Wagnerism - Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music by Alex Ross

$44.99 NZD

Category: Music

'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. ...Show more

50 Years: The Story of Woodstock Live Relive the Magic, Artist by Artist by Julien Bitoun; Michael Lang (Foreword by)

$60.00 NZD

Category: Music

A complete chronological account of Woodstock, hour by hour, performance by performance. Released to coincide with its 50th anniversary and with a foreword by festival co-founder, Michael Lang. Foreword by Woodstock co-founder, Michael Lang.3 days. 33 concerts. 2 deaths. 2 births. 500,000 people. And an other 250,000 stuck in traffic trying to get in. Woodstock was a festival like no other. Now, on its 50th anniversary, relive every moment.Detailed text and evocative photographs tell the full story of every single act that performed - when they took to the stage, what songs they played, who was there, what they were like. From The Who to Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane to Creedence Clearwater Revival, every single second is an experience to enjoy over and over again.Also includes fascinating features on the stories around Woodstock, from the unique social and political context to the drugs, the free love, the film, the albums and the legacy. ...Show more

Stranger Than Kindness by Nick Cave

$55.00 NZD

Category: Music

Stranger Than Kindness is a journey in images and words into the creative world of musician, storyteller and cultural icon Nick Cave. This highly collectible book contains images selected by Cave from 'Stranger Than Kindness: The Nick Cave Exhibition', presented by the Royal Danish Library in partnershi p with Arts Centre Melbourne. Featuring full-colour reproductions of original artwork, handwritten lyrics, photographs and collected personal artefacts, it presents Cave's life, work and inspiration and explores his many real and imagined universes. Images are paired with commentary and meditations from Cave and celebrated writer Darcey Steinke on themes that are central to Cave's work. Stranger Than Kindness asks what shapes our lives and makes us who we are, and celebrates the curiosity and power of the creative spirit. ...Show more

The History of Rock and Roll, Volume 2: 1964-1977: The Beatles, The Stones, and The Rise of Classic Rock by Ed Ward

$50.00 NZD

Category: Music

From rock and roll historian Ed Ward comes a comprehensive, authoritative, and enthralling cultural history of one of rock's most exciting eras. It's February 1964 and The Beatles just landed in New York City, where the NYPD, swarms of fans, and a crowd of two hundred journalists await their first Amer ican press conference. It begins with the question on everyone's mind: "Are you going to get a haircut in America?" and ends with a reporter tugging Paul McCartney's hair in an attempt to remove his nonexistent wig. This is where The History of Rock & Roll, Volume 2 kicks off. Chronicling the years 1964 through the mid-1970s, this latest volume covers one of the most exciting eras of rock history, which saw a massive outpouring of popular and cutting-edge music. Ward weaves together an unputdownable narrative told through colorful anecdotes and shares the behind-the-scenes stories of the megastars, the trailblazers, DJs, record executives, concert promoters, and producers who were at the forefront of this incredible period in music history. From Bob Dylan to Bill Graham, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Byrds, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, and more, everyone's favorite musicians of the era make an appearance in this sweeping history that reveals how the different players, sounds, and trends came together to create the music we all know and love today. ...Show more

1971 - Never a Dull Moment: Rock's Golden Year by David Hepworth

$28.00 NZD

Category: Music

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER. The Sixties ended a year late - on New Year's Eve 1970, when Paul McCartney initiated proceedings to wind up The Beatles. Music would never be the same again. The next day would see the dawning of a new era. 1971 saw the release of more monumental albums than any yea r before or since and the establishment of a pantheon of stars to dominate the next forty years - Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Marvin Gaye, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Rod Stewart, the solo Beatles and more. January that year fired the gun on an unrepeatable surge of creativity, technological innovation, blissful ignorance, naked ambition and outrageous good fortune. By December rock had exploded into the mainstream. How did it happen? This book tells you how. It's the story of 1971, rock's golden year. ...Show more

1973 - Rock at the Crossroads by Andrew Grant Jackson

$50.00 NZD

Category: Music

A fascinating account of the music and epic social change of 1973, a defining year for David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Elton John, the Rolling Stones, Eagles, Elvis Presley, and the former members of The Beatles. 1973 was the year rock hit its peak while splintering--just like the rest of t he world. Ziggy Stardust travelled to America in David Bowie's Aladdin Sane. The Dark Side of the Moon began its epic run on the Billboard charts, inspired by the madness of Pink Floyd's founder, while all four former Beatles scored top ten albums, two hitting #1. FM battled AM, and Motown battled Philly on the charts, as the era of protest soul gave way to disco, while DJ Kool Herc gave birth to hip hop in the Bronx. The glam rock of the New York Dolls and Alice Cooper split into glam metal and punk. Hippies and rednecks made peace in Austin thanks to Willie Nelson, while outlaw country, country rock, and Southern rock each pointed toward modern country. The Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, and the Band played the largest rock concert to date at Watkins Glen. Led Zep's Houses of the Holy reflected the rise of funk and reggae. The singer songwriter movement led by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell flourished at the Troubadour and Max's Kansas City, where Bruce Springsteen and Bob Marley shared bill. Elvis Presley's Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite was NBC's top-rated special of the year, while Elton John's albums dominated the number one spot for two and a half months. Just as U.S. involvement in Vietnam drew to a close, Roe v. Wade ignited a new phase in the culture war. While the oil crisis imploded the American dream of endless prosperity, and Watergate's walls closed in on Nixon, the music of 1973 both reflected a shattered world and brought us together. ...Show more

30-Second Opera: The 50 Crucial Concepts, Roles and Performers, Each Explained in Half a Minute by Hugo Shirley

$35.00 NZD

Category: Music | Series: 30 Second

The bestselling 30-Second series takes a revolutionary approach to learning about those subjects you feel you should really understand. Each title selects a popular topic and dissects it into the 50 most significant ideas at its heart. Every idea, no matter how complex, is explained in 300 words and one image, all digestible in just 30 seconds. Live operatic performance was once part of popular culture yet in modern times it has become caricatured as exclusive, overwhelming and, often, very very long. 30-Second Opera raises the curtain so that anyone can enjoy opera, classical or contemporary, without the elitism. Compiled by opera buffs, not the bourgeoisie, it serves up all you need to enjoy the spectacle, the music, and above all the voices from Farinelli to femme fatale. ...Show more

A Road Tour of American Song Titles: From Mendocino to Memphis by Karl Du Fresne

$40.00 NZD

Category: Music | Reading Level: very good

Like most New Zealand kids in the 1960s, Karl du Fresne grew up listening to songs about American towns and cities: Kansas City, El Paso, New Orleans, Detroit and Tulsa, to name just a few. He found himself wondering what sort of places they were and what had motivated such illustrious pop composers as Jimmy Webb, Hal David, Neil Sedaka and Chuck Berry to write about them. A career journalist, former musician and keen amateur musicologist, he eventually decided to find out for himself. Thus was launched a serial pilgrimage that took him to 24 towns and cities, from Abilene to Wichita and Memphis to Mendocino. Each chapter is devoted to a specific hit song and the town that inspired it. Du Fresne combines information about the songs - who wrote them (and why), who recorded them, how well they did on the pop charts - with often quirky personal observations about the places themselves and the characters he encountered there. He explores the rich musical connections of cities such as New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville and Detroit and describes detours to out-of-the-way places such as the gospel church in the Louisiana Delta where a young Jerry Lee Lewis performed for the first time, the Tallahatchie bridge made famous in Bobbie Gentry's 'Ode to Billie Joe' and the lonely Mississippi graveyard where the legendary bluesman Robert Johnson lies buried under a pecan tree. ...Show more

Backstage Passes by Joanna Mathers

$40.00 NZD

Category: Music

New Zealand music was made on beer-stained stages, in grimy toilets and smoky back rooms. Backstage Passes charts the stories of the countries most celebrated live music venues. Hookers, heroin, cocaine, killings, sex in alleyways, punch-ups on dance floors - live music was the nexus around which a cult ural history happened. Backstage Passes has the inside story on what it was like to be part of a vibrant scene when New Zealand was a rural backwater. First-hand accounts from muscicians, fans and bar owners bring each chapter to life. The beating heart of the book is the music and the spaces within which the music was played. Rock, pop, reggae, punk and hip-hop, every genre has its heroes and villians, it's successes and casualties. Backstage Passes is a tribute to all the characters whom sizzled up the stage, worked the doors, poured the beers and danced to the beat. ...Show more

Brass Band to Follow by Bryan Walpert

$28.00 NZD

Category: Music

Crossroads - One Man's Search for the Moments That Changed Music by Mark Radcliffe

$40.00 NZD

Category: Music

Standing at the crossroads - the Mississippi crossroads of Robert Johnson and the devil's infamous meeting - Mark Radcliffe found himself facing his own personal crunch point. Aged sixty, he had just mourned the death of his father, only to be handed a diagnosis of mouth and throat cancer. This momentou s time in his life, and being at the most famous junction in music history, led Radcliffe to think about the pivotal tracks in music and how the musicians who wrote and performed them - from Woodie Guthrie to Gloria Gaynor, Kurt Cobain to Bob Marley - had reached the crossroads that led to such epoch-changing music. In this warm, intimate account of music and its power to transform our lives, Radcliffe takes a personal journey through these touchstone tracks, looking at the story behind the records and his own experiences as he goes in search of these moments. ...Show more

Have a Bleedin Guess - The Story of Hex Enduction Hour by Paul Hanley

$42.00 NZD

Category: Music