Music: styles and genres Books

Book SynopsisIn this essential and impassioned text, LeRoi Jones traces the intertwined development of blues and jazz music with the history of its creators in 'White America'. As important and relevant as at its first publication in 1963, it shows how music and its people are inseparable - expressing and reflecting the other, surviving and adapting through oppression.Trade ReviewA must for all who would more knowledgeably appreciate and better comprehend America's most popular music -- LANGSTON HUGHESA panoramic sociocultural history of African-American music . . . the first major book of its kind by a black author -- NPRSo essential and, for many of today's music fans, so under-examined . . . Precise, probing and academic * * The Current * *Blues People is not only a fresh, incisively instructive reinterpretation of negro music in America, but it is also crucially relevant to negro-white relationships today -- NAT HENTOFF

Read more less

Book Synopsis'A remarkable new book ... goes leaping from Beethoven to Big Black, from Morton Feldman to Curtis Mayfield, identifying continuities while delighting in contrasts' Alex Ross, New YorkerFor the first time ever, we have all the music in the world to choose from. As Ben Ratliff, one of America's celebrated music critics, shows us, it's time to listen in a new way too. Opening our ears to unexpected connections, new experiences and little-known delights, this book will change the way you appreciate music forever. 'Masterly ... An instructive guide to opening one's mind and compiling a new kind of playlist ... succeeds brilliantly' John Clarke, Independent'Smart, provocative ... in every case informative' August Kleinzahler, The New York Times Book Review 'Like a trip into the world's coolest record store' David Browne, Rolling StoneTrade ReviewA music appreciation guide for our era ... Brilliant -- Dan Chiasson * New York Review of Books *A remarkable new book . . . [Ratliff] goes leaping from Beethoven to Big Black, from Morton Feldman to Curtis Mayfield, identifying continuities while delighting in contrasts -- Alex Ross * New Yorker *The spectacle of an active mind processing a world in constant flux . . . Maybe, as Ratliff beautifully argues, the brooding aggression of metal obscures a deeper melancholy -- Hua Hsu * New Yorker *Incisive . . . Thanks to Ratliff's vast knowledge, what could have been a dry academic exercise is more like a trip into the world's coolest record store -- David Browne * Rolling Stone *

Read more less

Book SynopsisGrowing up in the Boston suburbs, Tom Werman was deeply affected by pop music from a young age. He long dreamed of a career in music -- first as Elvis, then as the next George Harrison -- but it almost turned out very differently. Dutifully following the path his parents had laid out for him, he obtained an MBA from an Ivy League university and took a plum job in an industry he came to despise. Then, in 1970, a chance letter sent to CBS Records boss Clive Davis led to a new opportunity . . . and a place in rock and roll history. As an A&R man at Epic Records, Werman helped introduce the world to REO Speedwagon, Boston, Ted Nugent, and Cheap Trick; he also discovered KISS, Rush, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, but his record label passed on all of them. Then, as an independent producer, he oversaw landmark albums by Motley Crue (Shout At The Devil), Twisted Sister (Stay Hungry), Lita Ford (Dangerous Curves), Jeff Beck (Live With Jan Hammer), Poison (Open Up And Say ... Ahh!), and many more. All in all, his record-making resume includes twenty-three gold- or platinum-selling albums and cumulative sales of more than fifty-two million copies. After bearing witness to several sea changes in the music industry, Werman retired from producing in 2001 and reinvented himself as an award-winning innkeeper in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. And that might have been that, until an off-the-cuff rebuttal to a disparaging critique of his role in making the Motley Crue album Girls, Girls, Girls on a music website led to a fortnightly column and now this book -- an honest and engaging insider account on how some of the best-loved albums of the 1970s and 80s came to be. A must for anyone interested in the glory days of rock and metal, Turn It Up! offers valuable insights into the recording process, the recording studio, the role of the producer, and the production values that are essential to the creation of a hit record.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWe developed reputations real fast. We treated our entertainers right. We got them paid. Other agents and promoters and managers showed them the money. We got them the money. We brought respect to the African American artist in America. We brought them prestige. We really cared about our artists and those who worked for us, and it was obvious because we fought like hell for them. So when you listen to some of that music today an Otis Redding record or Percy Sledge or anyone from our shop you re not just hearing music but also the sound of iron being hammered and bricks being laid for those especially African Americans who are in the business today. Southern Man is the memoir of a life in music during one of the most racially turbulent times in American history. It presents the voice of Alan Walden a remarkable, sensitive, humble, and brilliant man; a boy from the country who, serendipitously, along with his brother Phil and best friend Otis Redding, helped to nurture a musical renaissance. It is the story of a son of Macon, Georgia, and his passion for R&B and rock n roll at a time when it took wits and a Southern persistence to overcome the obstacles on the hard scrabble road to success the tragedy of loss, disappointment, and betrayal, along with the joy of victory, optimism, and hope and taking a dream right over the mountain. That dream led him to work with and nurture the talents of a virtual who s who of Southern music, from Sam & Dave and Percy Sledge to Boz Scaggs and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Anyone who was alive during the golden age of R&B and Southern rock remembers the music, but Alan s narrative invites the reader to the centre of the story, into the studio and on the road, to backroom deals and backroom brawls. It wasn t always peaches and cream. The music business is tough, and Alan Walden was one of the toughest kids on the street. He had to be, in order to survive in a world of guitars, guts, and guns. This is rock n roll noir the story of a few pioneers who cut the rock and laid the pipe under the hard scrabble terrain so that the water of creativity can more freely flow today.Trade ReviewAlan, I got to tell you you re one soulful guy I don t think I ve ever met a white guy with more soul than you. QUINCY JONES

Read more less

Book SynopsisLife's a Gamble is the autobiography of iconic singer-songwriter Pauline Murray. It recounts her journey from a small mining village in northeast England, through to gaining national recognition as the frontwoman of her band, Penetration, and how she became a key member of the punk movement. Emerging onto the punk scene at just 18 years old, inspired by an early encounter with the Sex Pistols, Pauline details how she played alongside the leading bands of the era, navigated the demands of the music industry, conquered the post-punk landscape with the Invisible Girls, opened her own music studios and reformed Penetration in 2001. Highly illustrated with unseen photographs and drawing upon Pauline's teenage diaries, interviews and archive material from her personal collection, this book chronicles the life and work of an authentic creative artist and punk rock legend.Trade Review'A beautifully written down to earth account of growing up in the north of England, discovering punk, and making a career from music. Pauline writes from the heart with no airs or graces. It is a joy to read her long awaited life story and unique perspective of those legendary times and beyond, with plentiful accompanying images. Essential reading!' Gaye Black, The Adverts 'This is a clear-eyed account of Pauline’s creative journey. She never loses her punk vision, and serves as an example to up-and-coming musicians of the resilience and tenacity you need to survive and thrive. You’re with her all the way- I couldn't put it down.' Helen McCallum

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisGet to know classical masterpieces: Within this series you will find a simple arrangement for piano of The Carnival of the Animals, a wonderful composition by Camille Saint-Saëns. As they are presented in this great zoological fantasy', we hear the animals getting together to celebrate a carnival party. With explanatory texts and fully coloured illustrations, the edition is aimed at young and adult pianists. The easily playable arrangements and original pieces provide an ideal introduction to this work.Instrumentation:Piano

Read more less

Book SynopsisA book about the last ten years of music, through five artists

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘This incredible time capsule is full of insightful history, along with great imagery. A must-have for Hip Hop enthusiasts.’ – Jamel Shabazz, documentary photographer A visual and cultural history of hip hop, charting its meteoric rise from underground trailblazer to global tastemaker To tell the story of contemporary American culture is to tell the story of hip hop. From its humble, underground origins, hip hop transcended the confines of rap music and spread its influence across a broad spectrum of American life – fashion, film, art, sports, politics, language – to become a cultural movement of profound influence. Rapper’s Deluxe is a critical contribution to America’s cultural canon, shining a light on hip hop’s ability to redefine and influence culture, through: photographs; fine art; advertisements; book, magazine, and album covers; film stills; and more. Organized chronologically from the 1970s to the present, image-rich and dynamic layouts show the people, places, events, objects, outfits, and inspirations that redefined the world as we know it – from fur-coated fans lining up for a Muhammad Ali fight at Madison Square Garden to a legendary party in the “Boogie Down” Bronx, through the hoods of South Los Angeles and the trap houses of Atlanta to the extravagant red carpet looks of the Met Gala. Drawing on a broad range of curated examples, Dr. Todd Boyd re-examines hip hop’s legacy and how the genre remixes ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture, past and present, to come up with a style that is uniquely its own. Filled with original insights and clever wordplay, Rapper’s Deluxe is a tale of transformation, following hip hop’s arduous, but always triumphant, journey as it rose up to dominate the game.Trade Review‘Informative and worth a read.’ – Library Journal‘Deeply researched and formidably composed... a sumptuous object and a museum of a book. It’s everything you think it is, and then some.’ – Art Spiel‘50 years of hip-hop history in one Phaidon book.’ – Wallpaper*‘[A] visual exploration of the history of hip hop and its influence on culture.’ – SHOWstudio'The new cultural history of rap and hip hop culture.' – The Orange County Register'Captivating ... a significant addition to [Phaidon's] illustrious collection.' – 92.5 The Beat'The story of the genre’s lasting and pervasive impact on our culture, with striking visuals and bold fonts that illustrate and speak to hip-hop’s truest nature.' – Hollywood.com

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom a Los Angeles hospital bed, equipped with little more than a laptop and a stack of records, James “J Dilla” Yancey crafted a set of tracks that would forever change the way beatmakers viewed their artform. The songs on Donuts are not hip hop music as “hip hop music” is typically defined; they careen and crash into each other, in one moment noisy and abrasive, gorgeous and heartbreaking the next. The samples and melodies tell the story of a man coming to terms with his declining health, a final love letter to the family and friends he was leaving behind. As a prolific producer with a voracious appetite for the history and mechanics of the music he loved, J Dilla knew the records that went into constructing Donuts inside and out. He could have taken them all and made a much different, more accessible album. If the widely accepted view is that his final work is a record about dying, the question becomes why did he make this record about dying? Drawing from philosophy, critical theory and musicology, as well as Dilla’s own musical catalogue, Jordan Ferguson shows that the contradictory, irascible and confrontational music found on Donuts is as much a result of an artist’s declining health as it is an example of what scholars call “late style,” placing the album in a musical tradition that stretches back centuries.Trade ReviewThis intelligent book uses the records and insights of Dilla's contemporaries to examine his approach to production, his relationships within the genre, love of records and how Donuts can be seen as a piece of music attuned to its creator's failing health. An insightful and emotive read. -- James Griffin * Bonafide Magazine *Jordan Ferguson’s book on Donuts provides a trove of information about what was clearly one of the albums of the last decade of any genre […]Ferguson offers a cogent reading of the album. Others have speculated that Jay Dee buried “secret messages” within the tracks. I don’t know how secret they are but it is clear that there were major preoccupations, life-death-relationships and, of course, music. What he produced was a brilliant, multi-layered, sonically exhilarating work and Ferguson has done the album justice with this slim volume. -- Robert Iannapollo * ARSC Journal *Excerpted * Stones Throw *That such a lively collection of beats and samples—as cerebral as they are physical—was created by a dying man ensures that Jordan Ferguson’s book will be poignant, but his clear storytelling and direct prose allows producer James Yancey to emerge as a complicated, contradictory character. The first half is the most extensive biography we have of the man, from his childhood in Detroit to his death in Los Angeles, just three days after the release of Donuts. The second half grapples with the album as a meditation on mortality, which only shows what an immense talent the world lost. -- Stephen M. Deusner * Pitchfork *Table of Contents1. Welcome to the Show 2. The Diff’rence 3. Hi. 4. Waves 5. Stop! 6. The Twister (Huh, What) 7. Workinonit 8. Two Can Win 9. Geek Down 10. The New 11. Bye.

Read more less

Book SynopsisExtravagantly opaque, willfully vaporous — Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II, released by the estimable British label Warp Records in 1994, rejuvenated ambient music for the Internet Age that was just dawning. In the United States, it was Richard D. James's first full length on Sire Records (home to Madonna and Depeche Mode) under the moniker Aphex Twin; Sire helped usher him in as a major force in music, electronic or otherwise. Faithful to Brian Eno’s definition of ambient music, Selected Ambient Works Volume II was intentionally functional: it furnished chill out rooms, the sanctuaries amid intense raves. Choreographers and film directors began to employ it to their own ends, and in the intervening decades this background music came to the fore, adapted by classical composers who reverse-engineered its fragile textures for performance on acoustic instruments. Simultaneously, “ambient” has moved from esoteric sound art to central tenet of online culture. This book contends that despite a reputation for being beatless, the album exudes percussive curiosity, providing a sonic metaphor for our technologically mediated era of countless synchronized nanosecond metronomes.Trade ReviewMarc Weidenbaum packs a lot into these 130 pages: a mini-biography of a ground-breaking artist, a capsule history of ambient music, and an example of how digital technology determines how we hear and interpret music. -- Stephen M. Deusner * Pitchfork *Weidenbaum ... is a lucid listener. His book offers deep insights into what makes the individual tracks so startling. * The Wire *Weidenbaum avoids an obvious track-by-track breakdown, instead focussing on creating a narrative of the album’s history and reception through the book’s seven chapters. Nevertheless there are several highly compelling accounts of tracks from the album, providing the attentive and imaginative readings that form the book’s backbone. ... Weidenbaum is at his best when he writes about the non-musical issues of the album ... [His] journalistic tone leads the reader effortlessly through his carefully constructed narratives, always respectful of Aphex’s artistry without ever falling into uncritical hagiography. ... One of the biggest appeals of SAW II lies in the invitation to find meaning in it and Weidenbaum’s account is the perfect vehicle to do this, helping the listener to connect up the disentangled sonic fragments and re-assemble them in a personal way. * Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture *It's not easy writing about ambient music. It is hard to describe how it sounds, and it is also hard to describe how it makes you feel. Weidenbaum avoids these problems by writing about the track listing, the names of the songs, the circumstances of the creation of the album, the reception of the album, and how it was used in movies...Some of Weidenbaum's approaches to discussing the album are illuminating. He explains how SAW Vol II was developed for chill out rooms at raves when people were coming down from long hours of dancing and drugs, and they needed something both restful and energizing. -- Christian Perring * Metapsychology Online Reviews *Mentioned on LineOut. * The Stranger.com *If you're already a fan of Aphex Twin, you'll revel in Weidenbaum's deep dive into one of the artist's signature works. If not, you'll be surprised to learn that you've likely already heard his music in one form or another. -- S.T. Vanairsdale * The City (SacTownMag.com) *the ‘extravagantly opaque, willfully vaporous’ chillout room masterpieces of electronic composer Richard D. James, aka Aphex Twin -- basically what everyone in the 1990s listened to as they swept up/came down after the rave -- get the business from incisive SF writer and archivist Marc Weidenbaum. And really, the pairing couldn't be any more delicious. -- Marke B. * San Francisco Bay Guardian *Like all good critical studies, Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II doesn’t provide the illusion of closure; rather, it expands minds, fostering the creation of textual meaning. I can offer no higher praise. -- Caught in the Carousel * Paul Gleason *Table of ContentsThere Is No Volume I Background Beats A Chill-out Room of One's Own Synesthetic Codex Transcribing Vapor Embedding Vapor Selected Ambient Works Volume III Thanks and Acknowledgments

Read more less

Book SynopsisA down-and-dirty chronicle of the birth and evolution of the Seattle grunge scene-from amateur skate parks and underground hardcore clubs to worldwide phenomenon-as told by one of its founding fathers and lead guitarist of legendary alternative rock band, Mudhoney. In the late 80s and early 90s, Steve Turner and his friends-Seattle skate punks, hardcore kids, and assorted misfits-started forming bands in each other's basements and accidentally created a unique sound that spread far beyond their once-sleepy city. Mud Ride offers an inside look at the tight-knit grunge scene, the musical influences and experiments that shaped the grunge sound, and the story of Turner's bands, Green River and Mudhoney, which went from underground flophouse shows to selling out stadiums with Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Including stories about the key moments, musicians, and albums from grunge's beginnings to its come-down from the highs of global success and stardom, this is the first account of the musical phenomenon that took over the world from someone who was there for it all. Written by Steve Turner, lead guitarist of Mudhoney, a foundational grunge band that inspired musical icons from Kurt Cobain to Sonic Youth, Mud Ride features a foreword by Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard and never-before-seen photographs and grunge memorabilia throughout. Take a seat and ride through the messy and muddy grunge scene that grew from the basements of the Northwest and went on to circle the globe.Trade Review'Part memoir. Part blueprint. All heart. Mud Ride is a doozy.' Louder Than War 'Mud Ride is a roller coaster of a music memoir, at turns clear-eyed and madcap, quirky, surprising, and always propulsive. Turner offers us an insider's account of the genesis of the Seattle sound and ethos, full of humor, pathos, and the sort of historical nuggets music fans cherish.' Jonathan Evison, New York Times Bestselling author of Small World 'Turner's good-natured, wry sense of humour, his insider eye for detail, serves this book well. Plenty of minutiae and touring anecdotes, some fascinating gems about the pre-hype years. Good stuff.' Classic Rock

Read more less

Book SynopsisA new edition of Adam Zamoyski's definitive biography of Chopin, first published in 1979 and unavailable in English for many years.Few composers elicit such strong emotions as Chopin. Few have been more revered and cherished. And few have had so much sentimental nonsense written about them.Published to coincide with the bicentenary of Chopin''s birth, Adam Zamoyski''s compelling new biography cuts through the mass of anecdote and myth that has sprung up around the composer''s life and the ebullient and striking personalities of Romantic Paris among whom he lived, including Liszt, Berlioz, Victor Hugo and George Sand, in search of the real Chopin.Zamoyski brings to the subject an unrivalled knowledge of the historical, social and cultural background of the composer''s native Poland as well as of the France in which he spent most of his creative life. He has scoured the archives of Warsaw, Krakow, Paris and London in his quest for the truth, and has based his account exclusively on primaTrade Review'A close, intimate and thoroughly absorbing portrait … Zamoyski has written a thoughtful, lively and moving account of an extraordinary and exceptional man.' Mail on Sunday 'Those seeking to revisit the genius of the man who Camille Saint-Saens described as "the sweet evening star that shone for only a moment" could do no better than to have this book at their side.' Daily Telegraph 'A fine study of the composer's life and career … Zamoyski's highly readable account brings non-technical insights into the music itself and he is superb at conveying what is known as Chopin's own playing.' Sunday Telegraph 'As ever, the historian writes with absolute assurance about the politics and culture of his ancestral homeland … Zamoyski recounts the private life, and public events, with ringing authority.' Independent 'Zamoyski is terrific at probing the subtle contradictions of Chopin.' Evening Standard

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Scene In Between sets out to excavate the sartorial treasures of the UK’s 1980s guitar scenes. Using original archive photography from scenesters, band members and amateur photographers of the time, Sam Knee takes you on a fashion trip through the visual racket of pivotal indie bands including Primal Scream, Spacemen 3, The Smiths, My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Tallulah Gosh, the Vaselines and countless others. Charity shop chic, anoraks, bowlcuts, leather trousers and stripy tees are all de-riguer in this evocative photographic historical capsule. Seven years on from the release of the first edition, Sam Knee has expanded his photographic contact base, and built a loyal Instagram following of over 60,000 (including many big names in fashion and music). This revised edition features a new cover and intro, and plenty of new photographic material that will delight both fans of his work and new music and fashion aficionados.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt was 1969, and Miles Davis, prince of cool, was on the edge of being left behind by a dynamic generation of young musicians, an important handful of whom had been in his band. Rock music was flying off in every direction, just as America itself seemed about to split at its seams. Following the circumscribed grooves and ambiance of In A Silent Way; coming off a tour with a burning new quintet—called ‘The Lost Band’—with Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette; he went into the studio with musicians like frighteningly talented guitarist John McLaughlin, and soulful Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul. Working with his essential producer, Teo Macero, Miles set a cauldron of ideas loose while the tapes rolled. At the end, there was the newly minted Prince of Darkness, a completely new way forward for jazz and rock, and the endless brilliance and depth of Bitches Brew. Bitches Brew is still one of the most astonishing albums ever made in either jazz or rock. Seeming to fuse the two, it actually does something entirely more revolutionary and open-ended: blending the most avant-garde aspects of Western music with deep grooves, the album rejects both jazz and rock for an entirely different idea of how music can be made.Trade ReviewWhen Davis felt he could go no further with straight-ahead acoustic jazz, he embraced the electric age… by 1969, when he recorded the monumental double album Bitches Brew—the subject of a perceptive new monograph by George Grella Jr. in the 33 1/3 series—he had forged a bold new style, later dubbed the “electric Miles.” Today no period of Davis’s work exerts as much fascination for young jazz musicians. * The New York Review of Books *George Grella Jr. discusses time and the slippage thereof in Bitches Brew (one of the latest additions to the brilliant 33 1/3 series) ... [An] articulate and thought-provoking book ... [Grella] writes well about the music on the album itself, providing a readable and non-technical description of musical themes ... [and] offering insight into the construction ... of individual tracks and the album as a whole. * International Times *George Grella dissects the creative process engineered by Miles Davis album, delves into the motivations that led its creator to break with the basics of swing and incorporate influences from rock and unprecedented use of recording techniques in jazz . Grella also devotes two chapters to study the outstanding technical features of each of the six items on the double LP … and explores with passion, wit and analytical rigor [the] constellation of musical, social and psychological forces that came together to produce one of the most revolutionary works of contemporary music. * El Intruso (translated from Spanish) *A worthwhile companion to your next Miles Davis listening session. * Jazzinstitut (Bloomsbury translation) *Table of ContentsIntroduction Miles Davis Doesn't Care What You Think Directions in Music by Miles Davis Gramaphone, Trumpet, Razor Blade Bitches Brew, CS 9995 Bitches Brew, CS 9996 It's About That Time Selected & Annotated Bitches Brew Discography Selected Bibliography

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis'The nature of Lou Reed's lyric writing that had been hitherto unknown in rock ... gave us the environment in which to put our more theatrical vision. He supplied us with the stretch and the landscape, and we peopled it.' - David Bowie

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisA groundbreaking collection of inspiring and instructive conversations about the beauty, brutality, discipline, and technique of being a successful singer.“This is a captivating look at both the nitty-gritty preparation and emotional energy that ‘it takes [for artists] to stand up to that mic... reach down into their guts, and give everything they’ve got for the sake of the song.’ Its star power and up-close, revelatory detail will keep readers riveted from start to finish.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “For all of the conversations we have about music, there is precious little talk about the art of communicating emotion and meaning via the human voice. The Singer's Talk remedies this by reaching out to a wide range of different singers, who speak insightfully about both the skill and the magic required to change minds and break hearts.” —Steven Hyden, author of Twilight of the Gods and other books These revelatory, frequently funny, and deeply engrossing in-depth interviews provide fans and aspiring singers a backstage pass to the challenges every vocalist faces onstage and in the studio. Packed with never-before-heard stories, The Singers Talk reveals a truly intimate side to these iconic personalities while offering a master class on how the best in their field keep their vocal cords in shape and protect themselves on the road—along with countless other tricks, techniques, strategies, and philosophies to help vocalists at every level perfect the craft of singing. “This is the most geeked out I’ve ever talked about my voice!” —Thom Yorke This historic roster of artists includes: Bryan Adams, Tony Bennett, Nick Cave, Chuck D, Roger Daltrey, Joe Elliott, Emmylou Harris, Brittany Howard, Chrissie Hynde, Norah Jones, Simon Le Bon, Geddy Lee, Willie Nelson, Stevie Nicks, Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Perry, Lionel Richie, LeAnn Rimes, Smokey Robinson, Robert Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Mavis Staples, Rod Stewart, Paul Stanley, Michael Stipe, Jeff Tweedy, Roger Waters, Dionne Warwick, Ann Wilson, Thom Yorke, and many more. Additionally, the book features conversations about legendary voices no longer with us, such as Butch Vig on Kurt Cobain, Clive Davis on Whitney Houston, Nile Rodgers on David Bowie, and Jimmy Iovine on Tom Petty. “Singing is so much more than hitting the right note. It’s about connecting with the audience, connecting with something divine to a certain degree. It’s connecting to your most primitive and deepest intuition, and to your nature as a human on this planet.” —Karen O. More than just an indispensable guide for singers of any level, The Singers Talk is an unforgettable read for music fans everywhere. All royalties from The Singers Talk will benefit the kids and families at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through their Music Gives to St. Jude Kids campaign.Trade Review“This is a captivating look at both the nitty-gritty preparation and emotional energy that ‘it takes [for artists] to stand up to that mic... reach down into their guts, and give everything they’ve got for the sake of the song.’ Its star power and up-close, revelatory detail will keep readers riveted from start to finish.” -- Publishers Weekly, starred review“...a fascinating and often revelatory look at the art of singing…. By turns eloquent, funny, reflective, and technical, all these conversations enlighten and illuminate the art of being a vocalist.” -- Library Journal

Read more less

Book SynopsisMarshall Gu is a music writer and has written for Pitchfork, Tone Glow, Bandcamp, and Resident Advisor. He lives in Toronto.

Read more less

Book Synopsis'I've been on six-week tours of America and it breaks you open, but to do it straight off the bat, in the middle of winter, with three new girls... I was thinking, If we survive this, it'll be a miracle... but it was the best time we've ever had.'The first official book from Noel Gallagher, this is the behind-the-scenes story of his biggest ever solo tour and the making of the critically-acclaimed album Who Built The Moon?.Join Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds as they embark on the Stranded On The Earth world tour - a phenomenal year-long journey around the globe, taking in dates across the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Europe and Southeast Asia.With photography by Sharon Latham, who was granted unprecedented access, this fully illustrated book documents life on the road for one of the world's most successful artists; featuring unseen images and candid interviews with Noel and the band.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAlthough the book's focus is squarely on 1985 to 1995, occasionally it also encompasses important earlier achievements in the 1980s that have been overlooked in previous works on Gallagher. The book concludes with an epilogue reflecting upon Gallagher's legacy in the 21st century, particularly amongst a new generation of fans.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn his page-turning and inspiring first book, legendary songwriter and recording artist Jason Derulo shares his 15 rules for finding success in any pursuit, and invites everyoneespecially artists and creatorsto start on their path to greatness.In 2009, an 18-year-old son of Haitian immigrants burst onto music charts with the instant number one song Whatcha Say, which opened with one of the catchiest lines in pop music historythe artist's own name, sung out loud. (You're probably singing it in your head right now! Sorry if it gets stuck there, but that's kind of the point!) In the years since, Jason Derulo has cemented himself again and again, hit after hit, as one of the most consistent and versatile artists alive and a risk-taking force of nature.Sing Your Name Out Loud is the remarkable story of Derulo's come up, told through the fifteen rules he lives bylike working hardest at what comes easiest, taking calculated risks, sticking to a routine, and respecting the numberswhich he cred

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat, exactly, gave Queen's songs their magical and distinct musical identity? Rock and Rhapsodies answers this question through a fascinating musicological study of the band's output.Trade ReviewBraae weaves music analysis, critical theory, and production techniques to investigate the band and their work from an impressively large range of angles. Not only is this book for those of us who think Queen is the greatest band to ever grace the world stage, but the ideas and methods herein are also incredibly useful to scholars interested in popular music analysis more generally. * Justin Williams, Senior Lecturer in Music, University of Bristol *While Queen's output may now be historical, Braae draws upon and synthesizes a wide range of current theoretical positions, extending outside music itself, in order to encapsulate it. In asking many apposite questions, the book is excellent in seeing behind individual songs, towards what makes them tick as a body of work. It is also engagingly written, a model both for understanding Queen and for addressing any band's idiolect. * Allan F. Moore, Emeritus Professor in Music, University of Surrey *Braae's book is a brilliant analytical journey of how Queen created their unique and identifiable sound. It is an insightful, original and much-needed text that explores not just the notes, but also the historical, performative and production contexts that shaped their music. * Jadey O'Regan, Lecturer in Contemporary Music, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney *Table of ContentsNotes on Musical Examples Acknowledgements List of Tables and Figures 1. Introduction The Book The Study of Queen Issues of Style 2. Queen's Idiolect: A Primer Harmonic Structure and Gestures Textural Foundations and the Sound-Box Arrangement and Performance Gestures Sounds Like Queen, and other Conclusions 3. Artistic Craft and Crafted Artistry: Queen's Structural Archetypes Introduction and Definitions Conventional Forms Variations on Conventional Forms Episodic Songs Artistic Craft and Crafted Artistry 4. Temporal Processes in Queen's Large-Scale Songs Time and Popular Song Phrase and Intra-Sectional Linearity Sectional Temporality Closure Queen's Temporal Processes and Exceptions 5. Brian May and Roger Taylor Analyzing the Voice The Voices of Brian May and Roger Taylor May, Taylor, and Rock Authenticity 6. Freddie Mercury The Voices Structural Dynamics Stylistic Incongruities, Queer and Camp Voices, and the "Real" Freddie Mercury, Rock Authenticity, and Interpretation Coda 7. Hard Rock, Glam Rock and Progressive Rock in the 1970s Commentary and Conceptual Considerations Queen's "Dominant Voice": The Hard Rock Connection The Glam Rock Connection: Exaggeration, Irony, and Play Progressive Rock, and Interplay 8. The Musical World(s) of Queen A "Unique" Sonic Fingerprint and Pastiche in the 1970s Queen's Sonic Patterns and Stylistic Connections The Musical World(s) of Queen 9. A Day at the Races and the Gestural Unity of Queen Queen in 1976 and the Ideal of Evolution The Notion of Gestural Unity: Idiolect Revisited A Day at the Races The Gestural Unity of Queen 10. Was It All Worth It? Queen in the 1980s A Decade of Changing Fortunes From "Save Me" to "Staying Power" The Rock Ballads Revisited Hard Rock by Numbers Was It All Worth It? 11. Queen's Jubilee: The Late Style of Innuendo Introduction "Innuendo" "The Show Must Go On" A Late Style of Queen 12. Legacy Post-1991 Replacing Freddie "No One But You" We Will Rock You The Influence of Queen The End of the Story Bibliography Appendix A

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis guide introduces concertgoers, serious listeners, and music students to Gustav Mahler''s Second Symphony, one of the composer''s most popular and most powerful works. It examines the symphony from several perspectives: Mahler''s struggle to create what he called the New Symphony; his innovative approaches to traditional musical form; how he addressed the daunting challenges of writing music on a monumental scale; and how he dealt with the ineluctable force of Beethoven''s symphonic precedent, especially that of the Ninth Symphony.The central focus of Inside Mahler''s Second Symphony is on the music itself: how it works, how it works its magic on the listener, how it translates the earnest existential concerns that motivate the symphony into powerful and highly expressive music. Beyond this, the book ushers the Listener''s Guide into the digital age with 185 dedicated audio examples. They are brief, accessible, and arranged to flow from one to another to simulate how the symphony mTrade ReviewReaders can prepare for an enlightened appreciation of the whole symphony in performance. * M. Dineen, CHOICE *This book offers an intriguing, engaging and provocative account of a monumental masterpiece. At one and the same time, Bernstein has written a closely argued guide to the work, helpful to the first-time listener, and also a sophisticated and often unconventional interpretation that can inspire the scholar and connoisseur to reflect not only on Mahler, but on how music creates and conveys meaning and helps to fashion beliefs, faith and values. This is a novel and valuable contribution to our understanding of an icon within the symphonic repertoire. * Leon Botstein, President, Bard College; Music Director, American Symphony Orchestra *It is as if the author were looking over Mahler's shoulder while he composed his extraordinary second symphony. I have never read such an illuminating, so detailed, yet always accessible analysis of this universal masterwork on life, suffering, death, and resurrection. Bernstein is able to convey his profound love for the piece majestically, revealing the true meaning of the music while sharing its composer's most intimate creative process. He is indeed the ultimate guide who, with the use of many audio examples online, invites everyone on a fascinating journey, to climb Mahler's formidable mountain and see the primeval light at the summit. * Stéphane Denève, Music Director, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Brussels Philharmonic *Bernstein proves an authoritative and engaging guide through Mahler's epic work. His book will be of great value to any listener or performer seeking a deeper appreciation of this keystone of the symphonic repertory. * Walter Frisch, Gumm/von Tilzer Professsor of Music, Columbia University *Table of ContentsList of Figures and Tables List of Music Examples List of Audio Examples Acknowledgements Preface The Recording How to Use this Book Part One: Preliminaries Chapter 1 Setting the Stage for the Second Symphony Part Two: The Five Movements Chapter 2 First Movement: The Opening and a Two-part Exposition Chapter 3 First Movement: Development and Recapitulation Chapter 4 The Second Movement Chapter 5 A Song Serves as a Study for the Third Movement Chapter 6 The Third Movement: Scherzo and Trio Chapter 7 The Fourth Movement: "Urlicht" Chapter 8 How to Complete the Symphony Chapter 9 The Last Movement, Part 1: References to Judgment and the Airing of Themes Chapter 10 The Last Movement, Part 2: Judgment in Action, Musical Development, and Some Continuing Enigmas Chapter 11 The Last Movement, Part 3: Collapse, Climactic Resolution, a Stunning Reversal, and Celebration Appendices Appendix 1 The Formal Template for the First Movement: Sonata Form Appendix 2 Second-Movement Forms Appendix 3 The Origins, Character, and Form of the Scherzo Appendix 4 Complete Performances of Each Movement Glossary Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis empowering book blends history, storytelling, and culturally grounded techniques to equip readers with the tools needed to promote self-reflection, personal growth, and diasporic healing.Asian Americans represent the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, yet few books capture how historical events, immigration experiences, cultural values, and unhelpful generational patterns impact this group''s thoughts, attitudes, and actions in ways that impact relationships, well-being, and psychological health.In Patterns That Remain, Stacey Diane Arañez Litam empowers readers to heal from diasporic wounds and become people, partners, and parents who embody abundance mentalities grounded in joy, balance, and gratitude. This unique book combines complex and nuanced facets of Asian American history, research, and therapeutic modalities in ways that validate Asian American worldviews and promote a deep sense of universality and community. Each chapter addresses culturally relevant t

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Artists and music journalists have been coining genres for decades, based on sounds shared between artists. This new era for genre is derived from listener data and labelled by engineers who, Seaver says, never expected to become authorities on the matter. This speaks to the contradiction at the heart of Computing Taste: it’s both easier and harder to pinpoint a person’s music taste than you might expect. It all depends on what you think taste is. Spotify can tell us how many times we loop a favorite song, make reasonable assumptions about the genres that speak to us, and deduce from GPS data what we might want to hear in the gym as opposed to the office. But Seaver stresses that a key anthropological question remains unwrapped: why do people love the songs that they do?" -- Katie Hawthorne * Guardian *"Recommendations now 'drive close to half of all users’ streams', according to Spotify’s co-president Gustav Söderström. In Computing Taste, an ethnography of the data scientists and product managers working in 'the world of music recommendation', Seaver gives an account of the way this sort of technology operates. The job of his interviewees, who tend to work for private companies hired by streaming services, is to help their clients 'answer an apparently simple question: what’s next?'" * London Review of Books *"The central premise uniting these theories is that we can’t really tell an algorithm who we are; we have to show it. Platforms used to offer recommendations based on clear user inputs (consider that Netflix used to ask you to rate a movie out of five stars); now things have gotten murkier as our behavior is tracked and collated in complex, opaque ways. Consumers have learned to adjust their actions to get the content they want, according to Nick Seaver, an anthropology professor at Tufts University and the author of Computing Taste: Algorithms and the Makers of Music Recommendation. 'You were much more in control of how you represented yourself under those [earlier] systems,' Seaver told me. Now our behavior—even the embarrassing kind—generates our unique media world." * Atlantic *"A useful deep dive into precisely how these systems are built, the people who build them, their goals and aspirations, and much more." -- Bill Marx * Arts Fuse *"Computing Taste: Algorithms and the Makers of Music Recommendation is a pleasure to read. It is well-written, with nice turns of phrase. I commend it to anyone interested in how media works in the 21st century." * Metascience *"Streaming music services are the norm today, but people don't often think about how they work or how they recommend the next song. Seaver peeks behind the musical curtain in this book about the humans behind the algorithms. . . . Music lovers and those who like books about artificial intelligence will enjoy Seaver's deep dive into the culture, data, and science of music recommendation systems. Computing Taste offers insight into algorithmic music recommendations that's entertaining and easily digestible." -- Natalie Browning * Library Journal *"I would recommend this book if you identify with the following phrase, which is taken from Seaver’s interview with one music company engineer: ‘I’m plagued by the idea that there’s something I haven’t heard yet.’ Music nerds will especially appreciate that Seaver proposes definitions for topics that are hard to describe, like taste and genre. They will enjoy identifying their habits in Chapter 3, ‘What are Listeners Like?’ and learning how music engineers define obscure subgenres like ‘shiver pop.’ . . . The peeks into these veiled companies are almost reminiscent of spy novels. If you’re interested in start-up culture and liked The Social Network, there’s something for you in this book. Throughout Computing Taste, Seaver comments on the balancing act between artificial intelligence and human expertise. He says the title ‘is meant to index that tension’—to probe how technological systems can coexist with something as personal as music taste." -- Hope Karnopp * Daily Cardinal *"The gap between technology and culture might not be as wide as we think, says Seaver in his analysis of how music recommender systems are produced. . . . You’ll come away from Computing Taste realizing that algorithms aren’t the enemy, ready to think again.“ * Engineering and Technology *“Seaver’s nimble account of how contemporary music recommendation systems are conceived and crafted takes readers beyond easy oppositions of humans and algorithms to explore the captivating dynamics of taste and technics, hearing and computing, guidance and coercion.” -- Natasha Dow Schüll, author of "Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas"“Computing Taste tells a fresh story in the increasingly crowded scholarship on artificial intelligence and culture. It will be immensely useful for those outside of computer science and engineering who want to understand how people think and work in the AI industry.” -- Jonathan Sterne, author of "Diminished Faculties," "MP3," and "The Audible Past""Seaver’s exquisite and essential book brings us into an expert community aspiring to find the delicate balance between caring for and controlling the sprawling phenomenon of taste. The ethnographically engaging Computing Taste offers a complex rendering of the makers of music recommendation systems who believe that algorithms can predict and shape musical taste while also wrestling with the reductive absurdity of such a claim. Seaver’s theoretical creativity both pushes critical studies of technology in new directions and makes this book a joy to read.” -- Lisa Messeri, author of "Placing Outer Space: An Earthly Ethnography of Other Worlds"“Who are the programmers writing the music recommendation recipes that structure so many of our auditory habits in these digital days? How do these new taste makers script listeners into the musical multiverses their algorithms create? Seaver brilliantly tunes us to the cadences of these people’s works and lives, decoding the mix of cosmologies, capital, and computation that channel how and what we hear today.” -- Stefan Helmreich, author "Sounding the Limits of Life: Essays in the Anthropology of Biology and Beyond"“Perhaps there’s no accounting for taste, but as Seaver demonstrates in Computing Taste, his resonant and resourceful ethnography of music recommendation algorithms, musical taste can indeed be counted and coded. By listening to the sociotechnical dynamics of that translation process—the means by which aesthetic, subjective, social, and situational choices are transcribed into human-orchestrated algorithms—Seaver helps us appreciate not only the myriad harmonic parts that music and machines play in our personal and social lives, but also the many modes and contexts in which we listen.” -- Shannon Mattern, author of "A City Is Not a Computer: Other Urban Intelligences"Table of ContentsPrologue: Open Plan Introduction: Technology with Humanity Chapter 1 Too Much Music Chapter 2 Captivating Algorithms Chapter 3 What Are Listeners Like? Chapter 4 Hearing and Counting Chapter 5 Space Is the Place Chapter 6 Parks and Recommendation Epilogue: What Are We Really Doing Here? Acknowledgments Notes Works Cited Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first full-length narrative biography of Led Zeppelin''s John Bonham, considered by many to be one of the greatest drummers in rock history, and a genuine wild man of epic (and sadly fatal) proportions. Beast: John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin is the first-ever biography of the iconic John Bonham, considered by many to be one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) rock drummer of all time. Bonham first learned to play the drums at the age of five, and despite never taking formal lessons, began drumming for local bands immediately upon graduating from secondary school. By the late 1960s, Bonham was looking for a more solid gig in order to provide his growing family with a more regular income. Meanwhile, following the dissolution of the popular blues rock band The Yardbirds, lead guitarist Jimmy Page sought the company of new bandmates to help him record an album and tour Scandinavia as the New Yardbirds. A few months later, Bonham was recruited to join

Read more less

Book SynopsisMerle Haggard was one of the most important country music musicians who ever lived. His astonishing musical career stretched across the second half of the 20th Century and into the first two decades of the next, during which he released an extraordinary 63 albums, 38 that made it on to Billboard''s Country Top Ten, 13 that went to #1, and 37 #1 hit singles. With his ample songbook, unique singing voice and brilliant phrasing that illuminated his uncompromising commitment to individual freedom, cut with the monkey of personal despair on his back and a chip the size of Monument Valley on his shoulder, Merle''s music and his extraordinary charisma helped change the look, the sound, and the fury of American music.The Hag tells, without compromise, the extraordinary life of Merle Haggard, augmented by deep secondary research, sharp detail and ample anecdotal material that biographer Marc Eliot is known for, and enriched and deepened by over 100 new and far-ranging intervie

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe rise of Oasis in the 1990s was stratospheric, yet they remained the people's band. This is the story about how lives were changed forever, told by those who lived through it. All around the world, millions felt a connection to these working-class lads from Manchester. With anthemic songs crafted and sung by the greatest songwriter and singer of their generation, from their first interview they proclaimed themselves the best band in the world, and for a shining moment in the mid-1990s they were. Live Forever'. Definitely Maybe. (What's The Story) Morning Glory?. Wonderwall'. Knebworth. A level of success not seen by a British band for 30 years, ushering in a new cultural zeitgeist: Britpop, Cool Britannia, New Labour, and at the centre of it all, the soap opera antics of the warring Gallagher brothers and their bandmates. Departed members were replaced by fresh faces as the 2000s ushered in their next career phase with Oasis inspiring younger generations. Yet the music and drama continued up to one night in Paris when everything fell apart until the world stood still in August 2024. Expanded and revised to include over 25 exclusive new interviews from The Oasis Podcast, including contributions from those involved (Alan McGee, Tony McCarroll, Andy Bell, Steve White, Owen Morris), writers with first-hand coverage (Paolo Hewitt, John Robb), celebrity fans (Ricky Hatton) and many more, this book spans their entire career from 1991 to the present day, making it the ultimate story of Oasis.

Read more less

Book SynopsisBob Dylan and John Lennon are two of the most iconic names in popular music. Dylan is arguably the twentieth century''s most important singer-songwriter. Lennon was founder and leader of the Beatles who remain, by some margin, the most covered songwriters in history. While Dylan erased the boundaries between pop and poetry, Lennon and his band transformed the genre''s creative potential. The parallels between the two men are striking but underexplored. This book addresses that lack. Jon Stewart discusses Dylan''s and Lennon''s relationship; their politics; their understanding of history; and their deeply held spiritual beliefs. In revealing how each artist challenged the restrictive social norms of their day, the author shows how his subjects asked profound moral questions about what it means to be human and how we should live. His book is a potent meditation and exploration of two emblematic figures whose brilliance changed Western music for a generation.Trade Review'In this illuminating book Jon Stewart invites readers to explore the work of John Lennon and Bob Dylan through the filter of three key themes – protest, history, and spirituality. There is a simplicity and an elegance to this approach, and the result is a compelling and revealing analysis of the very familiar music of two canonical singer-songwriters.' Sarah Hill, University of Oxford'… the dual biography, evaluating the extent to which the pair illuminated - and at times rejected - one another's creative achievements and political sensibilities, should fascinate most readers.' Johnnie Johnstone, Shindig!Table of Contents1. Introduction; 2. Dylan, Lennon and dual biography; 3. Dylan, Lennon and anti-war protest music; 4. John Lennon and history; 5. Bob Dylan and history; 6. Dylan, Lennon and spirituality; 7. Conclusion; Appendices; List of references; Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first book ever to tackle the dual careers of Bolan and Bowie as a single story.

Read more less

Book SynopsisMaria Sonevytsky is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Music at Bard College, USA. She is the author of Wild Music: Sound and Sovereignty in Ukraine (2019), winner of the 2020 Lewis Lockwood Award from the American Musicological Society, and is currently writing a book about Soviet Ukrainian children's music.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Note on Translation and Transliteration Timeline: 1985-1989 1. Intro: There Will Be Dances 2. Tusovka: Ad Hoc Infrastructures and the Kyiv Rock Scene 3. Total Stiob: Irony vs. Hypocrisy 4. Sex, Drugs, and Komsomol 5. Conclusion: Tantsi Forever Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book is a record of the Black music culture that emerged in post-colonial London at the end of the twentieth century; the people who made it, the racial and spatial politics of its development and change, and the part it played in founding London’s precious, embattled multiculture. It tells the story of the linked Black musical scenes of the city, from ska, reggae and soul in the 1970s, to rare groove and rave in the 1980s and jungle and its offshoots in the 1990s, to dubstep and grime of the 2000s. Melville argues that these demonstrate enough common features to be thought of as one musical culture, an Afro-diasporic continuum. Core to this idea is that this dance culture has been ignored in history and cultural theory and that it should be thought of as a powerful and internationally significant form of popular art.Trade Review‘This book is rare and special. It combines loving appreciation of London’s overlooked black music scenes with a richly detailed social history of their place in the evolving life of our city. There really is no other book like it. Caspar Melville knows because he was there.’ Paul Gilroy is a recovering vinyl junkie who teaches at UCL ‘I've waited decades for a book like this to be written. Turning each page is like digging through the crates. Important connections, intersections and black sonic samples are weaved throughout the text like a seamless mix. Black British music deserves this kind of attention. It's an important piece of the puzzle of DJ and Club culture that has yet to be assembled in its entirety.’ Lynnée Denise is a renowned DJ and lecturer in African American studies at UCLA ‘Caspar goes in deep! I am so proud to be part of the London clubland story he tells.’ Gilles Peterson is a club and BBC radio DJ and founder of Brownswood Recordings and Worldwide FM'It’s a London Thing is a compelling exploration of dance music history, inviting us to keep our eyes and ears glued to where the music comes from and what it can teach us.'Ivan Mouraviev, Popular Music -- .Table of ContentsList of figuresList of platesPrefaceAcknowledgements Introduction: London’s sonic space 1 Hostile environment: London’s racial geography, 1960-80 2 Warehouse parties, rare groove and the diversion of space 3 From Ibiza to London: Brixton acid and rave 4 ‘A London Sum’ting Dis’: diaspora remixed in the urban jungle Epilogue: music and the multicultural city Appendix: interviews for the book Bibliography

Read more less

Goth is an entertaining and evocative personal history of Goth music and culture, told by a true insider. Lol Tolhurst explores the godfathers of goth who established the genre's roots - THE CURE, which he co-founded with Robert Smith, contemporaries SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES, BAUHAUS, JOY DIVISION - plus many more great bands that offered a place of refuge for the misfits of the 80s and ever since. Lol offers a fascinating deep dive into the movers and shakers of goth, imbued with his personal memories as well as those of fellow musicians, magicians and artists who make goth such an inevitable and enduring movement. Along the way he examines acts such as DEPECHE MODE and COCTEAU TWINS who helped the darkness expand. Finally, Tolhurst examines the legacy of goth music, and shows how its influence can still be seen to this day across music, film, TV, visual arts and social media. As thoughtful and thorough as it is utterly bewitching, Goth is a timeless testament to why Goth matters - and why it always will.

Read more less

Book Synopsis(Instructional). Many voice students are incorrectly taught to sight-sing by memorizing the sounds of intervals. This book is for you if you''d like to be able to look at any melody and instantly know how it sounds. It will show you how to memorize the sound of each scale degree in both major and minor keys, sing chromatic tones, and much more. Packed with tips and tricks, this new book is essential for every vocalist.

Read more less

Book SynopsisLexicon of the Mouth surveys the oral cavity as the central channel by which self and surrounding are brought into relation. Questions of embodiment and agency, attachment and loss, incorporation and hunger, locution and the non-sensical are critically examined. In doing so, LaBelle emphasizes the mouth as a vital conduit for negotiating "the foundational narrative of proper speech." Lexicon of the Mouth aims for a viscous, poetic and resonant discourse of subjectivity, detailed through the "micro-oralities" of laughing and whispering, stuttering and reciting, eating and kissing, among others. The oral cavity is posed as an impressionable arena, susceptible to all types of material input, contamination and intervention, while also enabling powerful forms of resistance, attachment and conversation, as well as radical imagination. Lexicon of the Mouth argues for the revolutionary promise of the laugh, the spirited mythologies of the whisper, the schizophonics of self-talk, and the primal noise of gibberish, suggesting that the significance of voicing is fundamentally bound to the exertions of the mouth. Subsequently, assumptions around voice and vocality are unsettled in favor of an epistemology of the oral, highlighting the acts of the tongue, the lips and the throat as primary mediations between interior and exterior, social structures and embodied expressions. LaBelle makes a significant contribution to currents in sound and voice studies by reminding that to hear the voice, and to consider a politics of speech, is first and foremost to assume the mouth.Trade ReviewLaBelle shows how the mouth envelops and develops bodies, languages and subjectivities. He constructs what he calls the ‘oral imaginary’, the forms of figuration and function that define the role of the mouth as a cultural artefact … the many choreographies of the mouth that he presents and the many ways in which those choreographies envelop and inflect voice, culture and politics leaves us in a dizzying, vertiginous space of possibility and potentiality. -- John Melillo * Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies *An artist and a sound culture theorist, LaBelle offers a wide-ranging epistemology of oral gestures, arguing for the mouth as a contested space in which the politics and psychology of speech and the body are embodied. In a dozen chapters, he explores the oral cavity (and some associated physiology), illustrates its verbal and nonverbal productions, and connects them to topics in cultural theory such as decolonization and transgression …The exemplification favors critical theory (Butler, Kristeva, Lacan, Cixous, Freud) and performance art, and the book will be of special interest to art historians, cultural theorists, and performers. There are also many intriguing observations about such topics as ear and neck biting, kissing protests, and hysterical laughter… Summing Up: Optional. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -- E. L. Battistella, Southern Oregon University * CHOICE *In the decade since, a stunning range of new offerings from a variety of publishers has become readily available, and sound studies is a far more expansive discipline. This fact is nowhere more evident than in Bloomsbury Academic’s excellent sound studies catalog ... the scholarship here shows how adept the cultural study of sound can be at unearthing the thorny political and social tensions that define contemporary culture. -- Nicholas C. Laudadio, University of North Carolina Wilmington * Journal of Popular Music Studies *Future studies will now be able to explore the more hidden cavities and diaphragms of the humanoid body, which oscillate and resonate. Brandon LaBelle's volume is a perfect start and an ideal reference point for these journeys. -- Holger Schulze, University of Copenhagen * Seismograf *To simultaneously emancipate the ear and the mouth is a great accomplishment. To do so with care and love a gift. Lexicon of the Mouth offers erudite ruckus, expansive erotics, destabilizing poetics, liberatory politics. By revealing how 'the drama of the mouth' is greater than that of the word, Brandon LaBelle opens new horizons for performance, music, and the sound arts. * Allen S. Weiss, Performance Studies and Cinema Studies, New York University, and author of Phantasmic Radio (1995), Breathless (2002), and Varieties of Audio Mimesis (2008) *Tuning his ear to the poetics and politics of the mouth, Brandon LaBelle makes a highly original and significant contribution to our understandings of voice in its various modalities and performativities. This is a breathtaking transdisciplinary accomplishment, beautifully written and deeply scholarly; it deftly re-focuses our attention on the multiform assemblages of the mouth -- from the individual to the inter-subjective, from the social to the political, from the bodily interior to public spaces –- and thus evokes a vital new cartography of auditory culture. * Norie Neumark, Professor and Chair in Media Studies, Director of the Centre for Creative Arts, La Trobe University, Australia *Table of ContentsPreface: Associative Introduction: Movement 1. Bite, Chew, Eat 2. Burp, Choke, Cough, Gag, Spit, Vomit 3. Cry, Scream, Shout, Sing 4. Gasp, Growl, Grunt, Sigh, Yawn 5. Gibberish, Gobbledygook 6. Inner voice, Self-talk 7. Kiss, Lick, Suck 8. Laugh 9. Murmur, Whisper 10. Lisp, Mute, Stutter 11. Recite, Repeat, Vow 12. Whistle Conclusion: Dirty Etc. Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisDangerous is Michael Jackson's coming of age album. Granted, that’s a bold claim to make given that many think his best work lay behind him by the time this record was made. It offers Jackson on a threshold, at long last embracing adulthood—politically questioning, sexually charged—yet unable to convince a skeptical public who had, by this time, been wholly indoctrinated by a vicious media. Even though the record sold well, few understood or were willing to accept the depth and breadth of Jackson’s vision; and then before it could be fully grasped, it was eclipsed by a shifting pop music landscape and personal scandal—the latter perhaps linked to his assertive new politics. This book tries to cut through the din of dominant narratives about Jackson, taking up the mature, nuanced artistic statement he offered on Dangerous in all its complexity. It is read here as a concept album, one that offers a compelling narrative arc of postmodern angst, love, lust, seduction, betrayal, damnation, and above all else racial politics, in ways heretofore unseen in his music. This record offered a Michael Jackson that was mystifying for a world that had accepted him as a child and as childlike and, hence, as safe; this Michael Jackson was, indeed, dangerous.Trade ReviewVirtually all of his creative moments were moments of transition, and Ms. Fast makes a strong argument that “Dangerous” was among his most disruptive. In this book, the 100th entry in Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series, each one devoted to a single album, Ms. Fast employs close readings of lyrics, musical production choices and video presentations to underscore little discussed aspects of Jackson’s creative output. So she breaks “Dangerous” into thematically rich sections: Jackson breaking with his old self, then switching to familiar modes to make bold political statements and then coming full circle. -- Jon Caramanica * The New York Times *Throughout this book’s 144 pages Fast certainly makes plenty of compelling arguments as to why ‘Dangerous’ represents a true coming of age album for Jackson as well as perhaps his most ambitious and experimental collection, but one that didn’t really get a chance to be appreciated or properly understood before it was eclipsed by the media circus that soon engulfed Jackson’s entire life. -- Chris Downton * Cyclic Defrost *As a musicologist, [Fast] is quite capable of writing about the complexity of Jackson's music, offering a clear insight into his process. By placing the work in a cultural context: racism, politics, gender and sexuality, she also offers the non-musician an excellent read and good critical insight. Mostly because she makes crystal clear that Jackson knew exactly what he was doing as a writer and performer, his versatile voice and body combining high and low art to convey a serious message. Fast's analysis also makes it clear that Jackson was able to ingeniously communicate his message through the compilation of the album itself. This book offers a much-needed in-depth analysis of Jackson's music and art…Highly recommended. -- Karin Merx * Cultural Studies *Susan Fast's new monograph on Michael Jackson's Dangerous album is an utterly compelling, utterly intelligent reassessment of Jackson's oft-maligned record of 1991 and a challenge to anyone who thinks that they have a grasp on Jackson's controversial art. Fast has an arsenal of literary theorists to help her support her claim (Gates, Foucault), but her writing style-like the Jackson album that is her subject-is dangerous. I can't think of a 33 1/3 book that's written with so much verve, so much life that the deployment of tough theory and philosophy is swept away in the author's passionate prose. -- Paul Gleason * Stereo Embers *Fast has provided a model for how to reach a broader audience with scholarly writing. * Journal of the Society for American Music *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction. Telling Stories About Michael Jackson Chapter One. Noise Chapter Two. Desire Chapter Three. Utopia Chapter Four. Soul Coda: Dangerous Notes

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook). Lin-Manuel Miranda''s soundtrack to Encanto has taken the music world by storm. The catchy single "We Don''t Talk About Bruno" shot to the top of the Billboard singles chart, the Encanto soundtrack also topped the album charts, and the momentum only keeps growing! Our souvenir matching folio features eight pages of color artwork from the movie plus 9 songs arranged for piano and voice with guitar chords. Songs include: All of You * Colombia, Mi Encanto * Dos Oruguitas * The Family Madrigal * Surface Pressure * Two Oruguitas * Waiting on a Miracle * We Don''t Talk About Bruno * What Else Can I Do?

Read more less

Book SynopsisPop music’s a simple pleasure. Is it catchy? Can you dance to it? Do you fancy the singer?But what’s fascinating about pop is our relationship with it. David Hepworth is interested in the human side of pop. He’s interested in how people make the stuff and, more importantly, what it means to us. In this collection of essays written throughout his career, Hepworth shows how it is possible to take music seriously and, at the same time, not drain the life out of it. From the legacy of the Beatles to the dramatic decline of the record shop via the bewildering nomenclature of musical genres; with characteristic insight and humour Hepworth asks some essential questions about music and, indeed, life: is it all about the drummer; are band managers misunderstood; and is it appropriate to play ‘Angels’ at funerals?As Pope John Paul II said ‘of all the unimportant things, football is the most important’. David Hepworth believes the same to be true of music and this selection of his best writing, covering the music of last fifty years, shows you precisely why.

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘If it’s me and your granny on bongos, it’s The Fall.’As legendary frontman of post-punk outfit The Fall, Mark E. Smith was known as much for his mercurial temperament as his exceptional musical talent. Famous for his singular way with words both onstage and off, his road to the music hall of fame was paved with brilliant one-liners, eccentric behaviour, and the dozens of members of The Fall he ejected along the way. Collecting his wit and wisdom for the first time and featuring an introduction from Stuart Maconie, Messing Up the Paintwork is a tribute to a musical icon described as ‘untouchably cool’ (Lauren Laverne), an ‘uncompromising musical maverick’ (Tim Burgess) and ‘a man shouting from a prison window’ (Frank Skinner). And it’s a book for the fans who will miss him terribly.

Read more less