More Brilliant than the Sun

Resumen del libro

The classic work of Afrofuturism, from jazz to jungle

More Brilliant Than the Sun is one of the most extraordinary books on music ever written. Part manifesto for a militant posthumanism, part journey through the unacknowledged traditions of diasporic science fiction and part conceptual toolkit for the uses of alienation, this book finds the future shock in Afrofuturist sounds from jazz, dub and techno to funk, hip hop and jungle.

By exploring the music of such musical luminaries as Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, Lee Perry, Dr Octagon, Parliament and Underground Resistance, theorist and artist Kodwo Eshun mobilises their concepts in order to open the possibility space of sonic fiction: the hitherto unexplored intersections between science fiction and organised sound.

More Brilliant Than the Sun analyses the new kinds of perception that emerge from this breakthrough: the machine mythologies and the cyborg mindstates, the Unidentified Audio Objects and the sensory lifeforms thrown into earshot by a sonic world long since blown to pieces.

Situated between electronic music history, media theory, science fiction and Afrodiasporic studies, More Brilliant than the Sun is one of the key works to stake a claim for the generative possibilities of Afrofuturism.

Much referenced since its original publication in 1998, but long unavailable, this new edition includes an introduction by Kodwo Eshun as well as texts by filmmaker John Akomfrah and producer Steve Goodman aka kode 9.