David Toop
An experimental composer/musician who has worked with musicians ranging from Brian Eno to Prince Far I, David has written many exceptional pieces for THE FACE, ARENA, MOJO, THE TIMES and his own early '80s magazine COLLUSION. He is the author of The Rap Attack (now in its third edition), Ocean of Sound and Exotica. He also curated Sonic Boom, a major exhibition of sound art for the Hayward Gallery in 2000. He once appeared on Top Of The Pops, though has yet to see this performance on TOTP2.
114 articles
List of articles in the library
The Beach Boys, Charles Manson: Surfin' Death Valley USA
Essay by David Toop, Collusion, February 1982
"WE'LL GET THE ROUGHEST AND THE TOUGHEST INITIATION WE CAN FIND."from Our Car Club (Brian Wilson/Mile Love) Beach Boys, 1963 What were the connections between Beach ...
Rap It Up! Street-corner jive that brought discos alive
Retrospective by David Toop, The History of Rock, 1984
UNLESS YOU were a streetwise native New Yorker, the source of the new underground black music that was appearing on disc in 1979 seemed unfathomable. ...
Electro: The Beatbox Bites Back
Essay by David Toop, The Face, May 1984
1984: Two a.m. at The Funhouse and the giant video screen fills with the image of the Master O.C.'s hands scratching an Enjoy 12 inch. ...
Grand Mixer D.ST, Jalal Mansur Nuriddin: Rappers: Jalal Nuriddin
Report by David Toop, The Face, October 1984
EARLIER THIS year, just when it seemed safe to assume that the message rap genre had run out of self-righteous steam, two 12-inch records popped ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, April 1985
Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, New York... The urban sound off black America is synonymous with these places. So what of Washington DC, the first US city ...
Interview by David Toop, Black Echoes, 24 August 1985
DAVID TOOP talks to the world's greatest soft soul harmony group – THE STYLISTICS ...
Womack and Womack (and Womack): Bring The Family Back
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Face, December 1985
BORN IN THE SOUL YEARS, SURVIVING THE LEAN YEARS, THE WOMACK FAMILY HAVE PUT A LIFETIME'S EMOTIONS INTO THEIR MUSIC. BUT CECIL AND LINDA WOMACK ...
LL Cool J: Def Jam: The Rap Brat Pack
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, March 1986
THE GREATEST CREATIVE CONVERGENCE IN 20th Century music has been the American Jewish/Black independent record company. Reel 'em off: Herman Lubinsky and Savoy Records, Hy ...
Willie Colon, Gilberto Gil, Dizzy Gillespie, Milton Nascimento: ¿Te Gusta La Musica Latina?
Overview by David Toop, The Face, August 1986
FROM PANAMA DOWN THROUGH VENEZUELA TO BRAZIL, THIS MUSIC IS THE PULSE OF A CONTINENT. IN SOUTH AMERICA, SAMBAS CARRY SOCIAL STATEMENTS. THE DANCING IS ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, January 1987
MUSIC with drums? Music without drums? That is the question. New Yorker Arthur Russell records both, though he drily observes, "in outer space you can't ...
Luther Vandross: Let's Start with Pacman
Interview by David Toop, The Face, March 1987
LUTHER VANDROSS SPRAWLS UNTIDILY ACROSS THE COUCH AND SHOOTS THAT LOOK. "MS PACMAN," HE CORRECTS. ...
Sweet Tee & Jazzy Joyce: Queens of the Bronx
Interview by David Toop, The Face, May 1987
"HIP HOP is such a beats orientated music. It's just beats and a bass line. If you put anything else to it like keyboards and ...
John "Jellybean" Benitez, Madonna: Jellybean Benitez: Spinning the Globe
Interview by David Toop, The Face, October 1987
First it was Jellybean the DJ playing disco in a Bronx salsa club and helping launch post-video game dance music from New York's Funhouse. Then it was Jellybean the producer working with megastars like Whitney Houston and Madonna. ...
Profile and Interview by David Toop, Spin, December 1987
T-shirts may change, but Motörhead goes on. ...
Scritti Politti: The Green Manifesto
Interview by David Toop, The Face, 1988
The only pop artist who can incorporate Miles Davis and Jacques Derrida into the same repertoire, Green Gartside is still pondering the "the undecideability of ...
Profile and Interview by David Toop, Spin, January 1988
M/A/R/R/S BEGAN AS A collaboration between Martyn and Steve Young of the 4AD band Colourbox and Alex and Rudi of A. R. Kane. ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, April 1988
BROS and their fans are tired of the grown-up messages of adult pop. The girls that cluster outside their house every day represent a new era in ...
Prince’s Crown Starts to Slip: Love Sexy
Review by David Toop, The Sunday Times, 22 May 1988
It is difficult these days to find a pop musician who enjoys general critical euphoria, but for the past few years Prince has escaped the ...
Paul Oakenfold, Danny Rampling: From Acid House to the Balearics
Report by David Toop, The Times, 18 August 1988
What is the link between acid and House, between Ibiza and a music that does not exist? ...
John Zorn: The master of mixture
Interview by David Toop, The Times, 5 November 1988
John Zorn, whose group Naked City makes a rare appearance in London tomorrow, has turned sheer eclecticism into an art form. David Toop did some ...
Report by David Toop, The Face, December 1988
When New York's Paradise Garage closed, the city lost part of its pulse, leaving only a brand of Eighties disco called Garage. In Chicago, it ...
Buck Owens: Myths of the honky-tonker
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 25 March 1989
On the eve of the Wembley country, festival, Buck Owens tells David Toop of the horrors of assembly-line music ...
Island Records: The man who sold the world?
Report by David Toop, The Times, 2 August 1989
Chris Blackwell, the idiosyncratic founder of Island Records, has sold out to one of the music industry giants, Polygram. David Toop asks whether the spirit ...
Obituary by David Toop, The Times, 7 August 1989
David Toop on how Larry Parnes, who died last week, invented the British pop music star as a result of a meeting in a coffee ...
Profile by David Toop, The Times, 18 August 1989
Bros, Britain's favourite pop group, play Wembley Stadium tomorrow. David Toop asks whether this sets the seal on their success or marks the beginning of ...
Review by David Toop, The Times, 26 August 1989
Conventional Black ...
Review by David Toop, The Times, 2 September 1989
Moving forward to the past ...
Tracy Chapman: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 17 November 1989
A glum, tedious sing-along ...
John Zorn: Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 30 November 1989
Art of musical autopsy in reverse ...
Alexander O'Neal: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 4 December 1989
Tenderness to spare ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, January 1990
A LITTLE suburban parking spot in Carson, Los Angeles, and balmy tranquility hangs in the air like Valium fallout. There are harsh alien sounds, though: ...
Barry Manilow: Palladium, London
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 1 February 1990
Falling for the master of charm ...
Interview by David Toop, The Times, 2 February 1990
David Toop meets Daniel Lanois, the hit producer of albums for U2, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan, now a performer himself on record and visiting ...
Youssou N'Dour, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Ryuichi Sakamoto: Dominion, London
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 27 March 1990
Dissolving the borders ...
Lee "Scratch" Perry: Lee Perry: Man, myth and magician
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 13 April 1990
Jamaican musician Lee Perry, re-emerging after a long period of semi-retirement, talks to David Toop ...
Ali Farka Touré: Ronnie Scott's Club, London
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 26 April 1990
A modern primitive ...
k.d. lang: Back to the emotional basics
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 25 May 1990
A WOMAN who favours the use of lower-case letters for her name rather than capitals, k.d. lang claims to have given up intellectualizing country music. ...
Sun Ra: Not-so-lucky old Sun shines on
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 8 June 1990
David Toop talks to Sun Ra; supremely idiosyncratic veteran US bandleader ...
Tracy Chapman, Jimi Hendrix, Living Colour, Prince, Dan Reed Network: Black Rock
Essay by David Toop, The Face, July 1990
White Rock we know about, but why should the idea of Black Rock be so difficult to comprehend? When Prince says his current tour is rock'n'roll based, he ...
Billy Idol: Mobile sneer and ultimate throb makes Idol rich
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 20 August 1990
Fame in America but indifference at home: the strange fate of the textbook rock 'n' roller Billy Idol told by David Toop. ...
Youssou N'Dour: Hammersmith Palais, London
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 20 November 1990
YOUSSOU N'DOUR has been described as the first World Music superstar; as meaningless titles go, this is hard to beat and offers the remarkable Senegalese ...
MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice: Hooked on Rap
Comment by David Toop, The Face, January 1991
David Toop on the rise of Hammer and Ice ...
Kraftwerk: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 23 July 1991
FOLLOWING THIS year's release of a remix album, a greatest hits by any other name, Kraftwerk fans have been forced to ask themselves whether this ...
Alma Cogan: Gone to rock 'n' roll heaven, or perhaps she's stuck in limbo
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 26 August 1991
Twenty-five years after her death, singer Alma Cogan is the subject of two new books and a BBC TV programme. David Toop suggests that records ...
Guy: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 14 September 1991
FOR MOST British music lovers, the term "new jack swing" probably suggests a piece of automobile repair equipment. But for a gifted New Yorker named ...
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Face, February 1992
Rap music has become less experimental, but on America's West Coast, groups like The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy and New World Rhythm are trying to ...
Manic Street Preachers: Generation Terrorists (Columbia 471060 2)
Review by David Toop, The Times, 15 February 1992
Genuinely hopeless? ...
Barry White: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 13 March 1992
In the name of love ...
Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer: Giorgio Moroder: Throbbery With Intent
Retrospective and Interview by David Toop, The Wire, April 1992
David Toop takes the pulse of disco pioneer GIORGIO MORODER ...
Overview by David Toop, Mixmag, June 1992
WHEN PHUTURE'S 'Acid Tracks' hit the decks in 1987, the title of this minimalist techno-homage to the Roland TR-303 blinded most of us to the ...
Essay by David Toop, The Wire, September 1992
"Whoever doesn't like what I did, 20 years from now they can go back and redo it."Teo Macero, discussing his method of recording Miles Davis ...
Essay by David Toop, Mixmag, September 1992
Dance music is under attack. The establishment is swamping us with double packs and pointless pop product posing as dance music. Dance music is no ...
Sheila Chandra: Voicing her own identity
Interview by David Toop, The Times, 25 September 1992
Sheila Chandra, a singer drawing on Asian, African and European sources, talks to David Toop ...
John Cage, Brian Eno, Keith LeBlanc, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ultramarine: Ambient: The Chill-Out Zone
Essay by David Toop, Mixmag, October 1992
Ambient music: not just a soundtrack for the chill-out room, more a sound of the future. David Toop gets deep. Very deep. ...
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 4 November 1992
Riveted by the rhythm — African sounds are sheer joy ...
Jon Bon Jovi: Q&A: Jon Bon Jovi
Interview by David Toop, The Face, December 1992
Jon Bon Jovi has had his hair cut off and been remixed by Jesus Jones. What's going on? ...
Obituary by David Toop, The Face, January 1993
JUST BECAUSE remix culture confuses our sense of history, this doesn't mean that DJs don't have heroes. Larry Levan was one of the few DJs ...
Obituary by David Toop, Mixmag, January 1993
The legendary Paradise Garage DJ passed away in November. David Toop pays tribute. ...
Review by David Toop, The Wire, February 1993
ALWAYS PREJUDGE the intentions of a piece of music by its title. The judgement may not be entirely fair, yet its accuracy is frequently uncanny. ...
Report by David Toop, The Times, 12 March 1993
The angry sound of inner-city America is giving way to a stronger, more reflective and more commercial rap. David Toop reports ...
Dismember, N.W.A: Art on Trial
Comment by David Toop, The Wire, April 1993
By downplaying or ridiculing the potential impact of extreme artforms such as death metal and hardcore HipHop, do the defences in censorship trials call into ...
Levitation, Spiritualized: Spiritualized, Levitation: Hackney Empire, London
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 6 April 1993
Drifting together ...
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 29 June 1993
SOUL IN THE PARK: David Toop at a north London gathering of night owls in the sunshine ...
Gloria Estefan: Spanish is the loving tongue
Interview by David Toop, The Times, 9 July 1993
For her latest album, Gloria Estefan went home — metaphorically — to Cuba. David Toop talked to her ...
Cypress Hill: Black Sunday (Columbia 474075 2)
Review by David Toop, The Times, 30 July 1993
The days of whine and razors ...
Snoop (Doggy) Dogg: New Waves — The insider's guide to the Next Big Thing: Snoop Doggy Dogg
Comment by David Toop, The Times, 29 October 1993
SOMETIMES A musician is so obviously the next big thing that hailing the fact in advance seems like cheating. Only a small sample of Snoop ...
LTJ Bukem, Coldcut: A step ahead of fashion — and the law
Report by David Toop, The Times, 26 November 1993
The hottest sounds buzzing around our cities are frequently also illegal. David Toop reports on the wild and wilful world of pirate radio, and its ...
Aphex Twin, µ-ziq, Daniel Pemberton: Up to something in the bedroom
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 29 April 1994
They're hot in the clubs, but low in social skills. David Toop meets techno's bores with attitude ...
Jah Shaka: Dub It Up: A Whistlestop Tour Through Reggae's Echo Chambers
Guide by David Toop, The Wire, May 1994
A is for Alpha & Omega The odd couple of '90s roots and culture. Bassist Christine Woodbridge and melodica puffer John Sprosen conjure cultural spirits ...
The Grid, Us3: Us3 and the Grid: Could Ludwig Van be techno's main man?
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 20 May 1994
Sampling jazz rarities on to dance tracks could become old hat, now musicians can concoct raves from the grave. David Toop reports ...
Harold Budd, Cocteau Twins, Andy Partridge: Harold Budd: Sonic archaeologist
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Wire, June 1994
What unearthly music is Harold Budd exhuming now? ...
General Levy: Jungle fever — hot heavy and here
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 24 June 1994
Rap, reggae, ragga and soul have combined in a heady brew. David Toop talks to toastmaster General Levy ...
Jon Hassell: Behind the Blue Screen: Jon Hassell
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Wire, August 1994
Jon Hassell's music with his group Bluescreen is an exotic domain of ritualised sex, strange tonalities, erotic transgressions and invisible connections. David Toop enters the ...
Interview by David Toop, The Wire, September 1994
Pete Namlook is one of the more remarkable figures of 90s electronic music. Since December 1992, he has released over 150 albums on his own ...
Essay by David Toop, The Face, September 1994
David Toop listens to the old and the new and wonders which is which ...
Incredibly Strange and Highly Exotic
Essay by David Toop, The Wire, October 1994
The Incredibly Strange Music books are mondo archaeology for vinyl fetishists. They exhume a hidden world of plastic where exotic Easy Listening, modern primitives, suburban ...
Diamanda Galás, John Paul Jones: Diamanda Galás and John Paul Jones: Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Live Review by David Toop, The Times, 4 November 1994
Monster mosh ...
Bill Laswell: An Interview with Bill Laswell
Interview by David Toop, The Wire, December 1994
For almost two decades, Bill Laswell's music has traced a long, humid trail across continents, genres, moods, atmospheres and numerous collaborations. David Toop met him ...
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Face, December 1994
THE "DISCO SUCKS" MENTALITY REARS ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN. JUST AS M PEOPLE'S STAR REACHES ITS ZENITH, THEIR AWARD-WINNING SHEEN BURNING BRIGHT, THE MUSIC WORLD DISSENT ...
Retrospective by David Toop, The Wire, April 1995
This New York composer, who died in obscurity of AIDS in 1992, was a true visionary, traversing dub, disco and minimalism and anticipating the '90s ...
Interview by David Toop, The Face, July 1995
Ten years ago, David Toop met a young graffiti artist named Goldie. "When I was a kid," he said, "I had nothing to look at ...
Retrospective by David Toop, The Times, 22 July 1995
Rolling Stone Brian Jones was intoxicated by the music of the Master Musicians of Jajouka, says David Toop. Now they are in London. ...
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Face, September 1995
Is D'Angelo the last soul man or simply the finest new voice of the Nineties? ...
Review by David Toop, MOJO, September 1995
WITH A FEW notable exceptions, Jungle has thus far been a music for singles and endless drum 'n' bass compilations. As the genre's first high ...
Ornette Coleman: In perfect harmolodics
Interview by David Toop, The Times, 30 September 1995
Jazz giant Ornette Coleman would like to teach the world to sing — if it understood him. David Toop reports ...
Cypress Hill: III – Temple Of Boom
Review by David Toop, MOJO, December 1995
HIP HOP innovations are so swiftly assimilated and processed into cliché that their initial impact can become lost in foggy video memories of oversized hats, ...
Guide by David Toop, The Wire, March 1996
In its original incarnation, Electro was black science fiction teleported to the dancefloors of New York, Miami and LA; a super-stoopid fusion of video games, ...
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Best all-rounder since Botham?
Interview by David Toop, The Times, 22 March 1996
David Toop meets Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, ubiquitous superstar of world music ...
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parveen: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Subcontinental Drift
Report and Interview by David Toop, The Wire, May 1996
In this extended edition of our monthly survey of sounds from around the planet, David Toop reports from the teeming streets, temples and concert halls ...
Interview by David Toop, GQ, June 1996
NOTE: This is the "director's cut" version of an interview published by GQ in 1996. ...
Burt Bacharach, Portishead: Ballads: Heart of Darkness
Essay by David Toop, The Face, September 1996
Can the ballad survive in the post-soul '90s, asks David Toop. ...
Tricky: Pre-Millennium Tension (Fourth & Broadway BR 623 CD/MC/LP)
Review by David Toop, The Wire, October 1996
ANY MUSICIAN who debuts at creative boiling point is going to slap into problems before too long. A couple of years of press saturation, blind ...
Tupac Shakur: Farewell to Arms
Retrospective by David Toop, The Face, November 1996
Tupac Shakur was the rapper whose lyrics merged poetry with pain to make him an icon for America's doom generation. On September 13, at the ...
Obituary by David Toop, MOJO, October 1997
"MUSIC IS THE HEALING FORCE OF the universe," So said saxophonist Albert Ayler, whose body was found floating in New York’s East River many years ...
Vinicius Cantuária, Arto Lindsay: Arto Lindsay and Vinicius Cantuária: Songs for modern lovers
Interview by David Toop, The Wire, April 1999
Arto Lindsay transformed himself from extreme noise guitarist into the age's most intimate lover through his archaeology of Brazilian modernism. Now working in tandem with ...
Walter/Wendy Carlos: Wendy Carlos: Switched-On Boxed Set (East Side Digital ESD 81422 4xCD)
Review by David Toop, The Wire, December 1999
GOD KNOWS, there are enough CDs out there that clamour to be recognised as expressions of posthuman synthesis and the 21st century Zeitgeist. Then a ...
Interview by David Toop, bjork.com, 2000
"I STILL HAVE so much music in my head," said Maurice Ravel. "I haven't said anything yet, and I have still so much to say." ...
David Toop: Tokyo without a map
Report by David Toop, The Wire, May 2000
Sonic Boom curator David Toop visits the Japanese capital to network with a gaggle of young electronic sound artists, and finds the megalopolis as perplexing ...
Book Review by David Toop, The Wire, September 2000
THE REVOLUTIONARY tango music of Argentinian composer and bandoneon virtuoso Astor Piazzolla is one of the great treasures of 20th century art. ...
Björk: SelmaSongs (One Little Indian TPLP1 51 CD)
Review by David Toop, The Wire, November 2000
THE FIRST admission to make is that I haven't yet seen Lars Von Trier's Dancer In The Dark, the film that stars Björk and features ...
Evan Parker, Keith Rowe: Keith Rowe: Harsh, Guitar Solo; Evan Parker/Keith Rowe: Dark Rags
Review by David Toop, The Wire, December 2000
"AFTER SEVERAL years of bizarre playing in a sort of anti-jazz style that always ill-suited his supposed role of rhythm guitarist, Rowe now seems on ...
Evan Parker, Jah Wobble: Jah Wobble & Evan Parker: Passage To Hades (30 HERTZ)
Review by David Toop, The Wire, February 2001
PERHAPS THIS IS a disingenuous flash of hindsight on my part, but I'm convinced that when I heard Public Image Limited's first album, back in ...
Timothy Day: A Century Of Recorded Music – Listening To Musical History (Yale University Press)
Book Review by David Toop, The Wire, February 2001
BANISH RECORDED MUSIC and 41 pages, including record company advertisements, vanish from the pages of last month's Wire. Erase any evidence, awareness or memory of ...
Interview by David Toop, Rock's Backpages audio, 5 March 2001
Björk talks about making Vespertine, her working process and how much she reveals herself; about storytelling and relationships, abstraction versus narrative, nature and technology, fantasy and reality; about her vocal progress from Homogenic to Vespertine... and about having dinner with David Attenborough.
File format: mp3; file size: 69.8mb, interview length: 1h 12' 45" sound quality: ****
Björk: Alone in the Dark: Björk on Vespertine
Interview by David Toop, The Wire, September 2001
Björk's eerie night songs are infused with the mythological landscapes of her native Iceland and the concrete fjords of Manhattan. She tells David Toop about ...
Taku Sugimoto: Italia (A Bruit Secret)
Review by David Toop, The Wire, September 2001
David Toop praises guitarist Taku Sugimoto's clerical era ...
Review by David Toop, The Wire, June 2003
With contributions from Derek Bailey and Christian Fennesz, David Sylvian's new record is his most adventurous departure yet. ...
Arthur Russell: The Flying Heart
Retrospective by David Toop, The Wire, January 2004
Arthur Russell is the great enigma of New York's music scene. A cellist, Buddhist and former music director at the legendary Kitchen, he was seduced ...
Jem Finer, The Pogues: Cross Platform: Jem Finer
Interview by David Toop, The Wire, May 2004
Sound in other media. This month: David Toop talks to Jem Finer about his transition from banjo plucking with The Pogues to computer-decomposed improvisations and ...
Obituary by David Toop, The Wire, February 2005
David Toop laments the passing of a meticulous British improvisor and instrument builder ...
Lily Greenham, Daphne Oram: Daphne Oram: Oramics/Lily Greenham: Lingual Music (Paradigm Discs)
Review by David Toop, The Wire, March 2007
David Toop recovers past visions of the future from the audio fragments of two English women in experimental music ...
Interview by David Toop, Rock's Backpages audio, Fall 2012
Scott talks about his new album Bish Bosch and explains why it took so long; discusses the nature of his voice on the record; how he wrote and prepared its track; the centrality of his lyrics to his music; his musicians and arrangements; the album's darkness and its demands on his voice; how he always felt more European than American; opera and other projects... and growing old as an artist.
File format: mp3; file size: 79.9mb, interview length: 1h 23' 13" sound quality: *****
John Coltrane: A Love Supreme: The Complete Masters (USM/Impulse/Verve)
Review by David Toop, The Wire, November 2015
The complete session of the landmark John Coltrane album underlines the solemn rigour of the ritual. ...
Dr. John, Steve Mann: Mystic vapour: 'Jump Sturdy'
Book Excerpt by David Toop, Strange Attractor Press, August 2024
An excerpt from David Toop's Two-Headed Doctor: Listening For Ghosts in Dr. John's Gris-Gris, published by Strange Attractor Press in the UK and MIT in ...
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