Essays

From the bestselling author of This Is Your Brain on Music and The Organized Mind, a surprising and inspiring exploration of the healing power of music.'As knowledgeable a guide to neuroscience as one might hope for.' New York Times Book ReviewWe are...

The eternal singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is seen anew, portrayed through a witty and comprehensive exploration of anecdotes, quotes, and lyrics by Henry Alford, "the most graceful of humorists" (Vanity Fair) and a writer for The New Yorker.Joni...

Written in 1966, 'Tarantula' is a collection of poems and prose that evokes the turbulence of the times in which it was written, and gives a unique insight into Dylan's creative evolution. 'The good samaritan coming in with the words "round &...

A MUST-HAVE COLLECTION OF RARE AND UNSEEN PHOTOGRAPHS OF KATE BUSH.WITH ESSAYS BY HER BROTHER, JOHN CARDER BUSH, ABOUT KATE'S LIFE AND CAREER.Stunning and unique images from throughout Kate Bush's career including:Outtakes from classic album shoots and...

This fascinating autobiography of the country music legend recounts the highs and lows, the struggles and hard-won triumphs of his remarkable life. The story takes us from Johnny Cash's childhood on an Arkansas cotton farm to his early years...

In this inspiring collection of essays, acclaimed writer and critic Olivia Laing makes a brilliant case for why art matters, especially in the turbulent political weather of the twenty-first century.'Never has a publication been more timely' - Dazed'A...

On the fiftieth anniversary of David Bowie's magical album, Aladdin Sane 50 is the ultimate celebration of a musical masterpiece - and the most famous photograph in pop history.This landmark book contains hundreds of photographs, including dozens of...

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...

A ROUGH TRADE and PITCHORK BOOK OF THE YEAR'A guide to rediscovering the joys of creating that we all felt as children.'NEW YORK TIMESOne of the century's most feted singer-songwriters, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, digs deep into his own creative process to...

The perfect introduction to the Master. Over a century after his death, Richard Wagner's music dramas stand at the centre of the culture of classical music. He was a walking contradiction: aggressive, flirtatious, disciplined, capricious,...

He is one of the inventors of rock criticism. His first book, The Aesthetics of Rock (acclaimed by Greil Marcus as "a disemboweling of rock's soft white underbelly"), became an instant cult classic when published in 1970. And for the next thirty years...

The definitive biography of Joe Strummer, released with a new epilogue to mark the 60th anniversary of his birth. Chris Salewicz was an intimate friend of Strummer's for over 25 years. Drawing on more than 300 interviews with family, friends...

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...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR "Ozzi's reporting is strong, balanced and well told...a worthy successor to its obvious inspiration, Michael Azerrad's 2001 examination of the '80s indie underground, Our Band Could Be Your Life...

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,...

The sound of 'Wichita Lineman' was the sound of ecstatic solitude, but then its hero was the quintessential loner. What a great metaphor he was: a man who needed a woman more than he actually wanted her. Written in 1968 by Jimmy Webb, 'Wichita Lineman'...

Put your headphones on, close your eyes. Embrace the possibility of the life-changing power of music. And perhaps one of these songs will change your life too.Music can inspire our greatest creations, salve our deepest wounds, make us fall in - or out of...

**A SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN & TELEGRAPH MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022** **INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE MONTH** **GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY** **FINANCIAL TIMES 'BEST SUMMER BOOKS 2022' PICK** 'Incredibly moving.' - Guardian'Entertaining.' - Telegraph'Most books...

*Includes an exclusive new chapter*'Excellent' Guardian'Hugely enjoyable' Irish Times'Dazzling' LRB 'Fascinating' New Statesman 'An absolute must-read' GQAn NME and BBC Culture Book of the Year 2020For a while, Sweet Dreams were made of this.From the...

The final word on music's greatest legend, in which Philip Norman reveals a John Lennon the world has never seen. With ground-breaking insight into the pain, beauty and frustration that shaped the genius of modern music, John Lennon: The Definitive...

'An uproariously funny collection of true stories from one of the comedy greats' - BILL BAILEY'I loved this book. Absolutely adored it. I devoured it and savoured every word. A wild and wonderful love letter to comedy' - ADAM HILLS'It's rare for...

From the Booker-shortlisted author of The Mars Room, a career-spanning collection of spectacular essays about politics and culture.In The Hard Crowd, Rachel Kushner gathers a selection of her writing from over the course of the last twenty years that...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781913231347Author Shawn ReynaldoFormat PaperbackPage Count 288Imprint Velocity PressPublisher Velocity Press

Julian Cope's highly acclaimed autobiography and its long-awaited sequel in one extraordinary volume. Julian Cope shot to fame with eighties band 'Teardrop Explodes' during the Punk era. Hailed as a visionary by those people who recognise his...

Includes a new chapter on John Cage. Alex Ross's award-winning international best-seller, 'The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century', has become a contemporary classic, establishing him as one of our most popular and acclaimed...

Have you ever listened to an incredible piece of music and wondered exactly why it makes you want to dance or cry? Are you mystified by how musicians just 'know' what notes to play next when they're improvising? Or why certain notes sound great together...

In Long Players, fifty of our finest authors write about the albums that changed their lives, from Deborah Levy on Bowie to Daisy Johnson on Lizzo, Ben Okri on Miles Davis to David Mitchell on Joni Mitchell, Sarah Perry on Rachmaninov to Bernardine...

In The Politics of Vibration Marcus Boon explores music as a material practice of vibration. Focusing on the work of three contemporary musicians-Hindustani classical vocalist Pandit Pran Nath, Swedish drone composer and philosopher Catherine Christer...

The story of a remarkable time and place: Los Angeles from the dawn of the singer-songwriter era in the mid-Sixties to the peak of The Eagles' success in the late Seventies. 'Hotel California' is an epic tale of songs and sunshine, drugs and...

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...

The Sunday Times' Music Book of the Year 2017 Allan Jones launched Uncut magazine in 1997 and for 15 years wrote a popular monthly column called Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before, based on his experiences as a music journalist in the 70s and...

At the age of 45, Bill Drummond is less concerned with setting the record straight as making sure it revolves at the correct speed. Whether he's recording 'Justified and Ancient' with Tammy Wynette; contemplating the dull lunacy of the Turner prize;...

This Woman's Work: Essays on Music is edited by Kim Gordon and Sinead Gleeson and features contributors Anne Enright, Fatima Bhutto, Jenn Pelly, Rachel Kushner, Juliana Huxtable, Leslie Jamison, Liz Pelly, Maggie Nelson, Margo Jefferson, Megan Jasper,...

He is one of the greatest musical talents Britain has ever produced. But even as the principle songwriter and lead guitarist for The Who, it would be unjust to define Pete Townshend's life simply through his achievements with bandmates Daltrey, Moon and...

Maeterlinck's plays typify the spirit of Symbolism and the fin de siecle ethos of the 1890s, but equally they herald in their minimalism the developments of certain features of the late 20th century modernism. Thematically, they evoke some the deeper...

The first official account of the iconic record label. An NME Book of the Year 2013 * A Rough Trade Book of the Year 2013 * A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2013 This Mortal Coil, Birthday Party, Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins,...

When all else fails, when our compass is broken, there is one thing some of us have come to rely on: music really can give us a sense of something like home. With It Gets Me Home, This Curving Track, legendary music critic Ian Penman reaches for a...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781913689506Author Adrian WhittakerFormat PaperbackPage Count 704Imprint Strange Attractor PressPublisher Strange Attractor Press

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781527299245Author David VernonFormat PaperbackPage Count 310Imprint Candle Row PressPublisher Candle Row PressWeight(grams) 336gDimensions(mm) 203mm *...

'An uproariously funny collection of true stories from one of the comedy greats' - BILL BAILEY'I loved this book. Absolutely adored it. I devoured it and savoured every word. A wild and wonderful love letter to comedy' - ADAM HILLS'It's rare for...