“Playback is a breezy, informative history of the continuing dalliance between music and machines.”
—New York Times
“Comprehensive, well-researched and thoroughly engaging . . . Playback traces the development of musical technology from wax cylinders to iPods and revealingly illustrates how, with each new innovation, reactionary forces in the business panicked, cried wolf and tried to shut it all down.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
“Dissecting 126 years of recorded music through the prism of technology is no easy task, but Coleman manages it admirably . . . Playback is full of fascinating riffs on sound machines, from Edison’s phonograph to Apple’s iPod.”
—Rolling Stone
“A sharp, static-free overview of the evolution of audio technology.”
—Boston Herald
“Short and sweet . . . consistently excellent and authoritative.”
—Publishers Weekly
“[Coleman’s] expertise in the area of popular music shines through . . . may well be indispensable.”
—Library Journal