"Ocean of Sound" begins in 1889 with Debussy's experience of Javanese music in Paris and traces the development of a culture that reacted to the incomprehensibility of communication in the 20th century with a focus on scent, light, and ambient noise. David Toop illuminates the cultural evolution from Erik Satie to the Velvet Underground and from Miles Davis to Jimi Hendrix. Toop, a London-based writer, musician, and artist, is also the author of "Rap Attack 3" and "Exotica".