A study of John Sangster's jazz suite The Lord of the Rings contextualized with biographical and cultural studies of the composer in the 1970s.In three volumes and more than six LP recordings, The Lord of the Rings suite, produced during the 1970s, based on the Tolkien books, is the most ambitious, stylistically and emotionally wide-ranging compositional oeuvre ever undertaken in Australian jazz. Its composer (and one of its perf...

A Rolling Stone Best Music Book of 2021“Thompson is a master showman . . . [Beeswing is] everything you’d hope a Richard Thompson autobiography would be . . . It’s both major and minor, dirge and ditty, light on its feet but packing a punch.”—The Wall Street JournalNow Featuring an Interview with Elvis CostelloIn this moving, immersive, and long-awaited memoir, beloved international music legend Ric...

A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction of 2011 titleIn the late 1960s, with popular culture hurtling forward on the sounds of rock music, some brave musicians looked back instead, trying to recover the lost treasures of English roots music and update them for the new age. The records of Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Steeleye Span, and Nick Drake are known as "folk rock" today, but Rob Young's epic, electrifying book makes clear that those musicians led a decades-long quest to r...

These are the songs that we have listened to, laughed to, loved to and laboured to, as well as downed tools and danced to.Covering the last seven decades, Stuart Maconie looks at the songs that have sound tracked our changing times, and – just sometimes – changed the way we feel. Beginning with Vera Lynn’s ‘We’ll Meet Again’, a song that reassured a nation parted from their loved ones by the turmoil of war, and culminating with the manic energy of ‘Bonkers’, Dizzee...

'Exhilarating . . . revelatory . . . superb' THE TIMES'A forensic exploration of their compositions and recordings, and everything that has been poured into them . . . completely definitive' MOJO ★★★★★'No one understands the inner workings and shared aesthetics of Manic Street Preachers like Keith Cameron . . . phenomenal' NICKY WIREAN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

The indispensable consumers' guide to the music of Frank Zappa - the genius of the absurd, and one of the most prolific and unpredictable characters of 20th century music.A thorough analysis of Zappa's complete recorded output, from the early days of the Mothers Of Invention, through his more avant-garde compositions and classical projects to the most recent posthumous releases. The guide features:An album by album analysisA full Zappa bibliographyDetails of when an...

Ambitious and groundbreaking, Electric Shock tells the story of popular music, from the birth of recording in the 1890s to the digital age, from the first pop superstars of the twentieth century to the omnipresence of music in our lives, in hit singles, ringtones and on Spotify.Over that time, popular music has transformed the world in which we live. Its rhythms have influenced how we walk down the street, how we face ourselves in the mirror, and how we handle the outside ...

PARKER: A Miscellany is a nonfiction companion to John Connolly's bestselling Charlie Parker mysteries that uses music as a jumping-off point. The book includes introductions to each of the Parker novels, through A SONG OF SHADOWS; liner notes for each of the six CDs Connolly has compiled to go with hardcover editions of certain Parker novels; a long essay called “The Music Lover,” about his life as a fan; and revised versions of three previously published essays about Ch...

The definitive biography of guitar icon and Grammy Award-winning artist Bill Frisell.FEATURING EXCLUSIVE LISTENING SESSIONS WITH: Paul Simon; Justin Vernon of Bon Iver; Gus Van Sant; Rhiannon Giddens; The Bad Plus; Gavin Bryars; Van Dyke Parks; Sam Amidon; Hal Willner; Jim Woodring; Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill'A beautiful and long overdue portrait of one of America's true living cultural treasures.'JOHN ZORN'The perfect comp...

A colourful collection of pieces on the enigmatic genius of Scott Walker from THE WIRE.Scott Walker has travelled from teen idol to the outer limits of music. From 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More' reaching No.1, through to recordings of meat being punched on his last album, THE DRIFT, he somehow seems to have reached a passionate and committed fan base. Throughout his career, his impeccable critical reputation as a serious and uncompromising musician has never ...

Strings Attached is the much anticipated authorised biography of John Williams, one of the most accomplished and celebrated musicians of his generation. From his childhood in Australia to his stellar career in London and around the world, John Williams has lived an extraordinary life. Master of the classical repertoire, he took the guitar to a wider audience with the band SKY and by his championing of the music of South America and Africa. William Starling came to know John Williams throug...

Australia likes to celebrate its musical heritage, but there are so many stories that haven't been told.'Andrew tells us things about the songs that we might not know and things about the songs that no one should ever know. He does it with intelligence and humour, not to mention an acid wit.' - Jimmy BarnesWhich band is Australia's premier act for drunk men to hug to? Which dance floor smash owes its existence to an elderly Canadian stand-up team? How does ...