Another week, another onslaught of more new books than anyone could possibly get through. On the plus side, none of them are about women named Taylor, Sabrina, Chappell or Ariana. Read all about ’em:
What Did You Hear?: The Music Of Bob Dylan
By Steven Rings
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Folk troubadour, rock star, country crooner — for a musician who adopted so many personas, Bob Dylan always sounds like himself. While he’s written many of the most iconic and impactful lyrics of the past 60 years, Dylan’s music has also reshaped our sonic imagination with his ragged voice, wailing harmonica, and rough-hewn guitar. Music theorist Steven Rings argues that such sonic imperfections are central to understanding Dylan’s songs and their appeal. These blemishes can invoke authenticity or persona, signal his social commitments, and betray his political shortcomings. Rings begins — where else? — with Dylan’s voice, exploring its changeability, its unmistakable features, and its ability to inhabit characters, including the female narrator of House Of The Rising Sun. Rings then turns to Dylan as an instrumentalist, examining his infamous adoption of the electric guitar in 1965, as well as his stylistically varied acoustic playing, which borrows sounds and techniques from Black blues musicians, among other influences. Rings charts the histories audible in Dylan’s harmonica as well as piano, which has been central to his music making since his earliest days of imitating Little Richard in his hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota. Finally, Rings guides readers through one of Dylan’s most famous songs, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, analyzing its musical sources as well as variations in live performances. A companion website of audio and video examples helps readers notice the nuances and idiosyncrasies inherent in Dylan’s work and, even more importantly, their effects. A close look at an underdiscussed but essential aspect of Dylan’s oeuvre, What Did You Hear? offers a fresh understanding of a singular performer, his musical choices, and the meanings that we can hear in his imperfect sounds.”
The Poetry Of Bob Dylan: Thirty Essays On Thirty Songs
By Mike Chasar
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Through short essays, leading poetry critics and Bob Dylan experts analyze songs from a range of perspectives to illuminate the songs’ poetic and literary character. An innovative resource for fans and scholars alike, these 30 essays by leading scholars of poetry, music, and literature illustrate how and why the work of the 2016 Nobel Literature Laureate is in fact so literary. Examining how Dylan’s lyrics shape or get shaped by vocalization, performance, instrumentation, film, recording technologies, and the forces of history unfolding around him, this collection models a range of ways to understand the songs as poetical phenomena by answering questions like: How can we read and understand Dylan’s lyrics as poetry? How do those lyrics build on, dialogue with, and expand the poetic tradition? How does Dylan’s style change over time while both pushing and responding to changes in the world of popular music? Collecting archival research, close reading, musical analysis, and various modes of cultural criticism under one cover, The Poetry of Bob Dylan: Thirty Essays on Thirty Songs stakes a claim to Dylan’s central place in the history of American poetry.”
A Dream Come True: The Collaboration Of David Lynch And Angelo Badalamenti
By Stephan Eicke
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “A Dream Come True is an extensive investigation of the working relationship between two revered artists as an insightful collage that bridges the gap between academic analysis and investigative journalism. The working relationship between director David Lynch and composer Angelo Badalamenti is one of the most fruitful and celebrated in cinema history. Yet despite their success and fame, this is the first book written about their decades-long collaboration. It offers new, valuable insights to fans of both artists’ work. The book analyses Lynch the filmmaker through the lens of Badalamenti’s music via extensive creative biographies of both, in-depth investigations into how the individual music pieces and scores came to be, how they were altered and changed during the editing process, and what clues both music and sound design can give to unlock the mysteries of individual works. It includes several of their collaborations, including Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Lost Highway, The Straight Story and Mulholland Drive, among others. The result is an insightful collage of exclusive interviews with many of Lynch’s and Badalamenti’s colleagues and friends, transcribed music examples, direct quotes, previously unpublished photographs, dialogue taken from the films, and a careful examination of secondary — sometimes contradictory — sources. More than 15 industry professionals, including Oscar-winning sound designer Randy Thom, music editor Lori Eschler, music editor and composer John Neff, musician Barry Adamson, PA John Wentworth and film director Mark Pellington share their experiences and insights in exclusive interviews. For each film, an analysis of both music and sound design reveals how the use of these twin elements helps establish and amplify moods and emotions, and how they serve as keys to interpret the individual films and TV shows.”
Never Been Any Reason: The Head East Rock ‘N Roll Story
By Jeremy Paul Amick
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Rising to fame in the 1970s with their debut album Flat As A Pancake and singles like Never Been Any Reason and Love Me Tonight, Head East became a staple of American rock. Fueled by Midwestern roots and a relentless touring ethic, the band weathered lineup changes, industry shifts and personal losses, all while building a devoted following known as the Head East Family. This compelling history captures their journey from small-town bars to national stages, the creative forces behind their music, and the legacy of their exhilarating live performances. With honesty and heart, it pays tribute to the people — bandmates, crew, and fans — who kept the music alive. Whether you’re a lifelong fan or discovering them for the first time, this is the definitive story of a band that never stopped rocking. Head East isn’t just a name — it’s a movement.”
Rock And Roll, 1954-2024 (A Walk-On Part)
By Neil Murray
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Like thousands of kids, Neil Murray dreamt of being a rock star. Like most he became something else, but life’s dots can join up in curious ways. The guitar didn’t stay in the attic and, now 70, he delivers a lively and informative history of seven decades of rock ’n’ roll, from Bill Haley to Billie Eilish. He interweaves that with his own journey, from unlikely beginnings in ’50s Libya to the swinging ’60s in the Hong Kong of the Vietnam War, to ’70s U.K., the “Sick man of Europe”, then ’80s yuppiedom, ’90s hedonism and onward to the 21st century via London and Nashville. At 20, Murray was in a punk band. At 50 and a city lawyer in London, he appeared on TV’s Top Of The Pops with a chart hit. At 60, he went back to uni and got a music degree. Now he’s a music producer and on the side sports a Ziggy Stardust wig playing with his mates in a glam-rock band. He currently lives and records in a real ’70s rock star’s house. He’s the School of Rock for his grandkids. Can dreams come true, at least in part? What life lessons are there along the way?”
Inside The Moment: Iconic Blues, Soul, Jazz, Rock, And R&B Images And History
By Joseph A. Rosen
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fans of blues, soul, jazz, rock ’n’ roll and R&B are passionate and devoted. Inside The Moment is for readers who love American music based on these African-American traditions as well as appreciate fine-art photography. This book brings to light photojournalist Joe Rosen’s 45-plus-year body of photographic work, which has largely been unseen until now. Presented are the author’s new and powerful images of both famous and lesser-known artists, which will further the reader’s insight and enjoyment. The author adds his own historical context and personal accounts while photographing the artists, enhancing the impact of the images. Longtime music fans will see fresh images of favorites — such as John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, B.B. King, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Dexter Gordon, Chet Baker, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, and Buckwheat Zydeco — and perhaps discover new artists to listen to and enjoy. Newcomers will see strong, moving images and also read the author’s memorable first-person encounters, leading them to music genres and artists that may be new to them.”
Alternative For The Masses: The ’90s Alt-Rock Revolution – An Oral History
By Greg Prato
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “No period in the history of rock music offered such an abrupt shift in prevailing tastes as the 1990s. While just a short while before, radio and MTV were clamoring for hair metal bands, suddenly alt-rockers such as Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More, Primus, Smashing Pumpkins and of course Nirvana, brought a sea change not just in what the most popular bands sounded like, but also in fashion, politics, and seemingly all aspects of pop culture. In Alternative For The Masses: The Oral History Of The ’90s Alt-Rock Revolution, veteran music critic Greg Prato presents more than 60 new interviews conducted exclusively for the book — with an emphasis on the 1990–1995 peak period — including insights from renowned names like: Ian MacKaye (Fugazi, Dischord Records); Frank Black (Pixies); Corey Glover (Living Colour); Moby (solo artist/DJ); Al Jourgensen (Ministry); Les Claypool (Primus); Kennedy (host of MTV’s Alternative Nation); Matt Pinfield (host of MTV’s 120 Minutes); Butch Vig (producer of Nirvana’s Nevermind); Tanya Donnelly (Belly, Breeders); Fred Armisen (Portlandia, Saturday Night Live). Prato also includes excerpts from one of the last interviews with Steve Albini, arguably the period’s most influential recording engineer / producer, responsible for influential albums by the likes of Nirvana and PJ Harvey, among many others.”
A History Of Punk: Punk & Pistolry
By Stephen Palmer
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In A History Of Punk, author Stephen Palmer depicts the punk rock explosion of 1976-77 in tired, bored, and socially stratified Britain. Emerging from the litter-strewn streets of London, punk’s music expressed the suppressed anger of young working-class people with nowhere to go and nothing meaningful to do. Its music was raw and shocking. Its fashion mocked staid middle-class values. Its art was expressed in cut-outs and by sprayed graffiti. Yet beneath this sudden explosion, frightening to those of the establishment who witnessed it, incomprehensible to white-collar workers commuting to and from work, lay a philosophy of individual creative expression and an ethic of anti-racism and liberation for women. Punk in its original form was a movement of human liberation, a Year Zero moment in the history of a nation more used to colonial exploits and a vast empire. It spoke of fury, of hopelessness, of cathartic anger expressed through visceral, exciting, revolutionary music. Its visual images captured the gaze of the nation, and soon the world. And all of its central figures yelled, hammered and smashed the doors of the establishment. This book charts the origins, appearance, development and ending of punk. It is a book of passion and vivid description, befitting the individual visions of the original punk musicians. Punk was filthy and furious, yet it was also a new dawn for the British music scene.”
1977: How Progressive Rock Defied Punk
By Kevan Furbank
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The prevailing wisdom is that, in 1977, punk rock killed prog — presumably by drowning it in spittle. But is this really true? Not at all! Prog didn’t just survive what turned out to be the short-lived rule of the barbarians, it evolved and arguably, prospered. And in 1977 — the year punk supposedly conquered the world (well, the U.K. anyway) – many of our most well-established progressive rock bands released some of their best albums, including Pink Floyd’s Animals, Going For The One by Yes, Rush’s A Farewell to Kings, Jethro Tull’s Songs From The Wood and the debut from American band Happy The Man, while Godley And Crème released their astonishing triple album Consequences. These were infinitely varied takes on a genre that was still — for a while at least — in rude health despite the column inches devoted to punk. In this informative, readable and — for punk fans at least — annoying book, Kevan Furbank looks at the progressive rock bands and albums that left punk reeling in the moshpit. To misquote The Sex Pistols, never mind the b*llocks — here’s the progressive rock of 1977.”
Legendary Guitars: Explore The World’s Most Legendary Guitars
By Julien Bitoun
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “From the beginnings of the American guitar in the 19th century to the avant-garde Canadian creations of a few months ago, from folk to electric to archtop; from the cheap guitar of the bluesmen of the 1960s to the Les Paul worth half a million dollars; all the instruments presented in this book are exceptional, whether it’s because of their sound, their craftsmanship, the way they play, their aesthetics or the artists they inspired. Julien Bitoun, musician and great specialist in the history of rock, has lovingly selected each of the instruments. He tells the story of their creation and the reasons they entered history. Enough to make the most jaded collector pale or the most occasional enthusiast definitely addicted.”
Music Between Your Ears: How Musical Engagement Powers The Human Brain
By Samuel Markind
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Why does music influence how we feel so deeply — and what are the scientific mechanisms behind this phenomenon? In Music Between Your Ears, Dr. Samuel Markind explores the intriguing relationship between music and brain function. Using evolutionary theory, he illuminates the pivotal role that music plays in human survival and procreation. From communication and caregiving to social bonding and partner selection, music has molded the human species and continues to shape our lives in remarkable ways. This book combines insights from neuroscience and psychology with helpful drawings and vivid examples to present compelling evidence for music’s life-enhancing potential. Markind highlights the brain’s instinctive capacity for music: from newborns’ natural affinity for rhythm and melody to the effect that music has on brain development throughout the lifespan. Music also helps people learn at any age and in any condition, so it can improve speech, movement, and memory in both healthy individuals and those suffering from illness or injury. Markind encourages readers to engage actively with music. Whether through singing, dancing, or instrument playing, the benefits of active participation are profound and accessible to everyone, regardless of musical background. This book, filled with straightforward and practical suggestions, is an inspiring guide for anyone seeking to enrich their life through music. Music Between Your Ears shows how the act of engaging with music can profoundly impact your mental, physical, and emotional well-being. And the benefits of music go far beyond entertainment — they’re essential to the very fabric of what makes us human.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source tinnitist.com ’
