A book on pioneer British electronic musicians is about to be reprinted, “Tape Leaders: A Compendium of Early British Electronic Music”.

First published in 2016 by Sound On Sound magazine, the work is on sale again thanks to Press Speed. A total of 100 composers and organizations who have been actively involved in tape and synthesized music are featured, well known names like Brian Eno, William Burroughs, Janet Beat, The Beatles, Hawkwind, White Noise and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, to more obscure talents such as Roy Cooper and Edgar Vetter.

Focusing on the 1950s and 1960s, the book took six years to research and write. The new edition is also accompanied by a CD of 15 tracks of largely unreleased music. A launch event has been announced for November 8 at The Social, London, where the author will appear in conversation with Oli Freke, author of “Synthesized Evolution”.

In recent years, a number of high quality books have been published, tracing the history of sounds, genres and scenes through words and pictures. Take a look at DJ Mag’s list of 8 photo books that capture the vibrant history of electronic music and 11 essential new books on electronic music for recommendations.