Music-Essays

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.Author: Oscar CremerISBN-10: 1447457943ISBN-13: 9781447457947Publisher: Braithwaite...

Following his 2016 smash hit Anatomy of a Song, acclaimed musicjournalist Marc Myers collects fifty-five new oral histories oficonic songs from his popular Wall Street Journal column Songs that sell the most copies become hits, but some of those hits becomesomething more--iconic recordings that...

NATIONAL BESTSELLERAN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR"Ozzi's reporting is strong, balanced and well told...a worthy successor to its obvious inspiration, Michael Azerrad's 2001 examination of the '80s indie underground, Our Band Could Be Your Life."--New York Times Book ReviewA raucous history of punk,...

This second volume of Music in Black American Life offers research and analysis that originally appeared in the journals American Music and Black Music Research Journal, and in two book series published by the University of Illinois Press: Music in American Life, and African...

This first volume of Music in Black American Life collects research and analysis that originally appeared in the journals American Music and the Black Music Research Journal, and in the University of Illinois Press's acclaimed book series Music in American Life. In these selections,...

Author: Tony SchermanISBN-10: 0312304617ISBN-13: 9780312304614Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PLLanguage: EnglishPublished: 07/15/1994Pages: 256Format: PaperbackWeight: 0.80lbsSize: 8.16h x 5.92w x 0.68d

"The Podium Papers" is an honest and entertaining dispatch from the front lines of one of the world's most interesting and misunderstood professions. Like Anthony Bourdain in his "Kitchen Confidential," Martin Kessler takes the reader through the swinging doors and into the real 'kitchen'...

Living Genres in Late Modernity rehears the American 1970s through the workings of its musical genres. Exploring stylistic developments from the late 1960s through the early 1980s, including soul, funk, disco, pop, the nocturne, and the concerto, Charles Kronengold treats genres as unstable constellations...

Living Genres in Late Modernity rehears the American 1970s through the workings of its musical genres. Exploring stylistic developments from the late 1960s through the early 1980s, including soul, funk, disco, pop, the nocturne, and the concerto, Charles Kronengold treats genres as unstable constellations...

A new, definitive look at one of music's greatest songbooks, by two expert authors. The latest in the bestselling All the Songs series, Bruce Springsteen: All the Songs is the most in-depth exploration of The Boss's music ever written. From Greetings from Asbury Park,...

Whether they're self-taught bashers or technical wizards, drummers are the thrashing, crashing heart of our favorite punk bands. In Forbidden Beat, some of today's most respected writers and musicians explore the history of punk percussion with personal essays, interviews and lists featuring their favorite...

Conversations with the avant-garde's leading lights--from Suicide to Anohni--by experimental music's go-to interviewer, guitarist and sound artist Alan LichtFor the past 30 years, Alan Licht has been a performer, programmer and chronicler of New York's art and music scenes. His dry wit, deep erudition...

"Jessica Hopper's criticism is a trenchant and necessary counterpoint not just on music, but on our culture at large." --Annie Clark, St. VincentAn acclaimed, career-spanning collection from a fiercely feminist and revered contemporary rock critic, reissued with new material Throughout her career, spanning more...

For almost 60 years the Rolling Stones have helped shape popular culture around the world. Unzipped traces their impact and influence on rock music, art, design, fashion, photography, and filmmaking. Packed with evocative archive photos, artworks, outtakes, and memorabilia, this stunning book immerses readers...

On the implications of computer-generated music for live performance In the performance of computer-generated music, a tangibly causal relationship between action and sound has been cut. Looking at Music asks: how important is live action to the future of musical performance?Author: Lina BrionISBN-10: 3959054920ISBN-13:...

"A slim yet powerful book in which Marc Ribot blends bits of memoir with strange little fictions, many of which are based on his own life and career." --Wall Street Journal "Ribot . . . produced a book that is much like his musical...

A NEW YORKER & GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK OF THE YEARA love letter to the verbal artistry of hip-hop, What's Good is a work of passionate lyrical analysis"What's Good is, among a great many other things, a byproduct of joyful obsession and immersion...

In this penetrating volume, Harvey Sachs, acclaimed biographer and historian of classical music, takes readers into the hearts of ten extraordinary works of classical music in ten different genres, showing both the curious novice and the seasoned listener how to recognize, appreciate, and engage...

Elizabeth (Bess) Cronin, 'The Queen of Irish Song', as S amus Ennis called her, is probably the best-known Irish female traditional singer of our time. Her reputation was such that collectors came from far and near to hear and record her singing. This publication...

'Wagner's art refuses to stand still, declines to play by the rules and will not observe any of the social graces'What is it that makes Wagner's art so endlessly powerful? So influential, seductive and repellent? So simultaneously creative and destructive? And why does it...

The final installment of John Zorn's major series of new music theory, with Oren Ambarchi, Peter Blegvad, Annea Lockwood, Henry Threadgill and many moreInitiated in 1997 and now in its tenth and final installment, John Zorn's acclaimed Arcana series is a major source of...

Pop music surrounds us - in our cars, over supermarket speakers, even when we are laid out at the dentist - but how often do we really hear what's playing? Switched on Pop is the book based on the eponymous podcast that has been...

By the bestselling author of Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll and Last Train the Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, this dazzling new book of profiles is a culmination of Peter Guralnick's remarkable work, which from the start has encompassed...

Writings and interviews engaging the artists and themes from Blank Forms' public programming, from Thulani Davis to Charles CurtisThis iteration privileges new texts produced for the publication. These include an interview with the idiosyncratic Texan singer-songwriter and visual artist Terry Allen, conducted by curator...

Founded in 1967 by Aubrey "Po" Powell, Storm Thorgerson, and Peter Christopherson, graphic design firm Hipgnosis gained legendary status by transforming the look of album art through their designs for AC/DC, Black Sabbath, the Police, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Syd Barrett,...

This Swiss composer's conceptual and practical guide to the mind/body overlap in music and martial artsOver the past 20 years, Swiss musician and composer Nik B舐tsch (born 1971) has performed around the world and released a number of albums with ECM Records. During this...

Secrets of master guitarists, revealed in conversation. Guitar Talk offers interviews with many of the most creative guitarists of our time. This new book presents these conversations, between Joel Harrison and Nels Cline, Pat Metheny, Fred Frith, Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, Elliott Sharp, Michael...

An idiosyncratic and affordable cross-genre history of sound art, from Alexander von Humboldt to liane RadigueIn Sounding Things Out, Dutch composer and sound artist Esther Venrooy (born 1974) seeks to enlarge and diversify the narrative on sound art by highlighting important pioneers in the...

How do you explain a mystery? This opaque mythology is something that pervades a lot of the poems here, inspired by the sideways, the askew, the fables of Aphex Twin. This isn't intended to be a discovery of who Aphex is, nor necessarily what...

A team of experts write about each era of the band's existence, examining what they were doing for each of their original 12 UK-release albums.This informative work tells the story of the famous Liverpool musicians, from the band's formative days in Hamburg and Liverpool...

"Doucet takes a refreshingly genre-free approach, careening from heady dub reggae to pastoral folk-rock, from unreal disco workouts to mind-bending electronica. His enthusiasm is such that you'll be stopping on every page to track down the songs being discussed." -- Aquarium DrunkardLet go of...

'The loveliest - and certainly the most human - book about pop music I've ever read ... A delightful and humane soap opera, a real page-turner, full of rounded and entirely recognisable characters.'Jon Ronson, Daily TelegraphTHE DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF BRITPOP - BLUR, OASIS, ELASTICA,...

A monumental work of musical history, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! traces the story of pop music through songs, bands, musical scenes, and styles from Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock around the Clock" (1954) to Beyoncé's first megahit, "Crazy in Love" (2003). Bob Stanley--himself a...

"May be the best book ever written about jazz."--David Thomson, Los Angeles Times In eight poetically charged vignettes, Geoff Dyer skillfully evokes the music and the men who shaped modern jazz. Drawing on photos, anecdotes, and, most important, the way he hears the music,...

With technology, music has never been more constant. It is heard on phones and in waiting rooms, in coffee shops and on television. Despite such exposure, the number of people able to make music for themselves is dwindling. Classical Christian schools have a unique...

Fun, bright, and playful, Power Pop is a sometimes adored, sometimes maligned, often misunderstood genre of music. From its heyday in the 70 s and 80 s to its resurgence in the 90 s and 00 s, Power Pop has meant many things to...

The definitive oral history of the New Romantics. Sweet Dreams charts the British cultural explosion that happened in the ten years from 1975-1985 -- the rise of the New Romantics. Growing out of the remnants of the post-punk period, the New Romantics introduced club...

In one corner, a godless young warrior, Voltaire's heralded 'philosopher-king', the It Boy of the Enlightenment. In the other, a devout if bad-tempered old composer of 'outdated' music, a scorned genius in his last years. The sparks from their brief conflict illuminate a turbulent...

Edited by iconic musician Kim Gordon and esteemed writer Sin饌d Gleeson, this powerful collection of award-winning female creators shares their writing about the female artists that matter most to them. This book is for and about the women who kicked in doors, as pioneers...

By the bestselling author of Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll and Last Train the Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley, this dazzling new book of profiles is a culmination of Peter Guralnick's remarkable work, which from the start has encompassed...

A collection of essays on music and life by the famed classical pianist and composer Stephen Hough is one of the world's leading pianists, winning global acclaim and numerous awards, both for his concerts and his recordings. He is also a writer, composer, and...

The greatest interviews with the greatest rock stars, movie stars, and cultural icons -- uncensored and unfiltered -- are published together in one remarkable volume in celebration of Rolling Stones 40th anniversary.Author: Joe LevyISBN-10: 0316005266ISBN-13: 9780316005265Publisher: Back Bay BooksLanguage: EnglishPublished: 11/01/2007Pages: 496Format: PaperbackWeight: 1.16lbsSize:...

The team behind the longest running food podcast, Snacky Tunes, presents a one-of-a-kind book exploring chefs' profound relationship with music through never-before-seen stories and recipesFounded in 2009 by Darin and Greg Bresnitz, the podcast Snacky Tunes served as the first platform to discuss food...

Through the precession of simulacra, we have arrived at a landscape of e-girls and sad boys, the aesthetic values of our time transposed onto the ecstatic communications of the hyperreal. Through Baudrillardian analysis, Alex Mazey attempts to trace a genealogy of Sad Boy Aesthetics,...

'Fascinating and illuminating' STYLIST 'Perceptive and candid' IRISH TIMES 'Wide-ranging, deep-dive, soul-baring interviews, full of candid, intimate, spiky meditations on inspiration, artistry, sexuality, race, love, self-doubt, abuse, defiance and everything in between' OBSERVER 'Variously optimistic, troubling, joyful, illuminating, fierce and thoughtful' GUARDIAN INTERVIEWS WITH...

Gold Award, Independent Publisher Book AwardsNominated, Award of Excellence in Historical Sound Research by the Association for Recorded Sound CollectionsThe Ballad of Tommy LiPuma is the story of one of America's most successful record producers, whose work with seminal artists like Miles Davis, Diana...

An all-star lineup of rock-n-rollers-from Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell to Suzi Quatro and Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire-relay the uproariously wild, sentimental, and unexpected pre-stardom stories behind their favorite records. Rock Stars on the Record is a collection of first-hand tales by...

In The Sound of Memory, concert violinist Rebecca Fischer wrestles with the life of a performing artist in the twenty-first century, the physical and material components of memory, the nature of musical inheritance, and the gifts and pressures of a calling that runs generations...

"There are many sounds in Lauren Turner's Shape Note Singing and the notes played are precise and unnamable, the questions holy and vast. Turner gives us vision; a body of work that recognizes the possibilities of listening when we relinquish control. These poems reverberate...

"WhateverTom Piazza writes is touched with magic." --Douglas BrinkleyAcclaimed author Tom Piazza follows hisprize-winning novel City of Refuge and the post-Katrinaclassic Why New Orleans Matters with a dynamic collection ofessays and journalism about American music and American character, in DevilSent the Rain."TomPiazza's writing is...