I've never seen them live, but I've listened to a few songs quite a bit. (For some reason I never got around to buying any of the albums.)

They're all samples, but clever and good and interesting. I think it's be a kick to see them play out.

Heh. My SN is a reference to a sample from a Books song. I'm a fan. Seen 'em live twice.

They perform the guitar/cello/vocal parts along to recordings of the found sound stuff you hear on the records. The cello is pretty fantastic. There's also neat/hilarious found/home video stuff projected in sync with the music.

Good show, highly recommended, nothing life-changing. How much are tickets?

(BTW, omiewise, just for nitpicky clarification's sake, they record tons of live acoustic instrumentation for their records, some of which they then chop to bits. But this stuff generally forms the foundation of the songs, onto which they layer all sorts of sample-y goodness)

How much are tickets?

something like $15. it's reasonable, especially compared to the $120 i paid to see tom waits last fall.

i'm just glad that more out-there electronic stuff is coming back to asheville. a couple of years ago we had black dice, hrvatski, prefuse 73, squarepusher and autechre come through town within months of each other, and then... nothing. back to the same old boring jam-band and bluegrass that we're famous for (yawn).

tom waits was worth every penny, though

You know what, syntax? I was at that Tom Waits show.

My girlfriend had just taken a job at Continental Airlines, so we flew for free. And I managed to buy tickets via Ticketmaster the morning they went on sale (how I got so lucky, I'll never know). But yes, that show would have been worth the cash at just about any price for me.

$15? At a reasonably small venue, I assume? Go see them. You'll like it.

cool! thanks for the advices! (that tom waits show was pretty damn great, wasn't it?)

the venue the books are playing at (the orange peel) is a medium-sized venue with a killer sound system, very well suited for experimental electronic stuff. good sightlines for tall people. :)

i can't check it now, but i think that bleep.com sells their stuff...

Grab "The Lemon of Pink" if you can. Their best by far IMO. Let me know what you think.

Honestly, I was so hypnotized by the Tom Waits show that my recollection of it is a kind of fuzzy. I know I enjoyed the hell out of it, though!

Yeah, The Books are a sound-collage outfit, apparently quite entrancing live; I would jump at the chance to see them. I prefer Thought For Food, as opposed to the Lemon of Pink; here's a sample:

The Books - Enjoy Your Worries, You May Never Have Them Again