David Toop is a musician, writer, and sound curator. His acclaimed books include Rap Attack, Ocean of Sound, Exotica, and Haunted Weather. His writing has also appeared in The Wire, Bookforum, and the New York Times. He lives in London.

• Section one: Aerial; 1. Drowned by voices; 2. Each echoing opening; each muffled closure; 3. Dark senses; 4. Writhing sigla; 5. The jagged dog; Section two: Vessels and Volumes; 6. Act of silence; 7. Art of silence; 8. A conversation piece; Section three: Spectral; 9. Chair creaks, but no one sits there; Section four: Interior Resonance; 10. Snow falling on snow; Coda: Distant Voices; Acknowledgements; Notes; Index.

It's as if contemporary culture has developed a case of hyperacusis in the form of Toop's 'perpetual vigilance' as he haunts the permeable boundary between the extremities of sound and the fullness of silence. Ruminating on its unmatched power of evocation, Toop manifests sound after transient sound from the pages of this 'silent art', increasing awareness of our own auditory acuity as the walls between inner and outer space collapse around our ears. - David Sylvian

David Toop is a musician, writer, and sound curator. His acclaimed books include Rap Attack, Ocean of Sound, Exotica, and Haunted Weather. His writing has also appeared in The Wire, Bookforum, and the New York Times. He lives in London.

• Section one: Aerial; 1. Drowned by voices; 2. Each echoing opening; each muffled closure; 3. Dark senses; 4. Writhing sigla; 5. The jagged dog; Section two: Vessels and Volumes; 6. Act of silence; 7. Art of silence; 8. A conversation piece; Section three: Spectral; 9. Chair creaks, but no one sits there; Section four: Interior Resonance; 10. Snow falling on snow; Coda: Distant Voices; Acknowledgements; Notes; Index.

It's as if contemporary culture has developed a case of hyperacusis in the form of Toop's 'perpetual vigilance' as he haunts the permeable boundary between the extremities of sound and the fullness of silence. Ruminating on its unmatched power of evocation, Toop manifests sound after transient sound from the pages of this 'silent art', increasing awareness of our own auditory acuity as the walls between inner and outer space collapse around our ears. - David Sylvian

David Toop is a musician, writer, and sound curator. His acclaimed books include Rap Attack, Ocean of Sound, Exotica, and Haunted Weather. His writing has also appeared in The Wire, Bookforum, and the New York Times. He lives in London.

• Section one: Aerial; 1. Drowned by voices; 2. Each echoing opening; each muffled closure; 3. Dark senses; 4. Writhing sigla; 5. The jagged dog; Section two: Vessels and Volumes; 6. Act of silence; 7. Art of silence; 8. A conversation piece; Section three: Spectral; 9. Chair creaks, but no one sits there; Section four: Interior Resonance; 10. Snow falling on snow; Coda: Distant Voices; Acknowledgements; Notes; Index.

It's as if contemporary culture has developed a case of hyperacusis in the form of Toop's 'perpetual vigilance' as he haunts the permeable boundary between the extremities of sound and the fullness of silence. Ruminating on its unmatched power of evocation, Toop manifests sound after transient sound from the pages of this 'silent art', increasing awareness of our own auditory acuity as the walls between inner and outer space collapse around our ears. - David Sylvian