Listening to the Wind

by Ian Preece

If there’s a cultural artefact capable of withstanding the vagaries and fickleness of the digital age as well as the printed book, it’s the vinyl record . . . In Listening to the Wind, Ian Preece sets out on an international road trip to capture the essence of life for independent record labels operating in the twenty-first century. Despite it all – from algorithms and streaming to the death of the high street and the gutting of the music press – releasing a record to serve its ‘own beautiful purpose’, as 4AD’s Ivo Watts Russell once said, is a flame that still burns through these pages. With countless labels, albums and artists to be discovered, this book is for those who share that inextinguishable love for music.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

Published July 30, 2020

Reviews

[Ian Plenderleith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, sprawling work that will broaden your musical horizons. Take your time, soundtrack the chapters, enjoy the casual, highly entertaining interviews with the people behind the labels you've possibly never heard of. Music book of the year, 2020.