Music-Essays

Life's stories are always prone to disruption and digression, thwarting the neat storybook narrative we love so much. Almost all of our stories follow the same basic pattern: beginning, middle, end: exposition, action and climax. It's a neat and tidy way of telling a...

In the 21st Century, the guitar, as both a material object and tool for artistic expression, continues to be reimagined and reinvented. From simple adaptations or modifications made by performers themselves, to custom-made instruments commissioned to fulfil specific functions, to the mass production of...

Writer and musician Chris Wade homes in on Bob Dylan's 1975 classic, Blood on the Tracks, widely regarded to be his finest album. As well as examining the songs and the making of the album, Wade interviews the session players who helped bring the...

By 1983, many of Scotland's post-punk bands had broken up or moved south to chase the major labels in London. That vacuum was filled by an influx of young musicians who were determined to remake the scene in their own image.In this compelling and...

Colm T ib n on Joni Mitchell - James Wood on The Who - Stacey D'Erasmo on Kate Bush - Daniel Handler on Eurythmics - Lisa Dierbeck on the Pretenders - Clifford Chase on the B-52s . . . and other writers on the...

"Trap Beats and Rhymes: The Explosive Emergence of Trap Music"*** Author of "Rapper's Delight" essay currently archived at the Library of Congress ****** Guest speaker of BBC2 Radio "Rapper's Delight 40th Anniversary" by DJ Trevor Nelson - September 2019 ***Dive deep into the electrifying...

Arteidolia Press 2021 What transforms sounds into music? Composer & improviser patrick brennan asks us in this series of essays to put aside what we ordinarily think music is and to reimagine a more inclusive, relational framework, an ecology of composing.. When people, especially...

A revisionist history of minimalism's transformative rise, through the voices of the musicians who created it. When composers like Philip Glass and Steve Reich began creating hypnotically repetitive music in the 1960s, it upended the world of American composition. But minimalism was more than...

Peter Guralnick, dean of rock-and roll-storytellers, writes in the introduction to Johnny's Cash & Charley's Pride, "Peter Cooper has always been in the mix." Whether spending time with Johnny Cash or Kris Kristofferson, playing bass for Loretta Lynn, discussing songwriting with Taylor Swift, or...

One of The Telegraph's Best Music Books 2011 Alex Ross's award-winning international bestseller, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, has become a contemporary classic, establishing Ross as one of our most popular and acclaimed cultural historians. Listen to This, which takes...

As seen on public television stations nationwide, a revolutionary new approach to playing non-classical music on the piano. Have you ever wished you could play the piano Well, now you can! Scott "The Piano Guy" Houston teaches you to play the way the pros...

Dive into the captivating world of music with Dan Ouellette's remarkable collection, The Landfill Chronicles: Unearthing Legends of Modern Music.For over four decades, Dan Ouellette has been at the forefront of music journalism, chronicling the lives and careers of the legends who shape modern...

This chronological Index covers every issue of the English Harpsichord Magazine andHarpsichord & fortepiano, vols. i-xxviii, and includes all of the content apart from reports, reviews and advertisements. For a Subject Index (including Interviews and Obituaries)and for an Author Index of articles, see below....

In this unique and deeply thoughtful collection, musician Alex Bleeker (Real Estate) and food and travel journalist Luke Pyenson (formerly of Frankie Cosmos) take readers on tour with a diverse lineup of inspiring indie musicians from around the world, sharing meals and travel experiences,...

"...a brilliant and fascinating analysis of Dylan and his lyrics and songs, making a major contribution to our understanding of Dylan and his work." -Andrew Melrose, Emeritus Professor of Writing University of Winchester, UK"It's a charming, readable excursion through one researcher's own journey with...

From the award-winning, multi-genre author and musician Steven Heighton, Songbook brings together Heighton's lyrics and music for the first time in a single volume, including his final songs, which have never been heard or seen until now. When Steven Heighton died suddenly of cancer...

Using her own "funeral playlist," Sarah Gorham examines the intricate connections between music, consolation, and human mortality. The essays in this unique collection explore a diverse range of songs, including Mozart's "Benedictus" (The Requiem), Nina Simone's rendition of "Black is the Color of my...

Delves into Theodor W. Adorno's lesser-known musical career and successful music criticism. Theodor W. Adorno is recognized as one of the twentieth century's most prominent social theorists. Though best known for his association with the Frankfurt School of critical theory, Adorno began his career...

The Biographical Dictionary of Popular Music is an incredible and opinionated collection of celebrated cultural critic Dylan Jones's thoughts on more than 350 of the most important artists around the world--alive and dead, big and small, at length and in brief. This A to...

"In this deeply felt and well-researched meditation, Kalkavage finds the special bond that exists between the world and the power of music." --Booklist"Many people write about the meaning of music, but few can do it as well as Peter Kalkavage does in this marvelous,...

Vol. 6 - 1995 of the comprehensive On Record series mines the explosion of alternative rock, ranging from big names (Alanis Morissette, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers) to up-and-comers (Radiohead, the Flaming Lips, Oasis), in addition to the year's top pop, classic rock,...

This ten-chapter book explores how music and society are, and have been, intertwined and mutually influential. It examines the agents behind these connections: who determines musical cultures in society? Which social groups are represented in particular musical contexts? Which social groups are silenced or...

This book is about the best 'Headphone Music' ever recorded, at least in the opinion of California writer, Stark Hunter-a baby boomer and old hippie, born in 1952. With a lifetime of listening to all genres of music under his belt, it is his...

This almanac of sound words important to artists and scholars highlights words that expand the way we speak (and write) about sonic experiences. Why write about sound, and how? If sonic philosophy is the attempt "to think about sound by philosophical means," then a...

A collection of writing by Simon Reynolds, centered on music that seemed, in its moment, to prefigure the Future Simon Reynolds's first book in eight years is a celebration of music that feels like a taste of tomorrow. Sounds that prefigure pop music's future--the...

Selected writings on three decades of popular music from one of the most influential critics of his generation. Spanning three decades worth of astute, acerbic, and overall astounding music writing, Kick Out the Jams is the first large-scale anthology of the work of renowned...

Missing Music: Voices from Where the Dirt Roads End details Grammy-winning music producer and author Ian Brennan's ongoing quest to provide musical platforms for underrepresented nations and populations around the world.In a compact and quick-read format, Missing Music collects the latest narratives from Brennan's...

One of the late twentieth century's most celebrated and influential public intellectuals, Edward W. Said was also a critic of astonishing range. This book presents his insightful and elegant analyses of four major operas--originally delivered as the Empson Lectures at Cambridge University in 1997--showcasing...

Afrobeats is a fast-growing genre, one that has carved out a distinct and powerful Black identity rooted within the African continent. The first book of its kind, A Quick Ting On: Afrobeats chronicles the social and cultural development of the eponymous music genre, tracing...

The overarching goal of As Long As They Can Blow is to show the mutual respect that black and white jazz musicians had for each other and how a shared love of the music and the relative privacy of the recording studio resulted in...

Leading sound artists and researchers on sound as a medium for performing cartographyDirty Ear Report #3 documents a collective workshop by sound artists and researchers working in the fields of experimental dramaturgy, sonic social engagement and voice studies. Representing the sixth in the series...

The first academic collection dedicated to the histories, heritage, people and places of popular music in Leeds. It presents critical social and historical case studies exploring Leeds' music and musical spaces, central players - musicians and music industry figures, and key moments in diverse...

The definitive account of the pop cult capital of the UK by Dave Haslam, one of Manchester's top DJs and journalists. Manchester, a predominantly working-class city, away from the nation's capital, has been at the margins of English culture for centuries. The explosion of...

Prince - The Concert Chronicles+ is Francis Nicholas Driscoll's expert witness account of 11 Prince Concerts over 32 years, in great, explicit, funky design and detail!This book was written in the summer of 2016 in the hot ghetto of East Side Las Vegas, Sam's...

One of the late twentieth century's most celebrated and influential public intellectuals, Edward W. Said was also a critic of astonishing range. This book presents his insightful and elegant analyses of four major operas--originally delivered as the Empson Lectures at Cambridge University in 1997--showcasing...

Music Studies and Its Moment of Truth: Leading Change through America's Black Music Roots presents a new framework for racial justice discourse in the context of music studies and education. Centering on Black American Music, the book issues challenges to both the conventional music...

'There's no mistaking the writing of Sylvia Patterson' Sunday Times How does the big stuff in life truly change us? In late 2019, Sylvia Patterson was a celebrated pop journalist, still merrily writing about the musical greats. But with the diagnosis of a life-threatening...

Singular and star-studded writings on America's neon-lit playground At once a Technicolor wonderland and the embodiment of American mythology, Las Vegas exists at the Ground Zero of a reverence for risk-taking and the transformative power of a winning hand. Jake Johnson edits a collection...

Singular and star-studded writings on America's neon-lit playground At once a Technicolor wonderland and the embodiment of American mythology, Las Vegas exists at the Ground Zero of a reverence for risk-taking and the transformative power of a winning hand. Jake Johnson edits a collection...

"Why and how does music make us feel emotions?" The author offers unique perspectives in this collection of music essays and lectures, which should appeal to people who have music training such as music courses, piano lessons, school band, orchestra or chorus participation. The...

Ann Copeland has lived a mountain of yesterdays as a teacher, fiction writer, vowed religious, wife, and mother. Throughout her rich and varied life, there has been one constant: Copeland's dedication to amateur music-making in its many forms -- composing, playing, arranging, partnering, studying,...

This book offers a wide-ranging exploration of Amram's work and influence, situating the composer in the context of today's international culture. It shows how Amram's proficiencies in spontaneous, on-stage music creation enriches his formal classical composing. Author: Dean BirkenkampISBN-10: 1032290307ISBN-13: 9781032290300Publisher: RoutledgeLanguage: EnglishPublished: 09/25/2023Pages:...

This book of photos, poems, and essays chronicles like never before the inner world of GoGo, Washington D.C.'s official music. Thomas Sayers Ellis masterfully captures the rhythms, beats, and souls of a culture which is ever expanding beyond the beltway of our nation's capital....

A collection of hilarious and often absurd epiphanies in the legendary comedian's life that defined him - more in a for worse than for better kind of way - and all delivered in his unique deadpan style. Growing up, Rich Hall aspired to be...

"John Robb is as punk rock as The Clash." -- Alan McGeeDo You Believe in the Power of Rock & Roll? is a history of alternative rock from music writer John Robb, with the music still ringing in his ears. This collection follows Robb's...

"An endlessly inventive mind and generosity of spirit that alone should give us hope." - The WireThrowing Muses frontwoman and critically acclaimed solo artist Kristin Hersh meditates on the future of her craft in this wry, existential and passionate addition to Melville House's new...

Soundtrack: Liner Notes from a Pandemic Mixtape captures the full range of emotions, just like a favorite song. In twenty essays and two bonus tracks written during the heart of the COVID-19 crisis, Alison Cupp Relyea evokes the power of music to inspire, heal,...

Leonard Cohen and the Apostle Paul might be imagined as brothers with wildly different characters but a strong family resemblance. Paul, the elder sibling, was awkward, abrasive, and zealous. Leonard, the successful younger brother, was a smooth-talking romantic, prone to addiction and depression. Paul...

This book contains classic material dating back to the 1900s and before. The content has been carefully selected for its interest and relevance to a modern audience. Carefully selecting the best articles from our collection we have compiled a series of historical and informative...

THE MAKING OF A LEGENDARY MUSIC ROOMIn 1970, three young men with dreams to open a coffeehouse chanced upon a fire-damaged stone building atop Newmarket, New Hampshire's Zion Hill, a few miles from the state university. They repaired it, pulled together bits and bobs...