Popular music Books

5187 products


  • Rock of Pages

    Bloomsbury Academic Rock of Pages

    1 in stock

    a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

    1 in stock

    £18.99

  • Dee Snider HES NOT GONNA TAKE IT  Deluxe Edition

    Z2 comics Dee Snider HES NOT GONNA TAKE IT Deluxe Edition

    1 in stock

    a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

    1 in stock

    £50.14

  • Mitski This Is Where We Fall  Deluxe Edition

    Z2 comics Mitski This Is Where We Fall Deluxe Edition

    1 in stock

    a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

    1 in stock

    £40.49

  • Indie, Seen: The Indie Rock Photography of Piper

    Weldon Owen, Incorporated Indie, Seen: The Indie Rock Photography of Piper

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisTake a visual trip through indie rock with this stunning photography collection jam packed with intimate snapshots, late night club gigs,and exclusive portraits by renowned music photographer Piper Ferguson.Indie, Seen is the timely journey through the alternative music scene via the lens of music photographer Piper Ferguson. Beginning her career in the late 1990s as a woman photographer in a once male-dominated field, Piper is known for telling dynamic and intimate stories from behind her lens. The results are beautiful, enthralling, and truly original photographs. Indie, Seen presents Piper’s most personal and exclusive works curated in one volume, from her first portrait sessions with artists like Joe Strummer and Richard Ashcroft, to festival performances, behind-the-scenes photoshoots, editorial portrait sessions, and wild nights out. Enjoy vibrant images of iconic indie rock performers, such as Interpol, The Strokes, Coldplay, and Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs. With more than 200 images, Indie, Seen is a must-have for every rock and music history fan to indulge and explore the moments behind the music. She was there--now you can be, too. AMAZING IMAGERY: Piper shoots in a wildly creative and intuitive style that makes every photograph jump off the page. Catch your favorite (and new favorite) artists jumping and jamming, posing and playing, and expressing the power of doing it for yourself. GREAT GIFT FOR MUSIC FANS: Presented in a gorgeous hardcover format, this book makes a great gift for not only indie rock fans, but all musical and cultural historians. It’s a perfect coffee-table book to recapture the moment these bands changed music forever. SHE ROCKS: Piper Ferguson found success in her own indie way, from running clubs to capturing iconic music moments. Many pages throughout the book highlight the stories and shots that meant the most to her as a fierce woman in music.

    2 in stock

    £33.60

  • Nomeansno: From Obscurity to Oblivion: An Oral

    2 in stock

    £24.64

  • Apex Blues

    Austin Macauley Publishers LLC Apex Blues

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £10.44

  • The White Stripes Complete Lyrics

    Third Man Books The White Stripes Complete Lyrics

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe White Stripes Complete Lyrics is a deluxe new 300+ page hardbound book documenting all of Jack White’s original words written for the 6x Grammy Award-winning duo he and Meg White formed in 1997 through the release of their final album in 2007. The first-time-ever lyric collection also features never-before-seen and rare rough drafts, alternate lyrics, and photographs, alongside exclusive essays by Hanif Abdurraqib, Ben Blackwell, and Caroline Randall Williams.Here’s some facts you may or may not know about the White Stripes: They are quite possibly the youngest band to have opened for both the Rolling Stones and the Pretty Things. They have won six Grammy Awards. They have appeared on the Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, the Daily Show with John Stewart, The Late Show with David Letterman, Charlie Rose, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Detroit PBS Backstage Pass. They have released two films, both of which feature the words “under” and “lights” in the title. They are almost certainly the only band to have ever played shows with Loretta Lynn, the Stooges, Porter Wagoner, Whirlwind Heat and Sleater-Kinney. All six of their albums have at least one song with the word “little” in the title. They have performed in Iqaluit, Canada; Talinn, Estonia and Toledo, Ohio. Jack and Meg White appeared in Jim Jarmusch's film Coffee and Cigarettes. Several songs by the White Stripes are featured in the first season of the television series Peaky Blinders. The Academy Award-winning movie, The Social Network featured "Ball and Biscuit" in the opening scene. The band also appeared as themselves in The Simpsons episode "Jazzy and the Pussycats." The song "Apple Blossom" was featured in the Quentin Tarantino film The Hateful Eight. Wayne McGregor used music by the White Stripes for his production Chroma, a piece he created for The Royal Ballet in London, England. Trade Review“There are ghosts everywhere in the lyrics, obsession with colors, obsession with exits. Evil and optimism wrestle with each other, longing and a hunger for loneliness tussle in the same bed. Cynicism and desire, rage and tenderness. All of these things seamlessly stitch together and come alive on the page in such tight windows, you barely even notice. “ — Hanif Abdurraqib, Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes To A Tribe Called Quest“Pilgrims go to the relics to touch some certain, earthly piece of what they believe has delivered them, or will deliver them, from the troubles of this world. That’s what this book is — these pages a pilgrimage. Come touch the bones of a thing that gives you life.” — Caroline Randall Williams, Lucy Negro, Redux“We cannot wait to read the essays in this book written by music writer Hanif Abdurraqib; Ben Blackwell, the band’s historian; and Caroline Randall Williams, who has Detroit roots and is the delightful author of Lucy Negro Redux." — Alyson Turner, Source Booksellers“An anthology of lyrics from one of Detroit’s signature bands.” — The Detroit Free Press

    1 in stock

    £35.99

  • Bing and Billie and Frank and Ella and Judy and

    Chicago Review Press Bing and Billie and Frank and Ella and Judy and

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisCrosby, Holiday, Sinatra, Fitzgerald, Garland, and Streisand were the major interpreters of the American songbook, and this is the interlocking story of their lives and careers.Here is the epic tale of how these artists dominated American popular music over a fifty-year period, colourfully described like a roller coaster ride that gains momentum through the 1930s and ’40s, reaches a crest of magical creativity in the 1950s and early 1960s, and then crashes down by the early 1970s, a half century when the great American songbook dominated the airwaves and the fight for racial equality came to the forefront.Frank is still the king of the songbook, but Bing’s legacy is just as vital once you start listening to his unprecedented 1930s output. The legend of Billie grows by the year, and the basis of this should be appreciation and wonder for her own great artistry in the 1930s. Barbra is a living legend and still a commercial force to be reckoned with, the last exemplar of the songbook and its glories. All six of these singers reach out to us and show us new ways of expression and new ways to dream. Their song is largely ended but the melody lingers on.Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Democracy of American Music Bing: Out of Nowhere Bing: Just One More Chance Billie’s Blues Frank in Hoboken Ella: You’re Going to Hear From Me Baby Gumm Diana’s Dream Bing at the Top Billie and Ella The Hoboken Four Judy Swings Sweet Leilani and Mexicali Rose Billie Swings Her Way and Ella Finds a Hit Band Canary Frank Judy and Mickey and the Rainbow Bing: Minstrelsy and Father O’Malley Billie and Ella Travel Light Frank: The Voice Judy: The Girl Next Door Barbara and the Mirror Bing: Homecoming and Feet of Clay Billie: Lover Man Ella Bebop Judy and Frank at MGM Bing and Dixie Billie’s Clef Blues Frank’s Fall and Rise Judy on the Comeback Trail Frank and Ella Make Album History Lady in Satin and Billie at the Met Judy and Barbra Ella and Frank Judy: After You’ve Gone Barbra at the Top Frank and Ella at the Crossroads Bing in Winter Movie Star Barbra and Frank and Ella on the Road Coda: Barbra in the 21st Century Index

    10 in stock

    £24.26

  • All You Need Is Love

    Octopus Publishing Group All You Need Is Love

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER''I can think of no one better placed to tell the story behind The Beatles than Peter Brown.'' -Pattie Boyd Harrison''Interviews so controversial they were locked in a vault for 40 years'' The Times''A revealing oral history of the forces that spurred the band''s breakup... drawing from a trove of never before published conversations. Beatles fans will be impatient to get their hands on this.'' -Publishers Weekly''**** A gossipy, insider oral history'' -MOJO magazineAll You Need is Love is a ground-breaking oral history of the Beatles and how it all came to an end. Based on never-before-published or heard interviews with Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and their families, friends, and business associates, this is a landmark book, containing stunning new revelations, about the biggest band the world has ever seen.

    1 in stock

    £18.75

  • Bowie at the BBC: A life in interviews

    Headline Publishing Group Bowie at the BBC: A life in interviews

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisA LOUDER THAN WAR BOOK OF THE YEAR'A unique insight... An excellent companion for both the casual and obsessive Bowie fan'Louder Then WarThe life of an icon, in his own words.David Bowie had a unique relationship with the BBC, making more appearances on 'the beeb' than any other broadcaster throughout his career. An anonymous pre-fame teenager, a blossoming starlet, a white-hot rock star and a veritable elder statesman of pop: the BBC had the inside scoop on it all.In this fascinating collection of BBC television and radio transcripts, Bowie's life story is told in his own words, across more than 35 appearances spanning over forty years. Each provides an illuminating snapshot of moments in a remarkable career. But read together, they offer a completely new take on Bowie himself, a first-person look at the rise and rise of a star.Compiled and guided by David Bowie expert and BBC journalist Tom Hagler, Bowie at the BBC is the complete story of an incredible life lived on the airwaves.

    2 in stock

    £18.75

  • They Call Me Supermensch A Backstage Pass to the

    HarperCollins Publishers Inc They Call Me Supermensch A Backstage Pass to the

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £16.14

  • Oxford University Press Inc Stomp Off Lets Go

    Out of stock

    Book Synopsis

    Out of stock

    £999.99

  • Crosby Stills Nash and Young

    Hachette Books Crosby Stills Nash and Young

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis''In what is the most comprehensive biography of the group to date, Browne compiles a fun and fast-paced music history.... an authoritative chronicle.'' --Publishers WeeklyThe first and most complete narrative biography of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, by acclaimed music journalist and Rolling Stone senior writer David Browne Even in the larger-than-life world of rock and roll, it was hard to imagine four more different men. David Crosby, the opinionated hippie guru. Stephen Stills, the perpetually driven musician. Graham Nash, the tactful pop craftsman. Neil Young, the creatively restless loner. But together, few groups were as in sync with their times as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Starting with the original trio''s landmark 1969 debut album, the group embodied much about its era: communal musicmaking, protest songs that took on the establishment and Richard Nixon, and liberal attitudes toward partners and lifestyles. Their group or individual songs--''Wooden

    1 in stock

    £14.24

  • Modern Jazz Voicings

    Berklee Press Publications Modern Jazz Voicings

    7 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    7 in stock

    £24.64

  • The Real Book  Volume I  Sixth Edition

    Hal Leonard Corporation The Real Book Volume I Sixth Edition

    5 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    5 in stock

    £38.00

  • Trinity College London Rock  Pop 2018 Bass Grade

    Trinity College London Press Trinity College London Rock Pop 2018 Bass Grade

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £16.11

  • Trinity College London Rock  Pop 2018 Bass Grade

    Trinity College London Press Trinity College London Rock Pop 2018 Bass Grade

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £20.85

  • Trinity College London Rock  Pop 2018 Bass Grade

    Trinity College London Press Trinity College London Rock Pop 2018 Bass Grade

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £21.80

  • Trinity College London Rock  Pop 2018 Guitar

    Trinity College London Press Trinity College London Rock Pop 2018 Guitar

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £18.95

  • Trinity College London Rock  Pop 2018 Guitar

    Trinity College London Press Trinity College London Rock Pop 2018 Guitar

    4 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    4 in stock

    £19.56

  • Late Night Jazz

    Hal Leonard Corporation Late Night Jazz

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    2 in stock

    £17.09

  • Miles Davis Omnibook

    Hal Leonard Corporation Miles Davis Omnibook

    3 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    3 in stock

    £25.49

  • Elvis Remembered

    Firefly Books Ltd Elvis Remembered

    5 in stock

    Book SynopsisEach of the 11 of Elvis' intimates interviewed here has a good story to tell. Each is accompanied by period photographs of Elvis and the friend, movie posters, concert memorabilia, and unusual memories that every fan or Elvis will want to read. Packed with remarkable photographs, it is a memorable fans' resource and enjoyable reading for anyone.

    5 in stock

    £17.95

  • MusicQuake

    Quarto Publishing PLC MusicQuake

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisMusicQuake presents a history of popular music focusing on the most rebellious and game-changing recordings and performances from the early twentieth century to today.Table of ContentsIntroduction THIS IS THE MODERN WORLD: 1913–1953 THE RISE OF ROCK’N’ROLL: 1954–1966 REVOLUTION FROM STUDIO TO STREET: 1967–1976 BEATS AND THE BEATEN GENERATION: 1977–1999 INVENTION AND DISSENSION: 2000–PRESENT Glossary Further Reading Picture Credits Index

    2 in stock

    £11.69

  • Alice Cooper at 75

    Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc Alice Cooper at 75

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA unique and lavishly produced celebration of the iconic shock rocker, Alice Cooper at 75 examines an extraordinary career through the lens of 75 key events, releases, and collaborations.Trade Review“…the hardcover book is beautifully packaged with a couple of posters and a print, in a crushed velvet-effect box. A regular old bio doesn’t do a showman like Alice justice.” * LA Weekly *The 75-chapter, more than 200-page book is like an encyclopedia for your coffee table of the history of Cooper, on and off the stage. * Michigan Live *"Worth every penny...for Alice fans, a must-have." * Music Connection *"Alice Cooper @ 75 provides background on the 28 albums and on dozens of the performer’s singles; recounts Alice Cooper’s collaboration with an astonishing list of musicians, artists, actors, public figures of all sorts; includes movie stills and lavish photographs of tickets, publicity ephemera, comic books, public performances and moments from the singer’s personal life." * Detroit Jewish News *"...you can never have too much Cooper and the style, tone, tempo and presentation of this book is just superb. Alice Cooper@75 should be in any fan’s library." * Metal-Rules.com *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part 1: Hello, Hooray . . . Let the Show Begin, 1948–1971 Part 2: Generation Landslide, 1972 –1974 Part 3: The Nightmare, 1975–1985 Part 4: The Awakening, 1986–2000 Part 5: Mr. Nice Guy, 2001–Present About the Author Image Credits Index

    1 in stock

    £45.00

  • Unofficial Dolly Parton Coloring Book

    Chartwell Books Unofficial Dolly Parton Coloring Book

    Book SynopsisCelebrate Dolly’s extraordinary life and style in living color! She’s the Queen of Country, the Smoky Mountain Songbird. Everyone knows and everyone loves the inimitable Dolly Parton. From her roots back in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Dolly burst onto the country scene and captured everyone’s hearts with her powerhouse voice and her generous spirit. Her beauty, talent, and integrity are inspiring. Now let her stir up your own creative side with the Unofficial Dolly Parton Coloring Book! Put on some of your favorite Dolly tunes and color the style icon’s incredible outfits with the media of your choice. Pass the relaxing hours paying homage to this leading lady of country with your own color choices and creative touches. Find over 100 designs to color, including:  Dolly’s looks through the years Dolly quotes Country music–inspired imagery Patterns to color on the back

    £9.11

  • Lunacy

    Globe Pequot Press Lunacy

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisSelling over forty-five million copies, The Dark Side of the Moon topped the US Billboard charts when it was first released in 1973 and took up residence there for over 700 weeks. Lunacy delves into the making of this iconic record and why it continues to speak to generation after generation of music lovers around the world. Music biographer John Kruth starts with Pink Floyd's band history, leading up to the creation of their masterpiece and exploring what inspired the sonic stew of stylesa mixture of avant-garde electronic, jazz, and classical music all contributed to the timeless album. With interviews of musicians, artists, DJs, and fans, Kruth gets to the heart of the lasting importance of The Dark Side of the Moon. Lunacy also looks at Pink Floyd after the departure of the band's original leader and visionary songwriter Syd Barrett. Pink Floyd became a rudderless ship and released a series of nebulous (yet highly enjoyable) jam albums and went on tours that almost

    1 in stock

    £17.09

  • David Bowie: The Last Interview

    Melville House Publishing David Bowie: The Last Interview

    4 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    4 in stock

    £12.34

  • BTS

    Quarto Publishing PLC BTS

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisDuring the course of their 10-year career, BTS have managed to do something no other K-Pop band have done—break the west. They’ve topped the Billboard Charts, won almost every music award and were named TIME’s entertainer of the year. But at the heart of this world-dominating phenomenon, is a message of kindness, community, and values. It’s this message that resonates with their millions of fans, their ARMY. This vivid graphic novel is a celebration of the motivations at the heart of this band.    Each chapter is dedicated to a band member and a cause that inspires them—from ending violence against children to helping people access healthcare, from supporting education to ending child poverty: their activist achievements are genuinely inspiring and courageous. Interwoven throughout are entertaining stories about their tours and performances, but the heart of this book looks beyond the music to the values they represent, values that inspire us. This graphic celebration of the impressive philanthropic achievements of this K-Pop supergroup, will cut right to the heart of any BTS fan. Discover how BTS have changed something you care about, and be inspired to join them in making the world a better place. 

    4 in stock

    £13.49

  • Original Rude Boy: From Borstal to The Specials:

    Quarto Publishing PLC Original Rude Boy: From Borstal to The Specials:

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis1979. The dawn of Thatcher’ s Britain. It’ s a country crippled by strikes, joblessness and economic gloom, divided by race and class - and skanking to a new beat: 2-Tone. The unruly offspring of white boy punk and rude boy ska, the new music’ s undeniable leaders were The Specials. Bursting out of Coventry’ s concrete jungle, their lyrics spoke of failed marriages, petty violence, crowded dance floors, gangsters and race hate - but with a wit that outshone their angry punk forebears. On stage they were electric, and at the heart of this energy was the vocal chemistry of the ethereal Terry Hall and Jamaican rude boy Neville Staple. In 1961, aged only five, Neville was sent to England to live with his father – a man for whom discipline bordered on child abuse. Growing up black in the Midlands of the Sixties and Seventies wasn’ t easy, but then Nev was hardly an angel. His youth was marked by scuffles with skins, compulsive womanising, and a life of crime that led from shoplifting to burglary and eventually borstal and Wormwood Scrubs. But throughout there was music, and now Nev tells how a very bad boy became part of the most important band of the Eighties. He remembers sound system battles; the legendary 2-Tone tour with The Selecter, Madness and Dexy’ s – and their clashes with NF thugs. He recalls the band’ s increasing tensions and eventual split; his subsequent foray into bubblegum pop with Fun Boy Three; and a new found fame in America, as godfather to bands like Gwen Stefani’ s No Doubt. Finally he reflects on The Specials’ reunion and how even now, thirty years on, they can’ t help tearing themselves apart.Raucous and charming Original Rude Boy is the story of a man who done too much, much too young. Neville Staple was a frontman with The Specials, a member of the hugely successful pop trio Fun Boy Three and now tours the world with own his own ska act The Neville Staple Band. Visit him at: www.nevillestaple.co.uk Tony McMahon is a journalist and TV producer living in south London.Trade Review‘A fascinating but harrowing tale of an uneasy life’‘There’s a charm –and often downright cheek- in everything this “Rude Boy –made-good” has done… There’s more than enough colourful behaviour to keep you smiling’‘The book offers an insightful account of 1970s Britain; a time crippled by joblessness and economic gloom, but also uplifted by the new sound of the time: 2 Tone.’‘ A fascinating but harrowing tale of an uneasy life’ ‘ There’ s a charm – and often downright cheek- in everything this “ Rude Boy – made-good” has done… There’ s more than enough colourful behaviour to keep you smiling’ ‘ The book offers an insightful account of 1970s Britain; a time crippled by joblessness and economic gloom, but also uplifted by the new sound of the time: 2 Tone.’

    1 in stock

    £13.49

  • Sound Pictures: the Life of Beatles Producer

    Orphans Publishing Sound Pictures: the Life of Beatles Producer

    5 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    5 in stock

    £17.00

  • The Book Of Rhyme & Reason

    Reel Art Press The Book Of Rhyme & Reason

    Book Synopsis

    £29.96

  • This Is a Message to Persons Unknown

    1 in stock

    £44.99

  • Well Play till We Die

    University of California Press Well Play till We Die

    Book SynopsisIn his iconic musical travelogue Heavy Metal Islam, Mark LeVine first brought the views and experiences of a still-young generation to the world. In We'll Play till We Die, he joins with this generation's leading voices to write a definitive history of the era, closing with a cowritten epilogue that explores the meanings and futures of youth music from North Africa to Southeast Asia. We'll Play till We Die dives into the revolutionary music cultures of the Middle East and larger Muslim world before, during, and beyond the waves of resistance that shook the region from Morocco to Pakistan. This sequel to Mark LeVine's celebrated Heavy Metal Islam shows how some of the world's most extreme music not only helped inspire and define region-wide protests, but also exemplifies the beauty and diversity of youth cultures throughout the Muslim world. Two years after Heavy Metal Islamwas published in 2008, uprisings and revolutions spread like wildfire. The young people organizing and proteTrade Review"Seen from one angle, Mark LeVine is a respected professor of Middle Eastern history at the University of California, Irvine, not far from Los Angeles. . . . But LeVine is also a rock guitarist gifted enough to perform in the shadow of Mick Jagger or Doctor John. . . . In fact, LeVine combines his academic methods and his passion for music in his solid investigations of the alternative scene in the Middle East . . . His last book, We'll Play Till We Die, deals with material gathered during, as the book's subtitle puts it, his Journeys across a Decade of Revolutionary Music in the Muslim World." * Le Monde * "The fresh and original perspective LeVine shows in Heavy Metal Islam and We’ll Play Till We Die opens our eyes to the power of music to create an audience, engage it and encourage it to act." * Oriente Moderno *Table of ContentsContents List of Illustrations Author’s Note: Revolutionary Auras and Phantasms Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration Introduction From Uprisings to Plagues 1 • Morocco Finding Harmonies in a Land of Dissidence 2 • Yalla, “Let’s Play!” Egypt from the Pharaoh to the General 3 • Palestine/Israel Uprisings in Music 4 • Lebanon Remixed but Never Remastered 5 • Iran Living in the Upside Down and Inside Out 6 • Pakistan Shredding the Funk from the Valleys to the Sea By Way of an Epilogue The Joys of Resistance References by Chapter List of Contributors Index

    £22.50

  • Flyboy 2

    Duke University Press Flyboy 2

    Book SynopsisFlyboy 2 provides a panoramic view of the last thirty years of Greg Tate's influential cultural criticism of contemporary Black music, art, literature, film, and politics. These essays, interviews, and reviews cover everything from Miles Davis, Ice Cube, and Suzan Lori Parks to Afro-futurism, Kara Walker, and Amiri Baraka.Trade Review"Tate has been an important if underread critic for the past several decades, and this collection will allow more readers to discover him. Not a fast or simple read, but a worthwhile one for fans of music and culture." -- Craig L. Shufelt * Library Journal *"Flyboy 2 will be like no other collection of writing you will read this year, and probably this decade. Refer back to the original Flyboy book to whet your palate, and to note and compare the evolution of Tate’s voice and his perception of the world and music around him. Take comfort in knowing that there is a Black writer who has no choice but to be real, poised and dignified, denying all pressures to bastardize the class and power of Black arts criticism and literary excellence." -- Jordannah Elizabeth * Amsterdam News *"Whether you are new to his work or a longtime reader, the universe of Black magic lovingly curated in Flyboy 2 will do your soul good." -- Steven W. Thrasher * The Guardian *"Flyboy 2 is an immersive, fluid, and genre-bending collection of commentary, essays, and exposition of the self, a beautiful text solidly grounded in the critical theories of late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century academia." -- Patty Comeau * ForeWord Reviews *"What Flyboy 1 and 2 show is that Tate has come a long way in the study of this, the feared black planet and, in so doing, came out a more skilful, more humble man. What his style won’t let me forget is this: we are simultaneously in command of this world, and others." -- Kwanele Sosibo * Mail & Guardian *"What made Tate’s criticism special was his ability to theorize outward from his encounters with genius and his brushes with banality—to telescope between moments of artistic inspiration and the giant structures within which those moments were produced. . . . Tate has a keen sense for the way that both artists and communities discern where they fit in the world, and what is expected of them, and then either go along for the ride or carefully plot their escapes." -- Hua Hsu * The New Yorker *"[T]hought-provoking. . . . There's lots to unpack in Tate's writing, challenging us to come along for the ride--if we're up to it." -- David Hershkovits * Paper Magazine *"A Rolling Stone contributor, Greg Tate's ferocious, slang-tinged salvos and deep-rooted historical analysis have inspired readers and intimidated colleagues for decades. This sequel to the 1992 collection Flyboy in the Buttermilk felt particularly acute in the context of 2016's nonstop stream of racial horror, whether Tate is delineating visual artist Kara Walker's unflinching slavery-era silhouettes or eulogizing Richard Pryor and Michael Jackson. . . ." -- Michaelangelo Matos * Rolling Stone *"Greg Tate has been responsible for some of the most erudite and energetic cultural criticism of the past thirty years. . . . The book stands as a testimony to the richness and variety of contemporary Black artistic production, and to Tate’s restless curiosity and learning." -- Michael Lapointe * TLS *“Like all of Greg Tate's work, this is required reading for anyone interested in the last several decades of life and culture in the United States.” -- Charles L. Hughes * Journal of Popular Music Studies *"Flyboy 2 collects more pieces that prove Tate, a Rolling Stone contributor, hasn't lost a step, with riffs on young artists like Azealia Banks ('a freaky-geeky, speed-rapping succubus') and forebears such as Jimi Hendrix ('one of our most agile and adept freedom fighters'). It's a dive into what Tate calls 'Black Cognition,' a cornerstone of the American mind." -- Will Hermes * Rolling Stone *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Lust, of All Things (Black) 1 1. The Black Male Show Amiri Baraka 9 Wayne Shorter 16 Jimi Hendrix 24 John Coltrane 41 Gone Fishing: Remembering Lester Bowie 44 The Black Artists' Group 50 Butch Morris 55 Charles Edward Anderson Berry and the History of Our Future 57 Lonnie Holley 68 Marion Brown (1931–2010) and Djinji Brown 71 Dark Angels of Dust: David Hammons and the Art of Streetwise Trancendentalism 73 Bill T. Jones: Combative Moves 78 Garry Simmons: Conceptual Bomber 81 The Persistence of Vision: Storyboard P 83 Ice Cube 91 Wynton Marsalis: Jazz Crusader 102 Thonton Dail: Free, Black, and Brightening Up the Darkness of the World 110 Kehinde Wiley 124 Rammellzee: The Ikonoklast Samurai 127 Richard Pryor: Pryor Lives 136 Richard Pryor 146 Gil Scott-Heron 149 The Man in Our Mirror: Michael Jackson 152 Miles Davis 158 2. She Laughing Mean and Impressive Too Born to Dyke: I Love My Sister Laughing and Then Again When She's Looking Mean, Queer, and Impressive 167 Joni Mitchell: Black and Blond 175 Azealia Banks 177 Sade: Black Magic Woman 180 All the Things You Could Be by Now If Iames Brown Was a Feminist 186 Itabari Njeri 193 Kara Walker 196 Women at the Edge of Space, Time, and Art: Ruminations on Candida Romero's Little Girls 202 Ellen Gallagher 208 To Bid a Poet Black and Abstract 210 "The Gikuyu Mythos versus the Cullud Grrrl from Outta Space": A Wangechi Mutu Feature 213 Come Join the Hieroglyphic Zombie Parade: Deborah Grant 219 Björk's Second Act 223 Thelma Golden 228 3. Hello Darknuss My Old Meme Top Ten Reasons Why So Few Black Women Were Down to Occupy Wall Street Plus Four More 235 What Is Hip-Hop? 239 Intelligence Data: Bob Dylan 242 Hip-Hop Turns Thirty 246 Love and Crunk: Outkast 252 White Freedom: Eminem 254 Wu-Dunit: Wu-Tang Clan 256 Unlocking the Truth vs. John Cage 260 4. Screenings Spike Lee's Bamboozled 265 It's A Mack Thing 270 Sex and Negrocity: John Singleton's Baby Boy 272 Lincoln in Whiteface: Jeffrey Wright and Don Cheadle in Susan-Lori Parks's Topdog/Underdog 275The Black Power Mixtape 278 5. Race, Sex, Politricks and Belle Lettres Clarence Major 285 The Atlantic Sound: Caryl Phillips's The Atlantic Sound 288 Acocalypse Now: Patricia Hill Collins's Black Sexual Politics; Thomas Shevory's Notorious H.I.V.; Jacob Levenson's The Secret Epidemic 290 Blood and Bridges 292 Nigger-'Tude 296 Triple Threat: Jerry Gafio Watts's Amiri Baraka; Hazel Rowley's Richard Wright; David Macey's Frantz Fanon 299 Bottom Feeders: Natsuo Kirino's Out 306 Scaling the Heights: Maryse Condé's Windward Heights 307 Fear of a Mongrel Planet: Zadie Smith's White Teeth 310 Adventures in the Skin Trade: Lisa Teasley's Glow in the Dark 313 Generous Hexed: Jeffery Renard Allen's Rails under My Back 315 Going Underground: Gayl Jones's Mosquito 317 Judgment Day: Toni Morrison's Love and Edward P. Jones's The Known World 320 Black Modernity and Laughter, or How It Came to Be That N*g*as Got Jokes 322 Kalahari Hopscotch, or Notes toward a Twenty-Volume Afrocentric Futurist Manifesto 330 Sources 343 Index 347

    £20.69

  • Glitter Up the Dark

    University of Texas Press Glitter Up the Dark

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisWhy has music so often served as an accomplice to transcendent expressions of gender? Why did the query 'is he musical?' become code, in the twentieth century, for 'is he gay?' Why is music so inherently queer? For Sasha Geffen, the answers lie, in part, in music’s intrinsic quality of subliminal expression, which, through paradox and contradiction, allows rigid gender roles to fall away in a sensual and ambiguous exchange between performer and listener. Glitter Up the Dark traces the history of this gender fluidity in pop music from the early twentieth century to the present day.Starting with early blues and the Beatles and continuing with performers such as David Bowie, Prince, Missy Elliot, and Frank Ocean, Geffen explores how artists have used music, fashion, language, and technology to break out of the confines mandated by gender essentialism and establish the voice as the primary expression of gender transgression. From glam rock and punk to disco, techno, Trade ReviewGeffen’s 2020 book is a gem...Their arguments about the music of the last 60 years—from the Beatles to Prince and David Bowie to Frank Ocean and Perfume Genius—are revelatory. The gender binary, they argue, is not simply worth breaking; it has always been broken...Geffen creates one of the most helpful and useful things a writer can give: hope for a more inclusive future. Anyone interested in gender would benefit from reading Glitter Up the Dark, and music obsessives can find a plethora of new interpretations of music history as well. Ultimately, that is what the best music books can do. * PopMatters, "12 Contemporary Books That Will Have You Rethinking Music History" *A must-read for all those interested in the politics of sound. * The Guardian *This is how Glitter Up the Dark, and all of Geffen’s writing, works: Once you start reading it, you’ll hear the world through new ears. You’ll devour Glitter Up the Dark with eyes wide and mind racing, drawing connections to whatever music you listen to. It’s exciting. And if you’re a queer or trans listener, it’s validating reading about how generations of us have found a haven in music. * Vulture *An ecstatic celebration of freedom through sound and movement, Glitter Up the Dark makes pop history feel thrillingly new. * Kirkus/Rolling Stone, "Best Music Books of 2020" *[Glitter Up the Dark] speaks to pop music’s effect on future generations of norm-breaking artists, but also on public perceptions of gender and its engagement with race and class politics. It’s an essential contribution to the modern music-book canon, made all the more intimate in Geffen’s hands. * Pitchfork, "Our 15 Favorite Music Books of 2020" *[Glitter Up the Dark] is a unique examination of gender fluidity and queerness across genres of popular music; a must-read for music lovers. * Ms. Magazine *[Glitter Up the Dark] doesn't just discuss various subversions of typical masculine and feminine gender roles—it discusses how we came to accept the full gender spectrum with non-binary and third gender identities. Geffen chronicles gender fluidity in music from the 20th century to the present, discussing everyone from early blues artists and David Bowie to Missy Elliot and riot grrrl bands. * Paste Magazine *From Little Richard and Elvis to David Bowie and Prince, Glitter Up The Dark shows how artists have used music and its accompanying fashion and technology to subvert traditionally accepted forms of sexual identity—including what Geffen calls “audio drag,” wherein musicians inhabit shifting personas through vocal manipulation. While Geffen is more than comfortable digging into headier gender theory, the book remains accessible and well-crafted. * The A.V. Club *Through deft yet largely accessible analysis, Glitter Up the Dark feels like a revelatory unearthing, as Geffen carefully exposes threads of queerness that typical histories may choose to ignore or erase. * them *Glitter Up the Dark is not just a chronicle of the transgressive possibilities of pop music but also a history of Geffen’s listening and a demand that we regard pop culture in explicitly political terms. * The Nation *Without attempting a comprehensive overview of queerness in music, Glitter Up the Dark nevertheless traces a clear path from the Beatles onwards...Whether it's the time-shifting energy of '70s New York clubs like the Loft, the 'sapphic androgyny' of Prince, or the gay masculine identification channeled through Grace Jones's 'I Need A Man,' Geffen makes clear that performers and their listeners have always been engaged in a lively, flirtatious exchange, constructing vibrant, expressive, and more fluid worlds in the space between each reverberating sound wave. * Nylon *An essential contribution to the modern music-book canon, made all the more intimate in Sasha Geffen’s hands. * Pitchfork *This slim yet sprawling volume...overturns traditional approaches to pop-music history by revisiting popular stars, songs and genres through a gender-expansive, queer lens * Westword *[Glitter Up the Dark] tells the story of queer artists and fans carving out space for their self-expression in an industry that capitalizes on pieces of the queer aesthetic, while simultaneously writing off those artists who are deemed too subversive or political. * Jezebel *[An] ambitious first book...with Geffen’s boundless love for music, deep listening skills, and expansive knowledge, they have queered the map of pop in language as accessible as a yellow brick road. * Lambda Literary *Geffen’s clear love and deep knowledge of the subject, along with insightful historical and critical arguments about the intertwining of gender and music, make this a deliciously necessary read for anyone interested in either pop culture or gender studies. * Library Journal, Starred Review *Glitter Up the Dark is Geffen's definitive love letter to the power of music to inspire acceptance and transformation—both within ourselves, and in the world around us. * Foreword Reviews *In an expansive and exuberant history Sasha Geffen celebrates music's liberatory potential to break down binary gender roles. * The Wire *Geffen drags a shimmering thread that connects transgressive music histories that have defined not just queer culture but all of pop culture for decades...Geffen’s book feels like the most fabulous tasting menu that will inspire readers to fall down the rabbit holes of so many of these stories. * Autostraddle *Geffen provides detailed insight into the ways queer and gender non-conforming artists shaped pop music—including punk and its antecedent, glam rock. * Chicago Reader *[Glitter Up the Dark] details, era by era, just how much popular music has done to break down the gender binary...one of the things I loved about the book is how Geffen celebrates the way that challenging the binary is inherent to the appeal of pop music for all people who approach it with open ears and hearts: it clears a space for all of us to more truly understand the human experience. * The Current *Geffen invokes canonical artists with wan mischief…and keeps finding curious historical details…Glitter Up the Dark lovingly describes the affinities drawn together by the act of listening. * Hazlitt *[An] incisive first book…[Geffen's] lucid prose is frequently enlivened by small, passing insights into music I’ve encountered a million times but will now forever hear refracted through their imagery and words…What I found most valuable about Glitter Up the Dark was the lens through which it looks back and invites us to notice how such seeming 'subversions' have always been present beneath the surface of even the most popular music...Reading this book often gave me the sensation that I was looking at a familiar scene through a kaleidoscope, suddenly seeing smeared borders and tiny, winking rainbows everywhere. * Bookforum *Glitter Up the Dark is less a straightforward narrative of pop music gender play and nonconformity than a spiraling, exhilarating dance through its more and less famous manifestations...This prism of a book reflects a rainbow on all it touches. * Boston Globe *Glitter Up the Dark helps readers understand and contextualize gender performance in popular music. It might change the way you listen to and engage with your favorite records. * The Arts Fuse *From disco to techno, punk rock to hip-hop, Geffen digs deep to explore the way popular music can facilitate exchange between listeners and performers, loosening the grip of gender roles and providing fertile ground for asking questions, seeking liberation and creating change. * NPR, "NPR's Best Books of 2020" *A brilliant, highly accessible, and timely testament to the power of music to shatter the status quo. * Library Journal, "Best Arts Books of 2020" *This exploration of queerness and pop is ridiculously comprehensive...Geffen’s examination of gender ambiguity’s relationship to artistic reinvention is a fascinating read. You’ll never listen to classic genre-staples in the same way again. * NME, "The 20 best music books of 2020" *Geffen's genuine enthusiasm for transgressive pop music is clear and infectious, and the chapters on punk and glam rock...are true standouts. [Glitter Up the Dark] is full of insightful observations, such as the pivotal role that Wendy Carlos and Pauline Oliveros played in the development of electronic music...A helpful guided tour that shows how music is the perfect art form in which to 'dance between genders.' * Kirkus *Glitter Up the Dark...asks a fascinating question, one the author turns over and over for 264 fascinating pages. What is it about popular music that makes it such a uniquely freeing space for artists to explore the gender spectrum? Geffen takes a fascinating walk through music history from the queer pioneers of rock and blues; to the Beatles and their matching mop tops; to 21st century artists like Perfume Genius and Fever Ray. * The Current, "Best music books of 2020" *From the castrati of mid-sixteenth century Italy to 'Ma' Rainey’s lesbian blues to SoundCloud’s shape-shifting stars, Geffen takes readers on an illuminating journey in lyrical, punkish prose. * Elle, "The 63 Best Books of 2020" *Table of ContentsIntroduction: An Alternate Ribbon of Time 1. Screaming the Beatles: The First Boy Band Breaks the Gender Mold 2. Oh! You Pretty Things: The Glitter Revolution 3. Whining Is Gender Neutral: Punk’s Adolescent Escapism 4. Wreckers of Civilization: Post-punk, Goth, and Industrial 5. Soft Machines: Women, Cyborgs, and Electronic Music 6. Not a Woman, Not a Man: Prince’s Sapphic Androgyny 7. The Fake Makes It Real: Synthpop and MTV 8. Infinite Utopia: Queer Time in Disco and House 9. Funky Cyborgs: Time, Technology, and Gender in Hip-Hop 10. Butch Throats: Women’s Music and Riot Grrrl 11. God Is Gay: The Grunge Eruption 12. No Shape: The Formless Internet Coda: Whole New World Acknowledgments Notes Index

    Out of stock

    £16.14

  • Youre with Stupid

    University of Texas Press Youre with Stupid

    Book Synopsis2023 ARSC Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research, Association for Recorded Sound Collections An insider’s look at how Chicago’s underground music industry transformed indie rock in the 1990s. In the 1990s, Chicago was at the center of indie rock, propelling bands like the Smashing Pumpkins and Liz Phair to the national stage. The musical ecosystem from which these bands emerged, though, was expansive and diverse. Grunge players comingled with the electronic, jazz, psychedelic, and ambient music communities, and an inventive, collaborative group of local labels—kranky, Drag City, and Thrill Jockey, among others—embraced the new, evolving sound of indie “rock.” Bruce Adams, co-founder of kranky records, was there to bear witness. In You’re with Stupid, Adams offers an insider’s look at the role Chicago’s underground music industry played in the transformation of indTrade ReviewIndependent music from Chicago was absolutely essential to my developing sensibilities. My teenage mind was blown away by labels like Touch & Go, Drag City, and Thrill Jockey, but as I dug deeper, I zeroed in on the magical, shadowy kranky. It was pre-Internet, and I didn't get all the scene connections or timelines, I just happily listened in my shitty apartment and felt my world shift. You're with Stupid does something equally remarkable: It tells the history of that time and place without making any of that early, optimistic magic disappear. -- Brandon Stosuy, co-founder, The Creative IndependentYou're with Stupid serves as a primer on the independent record label boom of the late 1980s, the documenting of a city's diverse scene, and the quiet explosion of a new kind of music via kranky. Most importantly, it offers the backstories of some of your favorite bands and albums of the last thirty years. -- Mac McCaughan, coauthor of Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label That Got Big and Stayed SmallThis well-informed love letter to Chicago, a hub of DIY music and sonic explorations, allows the reader to witness the birth of a label and largely covert scene that continues to mutate and resonate. Bruce Adams, though, avoids pure homage, bringing the same acute critical eye, and yes, barbed tongue, that helped build this musical revolution. A funny, bullshit-free chronicle of life in underground music. -- Kevin Martin, The Bug, King Midas Sound, ZonalA story of passion and perseverance with a soundtrack that echoes from the pages...Dedicated fans of ’90s alt rock will find inspiration and lessons. * Publishers Weekly *[Adams'] prose efficiently wrings out important and nutsy-boltsy specifics that will trigger strong memories in those who were there, enrapture readers who bought the records in lieu of being there, and perhaps encourage the spawn of Those Who Came Before to bring back, aurally if not in person, artists like Labradford and Bowery Electric and Jessamine. * Backyard Industry *There was once a point when indie music tended to mean something with clear connections to rock music. Nowadays, that line is much more blurred, making for some stunning artistic feats — and the music scene in Chicago in the 1990s and 2000s played a big part in that. Bruce Adams’s new book offers an inside look at the evolution of that scene and its lasting impact. * InsideHook *You’re with Stupid proves [Adams] as adept at communicating what it was like to be immersed in a time and place of intense creativity as behind the scenes making it happen. * The Wire *You’re with Stupid is most successful when it contextualizes kranky inside the larger Chicago music scene—and indie as a whole. Chicago was and is such a vibrant city musically that the larger discussions of where the bands and labels fit into regional and national networks of groups, scenes, and zines were welcome and illuminating...this book got me interested in music that was new to me—I dug around online for Labradford and Stars Of The Lid—and gave me a greater sense of Chicago’s scene in the ’90s. * Razorcake *Adams’ book is a story about both a Chicago and a world that doesn’t exist anymore…[You're with Stupid is] a first-hand account of a fascinating time in music history to motivate us into some truly focused, immersive, offline activity. * Bandcamp Daily *[Adams] does a great service in sketching out the different rosters and aesthetic approaches [indie record labels in Chicago] took...You’re with Stupid is both a cultural history of the Chicago music world at that time, as told through the record labels and distributors that Adams worked for, and a how-to road map to founding a DIY operation. * Bookforum *[You’re with Stupid] succeeds as both a memoir and a cultural history of a brief wrinkle in time when a few Chicago neighborhoods seemed to comprise the center of a then-flourishing underground rock universe. * Aquarium Drunkard *You’re with Stupid is a thoroughly entertaining read...Reading the book feels like sitting next to [Adams] on a bar stool, hearing memories of a bygone but beloved musical era straight from the horse’s mouth. * Aquarium Drunkard *You're With Stupid is every self-described Gen X music nerd's dream come true. * The Stranger *kranky co-founder Bruce Adams provides behind-the-scenes insight on the Windy City’s music labels (with Touch & Go and Wax Trax! leading the charge) and how they contributed to the meteoric rise of Gen X stars such as Liz Phair, Nirvana, and Smashing Pumpkins...this book nurtures our sense of nostalgia for a tremendous decade of music, especially in kranky’s pursuit to 'release music that transcended the moment,' and reminds us of simpler, pre-Internet times where radio airplay, touring, and fanzines heavily influenced the success of music’s breakout stars. * SPIN, "Best Music Books of 2022" *The best kranky releases sound refreshingly different, not just from other indie rock of the ‘90s but from nearly everything on the radio, or off it, in 2022. They’re well worth a listen. And You’re with Stupid is worth a read, especially if you belong to the generation that stayed up late to catch '120 Minutes' on MTV and attended Yo La Tengo shows in multiple millennia. * Washington Independent Review of Books *[Adams] proves to be an incisive and wry observer of the Windy City's paradigm-shifting musical ecosystem and his role in shaping rock's vanguard...You're with Stupid abounds with interesting insights about musical and cultural niches that deserve more attention and, more importantly, it reveals the inner workings of one of history's greatest record companies. * The Stranger *An amazing and insightful read into one of the more low-key scenes of [the 1990s]. * The Recoup *Table of Contents Introduction 1. Hey Chicago 2. Honk if You Hate People, Too 3. That That Is . . . Is (Not): 1991–1992 4. Accelerating on a Smoother Road: 1992–1993 5. Analog Technology Makes Space Travel Possible: 1994 6. Slow Thrills: 1995 7. The Taut and the Tame: 1996 8. London Was Ridiculous: 1997 9. An Audience Hungry to Hear What Would Happen Next: 1998 10. Both Ends Fixed: 1999 11. After This They Chose Silence: 2000–2002 Epilogue: Specifically Dissatisfied Since 1993 Acknowledgments Author’s Notes Index

    £19.94

  • Woman Walk the Line

    University of Texas Press Woman Walk the Line

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis Full-tilt, hardcore, down-home, and groundbreaking, the women of country music speak volumes with every song. From Maybelle Carter to Dolly Parton, k.d. lang to Taylor Swift—these artists provided pivot points, truths, and doses of courage for women writers at every stage of their lives. Whether it’s Rosanne Cash eulogizing June Carter Cash or a seventeen-year-old Taylor Swift considering the golden glimmer of another precocious superstar, Brenda Lee, it’s the humanity beneath the music that resonates. Here are deeply personal essays from award-winning writers on femme fatales, feminists, groundbreakers, and truth tellers. Acclaimed historian Holly George Warren captures the spark of the rockabilly sensation Wanda Jackson; Entertainment Weekly’s Madison Vain considers Loretta Lynn’s girl-power anthem “The Pill”; and rocker Grace Potter embraces Linda Ronstadt’s unabashed visual and musical influence. Patty Griffin actTrade ReviewNot only will readers find some of the finest music writing in the business here, but they’ll also learn how the musicians’ evolution influenced each essayist’s own creative process. The result? Incredibly empowering writing about what it means to be an artist and a human being. . . .Woman Walk the Line will touch readers to their cores — reminding them of their first musical loves and the difference between a musician and a star. * Nashville Scene *Each of the 27 essays focuses on the experience of when music was a savior, an inspiration or an acknowledgment of a deep and personal truth. * New York Times *A rhapsodic, moving look at music's transformative power. * People *...truly stunning... * PASTE *...a new collection of personal essays on the transformative impact of women in country music aims to change the narrative. * The Washington Post *Best Music Books of the Fall * Publisher's Weekly *30 Must Read Music Books This Fall—The deeply personal pieces often feel like the authors are cracking open a secret chest, sharing treasured glimpses into their true selves. * Salon.com *Much has happened to shape the national discourse in the 18 months since Holly Gleason began working on Woman Walk The Line...Much has happened in the last 18 days to make it essential reading. * Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel *The essays in Woman Walk the Line are multidimensional, living, breathing cases for the importance of each of these female country artists, including aurally and visually. As an edited anthology of multiple authors, this book is surprisingly cohesive. * Pop Matters *Table of Contents Introduction Maybelle Carter: The Root of It All (Caryn Rose) Lil Hardin: That's How I Got to Memphis (Alice Randall) Wanda Jackson: When She Starts Eruptin' (Holly George-Warren ) Hazel Dickens: The Plangent Bone (Ronni Lundy) June Carter Cash: Eulogy for a Mother (Rosanne Cash) Brenda Lee: Rare Peer (Taylor Swift) Bobbie Gentry: Let the Mystery Be (Meredith Ochs) Loretta Lynn: The Pill (Madison Vain) Dolly Parton: Long Island Down Home Blues (Nancy Harrison) Emmylou Harris: Common Ground in an Uncommon Love (Ali Berlow) Barbara Mandrell: Lubbock in the Rearview Mirror (Shelby Morrison) Tanya Tucker: Punk Country and Sex Wide Open (Holly Gleason) Rita Coolidge: A Dark-Eyed Cherokee Country Gal (Kandia Crazy Horse) Linda Ronstadt: Canciones di Corazon Salvage (Grace Potter) Rosanne Cash: Expectations and Letting Go (Deborah Sprague) The Judds: Comfort Far from Home (Courtney E. Smith) k.d. lang: Flawless, Fearless (Kelly McCartney) Lucinda Williams, Flesh & Ghosts, Dreams + Marrow (Lady Goodman) Mary Chapin Carpenter: Every Hometown Girl (Cynthia Sanz) Patty Loveless: Beyond What You Know (Wendy Pearl) Shania Twain: But the Little Girls Understand (Emily Yahr) Alison Krauss: Draw Your Own Map (Aubrie Sellers) Terri Clark: Better Things to Do (Amy Elizabeth McCarthy) Taylor Swift: Through the Eyes of a Critic, of a Mom (Elysa Gardner) Kacey Musgraves: Follow Your Arrow (Dacey Orr) Rhiannon Giddens: A Gift Past the Songs (Caroline Randall Williams) Patty Griffin: Remembering to Breathe (Kim Ruehl) Thank Yous Contributors

    10 in stock

    £14.24

  • Soundscapes of Liberation

    Duke University Press Soundscapes of Liberation

    Book SynopsisIn Soundscapes of Liberation, Celeste Day Moore traces the popularization of African American music in postwar France, where it signaled new forms of power and protest. Moore surveys a wide range of musical genres, soundscapes, and media: the US military''s wartime records and radio programs; the French record industry''s catalogs of blues, jazz, and R&B recordings; the translations of jazz memoirs; a provincial choir specializing in spirituals; and US State Department-produced radio programs that broadcast jazz and gospel across the French empire. In each of these contexts, individual intermediaries such as educators, producers, writers, and radio deejays imbued African American music with new meaning, value, and political power. Their work resonated among diverse Francophone audiences and transformed the lives and labor of many African American musicians, who found financial and personal success as well as discrimination in France. By showing how the popularity of African AmerTrade Review“Celeste Day Moore takes us on a dazzling and deeply researched tour through the soundscapes and multisensory experiences of the Francophone Black world. Soundscapes of Liberation is indispensable reading for scholars and students of the African Diaspora, liberation projects, and the circulation of music in the twentieth century.” -- Penny M. Von Eschen, author of * Satchmo Blows Up the World: Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War *“Celeste Day Moore provides the best account of the process by which African American culture was popularized in postwar France at a time when France was negotiating its relationship to decolonization, American culture, and power writ large. This fascinating and detailed book made me think anew about things I thought I knew well.” -- Daniel Widener, author of * Black Arts West: Culture and Struggle in Postwar Los Angeles *"What Moore describes is not a simple love affair between a music maligned at home and a country destined to embrace it. . . . Navigating broad territories, she moves from an era when African-American music could only be apprehended fragmentarily to the advent of mass broadcasting, long playing records, and the involvement of state powers. Although this history's outlines can feel familiar, it is approached in a fresh way." -- Pierre Crépon * The Wire *"Thoroughly researched, erudite, and well written, this volume is required reading for those who study the African diaspora and African American music. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers." -- F. J. Hay * Choice *"Soundscapes of Liberation is a meticulously, deeply, and broadly, researched work. It is well-written and compelling." -- Brett A. Berliner * Diplomatic History *Table of ContentsAbbreviations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction: Making Soundwaves 1 1. Jazz en Liberté: The US Military and the Soundscapes of Liberation 17 2. Writing Black, Talking Back: Jazz and the Value of African American Identity 43 3. Spinning Race: The French Record Industry and the Production of African American Music 71 4. Speaking in Tongues: The Negro Spiritual and the Circuits of Black Internationalism 103 5. The Voice of America: Radio, Race, and the Sounds of the Cold War 133 6. Liberation Revisited: African American Music and the Postcolonial Landscape 161 Epilogue: Sounding like a Revolution 195 Notes 201 Sources 251 Index 283

    £20.69

  • Live Dead

    Duke University Press Live Dead

    Book SynopsisThe Grateful Dead were one of the most successful live acts of the rock era. Performing more than 2,300 shows between 1965 and 1995, the Grateful Dead's reputation as a live band was-and continues to be-sustained by thousands of live concert recordings from every era of the group's long and colorful career. In Live Dead, musicologist John Brackett examines how live recordings-from the group's official releases to fan-produced tapes, bootlegs to Betty Boards, and Dick's Picks to From the Vault-have shaped the general history and popular mythology of the Grateful Dead for more than fifty years. Drawing on a diverse array of materials and documents contained in the Grateful Dead Archive, Live Dead details how live recordings became meaningful among the band and their fans not only as sonic souvenirs of past musical performances but also as expressions of assorted ideals, including notions of liveness, authenticity, and the power of recorded sound.Trade Review“Integrating material from popular, academic, and archival sources, John Brackett writes with the sensibilities of a Deadhead and the rigor of a scholar. As someone who likes her Dead live and prefers to dance to music in person, his perspective resonates with me. As an academic who studies Deadheads, I welcome this thoroughly researched and impeccably documented account of how and why ‘live recordings came to dominate the discourse of the Grateful Dead.’” -- Rebecca G. Adams, University of North Carolina Greensboro, coeditor of * Deadhead Social Science *“As avatars of without-a-net musical improvisation, the Grateful Dead staked out sonic territory that took the importance of live performance to whole new levels. John Brackett does an exceptional job of presenting the history of ‘liveness’ in modern music and then placing the Grateful Dead securely within that tradition.” -- Peter Conners, author of * Cornell '77: The Music, the Myth, and the Magnificence of the Grateful Dead’s Concert at Barton Hall *"Brackett’s measured and thoughtful approach makes this worthwhile reading for both committed Deadheads and those interested in the study of live music." * Publishers Weekly *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction. Becoming Live 1 1. “To Capture That Special Feeling”: Recorded (and Recording) Liveness (The Warner Bros. Years, 1966–1973) 31 2. “The Next Best Thing to Being There”: Tapes, Taping, and an Alternative Aesthetic of Recorded Liveness 61 3. A Time of Reckoning: New Approaches to Producing and Marketing Liveness (The 1980s, Part 1) 85 4. “That Quintessential Spirit of the Band”: “Touch of Grey,” the “Betty Boards,” and the Rebirth of the Dead (The 1980s, Part 2) 105 5. “The Live Feel of a Tape”: From the Vault, Dick’s Picks, and the Language(s) of Liveness 125 6. Post-Dead: “Obstinately Physical,” “Vaporous Cargo,” and the Material Remains of Liveness 152 Conclusion: Memento Mori 169 Notes 177 Bibliography 201 Index 211

    £18.89

  • Jazz As Critique: Adorno and Black Expression

    Stanford University Press Jazz As Critique: Adorno and Black Expression

    Book SynopsisA sustained engagement with Theodor Adorno, Jazz As Critique looks to jazz for ways of understanding the inadequacies of contemporary life. Adorno's writings on jazz are notoriously dismissive. Nevertheless, Adorno does have faith in the critical potential of some musical traditions. Music, he suggests, can provide insight into the controlling, destructive nature of modern society while offering a glimpse of more empathetic and less violent ways of being together in the world. Taking Adorno down a path he did not go, this book calls attention to an alternative sociality made manifest in jazz. In response to writing that tends to portray it as a mirror of American individualism and democracy, Fumi Okiji makes the case for jazz as a model of "gathering in difference."Noting that this mode of subjectivity emerged in response to the distinctive history of black America, she reveals that the music cannot but call the integrity of the world into question.Trade Review"A lucidly argued, historically grounded, theoretically sophisticated, and timely book, Jazz as Critique redraws our maps of the relationship between black cultures, jazz music, and critical theory." -- Alexander G. Weheliye * Northwestern University *"Fumi Okiji combines a serious understanding of Adorno with a powerful portrayal of the black experience in the United States and melds it all with an encyclopedic knowledge of and respect for the jazz tradition. The world needs a book like this, as much as it needs jazz." -- Martin Shuster * Goucher College *"This important and engagingly written study offers new angles of vision on Adorno's notorious 'jazz critique,' on the nature of the jazz work, and on jazz's utopian promise. Informed both by a judicious reading of Adorno and by considerable jazz literacy, it illuminates the intersections of critical theory, jazz studies, and African American studies." -- Lorenzo C. Simpson * Stony Brook University *"Jazz As Critique serves as an invaluable resource for thinking about the types of listening and conversations that need to take place in order to confront today's outstanding racial injustice and inequalities." -- Alexander K. Rothe, Core Lecturer * Columbia University *"Okiji's book is a rare treat, unexpected in its outcome, and unconventional in its methodological approach." -- James B. Haile III * The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism *"At stake in Okiji's text is not whether Adorno could have changed his mind about jazz but rather whether Black expression can, and should, change its mind about Adorno." -- Mark Christian Thompson * Monatshefte *Table of ContentsContents and Abstracts1Jazz, Individualism, and the Black Modern chapter abstractThis chapter seeks to establish the socio-historical basis of an alternate subjectivity, a gathering in difference in jazz, in contrast to the claims presented by some commentators—shown to relate more closely to the historical trajectory of the bourgeois. The inattention of both Adorno and jazz critics to the significance of a distinctive black American subject is shown to be a crucial oversight. It is argued that the notion of personal sovereignty (and its loss) must be seen as subordinate to fundamental everyday, often passive, battles between black life and how society tends to define it beyond recognition, the sequela of the dehumanization of African captives. This distinction is crucial to appreciating the manner in which jazz and other black expressive forms contribute to a model of a possible praxis. 2Double Consciousness and the Critical Potential of Black Expression chapter abstractAccording to Adorno, autonomous works of art, by virtue of their peculiar attuned-outsider perspective, are ideally positioned to provide a kind of social critique. Although implicated socio-historically in the advance of techno-rationality—in fact, because they are so implicated—musical works are able, in rearticulating available musical material, to expose the poor state of human relations within late capitalist society. It is essential to consider black expression's attuned-outsiderness within the specific historical and material conditions from which it emerged. These provide an alternative vantage to that of radical music of the European tradition. Resting on Nahum Chandler's illuminating interpretation of W.E.B. Du Bois's ideas concerning double consciousness, this chapter draws to the fore the importance of African America's contradictory nature, the critical character of its obligatory retention of conflicting positions. The chapter culminates in a discussion of jazz syncopation as a manifestation of this. 3Black Dwelling, a Refuge for the Homeless chapter abstractThis chapter frames some key turns of the study's central argument within a universalist inclination in black radical thought and expression. The chapter focuses on the opportunity the disjuncture between blackness and the world presents, and how it allows us to speculate on the broad ethical implications of black living in critical reflection on the world. Black wordlessness and homelessness are put into conversation with Adorno's ethics of resistance, particularly the imploration to not be at home in one's home. It is suggested that an embrace of blackness is a way to give up one's place in the world, and the prerequisite to any utopic future. 4Storytelling, Sound, and Silence chapter abstractThis chapter establishes the aesthetic terms of jazz's social character by showing that the tension between wanting to tell communal stories and doing so with distinction permeates jazz work and tradition. Drawing on Walter Benjamin's "The Storyteller: Reflections on the Works of Nikolai Leskov," on black thought, and on the music itself, a descriptive formulation of collaborative work in jazz is advanced. Storytelling in jazz scholarship has traditionally been associated with the linearity and coherence of the individual solo, with values modeled closely on those of the modern European tradition. The inadequacy of such approaches is discussed. The chapter shows how the elision between sound and sense (an evasion of designation but also a refusal to relinquish meaning) enabled black music to continue to communicate content of social significance, despite being faced with traumas comparable to those that have robbed Benjamin's storytelling community of its ability to communicate experience. 5Postscript: Some Thoughts on the Inadequacy and Indispensability of Jazz Records chapter abstractThe study concludes with a dialectical riffing on the indispensability and the inadequacy of jazz recording as a representative of the music's principles of structuration. It is suggested that jazz recording is destructive, that it congeals and obscured how jazz work is done and compromises the incompletion, partiality, and imperfection encoded the practice. And yet, jazz records are shown to be of crucial importance to the way the tradition has developed, particularly for how it has democratized study and has facilitated inter-generational collaborations while retaining the features of oral tradition. Introduction chapter abstractThis introductory chapter sketches the broad strokes of the argument that unfolds over the course of the book. A recording of the Charles Mingus Sextet at Cornell University anchors the chapter. In it is heard socio-musical work that appears to instantiate Adorno's ideas of art's potential for providing social theory. It prepares the ground for the extended conversation staged between the critical theorist and black thought and expression.

    £18.89

  • My Life in the Purple Kingdom

    University of Minnesota Press My Life in the Purple Kingdom

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisFrom the young Black teenager who built a bass guitar in woodshop to the musician building a solo career with Motown Records—Prince’s bassist BrownMark on growing up in Minneapolis, joining Prince and The Revolution, and his life in the purple kingdom In the summer of 1981, Mark Brown was a teenager working at a 7-11 store when he wasn’t rehearsing with his high school band, Phantasy. Come fall, Brown, now called BrownMark, was onstage with Prince at the Los Angeles Coliseum, opening for the Rolling Stones in front of 90,000 people. My Life in the Purple Kingdom is BrownMark’s memoir of coming of age in the musical orbit of one of the most visionary artists of his generation. Raw, wry, real, this book takes us from his musical awakening as a boy in Minneapolis to the cold call from Prince at nineteen, from touring the world with The Revolution and performing in Purple Rain to inking his own contract with Motown.BrownMark’s story is that of a hometown kid, living for sunny days when his transistor would pick up KUXL, a solar-powered, shut-down-at-sundown station that was the only one that played R&B music in Minneapolis in 1968. But once he took up the bass guitar—and never looked back—he entered a whole new realm, and, literally at the right hand of Twin Cities musical royalty, he joined the funk revolution that integrated the Minneapolis music scene and catapulted him onto the international stage. BrownMark describes how his funky stylings earned him a reputation (leading to Prince’s call) and how he and Prince first played together at that night’s sudden audition—and never really stopped. He takes us behind the scenes as few can, into the confusing emotional and professional life among the denizens of Paisley Park, and offers a rare, intimate look into music at the heady heights that his childhood self could never have imagined.An inspiring memoir of making it against stacked odds, experiencing extreme highs and lows of success and pain, and breaking racial barriers, My Life in the Purple Kingdom is also the story of a young man learning his craft and honing his skill like any musician, but in a world like no other and in a way that only BrownMark could tell it.Trade Review"A story of low notes and high stakes, of Revolution and of evolution, of bands and fans and best-laid plans, of pills and thrills and daffodils. Hang tough, children, and read it."—Questlove, from the Foreword"This is not a tell-all book. It is simply a candid, honest, heartfelt story about a young kid who goes on to achieve his dream of making it in the music industry, and the price that he pays along the way. It’s an uplifting tale about working with Prince, and it is an enjoyable read that serves as another piece of the puzzle that is Prince."—The Great Song Traveler"This page-turning memoir... will appeal to BrownMark’s fans and general music enthusiasts."—Library Journal"Those looking for a memoir awash in sex, drugs, and the seamier sides of Prince’s private life will instead discover hard work and rigid discipline under a stern taskmaster, an artist who became what he was through minute attention to detail as well as genius. A memoir of vivid detail and understandable ambivalence."—Kirkus Reviews"If you want to get to know Mark Brown, the human, I would say this book is a good way to go."—Insight News"The profound life lessons BrownMark learned while playing in the Revolution, as well as his experiences touring the world with Prince, forever changed his life. And BrownMark proudly carries those memories with him as he continues to blaze new trails while keeping Prince’s legacy alive."—City Pages"Simultaneously poignant and inspiring."—The Arts Fuse"By turns a reflective examination of his own place in the Paisley world over those years and a straight-shooting account of the less beautiful side of Prince’s modus operandi at his commercial zenith."—SoulTracks"An arresting piece of social history, often interesting and original."—Moving the River"Enlightening."—Chicago Review of Books"This memoir could be a real inspiration to someone with dreams."—The Bookworm Sez"My Life in the Purple Kingdom makes it clear anyone who thinks BrownMark was handed phenomenal success at a young age on a platter can think again."—Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder "Seemingly overnight, BrownMark was thrown into an entirely different reality, sharing the stage with The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Sting and more. With Prince & The Revolution, he’d tour the world in one of the most iconic bands in history, perform some the greatest hits in popular music and experience an overwhelming level of fame."—Forbes Magazine Table of ContentsContentsForewordQuestlovePrologueRadio DaysDiscovery YearsChain ReactionsThe Skin I’m InNew Look, New SoundOff to See the WizardPrimping for PrnControversy, SexualityThreshold of a NightmareControversy TourMojo1999The ShadowLet’s Go CrazyThe Carrot and the Hat TrickThe Bitter TasteMoving OnEpilogue

    15 in stock

    £14.24

  • Blood in the Tracks: The Minnesota Musicians

    University of Minnesota Press Blood in the Tracks: The Minnesota Musicians

    Book SynopsisThe story of the Minneapolis musicians who were unexpectedly summoned to re-record half of the songs on Bob Dylan's most acclaimed album When Bob Dylan recorded Blood on the Tracks in New York in September 1974, it was a great album. But it was not the album now ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the ten best of all time. “When something’s not right, it’s wrong,” as Dylan puts it in “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go”—and something about that original recording led him to a studio in his native Minnesota to re-record five songs, including “Idiot Wind” and “Tangled Up in Blue.” Six Minnesota musicians participated in that two-night recording session at Sound 80, bringing their unique sound to some of Dylan’s best-known songs—only to have their names left off the album and their contribution unacknowledged for more than forty years. This book tells the story of those two nights in Minneapolis, introduces the musicians who gave the album so much of its ultimate form and sound, and describes their decades-long fight for recognition. Blood in the Tracks takes readers behind the scenes with these “mystery” Minnesota musicians: twenty-one-year-old mandolin virtuoso Peter Ostroushko; drummer Bill Berg and bass player Billy Peterson, the house rhythm section at Sound 80; progressive rock keyboardist Gregg Inhofer; guitarist Chris Weber, who owned The Podium guitar shop in Dinkytown; and Kevin Odegard, whose own career as a singer-songwriter had paralleled Dylan’s until he had to take a job as a railroad brakeman to make ends meet. Through in-depth interviews and assiduous research, Paul Metsa and Rick Shefchik trace the twists of fate that brought these musicians together and then set them on different paths in its wake: their musical experiences leading up to the December 1974 recording session, the divergent careers that followed, and the painstaking work required to finally obtain the official credit that they were due. A rare look at the making—or remaking—of an all-time great album, and a long overdue recognition of the musicians who made it happen, Blood in the Tracks brings to life a transformative moment in the history of rock and roll, for the first time in its true context and with its complete cast of players. Trade Review "Beyond the richly detailed account of the Sound 80 sessions, Rick Shefchik and Paul Metsa have crafted a gripping pre-Internet tale of what it took (and still takes) to be a struggling musician. Dylan looms over every page, but for anyone who’s ever given themselves up to a life in music—or loved someone who did—the stories told by the Minnesota Six about gigging, practicing, recording, family life, and all the heartaches and triumphs that come along with the chase are equal parts poignant, romantic, sad, funny, and inspiring. An essential slice of Minnesota music history."—Jim Walsh, songwriter, journalist, and author of Gold Experience: Following Prince in the ’90s "Paul Metsa and Rick Shefchik's biography of a record is like none I've ever read before. The intimate chronicling of the crafting and recording of Blood on the Tracks, from the songs' beginnings in Dylan's spiral notebooks to their shaping in New York and Minnesota, is indeed the life of Bob Dylan's masterpiece. Long may the names of the Minneapolis musicians and Sound 80 staff, some of them garnering a first official credit for their work on the record, be remembered now."—Anne Margaret Daniel, The New School

    £19.79

  • Prince: Great Lives in Graphic Form

    GMC Publications Prince: Great Lives in Graphic Form

    Book SynopsisMost people know that Prince (1958--2016) was an iconic singer-songwriter whose creative brilliance transformed music for more than four decades. What, perhaps, they don't know is that his real name actually was Prince; that he once simultaneously held the number one spots in the US for film, single, and album; that he has a back catalogue of more than 600 songs, many of which he wrote for other people, including Madonna and Alicia Keys; and that he performed at the wedding of Star Wars director George Lucas. Biographic Prince presents an instant impression of his life, work and legacy, with an array of irresistible facts and figures converted into infographics to reveal the musician behind the music.

    £8.99

  • ABBA: Great Lives in Graphic Form

    GMC Publications ABBA: Great Lives in Graphic Form

    Book SynopsisMost people know that ABBA (1972-1982) were a Swedish band who became one of the world's most successful pop groups after winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with their song "Waterloo." What, perhaps, they don't know is that they have sold more than 380 million albums and singles; that their name was chosen through a newspaper competition, where alternatives included Alibaba, FABB, and Baba; that their royalties from the Soviet Union were so big they had to be paid in oil rights; and that 3.5 million people applied for tickets to see ABBA at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1977. Biographic ABBA presents an instant impression of their life, work, and legacy, with an array of irresistible facts and figures converted into infographics to reveal the musicians behind the music.

    £9.49

  • University of Hawaii Press Peripheral Linguistic Brutality

    3 in stock

    3 in stock

    £24.30

  • Ozzy at 75

    Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc Ozzy at 75

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisOzzy at 75 celebrates the anniversary of the gonzo rock icon’s birth with a beautifully produced retrospective of 75 key achievements and life events.Trade Review"OZZY@75 is well done at every level I couldn’t help but love this book, despite an overarching of familiarity with the source material...there are several Ozzy books on the market and this is one of the best!" * Metal-Rules.com *"...so fun...Daniel has a really fun, dry sense of humor and that permeates throughout this book...when talking about someone like Ozzy, a good sense of humor is neccessary to put him accross." * The Hustle Podcast *Table of ContentsContents Part 1 Ozzy Zig Seeks Gig, 1948–1969 Part 2 Behind the Wall of Sleep, 1970–1979 Part 3 Flying High Again, 1979–1989 Part 4 Retirement Sucks, 1990–1998 Part 5 “Shaaaaaaron!!!!”, 2001–2007 Bibliography Image Credits Index Aknowledgments About the Author

    3 in stock

    £32.00

  • Be Bad Be Bold Be Billie Live Life the Billie

    HarperCollins Publishers Be Bad Be Bold Be Billie Live Life the Billie

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis**THE PERFECT GIFT FOR BILLIE EILISH FANS**A celebration of Billie Eilish''s refreshing outlook, creativity and independence. We all want a bit more Billie in our lives!Billie Eilish isn''t up for conforming to others'' expectations of what a young woman should look and sound like. This multi-award-winning artist lays down her own beat and refuses to be labelled, restricted or dismissed. She uses her platform to advocate openness around mental health and to work towards positive change in the world around her.With chapters on learning to be yourself, standing up for what you believe and dealing with haters, Be Bad, Be Bold, Be Billieexplores Billie''s incredible journey to stardom, providing hints and tips on how to adopt her poise and no-nonsense attitude to get to where you want to be.

    2 in stock

    £9.49

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