Dos Passos and the Sound of New York City

Intriguing new article in The Guardian about the “sound art” of Manhattan Transfer and parallels between Dos Passos and composer Edgar Varèse.

“The writer John Dos Passos and composer Edgard Varèse would intuit a different, deeper truth about the city they lived and worked in during the 1920s – that its identity is inseparable from the sounds it makes…Both men would create work that excavated the soul of their adopted city, scooping out its underlying vibrations, rhythms and chatter.”