’s late history is much more easily available online. Still, a bit more behind the scenes information – like the telling anecdote on how parts of his 2010 duo recording with Radu Malfatti came about – would have increased the value for us listeners immensely.
So – AMM. Is there enough drama there for the mere casual experimental music fan to enjoy and be persuaded to buy this book? Is there enough history for the general art theorist to do the same?
(...)
Please visit Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It for the full review
February 17, 2021
A great biography of an often indescribable and revolutionary artist. This was a very rewarding guide through Keith and AMM’s artistic and political journey that kept me constantly inspired to create music and art in different ways, and then leading me to question and build upon those inspirations.
Throughout the first 2 thirds of this book, Brian goes into great detail on Keith’s artistic mindset, providing loads of detail into unreleased recordings and events. This is all great and interesting until you realize the amount of great Rowe albums that remain undiscussed relative to the pages available. As much as this book leaves the philosophy and journeys of Keith with AMM to loom the over his later work, it would be great if equal depth was given to the 2000s / 2010s.
Something else that this book does extremely well is the balance between the personal and artistic developments between Keith and his various band mates. The drama between Keith and AMM in both the 70s and 00s is told excellently and dramatically that it almost feels like a tabloid article. With no sacrifice to the consistent analysis of varying artistic, the book displays Keith’s changing goals and mindset clearly, and the rest almost seems to happen naturally around him.
Throughout the first 2 thirds of this book, Brian goes into great detail on Keith’s artistic mindset, providing loads of detail into unreleased recordings and events. This is all great and interesting until you realize the amount of great Rowe albums that remain undiscussed relative to the pages available. As much as this book leaves the philosophy and journeys of Keith with AMM to loom the over his later work, it would be great if equal depth was given to the 2000s / 2010s.
Something else that this book does extremely well is the balance between the personal and artistic developments between Keith and his various band mates. The drama between Keith and AMM in both the 70s and 00s is told excellently and dramatically that it almost feels like a tabloid article. With no sacrifice to the consistent analysis of varying artistic, the book displays Keith’s changing goals and mindset clearly, and the rest almost seems to happen naturally around him.
December 19, 2021
A nice bio of Ketih Rowe, his journey, ideas, music. Became a little tedious, with what I consider some over-analysis. I respect the author's impressions of the music of AMM &/or Keith Rowe, etc., but describing it in kinda "specific" detail is too personal for me.
Somewhat bemsued by the inital concerns to be spontaneous/unrehearsed/responsive, compared to the later criticism of techniques, sounds, etc. But, well, familiarity breeds . . . In my opinion, some of the musicians take themselves a little too seriously. But, that's my problem.
One of the best things, for me, was references to specific performances which present me with the option to investigate.
Somewhat bemsued by the inital concerns to be spontaneous/unrehearsed/responsive, compared to the later criticism of techniques, sounds, etc. But, well, familiarity breeds . . . In my opinion, some of the musicians take themselves a little too seriously. But, that's my problem.
One of the best things, for me, was references to specific performances which present me with the option to investigate.
August 28, 2020
Five stars for all the written sources and the direct speech gathered, I wish there was even more of that. The author's perspective is primarily a connoisseur's one and feels claustrophobic. But there probably won't ever be a more comprehensive book on the subject.
July 29, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews