Songs in the Key of Z

"Songs in the Key of Z" is the title of a book and two compilation CD albums. All were compiled by Irwin Chusid. The book and albums explore the field of outsider music. Chusid defines outsider music as; "crackpot and visionary music, where all trails lead essentially one place: over the edge." Chusid's work has brought the music of several leading performers in the outsider genre to wider attention. These include Daniel Johnston, Joe Meek, Jandek and Wesley Willis. In addition, his CDs feature some recordings by artists who produced very little work but placed their recordings firmly in the outsider area. Notable amongst these are nursing home resident Jack Mudurian who sings snatches of several dozen songs in a garbled collection known as 'Downloading the Repertoire' and the obscure and extreme scat singer Shooby Tayler AKA 'The Human Horn.'

External links

* [http://www.wfmu.org/irwin/ WFMU: Irwin Chusid]
* [http://www.raymondscott.com/ RaymondScott.com] content by Irwin Chusid and Jeff Winner
*http://www.jimflora.com/ Jim Flora Gallery
*http://www.keyofz.com/ "Songs in the Key of Z" - outsider music project
* [http://designforum.aiga.org/content.cfm?ContentAlias=%5Fgetfullarticle&aid=1359930 AIGA interview] with Irwin Chusid about the Jim Flora Archives
* [http://www.ubu.com/outsiders/365/ A collection of 365 outsider MP3s; an excellent introduction to the genre]
* [http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/outsidermusic/ Outsider music mailing list]
* [http://www.geocities.com/rsmko/icnytimes.html Joe Hagan on Outsider Music]
* [http://www.mungbeing.com/issue_2.html outsider music and art in MungBeing magazine]
* [http://www.gordonthomas.com/html/home.html The outsider music of Gordon Thomas]
* [http://www.planbmag.com/content/view/472/42/ Plan B Magazine's introduction to Outsider Music]
* [http://www.barganews.com/2007/08/29/silvano-togneri-outsider-musician/ images, videos and streaming audio of Silvano Togneri from Barga Italy]

Further reading

* "Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music" by Irwin Chusid ISBN 1-55652-372-6