Music-History & Criticism

By gathering historical and musical fragments from a Europe torn apart by the Second World War and the Cold War, East German playwright Heiner M?ler and West German composer Heiner Goebbels created Wolokolamsker Chaussee as a musical panorama that stretched across modern European history...

In 1997 the rap group Racionais MCs (the 'Rational' MCs) recorded the album Sobrevivendo no Inferno (Surviving in Hell), subsequently changing the hip-hop scene in S縊 Paulo and firmly establishing itself as the point of reference for youth across Brazil. In an era when...

Sonic Rupture applies a practitioner-led approach to urban soundscape design, which foregrounds the importance of creative encounters in global cities. This presents an alternative to those urban soundscape design approaches concerned with managing the negative health impacts of noise. Instead, urban noise is considered...

Low End Theory probes the much-mythologized field of bass and low-frequency sound. It begins in music but quickly moves far beyond, following vibratory phenomena across time, disciplines and disparate cultural spheres (including hauntings, laboratories, organ workshops, burial mounds, sound art, studios, dancefloors, infrasonic anomalies,...

Of the many girl-groups that came out of the 1960s, none is more idiosyncratic and influential than the Shangri-Las. They were together only five years, but within that time they subverted pop standards and foreshadowed a generation of tough women in music. Critically, they...

The lead singer on Supercell's eponymous first album is Hatsune Miku-a Vocaloid character created by Crypton Future Media with voice synthesizers. A virtual superstar, over 100,000 songs, uploaded mostly by fans, are attributed to her. Supercell is a Japanese creator music group with the...

Cowboy Bebop is one of the most beloved anime series of all time, and if you ask its fans why, you can expect to hear about its music. Composer Yoko Kanno created an eclectic blend of jazz, rock, lullabies, folk and funk (to list...

In The Sound of Nonsense, Richard Elliott highlights the importance of sound in understanding the 'nonsense' of writers such as Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, James Joyce and Mervyn Peake, before connecting this noisy writing to works which engage more directly with sound, including sound...

In 1978, Siouxsie and the Banshees declared 'We don't see ourselves in the same context as other rock'n'roll bands.' A decade later, and in the stark aftermath of a devastating storm, the band retreated to a 17th-century mansion house in the deracinated Sussex countryside...

At the height of Tim Maia's soaring fame, he joined a radical, extraterrestrial-obsessed cult and created two plus albums of some of Brazil's-and the globe's-best funk and soul music. This book explores the career of the man often hailed as the James Brown or...

This book is a lively, comprehensive and timely reader on the music video, capitalising on cross-disciplinary research expertise, which represents a substantial academic engagement with the music video, a mediated form and practice that still remains relatively under-explored in a 21st century context. The...

Noise is so often a 'stench in the ear' - an unpleasant disturbance or an unwelcome distraction. But there is much more to noise than what greets the ear as unwanted sound. Beyond Unwanted Sound is about noise and how we talk about it....

Awarded a Certificate of Merit at the ARSC Awards for Excellence 2018In the past two decades digital technologies have fundamentally changed the way we think about, make and use popular music. From the production of multimillion selling pop records to the ubiquitous remix that...

Jamming in the shadows of the Grateful Dead, the Jerry Garcia Band thrilled devoted fans for three decades with an alchemist's brew of blues, rock, jazz, and gospel, as well as Motown and Dylan covers. Positively Garcia is the story of the rise of...

Istvan Anhalt, himself a composer of many vocal works, has written an interdisciplinary study of the innovative vocal and choral music that has emerged in Europe and North America since the Second World War. Author: Istvan AnhaltISBN-10: 1442651423ISBN-13: 9781442651425Publisher: University of Toronto PressLanguage: EnglishPublished:...

Glam Rock investigates the origins, development, and impact of an often under-valued and misunderstood musical genre. Exploring artistic, political, psychological, sexual, and commercial contexts, this book brings a fresh perspective to the transatlantic cultural history of this unique movement in popular music.Author: Simon PhiloISBN-10:...

Michael Cain offers an informal social history that describes Americana as both a musical genre and a movement, showing what it is, where it came from and where it is going. Through anecdotes and interviews, Cain provides a firsthand view into the creation of...

An icon of musical talent and independence, Bessie Smith's contributions to the blues and the music industry earned her the title of "Empress of the Blues." Learning how to listen to Smith's work in turn develops a greater understanding of how her successors extended...

Shoemaker explores the musicians and music of one of the most important decades in jazz history, looking at events overlooked in most jazz histories, which too often stop at the 1960s. He argues that this period in jazz history saw an explosion of artist-produced...

George Plasketes provides a comprehensive chronicle of Warren Zevon's 40-year, 20-record career and his enduring cultural significance. Throughout, Plasketes explores the musical, cinematic, and literary influences that shaped Zevon's distinctive style and songwriting themes.Author: George PlasketesISBN-10: 1442234563ISBN-13: 9781442234567Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield PublishersLanguage: EnglishPublished: 06/02/2016Pages:...

In Experiencing Tchaikovsky: A Listener's Companion, historian and scholar David Schroeder looks beyond traditional views of Tchaikovsky to explore the dramatic impact of his music by walking readers through the remarkable range of works by this great Russian composer.Author: David SchroederISBN-10: 1442232994ISBN-13: 9781442232990Publisher: Rowman...

Steel Drums and Steelbands: A History is a vivid account of the events that led to the "accidental" invention of the steel drum: the only acoustic musical instrument invented in the 20th century. Angela Smith walks readers through the evolution of the steel drum...

In Counting Down Bruce Springsteen: His 100 Finest Songs, rock writer Jim Beviglia reflects not only on why each song has earned its place on list but lays out the story behind each of the 100, supplying fresh insights on the musical and lyrical...

Mozart's Marriage of Figaro was one of his most successful works after its premiere in 1786. While the opera continues to be widely performed, the overture to the opera is performed even more often as a concert piece. This is a Pocket Score of...

Resonances is a compelling collection of new essays by scholars, writers and musicians, all seeking to explore and enlighten this field of study. Noise seems to stand for a lack of aesthetic grace, to alienate or distract rather than enrapture. And yet the drones...

Sinister Resonance begins with the premise that sound is a haunting, a ghost, a presence whose location is ambiguous and whose existence is transitory. The intangibility of sound is uncanny - a phenomenal presence in the head, at its point of source and all...

Written by an experienced drummer and philosopher, Groove is a vivid and exciting study of one of music's most central and relatively unexplored aspects. Tiger C. Roholt explains why grooves, which are forged in music's rhythmic nuances, remain hidden to some listeners. He argues...

Neil Young cannot be simply labeled. He has recorded as a solo artist, as a member of a hard rock trio, and with numerous other musician configurations. He can move from the soft sounds of early 1970s acoustic folk to the distorted, fuzz guitar...

TALKIN' 'BOUT A REVOLUTION: MUSIC AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN AMERICAAuthor: Dick WeissmanISBN-10: 1423442830ISBN-13: 9781423442837Publisher: Backbeat BooksLanguage: EnglishPublished: 05/01/2010Pages: 386Format: PaperbackWeight: 1.15lbsSize: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.90d

How do you rationally connect the diverse literature, music, and painting of an age? Throughout the modernist era--which began roughly in 1872 with the Franco-Prussian War, climaxed with the Great War, and ended with a third catastrophe, the Great Depression--there was a special belligerence...

Packed with interesting details and notable influences, Swamp Music showcases North Florida's, South Georgia's and South Alabama's exceptional and sometimes overlooked contributions to modern music.Author: Michael Ray FitzgeraldISBN-10: 0996237119ISBN-13: 9780996237116Publisher: Hidden Owl, LLCLanguage: EnglishPublished: 12/13/2018Pages: 202Format: PaperbackWeight: 1.06lbsSize: 11.00h x 8.50w x 0.43d

There is a stream that courses through American roots music. Its source is in the Appalachian foothills in a place called Maces Springs, Virginia. It was there that A.P. Carter, his wife Sara, and his sister-in-law Maybelle began their careers as three of the...

The Great Tompall: Forgotten Country Music Outlaw provides an in-depth look at the life of one of country music's least recognized - but most iconic and influential performers and business owners. Given unprecedented access to Tompall, this book tells his story through his own...

Author and pop culture historian Harvey Kubernik's multi-voice narrative and examination of the Beatles musical relationship to Hollywood and the songwriting legacy of Los Angeles. The finished book is more than a compilation of photos, graphics, interviews, and insights offered by more than 60...

"Josh Alan Friedman has chops like a wolf. The French had a phrase for his tropism for the seedy, the gutter, the outcasts: nostalgie de la boue. This book deserves wide attention." --Jerry Wexler, co-founder of Atlantic Records "A can't-put-it-down rock 'n' roll read...

Media opened music to sound, and made it universally available material for multiple collages. At the same time media puts music in the state of a constant murmuring drone, an incessant flowing. Music in the age of technical media continues to move between these...

Sonic Rebellion: Music as Resistance is inspired by the vital history of music in Detroit and the legacy of the 1967 Detroit Rebellion. It connects Detroit's musical and political histories with a wide range of artworks, music ephemera and artifacts to offer a listening...

"Play It Again Paddy" presents a light-hearted journey through the recent past of Drogheda's social & musical history. It provides a snapshot of some of the town's finest orchestras, showbands and groups, from the 1940s through to the 1970s. It includes profiles of some...

Compiled from the Finzi Friends newsletter, The Clock of the Years is a fascinating anthology of writings on Gerald Finzi, his family and his circle. The Clock of the Years is an anthology compiled to celebrate 25 years of the Finzi Friends Newsletter. It...

An examination of the work and music of the Royalist composer William Lawes. William Lawes is arguably one of the finest English composers of the early seventeenth century. Born in Salisbury in 1602, he rose to prominence in the early 1630s; in 1635 he...

Some albums are so extraordinary that they influence generations of aspiring artists and even redefine entire genres. Such a description applies to Are You Experienced. In this revelatory book, now UPDATED AND EXPANDED, Sean Egan tells the story of the making of the Jimi...

(Percussion). This tribute to Gretsch kits features full-color photos and interviews with sensational players like Louie Bellson, Jimmy Cobb, Chuck Flores, Phil Grant, Jake Hanna, Elvin Jones, Don Lamond, Charlie Persip, Dick Shanahan, and others. Written by Chet Falzerano, a contributor to Modern Drummer,...

A rich survey of all Beethoven's sonatas for violin and piano. The first in over half a century to be devoted to a detailed analysis of the complete Beethoven sonatas for violin and piano, this book arose from the author's desire to pass on...

This abundantly illustrated, full-color volume provides an overview of the topic of music, musical instruments, and musical performance throughout the centuries, as depicted in Western works of art ranging from ancient sculpture to Renaissance paintings to modern art. It serves as a handy guide...

This is the ultimate collection of funked-up wisdom and inspiration, from the grooving pioneers of R & B, soul, and funk to the flame-tending funkateers of hip-hop, neo-soul, and gospel. With interviews and analyses from both groundbreaking old-school innovators and ongoing revolutionaries - players...

BY THE TIME WE GOT TO WOODSTOCK ä THE GREAT ROCK 'N' ROLL REVOLUTION OF1969Author: Bruce PollockISBN-10: 0879309792ISBN-13: 9780879309794Publisher: Backbeat BooksLanguage: EnglishPublished: 08/01/2009Pages: 368Format: PaperbackWeight: 1.24lbsSize: 8.92h x 6.04w x 0.85dReview Citation(s): Library Journal 08/15/2009 pg. 83Booklist 09/01/2009 pg. 23

ELWOOD'S BLUES INTERVIEWS WITH THE BLUES LEGENDS AND STARSAuthor: Dan Aykroyd, Ben ManillaISBN-10: 0879308095ISBN-13: 9780879308094Publisher: Backbeat BooksLanguage: EnglishPublished: 09/01/2004Pages: 260Format: PaperbackWeight: 0.97lbsSize: 9.32h x 6.06w x 0.63d

JAZZ ON FILM THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE MUSICIANS AND MUSIC ONSCREENAuthor: Scott YanowISBN-10: 0879307838ISBN-13: 9780879307837Publisher: Backbeat BooksLanguage: EnglishPublished: 10/01/2004Pages: 314Format: PaperbackWeight: 1.41lbsSize: 9.38h x 7.36w x 0.77d

The creator of the unforgettable "Girl from Ipanema" tenor sax tone, this son of Ukranian immigrants took his unique sound through five decades of swing, cool, bossa and beyond. From Getz's teenage gigs with Dorsey, Goodman and Stan Kenton, fame with Woody Herman, years...

THE YARDBIRDS THE BAND THAT LAUNCHED ERIC CLAPTON JEFF BECK AND JIMMY PAGE SFTCOVERAuthor: Alan ClaysonISBN-10: 0879307242ISBN-13: 9780879307240Publisher: Backbeat BooksLanguage: EnglishPublished: 09/01/2002Pages: 206Format: PaperbackWeight: 0.85lbsSize: 9.20h x 7.50w x 0.60d