Book picks similar to
The Tri-Axium Writings by Anthony Braxton
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Hold On to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, 1973-1992
Tim Lawrence - 2009
With the exception of a few dance recordings, including “Is It All Over My Face?” and “Go Bang! #5,” Russell’s pioneering music was largely forgotten until 2004, when the posthumous release of two albums brought new attention to the artist. This revival of interest gained momentum with the issue of additional albums and the documentary film Wild Combination. Based on interviews with more than seventy of his collaborators, family members, and friends, Hold On to Your Dreams provides vital new information about this singular, eccentric musician and his role in the boundary-breaking downtown music scene.Tim Lawrence traces Russell’s odyssey from his hometown of Oskaloosa, Iowa, to countercultural San Francisco, and eventually to New York, where he lived from 1973 until his death from AIDS-related complications in 1992. Resisting definition while dreaming of commercial success, Russell wrote and performed new wave and disco as well as quirky rock, twisted folk, voice-cello dub, and hip-hop-inflected pop. “He was way ahead of other people in understanding that the walls between concert music and popular music and avant-garde music were illusory,” comments the composer Philip Glass. “He lived in a world in which those walls weren’t there.” Lawrence follows Russell across musical genres and through such vital downtown music spaces as the Kitchen, the Loft, the Gallery, the Paradise Garage, and the Experimental Intermedia Foundation. Along the way, he captures Russell’s openness to sound, his commitment to collaboration, and his uncompromising idealism.
Writings on Music, 1965-2000
Steve Reich - 2002
These early works, characterized by a relentless pulse and static harmony, focused single-mindedly on the process of gradual rhythmic change. Throughout his career, Reich has continued to reinvigorate the music world, drawing from a wide array of classical, popular, sacred, and non-western idioms. His works reflect the steady evolution of an original musical mind.Writings on Music documents the creative journey of this thoughtful, groundbreaking composer. These 64 short pieces include Reich's 1968 essay Music as a Gradual Process, widely considered one of the most influential pieces of music theory in the second half of the 20th century. Subsequent essays, articles, and interviews treat Reich's early work with tape and phase shifting, showing its development into more recent work with speech melody and instrumental music. Other essays recount his exposure to non-western music -- African drumming, Balinese gamelan, Hebrew cantillation -- and the influence of these musics as structures and not as sounds. The writings include Reich's reactions to and appreciations of the works of his contemporaries (John Cage, Luciano Berio, Morton Feldman, Gyorgy Ligeti) and older influences (Kurt Weill, Schoenberg). Each major work of the composer's career is also explored through notes written for performances and recordings.Paul Hillier, himself a respected figure in the early music and new music worlds, has revisited these texts, working with the author to clarify their central narrative: the aesthetic and intellectual development of an influential composer. For long-time listeners and young musicians recently introduced to his work, this book provides an opportunity to get to know Reich's music in greater depth and perspective.
Dance Music Sex Romance: Prince- The First Decade (Revised Edition)
Per Nilsen - 1999
Illustrated with previously unseen photographs and drawing on over 300 hours of interviews with band members, producers, friends, former lovers and associates, this biography traces the artist's life from his Minneapolis roots through controversial stardom to his rejection of the Prince persona.
The Golden Road and Beyond: A Grateful Dead Primer
Grateful Dead - 2011
Includes brand-new artwork, listenable discography, and original essays by Dennis McNally, the band's longtime publicist.
Noise/Music: A History
Paul Hegarty - 2007
It situates different musics in their cultural and historical context, and analyses them in terms of cultural aesthetics. Paul Hegarty argues that noise is a judgement about sound, that what was noise can become acceptable as music, and that in many ways the idea of noise is similar to the idea of the avant-garde.While it provides an excellent historical overview, the book's main concern is in the noise music that has emerged since the mid 1970s, whether through industrial music, punk, free jazz, or the purer noise of someone like Merzbow. The book progresses seamlessly from discussions of John Cage, Erik Satie, and Pauline Oliveros through to bands like Throbbing Gristle and the Boredoms. Sharp and erudite, and underpinned throughout by the ideas of thinkers like Adorno and Deleuze, Noise/Music is the perfect primer for anyone interested in the louder side of experimental music.
No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan
Robert Shelton - 1986
Twenty-five years later, Shelton, who had followed Dylan's career faithfully, published No Direction Home . Here is the "empathetic and rather magnificent" ( Washington Post Book World ) story of Dylan, musician and phenomenon.
Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991
Paul Tingen - 2001
Readers will discover a new perspective on Miles's working methods, as well as in in-depth, chronological understanding and analysis of the music produced from 1967 to 1991 - a period that's been both neglected and misunderstood.
Death of a Polaroid - A Manics Family Album
Nicky Wire - 2011
For more than twenty years and from Blackwood, Wales to Tokyo, Japan, Nicky Wire has kept a personal visual history of the band in their various stages from Generation Terrorists through Holy Bible and right up to last year's remarkable album, Postcards from a Young Man. Edited down from over 1,000 of Wire's personal polaroids and with accompanying text by the man himself, Death of The Polaroid promises to be a rich, visual biography of one of the most loved and iconoclastic British bands of the past two decades.
Feet, Don't Fail Me Now: The Rogue's Guide to Running the Marathon
Ben Kaplan - 2013
With wit, self-deprecation, and the input of experts from around the world, he provides critical information on nutrition and hydration, selecting shoes, race strategy, pacing, proper form, motivation, and how to stave off injuries while continually crossing new finish lines. He shares running music recommendations provided personally by a variety of pop and rock stars, including Paul Simon, Justin Bieber, The Black Keys, Ghostface Killah, Willie Nelson, Feist, and Norah Jones. Kaplan's infectious enthusiasm about running — and music — inspires the most recalcitrant runners to lace up their shoes and hit the pavement.
Meleketh
Regulus Draak - 2015
“Miles and miles across most of ancient Alexandria. There are an incredible number of tunnels and dwellings, many still to explore. Some Egyptian believe Alexander the Great lays buried down there.” “Ok, that sounds interesting!” Katarina said. “Alexandria once was a city of the World; superior to Rome or Jerusalem. Alexandria’s library, the most complete ever built was the center of worldwide data with thousands of manuscripts from all over the Globe. Huge in size and greater with Knowledge. Sadly set on fire during the Roman invasion, some say by mistake. Nevertheless, most of the precious literature turned to ashes and the remaining scrolls divided throughout the several empires of Earth.Some of them are in the Vatican archive… that you should know Theodor!” A lingering smile played on her eyes. She was beautiful. “You are correct, dear Katarina. I have studied some of it. Primordial Greek philosophical works, several African texts by unknown authors, even Chinese scrolls dating from 2600 BC during the Yellow Emperor ruling period.Many more are still to open. Often I think about all that invaluable information and beautiful tales of the past that no matter with short or long years I may live, I’ll never read.” “You know Theodor!? There are additional things in live besides reading.” “Everyone with its own pleasures, Peter.” We all laughed, it was a good idea keeping up moral high before our swift incursion into Egypt. We discussed a few other details and mentally warmed up for the mission. As we arrived at Alexandria’s Borg El Arab airport.
The Beggar Sisters
Rosie Darling - 2018
When she lost the printing business that was their livelihood soon after they had lost both their mother and father, they also lost the home in which they had both been born. Relegated to a life in a grey tenement, and long hours of Ada working in the Bow match factory and little Emma selling wares on the cold, unaccommodating streets of east London, the sisters had nothing but each other. What they shared now was a life without warmth, a life of disadvantage, a life where roast lamb and gravy was no more than a shared illusion, where Christmas was not a day apart from any other. And then Ada was forced to enter into a contract with a monster. Would he sell her to the highest bidder just as he had done to so many women before? What would become of little Emma if she were taken from her? Everett Floyd was known to be heartless. How was it that two young, vulnerable and innocent girls could melt his icy heart without even trying? In an age of misery where money distinguished people - and separated lives - could two very different worlds come together to heal the pain of the past and bring a new reality?
Dillard Double #1: An Innocent Client & In Good Faith
Scott Pratt - 2015
We hope you enjoy the first two installments in the Joe Dillard Series, and thank you for reading!An Innocent ClientA preacher is found brutally murdered in a Tennessee motel room.A beautiful, mysterious young girl is accused.In this bestselling debut, criminal defense lawyer Joe Dillard has become jaded over the years as he's tried to balance his career against his conscience. Savvy but cynical, Dillard wants to quit doing criminal defense, but he can't resist the chance to represent someone who might actually be innocent. His drug-addicted sister has just been released from prison and his mother is succumbing to Alzheimer's, but Dillard's commitment to the case never wavers despite the personal troubles and professional demands that threaten to destroy him."Pratt's richly developed characters are vivid and believable, especially the strong Southern women who fight their male-dominated culture from behind a facade of vulnerability in this brilliantly executed debut." -- Publisher's Weekly"It's Scott Turow and Grisham... The opening chapter is maybe the most compelling I've read in a decade." - Ken BruenSmart and sophisticated, with a plot twist that will leave you shaking your head in wonder, "An Innocent Client" -- the first in the acclaimed Joe Dillard series -- will also leave you begging for more.In Good FaithA family of four is slaughtered in rural Tennessee.Two weeks later, a retired high school principal and his wife are brutally slain.Two Satan-worshipping teens stand accused.In the second of the bestselling Joe Dillard series, it's up to prosecutor Dillard to convict them. A former defense attorney who spent way too much time defending people he knew were guilty, Joe is determined to win this case to atone for his past. But an evil young woman named Natasha is responsible for the slayings and Joe knows it. Natasha is walking around free because the two boys who have been arrested are too terrified to implicate her. Now Joe must risk everything -- including his family's safety and his own life -- to bring an evil murderer to justice."This book was so intense it was scary." -- M. Cottrill, Dallas, Tex."The book ends up moving along like a thriller should; at breakneck speed." -- N. Bilmes, Vernon, Conn."This author is a must read if you love attorney and courtroom thrillers." -- Kenneth J. George, Detroit, Mich."Better than the old Grisham." -- Tompat, Melbourne, Fla.
Michael Jackson Treasures
Jason King - 2009
Michael Jackson Treasures pairs a compelling exploration of his story with photographs and memorabilia that illuminate h is fascinating, complicated life. Featuring a number of rare pieces, including selected pages from the Jackson children’s high school yearbook, the patent for the antigravity lean shoes from “Smooth Criminal,” and a fancifully die-cut mask from the Dangerous Tour, Michael Jackson Treasures is a trove of powerful images and ephemera from a truly global superstar.
If You're Feeling Sinister
Scott Plagenhoef - 2007
Along the way, the book shows how the internet has revolutionized how we discover new music--often at the cost of romance and mystery.
Dark Star: The Roy Orbison Story
Ellis Amburn - 1990
Rock stars from Elvis to Bruce Springsteen have been profoundly affected by his work. This insightful book examines the power of Orbison's music--from his pioneer days to his fantastic comeback--and the events that lead to his untimely death.