How Music Can Make You Better


Indre Viskontas - 2019
    It is packed with fascinating information that I didn't know... I shall give it to lots of friends." —Jonathan Lynn, comedy legendA fascinating field guide from neuroscientist and opera singer Indre Viskontas that investigates what music is and how it can change us for the better—from deep in our neurons to across our entire society. Learn how certain songs carry us through a tough workout, comfort us after a breakup, or unite 50,000 diverse fans. A vibrant and smart gift for any audiophile—hip-hop fans, classically trained pianists, or vinyl collectors—readers will think about their favorite songs in a whole new way by the end of this book. • Find out how your mind transforms sounds into human experiences• Discover how music connects us, heals us, and changes us for the better • Learn from renowned musicians, neuroscientists, and authors"Indre Viskontas, combining her deep knowledge of neuroscience and music, has lifted the veil on the mysterious effects of music to move us, showing us not only how the human brain creates the magical patterns of music but also why music has the power to affect us like no other form of communication. An extremely important and inspiring book." —Robert Greene, best-selling author of The 48 Laws of PowerReaders of How Poetry Can Change Your Heartor The Psychology of Music will love this book• Music lovers and audiophiles• Musicians • Anyone interested in neuroscience

Chinatown


Michael Eaton - 1997
    This study analyzes Chinatown in the context of the figure of the detective in literature and film from Sophocles to Edgar Allan Poe and Alfred Hitchcock.

Eva Cassidy: Songbird: Her Story by Those Who Knew Her


Rob Burley - 2001
    Eva Cassidy's albums "Songbird, Live at Blues Alley, Eva By Heart, Time After Time," and "Imagine" have sold over a million and a half copies in the U.S. and millions more worldwide. Her songs have been heard on many television shows and film soundtracks, and the video of her classic performance of "Over the Rainbow" is the most requested in BBC history. Yet she lived to see only one of her solo albums released, a CD she underwrote herself and sold from the trunk of her car before her tragic death. Capturing Eva's essence and tender life story, "Eva Cassidy: Songbird" collects the intimate memories of relatives, close friends, and the musicians who collaborated with her. The book tells the story of her too-brief life and enduring music. Featuring candid full-color photos and reproductions of Eva's original artwork, a vivid portrait emerges of a woman who devoted her energies to the things she truly loved-giving encouragement to those around her, tending to plants at the nursery where she worked, and performing her music at clubs in Washington, D.C. She succumbed to cancer at age thirty-three just as the world was starting to notice her arresting voice. Eva Cassidy's music continues to grow in recognition from critics and legions of fans throughout the world. The rock icon Sting has said her voice possesses "a magical quality. People respond to its purity. It suggests something ethereal-something unattainable." This American edition contains two new chapters about her influences and her posthumous success in her native country. With the publication of "Eva Cassidy: Songbird," the woman behind the unforgettable voice will at last be known.

Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento


Maitland McDonagh - 1994
    Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds, which dissects such Argento cult films as Two Evil Eyes, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Suspiria, and Deep Red, includes a new introduction discussing Argento’s most recent films, from The Stendahl Syndrome to Mother of Tears; an updated filmography; and an interview with Argento.

Spon: A Guide to Spoon Carving and the New Wood Culture


Barn The Spoon - 2017
    King of the whittlers.' Sunday Telegraph Barn The Spoon, as he’s affectionately known is a rare master craftsman in the art of spoon carving. In this book he generously shares his extraordinary skill, gentle philosophy and his life’s work – designing and carving beautiful spoons that are both a joy to use and hold.The simple, ordinary spoon is part of our everyday lives, intimately entwined with the acts of eating and socialising, from stirring our first cup of coffee to scraping the last bit of pudding from the bowl. And who doesn't like to spoon in bed? Barn’s spoons will take you on a journey into the new wood culture, from understanding the relationship between wood, the raw material and its majestic origins in our trees and woodland, to the workshop and the axe block, and into your own kitchen. Barn will show you how to use the axe and knife, from how they should feel in your hand to honing the perfect edge when carving your own spoons. Featuring sixteen unique designs in the four main categories of spoon – eating, serving, cooking and measuring spoons, Barn takes you through the nuances of their making, how each design is informed by its function at the table or in the kitchen, and the key skills you will learn – such as creating octagonal handles, manipulating grain patterns and mastering bent branches. Beautiful photography will inspire and act as a blue-print to help perfect your technique.

All Ears: Cultural Criticism, Essays, and Obituaries


Dennis Cooper - 1999
    His novels are fantastic, brooding and violent.As a journalist, he is solid and well-formed. He has an approachable informality, unawed by massive celebrity His straightforward interviews with Leonardo Di Caprio, Courtney Love, Keanu Reeves, and Bob Mould disarm their subjects to find an urgent, everyday humanity. The feature articles on AIDS, youth culture, and contemporary art take their subjects passionately. But the obituaries for Kurt Cobain, River Phoenix, and William Burroughs are as bracing as a stoic's evaluation of a dead god.All Ears for the first time collects this major 20th-Century novelist's lesser-known work. It will also include several new unpublished piece. All Ears pours necessary critical insight onto the time's leading cultural luminaries.

A Brief History of New Music


Hans Ulrich Obrist - 2012
    It brings together leading avant-garde composers of the early postwar period such as Elliot Carter, Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen; pioneers of electroacoustic music such as Francois Bayle, Pauline Oliveros, Iannis Xenakis and Peter Zinovieff; minimalist and Fluxus-inspired artist-musicians such as Tony Conrad, Henry Flynt, Phil Niblock, Yoko Ono, Steve Reich and Terry Riley; and figures that have moved between classical/experimental realms and more pop terrain, such as Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Howie B., Arto Lindsay and Caetano Veloso. Obrist's interviews map the evolution of the new music in Europe and America across all of its genres, from musique concrete to the recent hybridizations between pop and avant-garde, as techniques from both realms cross-pollinate. A Brief History of New Music is an ideal introduction to the experimental and new classical music of the past half-century.

Blue: The Color of Noise


Steve Aoki - 2019
    The mix. His life. [A] passionate, introspective memoir. --Publishers WeeklySometimes I think my whole life can be seen through shades of blue... --Steve AokiBlue is the remarkable story--in pictures and words--of Steve Aoki, the superstar DJ/producer who started his career as a vegan straightedge hardcore music kid hellbent on defying his millionaire father, whose unquenchable thirst to entertain--inherited from his dad, Rocky Aoki, founder of Benihana--led him to global success and two Grammy nominations.Ranked among the top ten DJs in the world today, Grammy-nominated artist, producer, label head, fashion designer, philanthropist and entrepreneur Steve Aoki is an authentic global trendsetter and tastemaker who has been instrumental in defining contemporary youth culture. Known for his outrageous stage antics (cake throwing, champagne spraying, and the 'Aoki Jump') and his endearing personality, Steve is also the brains behind indie record label Dim Mak, which broke acts such as The Kills, Bloc Party, and The Gossip. Dim Mak also put out the first releases by breakout EDM stars The Chainsmokers and The Bloody Beetroots, as well as the early releases for Grammy-nominated artist Iggy Azalea, in addition to EDM star Zedd and electro duo MSTRKFT.In Blue, Aoki recounts the epic highs of music festivals, clubs and pool parties around the world, as well as the lows of friendships lost to drugs and alcohol, and his relationship with his flamboyant father. Illustrated with candid photos gathered throughout his life, the book reveals how Aoki became a force of nature as an early social media adopter, helping to turn dance music into the phenomenon it is today. All this, while remaining true to his DIY punk rock principles, which value spontaneity, fun and friendship above all else--demonstrable by the countless cakes he has flung across cities worldwide.

Notes and Tones: Musician-to-Musician Interviews (Expanded Edition)


Arthur Taylor - 1977
    As a black musician himself, Arthur Taylor was able to ask his subjects hard questions about the role of black artists in a white society. Free to speak their minds, these musicians offer startling insights into their music, their lives, and the creative process itself. This expanded edition is supplemented with previously unpublished interviews with Dexter Gordon and Thelonious Monk, a new introduction by the author, and new photographs.Notes and Tones consists of twenty-nine no-holds-barred conversations which drummer Arthur Taylor held with the most influential jazz musicians of the ’60s and ’70s—including:

The Art of Rock: Posters from Presley to Punk


Paul Grushkin - 1984
    King, and Howlin' Wolf; the multicolored psychedelic hallucinations promoting the Grateful Dead, Dylan, and the Doors; the deliciously tasteless art for the Sex Pistols, Crime, and the Clash. From the Red Dog Saloon in San Francisco, where the psychedelic scene started, to CBGB, New York's punk Mecca, and beyond. 1,500 images searched out world-wide from clubs, attics, and bedrooms—as well as more formal collections—are reproduced in their original blazing colors. Replete with firsthand history—including exclusive interviews with scores of insiders, poster artists, musicians, and promoters—this is the ultimate high for the rock music fan, required reading for the poster collector, a treasure trove for the graphic artist, and a riotous feast for anyone who digs pop culture.

Being Britney


Jennifer Otter Bickerdike - 2021
    Being Britney is the compelling account of a talented, troubled and talked-about modern icon, whose life, work and individual significance will be recognised for many decades to come.'After years of being framed as a victim, Britney deserves to be celebrated as the fighter, inspiration and enigma she truly is.' - Jennifer Otter Bickerdike

Reaching Out with No Hands: Reconsidering Yoko Ono


Lisa Crystal Carver - 2012
    A must-read for art and music fans interested in going beyond the stereotyped observations of Yoko as a Lennon hanger-on or inconsequential avant noisemaker.

Skinhead... The Life I Chose: Memoirs of a Real Skin


Spike Pitt - 2014
    It is NOT about Nazism, or Neo-Nazism, and definitely not about politics; it is the story of how the ebullience of youth can be corrupted and misinterpreted by propaganda and the media. Warning This story contains a lot of strong language, British slang and outspoken opinions that may be offensive to some; it is nevertheless the truth.

Creative Authenticity: 16 Principles to Clarify and Deepen Your Artistic Vision


Ian Roberts - 2004
    These crippling fears are laid to rest through insightful discussions of personal experiences, the struggles of famous artists, and the rewards of producing art that comes from an authentic creative core. Providing sensitive reassurances that these struggles are normal, these essays encourage artists to focus on the development of their crafts and find inspiration to work through self-doubt.

Mind Over Matter, Revised Edition: The Images of Pink Floyd


Storm Thorgerson - 1997
    The images of Pink Floyd album sleeves and the artwork they contain are the subject of Mind over Matter, a first-hand look at the music business and a consideration of where art ends and commerce begins.'