Unusual Sounds – The Hidden History of Library Music
Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music by David Hollander / ISBN 9781944860127 / 332-page paperback, about 8 x 10.5 inches, cover and section titles by Robert Beatty /Â
 published by Anthology Editions
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“The cult of library music is a fascinating one; anonymous musicians from the ’50s through the ’70s recording like an assembly line were, eventually, found to have done more than just jazzy widget assembly to fill space for film and television. The archivist David Hollander has devoted a lot of his life to this corner of music history, releasing some of its most notable tunes through his Cinemaphonic series, and writing about it in Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music.”–Andrew Flanagan, NPR
“As a historical overview of this world, it would be simply impossible to top David Hollander’s Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music…”–The Wire
In the heyday of low-budget television and scrappy genre filmmaking, producers who needed a soundtrack for their commercial entertainments could reach for a selection of library music: LPs of stock recordings whose contents fit any mood required. Unusual Sounds is a deep dive into a musical universe that has, until now, been accessible only to producers and record collectors; a celebration of this strange industry and an examination of its unique place at the nexus of art and commerce. Featuring original art by Robert Beatty and an introduction by George A. Romero―whose use of library music in Night of the Living Dead changed film history― Unusual Sounds is mandatory reading for anyone interested in this enigmatic field and its hidden but pervasive cultural influence.
