IT'S probably a happy accident that David Toop's ethereal intelligence has proved the ideal tool for his work mapping the innovations and reverberations of popular music through the 20th century.
Today, at 3 p.m. in Cork's Triskel Arts Centre, the author and critic will read from Ocean Of Sound, his latest book and a landmark study of pop's epic journey. He will be accompanied by recordings of his own music, an avant-garde eclecticism which has been acclaimed in its own right.
"I'm comfortable enough with the notion of this being a performance," he says. "I was a musician before I was a writer." Ocean Of Sound is a far-reaching examination of pop's most esoteric moments, featuring interviews with such off-beat luminaries as David Lynch, Brian Eno and, intriguingly, Beach Boy Brian Wilson, recently returned from a 25-year exodus on Planet Strange.
"It was a fascinating book to do. It initially started out being about ambient music but it ended up being about listening," says Toop. "Be more open-minded about music and maybe you can be more open-minded about other things too." Has ambient music now become a muzak? "To an extent yes. I'm sad it has boxed itself in. Ambience shouldn't be classified. It might be dub reggae or it might be birdsong." But the bland plays on and ambient music has become K-Tel-friendly, lending itself to endless, watery compilations - you know the type: Pan Pipe Love Songs Of The Andes.
As millenniums change, and things get spacey, will it have an increasing influence on the pop charts? "Pop's impossible to predict but two elements are mainstays: a catchy chorus and a strong image. With these, you'll always succeed, hence The Spice Girls."
What are you listening to at the moment? "Nothing! I spent 12 years as a music journalist and I heard everything released and that led to a complete rejection. Burn-out, basically. But it's no harm because I can concentrate on my own music without being over-influenced, without thieving."
FAN of tin whistles ("I have a thing for them"), he loves Irish trad and other world musics but fears for them. "I have a problem with the way it's packaged. On one level, it has provided a living for performers but I worry marketing might deaden the music."
Toop keeps busy at his London base, compiling CDs for Virgin, composing scores for playwright and actor Stephen Berkoff and releasing his own music on Eno's Obscure label. Now, he's gearing up for the next book. "It's provisionally titled Exotica and will be a blend of fiction and non-fiction." What will this one end up being about? He laughs nervously... "I have no idea!"