Prendergast, Mark J(oseph Anthony) 1959-

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PRENDERGAST, Mark J(oseph Anthony) 1959-

PERSONAL: Born September 30, 1959, in Dublin, Ireland; son of William D. (a gardener) and Elizabeth Prendergast; married Genie A. Cosmas (a musician and teacher), July, 1989; children: Natasha. Ethnicity: "Irish/Black" Education: Trinity College, Dublin, B.A., 1982, and M.A., 1998. Politics: "Individualist, free spirit." Religion: "Formerly Roman Catholic, now a mystery!"

ADDRESSES: Home and offıce—2 Liphook Crescent, Forest Hill, London SE2 33BW, England; fax: 0208-693-0349. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer, music critic, and journalist. Irish Times, Dublin, journalist, 1981-83; Irish Rock, journalist, 1983-85; Hi-Fi Choice reviewer, writer, and interviewer 2002—. Launched Altair5 (Web 'zine), 1997. Lecturer at universities, including Edinburgh College.

MEMBER: Authors Licensing and Collection Society.

WRITINGS:

Irish Rock: Roots, Personalities, Directions, O'Brien Press (Dublin, Ireland), 1987.

The Isle of Noises, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1990.

Classical Music, Rough Guides, 1994.

Tangerine Dream Tangents, Virgin, 1994.

Jimi Hendrix Companion, Schirminger Books, 1996.

The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Trance: The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age, Bloomsbury (London, England), 2000, Bloomsbury (New York, NY), 2001, updated edition published as The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Moby: The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age, Bloomsbury (New York, NY), 2003.

Contributor to journals and newspapers, including Sound on Sound, New Statesman, Independent, Observer, Record Collector, Keyboard Player, UNCUT, and Moto.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Researching the history of film music and books on progressive rock and English new wave music.

SIDELIGHTS: Irish music critic and journalist Mark Prendergast has written on music-related topics ranging from classical music to rock, and has published both books and reviews for the Irish Times and several music magazines. His particular interest is in new music and electronic forms, and according to a contributor to the Ambient Century Web site, Prendergast has written more than a million words on these topics. His book-length work The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Moby: The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age tackles the history and development of ambient music since the early 1900s. The book "covers a huge amount of territory, and serves as an easy introduction to many of the significant composers and musicians of the twentieth century," commented a reviewer on the Synthtopia Web site.

Beginning with composers such as Mahler, Debussy, and Satie, Prendergast examines dozens of individual musicians, musical groups, and collaborations that delineate the evolution of electronic music. "He credits Mahler with first evoking the hypnotic 'ambient experience of landscape and emotion,' kicking off the century of 'repetitive conceptual music,'" noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer. As music became less dependent upon live performance for transmission to listeners and more commonly available through recordings, it also became an integral part of listeners' self-constructed landscapes, a part of their commute to work, their evening hours, their everyday lives. In this context, music evolved to take advantage of the "widening of sonic possibilities with advancements in recording, amplification, and electronic instruments," stated the Publishers Weekly reviewer. Prendergast examines the effects of these advances in technology on music, including the development of musical instruments, the introduction of synthesizers and sampling machines, and the enhancements made possible by rapidly evolving recording technology.

In The Ambient Century Prendergast covers dozens of popular musical styles, including minimalism, house, techno, and straightforward rock. He looks at the works of influential artists such as Pink Floyd, Mike Oldfield, Brian Eno, John Cage, and Jimi Hendrix. Sections of the book cover the work of artists such as Enya, Peter Gabriel, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Laurie Anderson, who were greatly influenced by synthesizers and electronic experimentation. Prendergast also includes recommended listening lists and a compilation of what he considers the "Essential 100 Recordings" that best representing ambient music. "Prendergast has an astonishing grasp of the global scene in popular music and writes with authority and conviction," commented Library Journal reviewer Larry Lipkis in his review of The Ambient Century, while Michael Chamy remarked for the Austin Chronicle Online that "it's hard to imagine a better entry point into a world of musical exploration," and praise the book as "brain food for the musically adventurous."

Prendergast once told CA: "My primary motivation for writing is to illuminate to myself and others the occluded means of culture, primarily music. I write out of necessity, letting the message dictate form and content. If its done to death I tend to ignore it." He characterized his writing process as "long and very slow," and noted that writing The Ambient Century took five years. "I allow my research and other work to filter through my consciousness for a long time before touching my processor," the author explained. "I edit it only once by reading it aloud and then leave it until proof stage."

Prendergast's inspiration for writing about music comes "from the musicians themselves." "Since I was twelve years old I've written many things," he once explained, "essays on Freud, essays on art, essays on bowls." "I got into music writing via a job in a Dublin record shop," he added, noting that he became a reviewer for the Irish Times. He was assigned to do interviews, and "before I knew it I was writing my first book. . . . After a couple of false starts I got into technology magazines. Ten years of that led to The Ambient Century."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Entertainment Weekly, February 16, 2001, Evan Serpick, review of The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Trance: The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age, p. 92.

Library Journal, February 1, 2001, Larry Lipkis, review of The Ambient Century, p. 98.

Publishers Weekly, January 1, 2001, review of The Ambient Century, p. 85.