The Song of the Machine: From Disco to DJs to Techno, a Graphic Novel of Electronic Music

Le Chant de la machine #1-2

by David Blot, Mathias Cousin, Daft Punk (Foreword)

A pulsating graphic novel on the epic history of electronic music, from the heyday of disco in the 1970s to the rave culture of the 1990s and beyond.

With a foreword from house music legends Daft Punk, The Song of the Machine is a celebration of a musical wave that swept across the world over decades, demographics, and dance styles. Originally published in 2000 in France, and updated through today for this first English edition, the electrifying narrative introduces readers to the harbingers of the genre, such as David Mancuso, Larry Levan, and Frankie Knuckles (known as the "Godfather of House Music"); the prototypes of modern-day nightclubs and dance venues, like The Loft and Studio 54 in New York City, the Palace in Paris, and the Hacienda in Manchester, England, and of course, the technology and machines that first produced and synthesized the records that galvanized a movement.
Told through exciting illustrations that evolve with the era they describe, and complete with specially curated playlists for each and every decade, The Song of the Machine recounts the influences and inspirations, the people and epic parties that created and defined this revolutionary music.

Genres: Music, Graphic Novels, Comics, History, Bande Dessinée, France, Art

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half was a straightforward if lackluster history of disco and early dance music, but I started losing interest as it progressed into the '90s and artists with whom I was unfamiliar. And then the second half just contains some dull fictionalized stories about techno music and a worshipful fan tribute to New Order. There are songs listed for each chapter, but the book needs a soundtrack album or a Spotify playlist. An index might have been nice too, for those who might prefer to browse instead of reading the whole thing.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay this book is awesome I learned that ecstasy and mdma and lsd and 808 state are the best

[Katherine Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredible. i love history and this is so good and visual i especially loved the new order comic at the back. very digestible, and a good recap for those who are deep into the lore!!

[Jennifer Collignon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tbh I only enjoy reading history in comic form, but I found this quite hard to follow and very dense. Detailed, if anything.

[amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

really appreciated the afterword and all the art in this book but this was a little messy and i wish it had been a little more grounded in facts

[Scott Butki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Song of the Machine: From Disco to DJs to Techno, A Graphic Novel Of Electronic Music by David
Blot and Mathias Cousin. I love electronica music and while I have 10 or so favorites there's many, many artists
I am not familiar with. It's a weird feeling going to the electronic section of my library and only
recognizing a few artists, like Frankie Knuckles, Daft Punk, Moby, Chemical Brothers and the Aphex Brothers.
Those are some of the major stars of this genre.

If you, like me, are both curious about the origins and evolution of this genre and want to know about some
of the past and current musicians who deserve more recognition and play then this book is for you. I feel
like there is added legitimacy to it because the foreward is by Daft Punk.


Both authors worked in France. David Blot as a radio host and cofounded the well known Respect parties, which
was the birthplace of French house music. Blot co-wrote a graphic novel called Yesterday that was very similar to
the movie later made of the same but director Danny Boyle said he was unaware of that when making the movie. Mathias Cousin, who died in 2002, studied graphic art in college
and worked for newspapers and magazines.


This book was originally published in 2000 in France but was updated for its first English edition in 2019. Some of my favorite parts are
only in the new version. This includes an interview with one of their favorite bands, New Order, who is also one of my favorite bands, and a tribute
Blot wrote to Cousin.

I am not a big fan of graphic novels but sometimes, and this is one of those cases, it's a great forum for
telling a story.

The focus is more on getting the history right and while that's important I wish more time was spent on talking about the lives
of some of the musicians mentioned.

[David Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great. The translation from French was spotty at times but that's not why I disliked it. It's titled "a graphic novel of electronic music" but it only really covers Disco, Detroit Techno, and some rave stuff. For some reason a large portion of pages is devoted to New Order, but Kraftwerk only gets a few mentions. Not only does the book exclude industrial, electro-industrial, and its derivatives, it sneeringly dismisses them. I'm not sure how someone who clearly loves motherfucking Disco so much can be such a gatekeeper.

[Woody Chichester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the first half about disco, but when it gets to house and techno, I feel like it was missing something, and I found myself drifting as I read. I always love reading about New Order, though, so that was great.

[Ștefania Ioana Chiorean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the comic book and learned so much from it. Found out about Disco Demolition Night, Paradise Garage, Warehouse, Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, etc. I knew about Kraftwerk, I even have a book in my want-to-read pile at home about them, but I did not know about their Trans-Europe Express album.

[K8 · Rating 3 out of 5]

loved the half bc of the historical vignettes of how electronic music came to be & branch out, but the second half was more just what the authors like so it kinda fell off for me. luv the concept tho n wish there were more graphic novels abt music history!!

[Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of electronic music of all kinds and the idea of this graphic novel sounded great in theory... I appreciate the amount of research that went into this but something seems lost in translation.

[wildct2003 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. I gave up towards the end. P. 159 talks about Stanley Rose and his release “Roses 4 God”. Sounds like a challenge to try and find it…

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good beginner's guide to electronic music that unfortunately loses its way a bit in the second half. Still worth a read.

[capturethemoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must-read, if you have any interest in electronic music, or music history in general.

[Wen · Rating 3 out of 5]

还可以，挺有趣的漫画书，前半本从disco开始缕了一下电子乐（主要是house发展史），本来是法国出版的，我读的是英译本。后半本比较放飞，表达了不少的情绪和观点，对于了解音乐本身也没啥帮助……歌单挺不错的，按照主题大致分了每章一单

[Chandler Lach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet illustrations + information. Interesting to read but easy to glaze over. Glad I picked it up!

[Cyril N · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'ai bien aimé ce roman graphique qui raconte l'histoire de la musique électronique et notamment de la House. Il se concentre principalement sur les racines de cette musique dans le disco et les prémisses de la musique électronique. J'aurais aimé un partie centrée sur le processus de création de cette musique, mais ce n'était pas le propos, cet ouvrage s'intéresse beaucoup plus aux aspects culturels.

[adelaide q · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suuuuuuuper cool. I love memoirs and biopics and things like this about the alternative music and pop culture scenes in the 60s-90s. I also loved all the info about new order. While I really enjoyed the first half, I found the second half a bit too vague and hard to follow… interesting vision though.