Formed in New York in 1999, The Books were responsible for some of the strangest, most beautiful, most acclaimed albums of the ‘00s. A duo comprised of guitarist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong, The Books' debut LP, 2002's Thought for Food, invented a whole new sound. Critics initially considered them part of the underground folktronica movement, but subsequent records—like 2005's Lost and Safe—showed that their delicate collages of sampled sounds and thrift shop instruments owed more to avant-garde composers like Steve Reich.
