Breakdown | Babbling Brook

A number of text pieces are scattered around Breakdown, but how about some variety of opinion? And what does Brook himself have to say? Babbling Brook is a concise bibliography of articles, press releases, interviews, and whatnot. Special thanks to Breakdown correspondents Paul Tingen, Carmelo Ruiz, Steven Davey, and Brian Thomson for contributing to this page.

Many of these articles have been archived (in other words, reprinted) here on this site. Links leading outside this page are prone to expiration, so the act of reprinting articles here should be seen as a conservatory gesture, not a copyright infringement.

Everglades concert poster
1-2 May 1978
Courtesy Steven Davey

Everglades poster
1978 compilation The Last Pogo
Courtesy Steven Davey

"A Fervent Nostalgia for the Future"
excerpt of an interview with Brian Eno by Mark Pendergast
Sound on Sound, February 1989
Archived here without permission

Mustt Mustt liner notes
drawn from interviews by Helen M. Jerome
Archived here without permission

Cobalt Blue review
By Paul Barton-Davis
Hyperreal, 7 December 1992
Archived here without permission

Cobalt Blue review
By Martin Aston
Q Magazine, 1992
Archived here without permission

Live at the Aquarium review
By Martin Aston
Q Magazine, 1992
Archived here without permission

"When I Was a Boy"
Sheeba Records
No longer online; archived here without permission

A Michael Brook biography from the David Sylvian | Robert Fripp "Road to Graceland" tourbook. By Paul Tingen, 1993. Archived here. From Paul Tingen's site, including excerpts of his own music, featuring contributions by Michael Brook.

Profile in Guitar Player magazine, March 1994. Not available online.

Maria review, by Bob Remstein. From Wall of Sound, 1995. Archived here without permission.

An excellent in-depth interview with Michael Brook about Dream, from Sound on Sound magazine. By Paul Tingen, July 1995. Summary archived here. Please check out Paul Tingen's site, including excerpts of his own music, featuring contributions by Michael Brook.

Dream liner notes. By Michael Brook, 1995. Archived here without permission.

Real World Records' official Web site Radio Real World has a biography of U. Srinivas and an article about the making of the album Dream with Michael Brook. Radio Real World's material on U. Srinivas is mirrored on Astralwerks's Real World US area. Archived here without permission.

Critic's Choice: Dream. From Billboard, 28 October 1995. Archived here without permission.

Dream review, from Q Magazine.By Martin Aston, 1995. Archived here without permission.

Best of All Possible Musics: Michael Brook and Loop Guru mess with Eno, from Eye Weekly, a Toronto arts newspaper. By Nicholas Jennings, 1996. Excerpts archived here without permission.

"Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Michael Brook", from Real World Notes. by David Toop, Spring 1996. Archived here without permission.

A feature on Michael Brook on the occasion of the release of Night Song. From Radio Real World, 1996. Archived here without permission.

A feature on Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the making of Night Song. From Radio Real World, 1996. The same feature is mirrored (but redesigned and with RealAudio clips) on Real World US.

Night Song review, from Rolling Stone. By Susan Richardson, 1996. Archived here without permission.

Night Song review, from Planet X. January 1996. (no longer available online)

Night Song review, from Billboard, 24 February 1996. Archived here without permission.

Night Song review, from Consumable Online. By L. Graham Bridges, 9 March 1996. Reprinted here without permission.

Night Song review, from The Utne Reader. By j. poet, May-June 1996. Archived here without permission.

"Michael Brook" from the zine Exclaim. By Chris Twomey, July 1996. (no longer available online)

"A Flea, R.E.M. and Michael Brook...", another Albino Alligator press release. On Eyesore. 1997. By Jeff Keibel, 18 Feb 1997. Archived here without permission.

A biography written at the time of releasing the Albino Alligator album. On Eyesore. By Jeff Keibel, 19 February 1997. Archived here without permission.

"Critic's Choice: Albino Alligator". From Billboard, 22 February 1997. Archived here without permission.

Albino Alligator review, from MZ.com, by Lesley Sly. Archived here without permission.

Michael Brook interview. From the Toronto University Varsity Review, 3 March 1997. Archived here without permission. (no longer available online)

"An Evening with Michael Brook", an interview conducted during the Spring 1997 Press Tour promoting Albino Alligator. On Eyesore. By Jeff Keibel, 5 March 1997. Archived here without permission.

Someone taking a course called Creative Processes in Popular Music Recording at the Stanford University Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) appears to have posted some class notes taken during a guest lecture delivered by Michael Brook on 10 April 1997. Unfortunately, there is no transcript available.

"...drones and ornamentation". Chart Magazine. By Jeff Haas, May 1997. Edited by Jeff Keibel, on Eyesore. Archived here without permission.

East West. Virgin Records homepage, 1997. Archived here without permission.

A bit of promotional fluff and a pretty picture from East West from Virgin Records UK's Eden page, 1997. Archived here without permission.

East West review, From Wall of Sound. By Bob Remstein, 1997. Archived here without permission.

Undark review, from Power Spot. By Hans Stoeve, 3 June 1997.

A memorial to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, including a personal note from Peter Gabriel. From Radio Real World, 1997. (no longer available online)

"Gabriel plans Nusrat tribute" from VH1 Online. August 1997. Archived here without permission.

In Memoriam: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948-1997), by Banning Eyre. From Salon, 22 August 1997. Archived here without permission. (no longer available)

"World Leaders: Remembering Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn and Fela Kuti" by Milo Miles, The Village Voice, 26 August 1997. Excerpts archived here without permission.

The Seven Steps to Mercy review, from Power Spot. By Hans Stoeve, 1997.

Brook performed with Iarla Ó Lionáird at the Festival de MÀsica Visual de Lanzarote (Lanzarote Festival of Visual Music) in October 1997. The official site has an article and some portraits of the pair, written in Spanish. Archived here without permission.

Michael Brook on Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Real World Notes 5, December 1997. Archived here without permission.

The Sounds of Ireland: Past, Present and Future. Three songs from The Seven Steps to Mercy in RealAudio. (no longer available online)

Official Star Rise page. From Radio Real World, 1998. Includes artists' comments and one track in streaming Shockwave.

A Little More Re- In The Mix, Please, by Kembrew McLeod. From Addicted to Noise, 1998. Archived here without permission.

Star Rise review, by Stuart Bailie. From New Music Express, 1998. Archived here without permission.

Star Rise review, by Will Hermes. From Spin magazine, February 1998. Archived here without permission.

Star Rise review, by Bryan Tilford. From Ink19, February 1998. Archived here without permission.

Star Rise review, by Natasha Stovall. From Salon, 23 February 1998. Archived here without permission.

Bliss review, from Power Spot. By Hans Stoeve, 1 June 1998.

Profile in Guitar Player magazine, June 1998. (not available online)

"Real World Recommends," suggested listening list, in Real World Notes 6. By Michael Brook, July 1998. Archived here without permission.

"Infinite Hybrid," a profile of Michael Brook, in Real World Notes 6. By Richard Henderson, July 1998. Archived here without permission.

"Michael Brook on his collaboration with Djivan Gasparyan," interview in Real World Notes 6. By Chris Darke, July 1998. Archived here without permission. Black Rock advertisement. Wire (UK), September 1998. Archived here without permission.

"Djivan Gasparyan: Armenian Rhapsody," by Julian Cowley. Wire (UK), September 1998. Archived here without permission.

Black Rock review, by Clive Bell. Wire, September 1998. Archived here without permission.

Fusion and Star Rise, by Jane Cornwell. Radio Real World, 1998.

Star Rise review, from Q Magazine. By David Sheppard, 1998. Archived here without permission.

Michael Brook interview. From Roland Canada, January 1999. Archived here without permission.

Black Rock review. From a Puerto Rican weekly newspaper, by Carmelo Ruiz, February 1999. Reprinted here with permission.

Black Rock review, from Q Magazine. By David Sheppard, 1999. Archived here without permission.

25 Essential Echoes CDs of 1998, #16: Black Rock. From Billboard, by John Diliberto. Archived here without permission.

Affliction review. From Angelika Filmbill, April / May 1999, by David Poole. Archived here without permission.

Djivan Gasparyan and Michael Brook at Park West. From The Chicago Tribune, 7 August 1999, by Michael Parrish. Archived here without permission.

Exclusive Breakdown interview with Michael Brook. 24 October 1999, by Chad Ossman.

The 4AD Michael Brook page.

Air-Edel, a music production company, represents Michael Brook in his film score work. Their biography of Brook is archived here without permission.

The All-Music Guide's Michael Brook entry features an informed discography with more than a few scoops. Their biography is archived here without permission.

Catalyst / Opium Arts published a biography and discography on their Michael Brook page. Archived here without permission. (no longer available online)

Ambience for the Masses, an ambient music archive, contains short reviews and sound clips from Sleeps With the Fishes and Hybrid.

The Eyesore discographies is an unoficial (but endorsed) listing of the 4AD catalogue. It includes information about Michael Brook and Pieter Nooten and Michael Brook.

Another unofficial listing of the 4AD catalogue is The Other Site.

The WWW Music Database is a no-frills information source. They have a bare-bones Michael Brook discography.