Scott Heim, the author of Mysterious Skin, In Awe and We Disappear has published a series of music e-books entitled The First Time I Heard. Each of the books focuses on a different band or artist and features a range of musicians talking about the first time they had the pleasure of experiencing their music. The first five in the series put David Bowie, Cocteau Twins, The Smiths, Kate Bush and Joy Division/New Order under the spotlight and feature contributions from Harold Budd, Gang Gang Dance, Electrelane, Slowdive, Guided By Voices, David Gedge, Mercury Rev, John Grant, Implodes, Swervedriver, Lush, Anthony & The Johnsons and Spiritualized among others. Further instalments are planned, with Kraftwerk, Roxy Music, Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, Abba and REM all intended to get a volume dedicated to them in the near future.
Heim is a fervent music fan. The film version of his first novel Mysterious Skin, which starred Jason Gordon-Levitt and was directed by Gregg Araki, was scored by Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd, and the soundtrack featured Slowdive, Ride and Sigur Ros. The trailer for his last novel, 2008′s We Disappear, was accompanied by music from Cindytalk. He calls his The First Time I Heard series “a labor of love, mostly because I love these bands and the artists who contributed so much.”
You can buy e-books from the series through Amazon, iTunes, Barnes & Noble and KOBO.
