Michael Brook
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Michael Brook (born 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian guitarist, inventor, producer, and film music composer familiar with many disciplines including rock, minimalism and film scores.
He is most famous perhaps for his sonic contribution to U2's multimillion-selling 1987 album The Joshua Tree in the form of his invention, the Infinite guitar; he is also known for Peter Murphy's 1995 album Cascade. Brook is a specialist in timbre and texture. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1996 for his production work and as a co-artist on Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's album Night Song. Another notable collaboration was Sleeps with the Fishes with Clan Of Xymox member Pieter Nooten (4AD, 1987). In 2006, the solo album RockPaperScissors was released, with an ambient remix version following in 2007. Brook toured intimate venues in Canada and the United States in late January/early February, 2007.
He toured as a member of the Sylvian and Fripp tour group, with the final concert at the Royal Albert Hall in December 1994 documented on the album Damage. He also opened the concerts with a solo set, featuring the Infinite Guitar with effects and sequencer backing.
Brook breaks many of the 'rules' of electric guitar. He does not use voiced guitar amplifiers, but instead plugs directly into a preamp to broadcast the sound using a variety of effects and processors, many of which he has pioneered. Among his inventions are the Infinite Guitar, played by The Edge of U2, a guitar outfitted with a feedback transducer to produce non-decaying sustain of any note. This design has been replicated by commercial devices such as Fernandes Sustainer-equipped guitars. (An example of this sound may be heard in the opening of U2's "With or Without You" from The Joshua Tree.)
He has produced albums for Mary Margaret O'Hara, Julia Fordham, Jane Siberry, U. Srinivas, Youssou N'Dour, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, The Edge, Balloon, The Pogues, Jorane, Hukwe Zawose, and others. Brook has also written for a number of film soundtracks including the music for Albino Alligator, Americanese, Mission: Impossible II and the new eco-documentarys, Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and Who Killed the Electric Car? and Sean Penn's critically acclaimed Into the Wild, for which Brook was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
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[edit] Selected discography
[edit] Studio & Live albums
- Hybrid (1985 EG) – mostly solo music as well as some tunes with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.
- Sleeps with the Fishes (1987 4AD) - collaboration with Pieter Nooten from Clan of Xymox.
- Mustt Mustt (1990 RealWorld) – collaboration with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, although the record is credited only to Ali Khan.
- Cobalt Blue (1992 4AD) – solo record, mostly electric guitar.
- Live at the Aquarium (1993 4AD) – recording of a live concert, sometimes packaged together with Cobalt Blue.
- Shona (1995 Sine) - an unofficial release, recorded live during the Lanzarote Music Festival in December, 1989.
- Dream (1995 RealWorld) - collaboration with U. Srinivas.
- Night Song (1996 RealWorld) – second collaboration with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
- Star Rise (1997 RealWorld) - last collaboration with Khan, remix album of tracks from Mustt Mustt and Night Song.
- Black Rock (1998 RealWorld) - collaboration with Djivan Gasparyan.
- Assembly (2002 RealWorld) - collaboration with Hukwe Zawose.
- RockPaperScissors (2006 Canadian Rational) – most recent solo record.
- BellCurve (2007) – a remix of the album RockPaperScissors by James Hood.
- Infinite (anticipated for 2008) - a career retrospective in a continuous mix.
- A boxed set of Michael Brook tracks is in the works, as is a special edition of Cobalt Blue with new remixes and live tracks. Both projects are expected to be released sometime in 2008-2009.
[edit] Soundtracks
- Captive (1986) – co-writer/producer with The Edge.
- Heat (1995)
- Albino Alligator (1997)
- Affliction (1999)
- Black Hawk Down (2001) - music composed by Hans Zimmer
- charlotte sometimes (2002)
- India: Kingdom of the Tiger (2002)
- An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
- Into the Wild (2007)
- Americanese (2008)
[edit] Michael Brook's Soundtrack Albums
- Captive (1986 Virgin) – co-writer/producer with The Edge.
- Albino Alligator (1997 4AD) - with guest vocals by Jimmy Webb and Michael Stipe.
- Affliction (1999)
- India: Kingdom of the Tiger (2002)
- An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
- Into the Wild (2007 Lake Shore) - currently available only as a download.
