A Nation of Tinkerers is a National Bestseller

A Nation of Tinkerers: A History of Canadian Electronic Music from 1945–1985 by: Michael Rancic is officially an instant national bestseller according to The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and the Vancouver Sun. 

As both a burgeoning technology and emerging art form, electronic music was an essential part of how Canada announced its post-war identity to the world. A Nation of Tinkerers explores how Canada's post-war nationalism funded many early, cutting-edge technological advancements. It then discusses how the free market took over once this technology was no longer politically expedient, permanently changing musicians' relationship with technology, and the ability of Canadian inventors to have their instruments heard, much less mass produced. That this narrative begins at the end of World War II is significant: it highlights capitalism's inherent contradictions, with destructive conflicts leading to technological "progress." 

At the centre of this history are inventors and artists who explore the boundaries and possibilities of electronic music through play and experimentation, exposing the relationships and tension between creativity and technology. Though tinkering and the advent of the home studio are often framed as individualistic pursuits, this work was highly social and collaborative, across the avant-garde, psychedelia, reggae, disco, hip hop, pop music and everything in between.

Michael Rancic is a freelance arts and culture journalist based in Toronto. He's the co-founder of multistakeholder music journalism cooperative New Feeling and has written for Maisonneuve, The Walrus, Hazlitt, Spacing, CBC Music, and Bandcamp Daily, among other outlets. His work often looks at the intersection of emerging art, public policy and technology.