Music Farther Outside

Music Farther Outside is a valuable publication in two regards: first, as a map showing the topography and crossroads of experimental, jazz and spontaneous music practices in the UK today. The book collates and authenticates a history that feels particularly fragile and porous, existing as it does in memories of shared happenings, rare recordings, scant reviews, tweets, blogs and other fading ephemera. In the second sense, the quality of Shoemaker's vivid musical writing should bring fresh attention to recently created, lesser known music. The book is loaded with deft and descriptive prose that gives adventurous listeners useful points of access to experiencing the rewards of challenging music. Deploying an outsider's eye and an insider's empathy, Bill Shoemaker maps the world of the outsider musicians whose many-faceted scene, flourishing in the face of official indifference, is a miracle of modern Britain. Lively and informative, Bill Shoemaker's timely research into the 'how' and 'why' of music-making far beyond the UK's cultural mainstream left me eager to listen again and freshly to the work of these wide-ranging creators. Music Farther Outside gives us an invaluable look into the creative practices and thoughts of some of the most interesting artists on the scene today. It is comprehensive and respectful and allows us to read the honest words of each of these amazing artists.