Mostrando títulos en Historia y Crítica

Col. Bruce Hampton was a charismatic musical figure who launched and continued to influence the jam band genre over his 50-plus years performing. Part bandleader, soul singer, storyteller, conjuror, poet, preacher, comedian, philosopher, and trickster, Col. Bruce actively sought out and dealt in the weird, wild underbelly of the American South.

From a Los Angeles hospital bed, equipped with little more than a laptop and a stack of records, James “J Dilla” Yancey crafted a set of tracks that would forever change the way beatmakers viewed their artform. The songs on Donuts are not hip hop music as “hip hop music” is typically defined; they careen and crash into each other, in one moment noisy and abrasive, gorgeous and heartbreaking the next.

Suddenly the music is not notes or a tune, but what those seven people are exactly: the music is an aural holograph of the Grateful Dead. All their fibers, nuances, histories, desires, beings are clear. Jerry and his questing, Phil the loyal comrade, Tom drifting beside them both on a cloud, Pig staying stubbornly down to earth; Mickey working out furious complexities trying to understand how Bill is so simple, and Bob succumbing inevitably to Jerry and Phil and joining them.

Listen to This stands out as the first book exclusively dedicated to Davis' watershed 1969 album, Bitches Brew. Victor Svorinich traces its incarnations and inspirations for 10-plus years before its release. The album arrived as the jazz scene waned beneath the rise of rock and roll and as Davis faced large changes in social conditions affecting the African-American consciousness.

Electric Ladyland is one of the greatest guitar albums ever made. During the recording process, Jimi Hendrix at last had time and creative freedom to pursue the sounds he was looking for. In this remarkable and entertaining book, John Perry gets to the heart of Hendrix's unique talent—guiding the listener through each song on the album, writing vividly about Hendrix's live performances, and talking to several of Hendrix's peers and contemporaries.

A year of reflection and inspiration through the most beloved hymns, based on the bestselling Then Sings My Soul series. Pastor Rob Morgan's inimitable style will help people reacquaint themselves with the hymns of the faithful. His goal is to keep these traditional hymns vital and meaningful to...

Bowie has long been haunted by the angst-ridden, emotional work of the Die Brucke movement and the Expressionists. Berlin is their spiritual home, and after a chaotic world tour, Bowie adopts this city as his new sanctuary. Immediately he sets to work on Low, his own expressionist mood-piece.

1964 was, without a doubt, one of the most influential years in the history of popular music in America. The arrival of The Beatles changed everything. Following their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, watched by a record TV audience, the course of pop music, and pop culture, was forever altered. The Beatles dominated the Hot 100 singles chart like no act had done, placing 6 songs at #1 in 1964. Remarkably, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote all of them as well as a seventh for Peter and Gordon. This was while most of their contemporaries were charting with cover versions. The Beatles ...

Simon Critchley first encountered David Bowie in the early '70s, when the singer appeared on Britain's most-watched music show, Top of the Pops. His performance of "Starman" mesmerized Critchley: it was "so sexual, so knowing, so strange". Two days later Critchley's mum bought a copy of the single; she liked both the song and the performer's bright orange hair (she had previously been a hairdresser). The seed of a lifelong love affair was thus planted in the mind of her son, aged 12.

Siberia’s story is traditionally one of exiles, penal colonies, and unmarked graves. Yet also dotted throughout this remote land are pianos - grand instruments created during the boom years of the 19th century, as well as humble, Soviet-made uprights that found their way into equally modest homes. They tell the story of how, ever since entering Russian culture under the westernizing influence of Catherine the Great, piano music has run through the country like blood. How these pianos traveled into this snow-bound wilderness is a testament to governors, adventurers, and exiles.

Die größte Challenge ihres Lebens: Eva Ries und der Wu-Tang Clan. Sie sind unangepasst, wütend und stets auf Ärger aus – und sie erfinden den Hip-Hop neu. Von Beginn an lehren die Members des Wu-Tang Clan, allen voran der völlig irrationale Ol' Dirty Bastard, jeden das Fürchten. Doch die junge Musikmanagerin Eva Ries lässt sich davon nicht abschrecken. In New York City erarbeitet sie sich den Respekt des Clans und gehört über zwanzig Jahre lang zum engsten Kreis der größten Hip-Hop-Band der Welt.

An acclaimed, career-spanning collection from a fiercely feminist and revered contemporary rock critic, reissued with new material Throughout her career, spanning more than two decades, Jessica Hopper, a revered and pioneering music critic, has examined women recording and producing music, in...

In the third volume of his bestselling series, Pastor Robert Morgan expands his material to include the great history of worship, the first biblical hymns, biographical sketches of the most interesting composers, and almost 60 generations of hymn singing. In 2003, Robert Morgan released what...

Sex. Drugs. Loud music. Wild costumes. Dazzling light shows. These words can all describe a great rock concert or a hot dance club, but they were also part and parcel of the ancient cultural phenomenon known as the "Mystery religions". In this book, author Christopher Knowles shows how the long-dead Mystery religions got a secular reincarnation when a new musical form called rock 'n' roll burst onto the scene.

Matt Pinfield is the ultimate music fan. He's the guy who knows every song, artist, and musical riff ever recorded, down to the most obscure band's B-side single on its vinyl-only EP import. As a child, music helped Pinfield make sense of the world. Later he would approach his music idols after concerts and explain why he loved their music. As an adult, rock music inspired his career, fueled relationships, and, at times, became a life raft.

Dismantles the Woody Guthrie we have been taught—the rough-and-ready rambling’ man—to reveal an artist who discovered how intimacy is crucial for political struggle Woody Guthrie is often mythologized as the classic American “rambling’ man,” a real-life Steinbeckian folk hero who...

La música es parte importante de nuestras vidas y aun los que no se dedican profesionalmente a ella y aseguran no saber nada del tema tienen fuertes opiniones, ideas y fundamentos acerca de las que les gustan y prefieren, pero también de las que detestan. Sin embargo, incluso muchos músicos y...

Doomed to Fail explores the heaviest music the world has ever heard, tracing doom, sludge, and post-metal as their own distinct (and incredibly loud) traditions. Anselmi covers the bands and musicians that have impacted those styles most - Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Melvins, Eyehategod, Godflesh, Neurosis, Saint Vitus, and many others - while diving into the cultural doom that has spawned such music, from the bombing of Birmingham and hurricane devastation of New Orleans to glaring economic inequality, industrial alienation, climate change, and widespread addiction.

One of rock music's most fascinating personalities, Neil Young has persistently charted his own career, ignoring pop fashions, creating innovative music ranging from folk classics like "Heart of Gold" to rock-and-roll anthems like "Down By the River". Don't Be Denied charts Neil Young's formative years, from his high school days in Winnipeg, Manitoba, through his adventures in Toronto's Yorkville district to his ultimate successes with Buffalo Springfield, Crazy Horse, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, and as a solo performer.

In Reinventing Bach, his remarkable second book, Paul Elie tells the electrifying story of how musicians of genius have made Bach's music new in our time, at once restoring Bach as a universally revered composer and revolutionizing the ways that music figures into our lives. Reinventing Bach is a gorgeously written story of music, invention, and human passion—and a story that shows great things can happen when high art meets new technology.