Pynchon on Record

Pynchon, so fond of the kazoo, has had some small effect on the music scene since the 60’s. The nature of this effect was first analyzed by Steven Moore in “Pynchon on Record” (Pynchon Notes, 10 [1982], 56-57) and also by Dr Larry Daw in “More on Pynchon on Record” (Pynchon Notes, 12 [1983], 46-47). In 1996, these efforts were combined and expanded online here at Spermatikos Logos. Collected below are some odd Pynchon references, allusions, inspirations, and collaborations found in the Harmonium Mundi. They are organized loosely be genre and arranged alphabetically by artist. Clicking on an a name will take you to the artist’s page on Spermatikos Logos, where you can find out more about their music and its Pynchon connection. A click on the post horn at the bottom of each page will always bring you back here. (A few of these artists have pages “TBD.” In these cases, the link takes you directly to their homepage.] Please email any further information you have on bands and/or music influenced by Thomas Pynchon to Spermatikos Logos!

In 1999, Juan García Iborra and Oscar de Jódar Bonilla published and update to Moore and Daw’s “Pynchon on Record.” Known as “Pynchon on Record, Vol. 3,” the essays is no longer available online. In 2017, Pynchon scholar Christian Hänggi published “Pynchon on Record, Vol. 4” online at Tim Ware’s Thomas Pynchon site. While there’s obviously some repetition between all these sources, Hänggi and Ware have different takes on these musicians, and it’s always pleasurable to lose oneself in Ware’s Pynchonian labyrinth! In 2020, Christian Hänggi published the definitive examination of Pynchon and music, available through Diaphanes Press:

Publisher’s Description: Pynchon’s Sound of Music is dedicated to cataloging, exploring, and interpreting the manifold manifestations of music in Thomas Pynchon’s work. An original mix of close and distant readings, this monograph employs a variety of disciplines—from literary studies and musicology to philosophy, media theory, and history—to explain Pynchon through music and music through Pynchon. Encyclopedic and eclectic in its approach, Pynchon’s Sound of Music discusses the author’s use of instruments such as the kazoo, harmonica, and saxophone and embarks on close readings of the most salient and musically tantalizing passages. Zooming out to a bird’s eye view, Christian Hänggi puts Pynchon’s historical musical references and allusions into perspective to trace the trends and tendencies in the development of the author’s interest in music. A treasure trove for fans and an invaluable source for future scholarship, this book includes the Pynchon Playlist, a catalog of over 900 musical references in Pynchon’s oeuvre, and an exhaustive index of more than 700 appearances of musical instruments.