- Rolling Stones in the BeginningISBN: 9781784727000
Title: Rolling Stones in the Beginning
Author: REJ BENT
A unique portrait of a band on the brink of superstardom.
From March 1965 to May 1966, photographer Bent Rej enjoyed unparalleled access to the Rolling Stones as one of the trusted inner circle, accompanying the band on its first full European outing: the Satisfaction tour. The Rolling Stones In the Beginning is Rej's collection of more than 300 intimate photographs of the band on stage, on the road and at home, documenting a year in the life of the Rolling Stones as they enjoyed their first taste of popular success. This new and updated edition contains never-before-seen photographs newly unearthed from Rej's archive.
Format: Hardback
Price: $80.00$80.00 - Rough Ideas Reflections on Music & MoreISBN: 9780571350483
Title: Rough Ideas Reflections on Music & More
Author: HOUGH STEPHEN
A collection of essays on music and life by the famed classical pianist and composer Stephen Hough is one of the world's leading pianists, winning global acclaim and numerous awards, both for his concerts and his recordings. He is also a writer, composer, and painter, and has been described by The Economist as one of "Twenty Living Polymaths." Hough writes informally and engagingly about music and the life of a musician, from the broader aspects of what it is to walk out onto a stage or to make a recording, to specialist tips from deep inside the practice room: how to trill, how to pedal, how to practice. He also writes vividly about people he's known, places he's traveled to, books he's read, paintings he's seen; and he touches on more controversial subjects, such as assisted suicide and abortion. Even religion is there--the possibility of the existence of God, problems with some biblical texts, and the challenges involved in being a gay Catholic. Rough Ideas is an illuminating, constantly surprising introduction to the life and mind of one of our great cultural figures.
Format: Paperback
Price: $28.00$28.00 - Runnin' with the Devil: A Backstage Pass to the Wild Times, Loud Rock, & the down & Dirty Truth Behind the Making of Van HalenISBN: 9780062474124
Title: Runnin' with the Devil: A Backstage Pass to the Wild Times, Loud Rock, & the down & Dirty Truth Behind the Making of Van Halen
Author: MONK NOEL & LAYDEN JOE
The manager who shepherded Van Halen from obscurity to rock stardom goes behind the scenes to tell the complete, unadulterated story of David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, and the legendary band that changed rock music.
Van Halen's rise in the 1980s was one of the most thrilling the music world had ever seen--their mythos an epic party, a sweaty, sexy, never-ending rock extravaganza. During this unparalleled run of success, debauchery, and drama, no one was closer to the band than Noel Monk. A man who'd worked with some of rock's biggest and most notorious names, Monk spent seven years with Van Halen, serving first as their tour manger then as their personal manager until 1985, when both he and David Lee Roth exited as controversy, backstabbing, and disappointment consumed the band.
Throughout Van Halen's meteoric rise and abrupt halt, this confidant, fixer, friend, and promoter saw it all and lived to tell. Now, for the first time, he shares the most outrageous escapades--from their coming of age to their most shocking behavior on the road; from Eddie's courtship and high profile wedding to Valerie Bertinelli to the incredible drug use which would ultimately lead to everyone's demise. Sharing never-before-told stories, Monk paints a compelling portrait of Eddie Van Halen, bringing into focus the unique combination of talent, vision, hardship, and naivete that shaped one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time--and made him and his brother vulnerable to the trappings and failings of fame.
Illustrated with dozens of rare photographs from Monk's vaults, Runnin' with the Devil is manna from rock heaven no Van Halen fan can miss.
Format: Paperback
Price: $37.00$37.00 - Rust in Peace The Inside Story of the Megadeth MasterpieceISBN: 9780306846021
Title: Rust in Peace The Inside Story of the Megadeth Masterpiece
Author: MUSTAINE DAVE & SELVIN JOELFEATURING A FOREWORD BY SLASHA new book by the lead vocalist and guitarist of Megadeth, the original lead guitarist of Metallica, and the author of the NYT bestseller, Mustaine.Rust in Peace details the making of Megadeth's iconic record, which was released in 1990, at an incredible time of flux and creativity in the rock world. Relayed by the lead vocalist and guitarist of Megadeth himself, Dave Mustaine, the book covers the process of hiring the band and supporting cast, of trying to handle the ensuing success, and ultimately the pressure of fame and fortune -- which caused the band to finally break-up. In short, it's a true story of groundbreaking anti-pop that was moving toward the mainstream (or the mainstream that was moving toward the band), at a time of great cultural change, power, ego, drugs, and other vices that went hand-in-hand with Rock N' Roll, circa the late eighties-early nineties.Little did Mustaine know that the birth pangs of the record were nothing compared to the oncoming pain and torment that would surround it. Alcohol, drugs, sex, money, power, property, prestige, the lies the band was told by the industry -- and the lies they told each other -- were just beginning, and much like rust in real life, these factors would ultimately eat away at the band's bond until only the music survived.Rust in Peace is a story of perseverance, of scraping off the rust off that builds over time on everything: ourselves, our relationships, pop culture, art, and music.
Format: Hardback
Price: $50.00$50.00 - Seat at the Table: Interviews with Women on the Frontline of MusicISBN: 9780349009841
Title: Seat at the Table: Interviews with Women on the Frontline of Music
Author: RAPHAEL AMY
'Fascinating and illuminating' STYLIST
'Perceptive and candid' IRISH TIMES
'Wide-ranging, deep-dive, soul-baring interviews, full of candid, intimate, spiky meditations on inspiration, artistry, sexuality, race, love, self-doubt, abuse, defiance and everything in between' OBSERVER
'Variously optimistic, troubling, joyful, illuminating, fierce and thoughtful' GUARDIAN
INTERVIEWS WITH WOMEN ON THE FRONTLINE OF MUSIC
Writer and critic Amy Raphael has interviewed some of the world's most iconic musicians, including Courtney Love, Patti Smith, Bj rk, Kurt Cobain and Elton John. In 1995 she wrote the critically-acclaimed Never Mind the Bollocks: Women Rewrite Rock, which included a foreword by Debbie Harry.
More than two decades on, the music business has changed, but the way women are regarded has not. In this new book, A Seat at the Table, Raphael interviews eighteen women who work in the music industry about learning to speak out, #MeToo, social media, queer politics and the subtleness of everyday misogyny.
Featuring interviews with:
CHRISTINE & THE QUEENS, IBEYI, KATE TEMPEST, ALISON MOYET, NADINE SHAH, JESSICA CURRY, MAGGIE ROGERS, EMMY THE GREAT, DREAM WIFE, NATALIE MERCHANT, LAUREN MAYBERRY, POPPY AJUDHA, KALIE SHORR, TRACEY THORN, MITSKI, CATHERINE MARKS, GEORGIA, CLARA AMFO
Format: Paperback
Price: $28.00$28.00 - She Come by It Natural: Dolly Parton & the Women Who Lived Her SongsISBN: 9781982157289
Title: She Come by It Natural: Dolly Parton & the Women Who Lived Her Songs
Author: SMARSH SARAH
The National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Heartland focuses her laser-sharp insights on a working-class icon and one of the most unifying figures in American culture: Dolly Parton.Growing up amid Kansas wheat fields and airplane factories, Sarah Smarsh witnessed firsthand the particular vulnerabilities--and strengths--of women in working poverty. Meanwhile, country songs by female artists played in the background, telling powerful stories about life, men, hard times, and surviving. In her family, she writes, "country music was foremost a language among women. It's how we talked to each other in a place where feelings aren't discussed." And no one provided that language better than Dolly Parton. Smarsh challenged a typically male vision of the rural working class with her first book, Heartland, starring the bold, hard-luck women who raised her. Now, in She Come By It Natural, originally published in a four-part series for The Journal of Roots Music, No Depression, Smarsh explores the overlooked contributions to social progress by such women--including those averse to the term "feminism"--as exemplified by Dolly Parton's life and art. Far beyond the recently resurrected "Jolene" or quintessential "9 to 5," Parton's songs for decades have validated women who go unheard: the poor woman, the pregnant teenager, the struggling mother disparaged as "trailer trash." Parton's broader career--from singing on the front porch of her family's cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains to achieving stardom in Nashville and Hollywood, from "girl singer" managed by powerful men to leader of a self-made business and philanthropy empire--offers a springboard to examining the intersections of gender, class, and culture. Infused with Smarsh's trademark insight, intelligence, and humanity, She Come By It Natural is a sympathetic tribute to the icon Dolly Parton and--call it whatever you like--the organic feminism she embodies.
Format: Hardback
Price: $46.00$46.00 - Siren Song: My Life in MusicISBN: 9781250081018
Title: Siren Song: My Life in Music
Author: STEIN SEYMOUR & MURPHY GARETH
Seymour Stein is America's greatest record man. Not only has he signed and nurtured more important artists than anyone alive, over sixty years in the game, but he's still the hippest label head, travelling the globe in search of the next big thing. Since the late fifties, Stein's been wherever it's happening: Billboard, Tin Pan Alley, The British Invasion, CBGB, Studio 54, Danceteria, the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, the CD crash. Along that winding path, Stein discovered and broke out a skyline full of stars: Madonna, The Ramones, Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, Madonna, The Smiths, The Cure, Ice-T, Lou Reed, Seal, and many others. Brimming with hilarious scenes and big personalities, Siren Song's bigger story is about modernity in motion, and the slow acceptance of diversity in America--thanks largely to daring pop music. Including both the high and low points in his life, The Song touches on everything from Stein's discovery of Madonna to his wife Linda's violent death. Seymour Stein is a legend. Sung from the heart, Siren Song will etch his story in stone.
Format: Hardback
Price: $57.00$57.00 - Soar A Life Freed by DanceISBN: 9781760761042
Title: Soar A Life Freed by Dance
Author: MCALLISTER DAVID & DUNN AMANDA
'McAllister's triumphant story.' Benjamin Law'A ripping memoir.' Jane TurnerFrom the backblocks of Perth to international stardom, this is a story of courage to fight against the odds for your passion and succeed.David McAllister has always belonged onstage. As the middle child in a Catholic family who knew nothing about dance, he watched himself twirl in the reflective glass of the TV and dreamed about becoming the next Rudolf Nureyev. As a little boy taking ballet lessons, he was mercilessly bullied. As a young man joining the ranks of The Australian Ballet, he worried that he would never play the prince because he lacked the height and lean limbs of a classical dancer. Every time he heard 'no', he simply did what he loved - danced.Sure enough, curtains rose for the unlikely prince: he represented Australia on the world stage; he became a principal dancer and performed his dream roles; he fell in love, onstage and off; and he enjoyed a twenty-year tenure as artistic director of The Australian Ballet, transforming it into one of the top flagship dance companies in the world. Fifty years since he stepped into his first ballet class, McAllister reflects on his dance journey, his relationships, embracing his sexuality, and the combination of talent, timing and sheer perseverance that gave rise to his transformative career.Includes 16 pages of colour photos from McAllister's life and career.
Format: Hardback
Price: $45.00$45.00 - Song Remains the Same: 800 Years of Love Songs, Laments & LullabiesISBN: 9781760640118
Title: Song Remains the Same: 800 Years of Love Songs, Laments & Lullabies
Author: FORD ANDREW ; HEINO ANNI
Often today, the word 'song' is used to describe all music. A free-jazz improvisation, a Hindustani raga, a movement from a Beethoven symphony, a Springsteen anthem or a Leonard Cohen ballad- they're all songs.
But, in fact, a song is a specific musical form. It's not so much that they all have verses and choruses - though most of them do - but that they are all relatively short and self-contained; they have beginnings, middles and ends; they often have a single point of view, message or story; and, crucially, they unite words and music. Thus, a Schubert song has more in common with a track by Joni Mitchell or Sia than with one of Schubert's own symphonies.
The Song Remains the Same traces these connections through seventy-five songs from different cultures and times- love songs, anthems, protest songs, lullabies, folk songs, jazz standards, lieder and pop hits; 'When You Wish Upon a Star' to 'We Will Rock You', 'Jerusalem' to 'Jolene'. Unpicking their inner workings makes familiar songs strange again, explaining and restoring the wonder, joy (or possibly loathing) the reader experienced on first hearing.
Featuring songs by The Beatles, Cole Porter, Kate Bush, Carole King, Bob Marley, Tracy Chapman, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and Violeta Parra; musical numbers by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Sondheim and the Gershwins; and works from great composers, including Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms.
Format: Trade paperback
Price: $38.00$38.00 - Sound Mind How I Fell in Love with Classical Music (& Decided to Rewrite Its Entire History)ISBN: 9781408868768
Title: Sound Mind How I Fell in Love with Classical Music (& Decided to Rewrite Its Entire History)
Author: MORLEY PAUL
'An alternately funny and moving book about the most important art form on Planet Earth. Destined to become a classic (pun intended)' Jarvis CockerMusic critic and writer Paul Morley weaves together memoir and history in a spiralling tale that establishes classical music as the most rebellious genre of all. Paul Morley had stopped being surprised by modern pop music and found himself retreating into the sounds of artists he loved when, as an emerging music journalist in the 70s, he wrote for NME. But not wishing to give in to dreary nostalgia, endlessly circling back to the bands he wrote about in the past, he went searching for something new, rare and wondrous - and found it in classical music. A soaring polemic, a grumpy reflection on modern rock, and a fan's love note, A Sound Mind rejects the idea that classical music is establishment; old; a drag. Instead, the book reveals this genre to be the most exciting and varied in music. A Sound Mind is a multi-layered memoir of Morley's shifting musical tastes, but it is also a compelling history of classical music that reveals the genre's rich and often deviant past - and, hopefully, future. Like a conductor, Morley weaves together timelines and timeframes in an orchestral narrative that declares the transformative and resilient power of classical music from Bach to Shostakovich, Brahms to Birtwistle, Mozart to Cage, travelling from eighteenth century salons to the modern age of Spotify.
Format: Trade paperback
Price: $33.00$33.00 - Spice Girls: the Extraordinary Lives of Five Ordinary WomenISBN: 9780008267582
Title: Spice Girls: the Extraordinary Lives of Five Ordinary Women
Author: SMITH SEAN
'Get the inside scoop on all things Spice '
OK Magazine
'A compelling new book' Daily Express
From the moment they burst into our lives, the Spice Girls have inspired millions around the world.
Emma, Geri, Melanie C, Mel B and Victoria were adored and admired in equal measure. Their determination, fierce independence and Girl Power philosophy have motivated generation after generation of young women.
Sunday Times bestselling biographer Sean Smith reveals what life was really like for the fab five, before and after they found fame - the ups and downs, personal conflicts, break-ups and controversies, health issues and trials of parenthood. Baby, Ginger, Sporty, Scary and Posh have always been so much more than their iconic image.
They conquered a male dominated music industry, raised twelve children between them while, over the years, their reunion tours have led to renewed outpourings of affection and excitement: the story of five ordinary women achieving extraordinary things is as wonderfully resonant and powerful as ever.
Format: Paperback
Price: $30.00$30.00 - Stranger Than KindnessISBN: 9781838852245
Title: Stranger Than Kindness
Author: CAVE NICK
Stranger Than Kindness is a journey in images and words into the creative world of musician, storyteller and cultural icon Nick Cave.This highly collectable book invites the reader into the innermost core of the creative process and paves the way for an entirely new and intimate meeting with the artist, presenting Cave's life, work and inspiration and exploring his many real and imagined universes. It features full colour reproductions of original artwork, handwritten lyrics, photographs and collected personal artefacts along with commentary and meditations from Nick Cave, Janine Barrand and Darcey Steinke.Stranger Than Kindness asks what shapes our lives and makes us who we are, and celebrates the curiosity and power of the creative spirit.The book has been developed and curated by Nick Cave in collaboration with Christina Back. The images were selected from 'Stranger Than Kindness: The Nick Cave Exhibition', opening at the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen in March 2020.
Format: Hardback
Price: $70.00$70.00 - Sweet Dreams: The Story of the New RomanticsISBN: 9780571353439
Title: Sweet Dreams: The Story of the New Romantics
Author: JONES DYLAN
Sweet Dreams charts the rise of the New Romantics, a scene that grew out of the remnants of post-punk and developed quickly alongside club culture, ska, electronica, and goth.
One of the most creative entrepreneurial periods since the Sixties, the era had a huge influence on the growth of print and broadcast media, and was arguably one of the most bohemian environments of the late twentieth century. Not only did it visually define the decade, it was the catalyst for the Second British Invasion, when the US charts would be colonised by British pop music - Depeche Mode, Culture Club, Wham!, Soft Cell, Ultravox, Duran Duran, Sade, Spandau Ballet, the Eurythmics and many more - making it one of the most powerful cultural exports since the Beatles.
For a while, Sweet Dreams were made of this.
Format: Hardback
Price: $45.00$45.00 - Syd Barrett A Very Irregular HeadISBN: 9780571359783
Title: Syd Barrett A Very Irregular Head
Author: CHAPMAN ROB
A new edition as part of the Faber Greatest Hits - books that have taken writing about music in new and exciting directions for the twenty-first century.
Syd Barrett was the lead guitarist, vocalist, and principle songwriter in the original line up of Pink Floyd. During his brief time with the band (1966-68) he was the driving force behind the unit. After he left the band he made just two further solo albums which were both released in 1970, before withdrawing from public view to lead a quiet, and occasionally troubled life in Cambridge, the town of his birth.
Rob Chapman's book is the first authoritative and exhaustively researched biography of Syd Barrett that fully celebrates his life and legacy as a musician, lyricist and artist, and which highlights the influence that he continues to have over contemporary bands and music fans alike.
Format: Paperback
Price: $25.00$25.00 - Tao of WuISBN: 9781594484858
Title: Tao of Wu
Author: RZA
'RZA is a towering artist and deep thinker who has much to teach us. I salute his courageous vision and compassionate witness-as manifest in this book and his life!'-CORNEL WESTIn The Tao of Wu, the RZA, founder of the Wu-Tang Clan and hip-hop's most exalted wise man, imparts the lessons he's learned on his way form the Staten Island projects to international superstardom. An inspiring spiritual memoir as the world has never seen before-and will never see again-The Tao of Wu is a surprising, brilliant blend of Eastern spirituality, pop culture reverence, and hard-earned street knowledge, all delivered in RZA's unmistakable voice.'Unusually compelling.'- ROLLING STONE (4 Stars)'Raw and smart.'- THE BOSTON GLOBE'Is there a Pulitzer Prize in the Wu's Future?'- XXL MAGAZINE
Format: Paperback
Price: $26.00$26.00 - This Isn't Happening: Radiohead's Kid A & the Beginning of the 21st CenturyISBN: 9780306845680
Title: This Isn't Happening: Radiohead's Kid A & the Beginning of the 21st Century
Author: HYDEN STEVEN
The making and meaning of Radiohead's groundbreaking, controversial, epoch-defining album, Kid A.
In 1999, as the end of an old century loomed, five musicians entered a recording studio in Paris without a deadline. Their band was widely recognized as the best and most forward-thinking in rock, a rarefied status granting them the time, money, and space to make a masterpiece. But Radiohead didn't want to make another rock record. Instead, they set out to create the future.
For more than a year, they battled writer's block, inter-band disagreements, and crippling self-doubt. In the end, however, they produced an album that was not only a complete departure from their prior guitar-based rock sound, it was the sound of a new era, and embodied widespread changes catalyzed by emerging technologies just beginning to take hold of the culture.
What they created was Kid A. At the time, Radiohead's fourth album divided critics. Some called it an instant classic; others, including the U.K. music magazine Melody Maker, deemed it "tubby, ostentatious, self-congratulatory . . . whiny old rubbish." But two decades later, Kid A sounds like nothing less than an overture for the chaos and confusion of the twenty-first century.
Acclaimed rock critic Steven Hyden digs deep into the songs, history, legacy, and mystique of Kid A, outlining the album's pervasive influence and impact on culture, in time for its 20th anniversary. Deploying a mix of criticism, journalism, and personal memoir, Hyden skillfully revisits this enigmatic, alluring LP and investigates the many ways in which Kid A shaped and foreshadowed our world.
Format: Hardback
Price: $50.00$50.00 - Turn the Beat Around The History of DiscoISBN: 9780571359820
Title: Turn the Beat Around The History of Disco
Author: SHAPIRO PETER
A new edition as part of the Faber Greatest Hits - books that have taken writing about music in new and exciting directions for the twenty-first century.
Disco emerged from the fall-out of the Black Power Movement and an almost exclusively gay scene in a blaze of poppers, strobe lights, tight trousers, hysterical diva vocals and synthesized beats in the late sixties. As a genre, disco radically re-defined the sensibility of the seventies to the extent where reactionary rockers felt the need to launch a paranoid 'Disco Sucks' campaign at the end of the decade.
Featuring artists such as Chic, Sylvester, Donna Summer and Frank Grasso, Turn the Beat Around illustrates why and how disco changed the face of popular culture forever.
Format: Paperback
Price: $25.00$25.00 - Useless Magic: Lyrics, Poetry & SermonsISBN: 9780241983829
Title: Useless Magic: Lyrics, Poetry & Sermons
Author: WELCH FLORENCE
A beautifully illustrated collection of lyrics and never-before-seen poetry and sketches from Florence Welch
Songs can be incredibly prophetic, like subconscious warnings or messages to myself, but I often don't know what I'm trying to say till years later. Or a prediction comes true and I couldn't do anything to stop it, so it seems like a kind of useless magic.
'Pop's high priestess bares her soul in this candid collection of poems and lyrics' Observer
'A treasure . . . beautiful. Generous in its honesty, by the end you feel as though you have climbed into the colourful, and sometimes tortured, world of a passionate artist' i
'Makes the reader feel as though they're peeking into a private journal' Refinery29
Format: Paperback
Price: $40.00$40.00 - Vinyl, Album, Cover, Art: the Complete Hipgnosis CatalogueISBN: 9780500519325
Title: Vinyl, Album, Cover, Art: the Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue
Author: POWELL AUBREY
The complete, definitive, and never-before-published catalogue of album covers created by the legendary design agency Hipgnosis, this volume finally does justice to the work of the most important design collective in music history. Founded in 1967 by Storm Thorgerson, Aubrey Po" Powell, and Peter Christopherson, Hipgnosis gained a legendary status in graphic design, transforming the look of album art forever and winning five Grammy nominations for package design. Their revolutionary cover art departed from the conventional group shots favored by record companies of the day, resulting in groundbreaking, often surreal designs inextricable from the major albums of many of the biggest names in the history of popular music: AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Police, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Syd Barrett, The Who, Wings, Yes, and XTC, to name but a few.
Arranged chronologically, Hipgnosis: The Complete Album Covers features stunning reproductions of every single Hipgnosis cover more than 300 in total for the first time, along with pertinent insights from the rock n roll legends whose albums are featured and behind-the-scenes photography. The text, written by Powell, and with contributions by Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant, and Nick Mason, brims with information that illuminates the album art and the compelling stories behind each cover s creation."
Format: Hardback
Price: $60.00$60.00 - Violin Maker a Search for the Secrets of Craftsmanship, Sound, & StradivariISBN: 9780060012687
Title: Violin Maker a Search for the Secrets of Craftsmanship, Sound, & Stradivari
Author: MARCHESE JOHNHow does a simple piece of wood become a violin, the king of instruments? Watch and find out as Eugene Drucker, a member of the world renowned Emerson String Quartet, commissions Sam Zygmuntowicz, a Brooklyn craftsman, to make him a new violin. As he tells this extraordinary story, journalist John Marchese shares the rich lore of this beloved instrument and illuminates an art that has barely changed since the Renaissance.
Marchese takes readers from start to finish as Zygmuntowicz builds the violin, from the first selection of the wood, to the cutting of the back and belly, through the carving of the scroll and the fingerboard, to the placement of the sound peg. Though much of the story takes place in the craftsman's museum like Brooklyn workshop, there are side trips across the river to the rehearsal rooms of Carnegie Hall and Lincoln center, and across the world. Stops on the itinerary include Cremona, Italy, the magical city where Antonio Stradivari (and a few of his contemporaries) achieved a level of violin making perfection that has endured for centuries, as well as points in France and Germany integral to the history of the violin.
A stunning work of narrative nonfiction that's also a finely crafted, loving homage to the instrument that most closely approximates the human voice."
Format: Paperback
Price: $36.00$36.00 - Wagner's Parsifal: The Music of RedemptionISBN: 9780241419694
Title: Wagner's Parsifal: The Music of Redemption
Author: SCRUTON ROGER
Richard Wagner's final creation is also his most mysterious. The story of Parsifal, the 'pure fool, knowing through compassion', who has been called to rescue the Kingdom of the Grail from the sins that have polluted it, appears familiar enough, but the redemption sought by Wagner's characters is far from the Christian archetype. Wagner's Parsifal is an exploration of the drama, music and philosophy of this extraordinary musical icon by a writer whose knowledge and understanding of the Western musical tradition are the equal of his capacities as a philosopher. It shows how, through musical connections and brilliant dramatic strokes, Parsifal expresses in music a depth of feeling for which we do not have words, a deep longing for wholeness and relief from suffering which, Scruton argues, contains within itself the image of salvation.
Format: Hardback
Price: $48.00$48.00 - Wagnerism: Art & Politics in the Shadow of MusicISBN: 9780007319053
Title: Wagnerism: Art & Politics in the Shadow of Music
Author: ROSS ALEX'An absolutely masterly work' Stephen Fry
Alex Ross, renowned author of the international bestseller The Rest Is Noise, reveals how Richard Wagner became the proving ground for modern art and politics--an aesthetic war zone where the Western world wrestled with its capacity for beauty and violence.
For better or worse, Wagner is the most widely influential figure in the history of music. Around 1900, the phenomenon known as Wagnerism saturated European and American culture. Such colossal creations as The Ring of the Nibelung, Tristan und Isolde, and Parsifal were models of formal daring, mythmaking, erotic freedom, and mystical speculation. A mighty procession of writers, artists, and thinkers, including Charles Baudelaire, Virginia Woolf, Isadora Duncan, Vasily Kandinsky, and Luis Buñuel, felt his impact. Anarchists, occultists, feminists, and gay-rights pioneers saw him as a kindred spirit. Then Adolf Hitler incorporated Wagner into the soundtrack of Nazi Germany, and the composer came to be defined by his ferocious anti-Semitism. His name is now almost synonymous with artistic evil.
Wagnerism restores the magnificent confusion of what it means to be a Wagnerian. A pandemonium of geniuses, madmen, charlatans, and prophets do battle over Wagner's many-sided legacy. The narrative ranges across artistic disciplines, from architecture to the novels of Philip K. Dick, from the Zionist writings of Theodor Herzl to the civil-rights essays of W. E. B. Du Bois, from O Pioneers! to Apocalypse Now. In many ways,Wagnerism tells a tragic tale. An artist who might have rivalled Shakespeare in universal reach is implicated in an ideology of hate. Still, his shadow lingers over twenty-first century culture, his mythic motifs coursing through superhero films and fantasy fiction. Neither apologia nor condemnation, Wagnerism is a work of intellectual passion, urging us toward a more honest idea of how art acts in the world.
Format: Hardback
Price: $65.00$65.00 - Wagnerism: Art & Politics in the Shadow of MusicISBN: 9780007319084
Title: Wagnerism: Art & Politics in the Shadow of Music
Author: ROSS ALEX
Alex Ross, renowned author of the international bestseller The Rest Is Noise, reveals how Richard Wagner became the proving ground for modern art and politics-an aesthetic war zone where the Western world wrestled with its capacity for beauty and violence.
For better or worse, Wagner is the most widely influential figure in the history of music. Around 1900, the phenomenon known as Wagnerism saturated European and American culture. Such colossal creations as The Ring of the Nibelung, Tristan und Isolde, and Parsifal were models of formal daring, mythmaking, erotic freedom, and mystical speculation. A mighty procession of writers, artists, and thinkers, including Charles Baudelaire, Virginia Woolf, Isadora Duncan, Vasily Kandinsky, and Luis Buñuel, felt his impact. Anarchists, occultists, feminists, and gay-rights pioneers saw him as a kindred spirit. Then Adolf Hitler incorporated Wagner into the soundtrack of Nazi Germany, and the composer came to be defined by his ferocious anti-Semitism. His name is now almost synonymous with artistic evil.
Wagnerism restores the magnificent confusion of what it means to be a Wagnerian. A pandemonium of geniuses, madmen, charlatans, and prophets do battle over Wagner's many-sided legacy. The narrative ranges across artistic disciplines, from architecture to the novels of Philip K. Dick, from the Zionist writings of Theodor Herzl to the civil-rights essays of W. E. B. Du Bois, from O Pioneers! to Apocalypse Now. In many ways,Wagnerism tells a tragic tale. An artist who might have rivalled Shakespeare in universal reach is implicated in an ideology of hate. Still, his shadow lingers over twenty-first century culture, his mythic motifs coursing through superhero films and fantasy fiction. Neither apologia nor condemnation, Wagnerism is a work of intellectual passion, urging us toward a more honest idea of how art acts in the world.
Format: Trade paperback
Price: $45.00$45.00 - While We Were Getting HighISBN: 9781788402200
Title: While We Were Getting High
Author: CUMMINS KEVIN
Remember Britpop and the '90s through hundreds of its most striking images - with many seen here for the very first time.
Taken by renowned photographer Kevin Cummins, chief photographer at the NME for more than a decade, the images in this book explore the rise and fall of Cool Britannia and all that came with it.
Nostalgic, anarchic and featuring contributions from icons of the Britpop era including Noel Gallagher and Brett Anderson, While We Were Getting High is a seminal portrait of a decade like no other.
Artists featured include:
Oasis
Blur
Suede
Pulp
Elastica
Supergrass
The Charlatans
Gene
Sleeper
Kula Shaker
Echobelly
The Bluetones
...and many more
Format: Hardback
Price: $70.00$70.00 - Wichita Lineman Searching in the Sun for the World's Greatest Unfinished SongISBN: 9780571353415
Title: Wichita Lineman Searching in the Sun for the World's Greatest Unfinished Song
Author: JONES DYLAN
Dylan Jones' luminous excavation of Jimmy Webb's song 'Wichita Lineman' offers a portal into a defining moment of American cultural history.
Format: Paperback
Price: $25.00$25.00 - William S Burroughs & the Cult of Rock 'n' RollISBN: 9781474616669
Title: William S Burroughs & the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll
Author: RAE CASEY
William S. Burroughs's fiction and essays are legendary, but his influence on music's counterculture has been less well documented-until now. Examining how one of America's most controversial literary figures altered the destinies of many notable and varied musicians, William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll reveals the transformations in music history that can be traced to Burroughs.
A heroin addict and a gay man, Burroughs rose to notoriety outside the conventional literary world; his masterpiece, Naked Lunch, was banned on the grounds of obscenity, but its nonlinear structure was just as daring as its content. Casey Rae brings to life Burroughs's parallel rise to fame among daring musicians of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, when it became a rite of passage to hang out with the author or to experiment with his cut-up techniques for producing revolutionary lyrics (as the Beatles and Radiohead did). Whether they tell of him exploring the occult with David Bowie, providing Lou Reed with gritty depictions of street life, or counseling Patti Smith about coping with fame, the stories of Burroughs's backstage impact will transform the way you see America's cultural revolution-and the way you hear its music.
Format: Trade paperback
Price: $38.00$38.00 - Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Every DayISBN: 9781472252302
Title: Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Every Day
Author: BURTON-HILL CLEMENCY
'Year of Wonder is an absolute treat - the most enlightening way to be guided through the year.' Eddie Redmayne
Classical music for everyone - an inspirational piece of music for every day of the year, celebrating composers from the medieval era to the present day, written by award-winning violinist and BBC Radio 3 presenter Clemency Burton-Hill.
Have you ever heard a piece of music so beautiful it stops you in your tracks? Or wanted to discover more about classical music but had no idea where to begin?
Year of Wonder is a unique celebration of classical music by an author who wants to share its diverse wonders with others and to encourage a love for this genre in all readers, whether complete novices or lifetime enthusiasts.
Clemency chooses one piece of music for each day of the year, with a short explanation about the composer to put it into context, and brings the music alive in a modern and playful way, while also extolling the positive mindfulness element of giving yourself some time every day to listen to something uplifting or beautiful. Thoughtfully curated and expertly researched, this is a book of classical music to keep you company: whoever you are, wherever you're from.
'The only requirements for enjoying classical music are open ears and an open mind.'
Clemency Burton-Hill
Playlists are available on most streaming music platforms including Apple Music and Spotify.
Format: Trade paperback
Price: $35.00$35.00 - Yuli: The Carlos Acosta StoryISBN: 9780008354190
Title: Yuli: The Carlos Acosta Story
Author: ACOSTA CARLOS
NOW AN AWARD-WINNING FEATURE FILM STARRING CARLOS ACOSTA 'The dazzling Carlos Acosta is the Cuban Billy Elliot, a poor kid who triumphed over prejudice and humble origins ... Frankly, you couldn't make it up.' Daily MailIn 1980, Carlos Acosta was just another Cuban kid of humble origins, the youngest son in a poor family named after the planter who had owned his great-great-grandfather. With few options and an independent spirit, Carlos spent his days on the streets, dreaming of a career in football. But even at a young age, Carlos had extraordinary talent. At nine, he was skipping school to win break-dancing competitions as the youngest member of a street-gang for whom dance contests were only a step away from violence. When Carlos's father enrolled him in ballet school, he hoped not only to nurture his son's talent, but also to curb his wildness. Years of loneliness, conflict and crippling physical effort followed, but today the Havana street-kid is an international star. This magical memoir is about more than Carlos's rise to stardom, however. It is the story of a childhood where food is scarce but love is abundant, where the soul of Cuba comes alive to influence a dancer's art. It is also about a man forced to leave behind his homeland and loved ones for a life of self-discipline, displacement and brutal physical hardship. Carlos Acosta makes dance look effortless, but the grace, strength and charm have come at a cost - here, in his own words, is the story of the price he paid. Previously published as 'No Way Home'.
Format: Paperback
Price: $31.00$31.00