The Books

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The Books
Left to right: Nick Zammuto, Paul de Jong
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, United States
Genre(s)	Electronic music, Folk, Experimental, Folktronica
Years active	2000 – present
Label(s)	Tomlab
Website	Official site
Members
Nick Zammuto Paul de Jong
Former members
Anne Doerner Mikey Zammuto

The Books are a band founded by and consisting of American Nick Zammuto and Dutchman Paul de Jong in New York City in 2000. Their music is a mix of aleatoric, electronica, folk, and acoustic music (de Jong is a cellist and Zammuto plays acoustic guitar and electric bass), incorporating samples of sounds, speech and music. They have released three albums, all on the German (Cologne) label Tomlab. They are currently residing in North Adams, Massachusetts, near Zammuto's alma mater, Williams College. However, there are indications that the band will not be recording anything in the near future.^{[citation needed]}

Their 2006 live shows consisted primarily of live acoustic performance (cello, guitar and vocals), played with prerecorded electronics and synchronized video.

Their music ("Tokyo" from The Lemon of Pink) was featured in the KnowHIVAIDS television ad campaign.^[1] Another song, called "Getting the Done Job" (from "Thought For Food") was featured in a 2007 Hummer H3 commercial.^[2] Additionally, the songs "That Right Ain't Shit" (From The Lemon of Pink) and "Read, Eat, Sleep" (from Thought for Food) appeared in a 2005 Hummer H2 commercial and a 2007 Hummer H3 commercial called "Let it Snow"^[3], respectively. On a related note, a track from Zammuto's solo "Solutiore of Stareau"^[4]^[5]/"Willscher"^[6] project was used in a Hummer H2 commercial titled "Command Module."^[7]

1 Discography
2 Other work
3 Notes
4 External links

[edit] Discography

Thought for Food (2002) (CD/LP)
The Lemon of Pink (2003) (CD/LP)
All Bad Ends All (2003) (7" Single)
Lost and Safe (2005) (CD/LP)
Music for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by the Books (2006) (Mini CD)
Playall (2007) (DVD)

[edit] Other work

The Loneliest Road: Soundtrack and audio production for Gregory Whitehead's radioplay, BBC3, October 2003.
1%: Four tracks for the elevators of the new Ministry of Culture building, Paris, France within the project '1%' by D. Jourdan & Y. Oshima, April 2004.
Sound Art: Nick Zammuto also makes what he calls "sound sculptures", the first of which is for sale on their website. The prototype of the "Spoon Box" is made of wood, acrylic glass, zinc plates, measuring spoons, and closeout radioshack parts. It hooks up to a CD player and small amplifier which cause the spoons to dance. There are small speakers behind the spoons that move in response to the sounds on the CD which were carefully composed using low frequency sine waves and kitchen sounds. The speakers, in turn, blow small puffs of air into the spoons which cause them to bounce/vibrate in rhythmic patterns.
Prefuse 73 Reads the Books E.P. - After collaborating with Prefuse 73 on his 2005 LP Surrounded by Silence, an additional EP of further remixes of Books tracks was released.