Music

First Floor started small. At first it was just a newsletter, an outlet where veteran electronic music journalist Shawn Reynaldo could write and share his ideas without having to contend with outside editors or cater to social media algorithms. It was a blank canvas, and Reynaldo began to fill it with his extended thoughts on not just electronic music itself but the culture and industry that surrounded it. His first few missives went out to only a handful of people, but as the months went by and his writings increasingly became a focal point of discussions within the wider electronic music world, Reynaldo came to a surprising realization: people were actually reading this thing. Just a few years later, First Floor now stands as one of electronic music's most influential platforms, particularly as Reynaldo continues to put many of the genre's thorniest issues under the microscope. First Floor Volume 1 collects his most thought-provoking pieces and provides a nuanced, wide-ranging look at contemporary electronic music culture as it comes to grips with systemic challenges and a time of profound transformation. Whether he's taking a hard look at the genre's futurist ethos, questioning the practices of the modern music press or mapping out what motivates dance music's newest generation, Reynaldo applies an undeniably critical lens, but his words are informed by decades of experience, a genuine passion for the subject matter and an open-minded outlook toward whatever changes lie ahead.

Season of the Witch is a captivating novel penned by the talented author, Cathi Unsworth. Published in 2023 by Bonnier Books Ltd, this book has quickly gained attention in the literary world. The story falls under a genre that blends mystery with a touch of the supernatural, making it a thrilling read from start to finish. Unsworth, known for her gripping narratives and well-crafted characters, does not disappoint with this latest addition to her repertoire. The publication year, 2023, marks a significant milestone in Unsworth's career, as this is the year she introduces us to a new world of intrigue and suspense. Bonnier Books Ltd, the publisher of this novel, is renowned for bringing quality literature to readers worldwide, and Season of the Witch is no exception. This book is a must-read for fans of Unsworth and newcomers to her work alike. It's available in English, making it accessible to a broad audience. Dive into Season of the Witch and experience the mastery of Cathi Unsworth's storytelling.

"With pieces drawn from the extensive personal collection of Pharrell Williams, this is a stunning and unprecedented exploration of the "bling" in hip-hop culture and fashion. Few recording artists have had a greater hand in incorporating the culture of hip-hop into contemporary luxury than Pharrell Williams. Collaborating with Louis Vuitton nearly two decades ago, Pharrell was the first to have his designs integrated into the haute joaillerie of the great maisons. His innovative team-ups continue through to the present day, most memorably with Tiffany and Chanel, and the watchmaker Richard Mille. The most extravagant of these chains, rings, and pendants--crafted in precious metals and studded with gems--are as much a part of Pharrell's musical performance as they are of his personal style. His designs, which include one-off pieces such as solid-gold cases for mobile phones and handheld game consoles, have been legendary for featuring iconography of Pharrell's own brands, Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream. This book was originally published with two different colored covers. Customers will be shipped either of the colors at random. Featured in the book are over 100 pieces, many of which he created in tandem with some of the most recognizable designers in the industry--such as Jacob & Co, Yoon & Verbal, and Lorraine Schwartz. With frequent collaborators such as NIGOª and Tyler the Creator, Pharrell discusses his role in the evolution of hip-hop jewelry, the processes involved in the creation of his one-of-a-kind custom pieces, and the state of connoisseurship in a growing market for the most extravagant of hip-hop collectibles" --

About the Bagpipe Tutorial - first steps: Recommended by the best pipers in the world!Bruce Hitchings, Michael Grey, Robert Watt, Willie McCallum, Dixie Ingram, Rory Grossart and many more.The book includes all the finger techniques, and in contrast to other bagpipe books it has many exercises that you will need to learn the bagpipes successfully.The book is suitable for absolute beginners all the way to intermediate pipers. You can study on your own or use it as a classroom companion book. You will find crystal-clear instructions on how to play the bagpipes from scratch. This book is also used for training purposes by many professional bands and bagpipe schools.The Bagpipe Tutorial App, which is available from your app store, is perfectly matched to the Bagpipe Tutorial book. Besides the tunes in the book, it contains more than 250 exercise videos covering all the fingering techniques, embellishments and grace notes that you will need in bagpipe playing. The information is in soundtracks and visual displays, with close-ups of the chanter fingerings at different speeds to help you learn them more easily.You will also need a practice chanter to train your finger technique and your first songs. What you learn will only be transferred to the big set of bagpipes after a couple of months. The practice chanter will accompany you all through your life with the bagpipes. You will learn the fingering of new tunes on the chanter and continuously improve your fingering technique with it.This book, a milestone in the teaching of the Scottish bagpipes, will help beginners and intermediate players to achieve rapid success. It is a professional educational tool for playing and understanding the bagpipes.

Eine Sammlung von 73 Bearbeitungen traditioneller skandinavischer Weisen für Violine. Mit Anmerkungen zu Spieltechniken und Stilen. Die Audioaufnahmen wurden von Vicki Swan eingespielt. Geeignet für SpielerInnen mit 3 oder mehr Jahren Spielerfahrung.Besetzung:Violine

In George Michael: A Life,“Gavin’s engrossing biography of the singer takes the measure of a gifted, tragic, and infuriating man” (New York Times Book Review). George Michael was an extravagantly gifted, openhearted soul singer whose work was both pained and smolderingly erotic. He was a songwriter of true craft and substance, and his music swept the world, starting in the mid-1980s. His fabricated image—that of a hypermacho sex god—loomed large in the pop culture of his day. It also hid—for a time—the secret he fought against revealing: Michael was gay. Soon his obsession with fame would start to backfire. As one of the industry’s most privileged yet tortured men began to self-destruct, the press showed little sympathy. George Michael: A Life explores the compelling story of a superstar whose struggles, as well as his songs, continue to touch fans all over the world. Acclaimed music biographer James Gavin traces Michael’s metamorphosis from the shy and awkward Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou into the swaggering, dominant half of the leading British pop duo of the 1980s Wham! He then details Michael’s sensational solo career and its subsequent unraveling. With deep analysis of the creative process behind Michael’s albums, tours, and music videos, as well as interviews with hundreds of his friends and colleagues, George Michael: A Life is a probing, definitive portrait of a pop legend.

San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Toronto, ON; New York, NY; Bristol, England

From controversial interview quotes to candid life philosophies, through his legendary performance at Live Aid in 1985 to his final days as a solo artist, this little book is full of quotes from Freddie Mercury.

The moving story of Rachmaninoff's years in exile and the composition of his last great work, against a cataclysmic backdrop of two world wars and personal tragedy.

The Art of the Straight Line captures the energy of Lou Reed's worlds of Tai Chi, music, and meditation. The Art of the Straight Line features Reed's unpublished writings on the technique, practice, and purpose of martial arts, as well as essays, observations, and riffs on meditation and life.

Playing Solo Jazz Piano is an essential new book for creative jazz pianists. The second edition adds two new chapters and audiovisual content to the original. Readers will learn essential solo jazz piano concepts like stride piano, one-handed shell voicings, comping, using basslines, shared-hand voicings, leaving out the bass, and playing ballads. Plus, the book explores modern approaches to solo jazz piano including perpetual motion, counterpoint, and borrowing from classical music. With over 200 musical examples, references to over 100 jazz pianists, and numerous hands-on exercises, Playing Solo Jazz Piano is the perfect how-to for passionate, innovative pianists. " Jeremy has done a remarkable job of organizing the whole history of jazz piano in the book you now hold. It is concise and yet open-ended simultaneously. All of the important concepts and historical styles are here, and presented in a way that is thorough and that will also stimulate you to investigate, listen, experiment and have fun with the world of solo jazz piano.">"Jeremy Siskind's book takes solo pianistson a journey from basic concepts to a real musical conversation: between both hands, across jazz tradition, with textures and rhythms, counterpoint and new harmonies. There's a wealth of musical ideas here: how to efficiently practice, creatively delveinto a song, and musically tell a story.">" I've been waiting for this book! Jeremy Siskind presents a cogent and stimulating series of techniques and approaches to creative solo piano playing, rooted in the tradition while inviting both students and professionals to find their own voice and musical personality. The material is historically informed, well-organized, and specific, yet quite open-ended and fun to read and practice. Early and often, the book provides excellent guidance on how to develop the oft-neglected left hand. Finally, the lists of recommended recorded examples from the music's solo piano masters are an invaluable asset.">" Playing Solo Jazz Piano is an extraordinarily comprehensive text on a complex subject. Jeremy expertly covers a breadth of techniques and styles while introducing fresh concepts drawn from his own unique artistic experience. This book is an invaluable resource for the beginner and advanced student alike.">Author Jeremy Siskind is the student of Fred Hersch and the teacher of widely-hailed prodigy Justin-Lee Schultz. A top finisher in several national and international jazz piano competitions, Siskind is a two-time laureate of the American Pianists Association and the winner of the Nottingham International Jazz Piano Competition. Besides a performance career in which he has been praised as "a genuine visionary" (Indianapolis Star) who "seems to defy all boundaries" (JazzInk), Siskind is an active teacher, including as a faculty member at Western Michigan University and Fullerton College. The author of over fifteen pedagogical books, Siskind chairs the Creative Track for the National Conference for Keyboard Pedagogy and serves as a regular clinician for Yamaha Music Education. He regularly travels too spread peace through music in places like Lebanon, Cyprus, Thailand, China, India, Colombia, and Tunisia with the organization Jazz Education Abroad.

Mark Volman has led a storied life, and many of those stories are contained in Happy Forever. A true son of Southern California, he has gone from topping the charts with The Turtles ('Happy Together') to underground cred with Frank Zappa and beyond. As Flo & Eddie, Mark and his longtime singing partner Howard Kaylan were the not-so-secret ingredient on many other artist's records, taking Bruce Springsteen into the Top 10 for the very first time and helping T. Rex dominate the British charts. Then came The Ramones, U2, Blondie, Duran Duran, and so many more; the list of credits is long and varied.

En original sangbog til alle befolkningerne i hele EU, som kan lære hinanden bedre at kende ved at udveksle – ikke kul, stål eller fisk – men sange.The EU Songbook præsenterer et bredt spektrum af genrer og europæisk kulturhistorie fra 1400-tallet til i dag, fra folkemusik til moderne popsange. EU’s motto “forenet i forskellighed” manifesterer sig dermed på spektakulær vis i denne samling, der omfatter både internationalt elskede klassikere og lokale perler, som ikke er kendt uden for det enkelte EU-lands egne grænser.The EU Songbook omfatter 6 sange fra hvert af de 27 EU-lande samt Europahymnen og en særlig hilsen til Storbritannien – i alt 164 sange med tekst og noder. Sangene falder i 6 kategorier (love songs, nature & seasons, freedom & peace, folksongs & traditionals, faith & spirituality og children’s songs), og alle bringes med teksten på det originale sprog samt i en sangbar engelsk oversættelse. Blandt oversætterne finder man flere kendte lyrikere og singer-songwriters, og bl.a. har Suzanne Brøgger oversat Man binder os på mund og hånd.Sangene er valgt af EU’s befolkninger: Mere end hundrede musiklærerorganisationer, korforeninger og musikkonservatorier fra hele EU har nomineret et større antal sange i hvert land. Derefter har 27 folkeafstemninger, hvori næsten 100.000 EU-borgere har afgivet en halv million stemmer, kåret vinderne i hvert land.

A guide to the music and multifaceted career of Canadian artists and songwriters Tegan and Sara.Through interviews with Tegan and Sara, their collaborators, journalists, and fans, this book explores the multifaceted career of one of musics most celebrated sister duos, from their start as Neil Youngs protgs to Canadian indie-rock purveyors and, making their riskiest transformation yet, into mainstream pop breakouts.Coming up as grunge-loving musicians in the late '90s and early 2000s, Tegan and Sara found themselves awkwardly pushed into categories that didnt quite fit: a novelty twin sister folk act when they wanted to be taken seriously; pop when they wanted to be indie rock; and sellouts when they finally made their bid for mainstream success. As young, queer musicians who didnt see anyone else like themselves growing up (in a time where Internet access hadnt yet formed global spaces and communities for LGBTQ+ people), Tegan and Saras path to pop stardom was filled with familiar hurdles, but no clear instructions on how to navigate things like homophobic press, niche queer audiences that wanted to claim them, or sexism at every turn.Its a journey with ups and downs, but Tegan and Saras perseverancealongside a music industry and journalism world thats had to learn to confront its own biaseshas helped create a musical world today that more readily accepts and embraces queer voices. Featuring continuous sonic transformations, Tegan and Saras story is essential to Canadian music history.

Donald Fagen will forever be associated with Steely Dan, the band he formed with Walter Becker and four other musicians in 1972. The smooth, radio-friendly veneer of the duo's songs made Steely Dan internationally popular and famous in the 1970s, but the polish glossed over the underlying layers of anger, disappointment, sleaze, and often downright weirdness lurking just beneath the surface. The elliptical lyrics were-and continue to be-an endless source of fascination. What kind of person was capable of writing such songs? Fagen has always kept his true self hidden behind walls of irony, confounding most journalistic enquiries with a mixture of obscurity and sarcasm. Nightfly cracks open the door to reveal the life behind the lyrics and traces Fagen's story from early family life in suburban New Jersey, to his first encounter with Walter Becker at Bard College, their long struggle for recognition as songwriters, and the formation of Steely Dan. The band's break-up in 1981, re-formation in 1993, and Fagen's parallel solo career are covered in detail.Author Peter Jones seeks to explain the public's continuing fascination with Fagen's music, both in collaboration with Becker and as a solo artist.

Japanische Jazz-Kneipen und -Cafés sind insulare Welten, in denen die Zeit stillsteht, fernab von Hektik und Chaos moderner Stadtlandschaften. Tokyo Jazz Joints ist eine visuelle Chronik dieser einzigartigen Kultur und hält die vergängliche Schönheit ihrer Schauplätze fest.Begonnen 2015, um Tokios Myriaden sogenannter »Jazu Kissaten« zu dokumentieren, hat sich das Projekt inzwischen auf ganz Japan ausgeweitet. Doch allmählich verschwinden diese speziellen Orte zum Anhören von Jazzplatten aufgrund neuer Trends, der Gentrifizierung und des Alters ihrer Kunden. Das vorliegende Buch bewahrt diese lebendigen Museen. Das dokumentarische Fotoprojekt Tokyo Jazz Joints entstand in Zusammenarbeit des nordirischen Fotografen Philip Arneill mit dem amerikanischen Radiomacher James Catchpole, die beide lange Zeit in Japan gelebt haben.www.tokyojazzjoints.com

Discovering The Beatles at the age of fourteen, David Paton had no idea that one day he'd work with Paul McCartney in Studio Two at Abbey Road or that he'd write a number one worldwide hit, or that he'd spend three years touring the world and recording as bass player with Elton John, including playing in his band at Live Aid. These achievements were well beyond his imagination - yet he did them. For David, making music was a joy and a privilege, but his career as a musician made it possible for him to meet and work with some of the world-famous artists that he idolised. David Paton is the singer, songwriter and bass player with the group Pilot, writing the worldwide hits 'Magic', 'January' and 'Just a Smile'. He was a member of The Alan Parsons Project for ten years and did session work with The Pretenders, Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Chris De Burgh, Chris Rea and Jimmy Page, to name but a few. This book gives an insight into the life of a successful songwriter and session musician. He has a lot to say, but as well as telling his story, the book also offers valuable insight into what to do - and what not to do - for creative people interested in pursuing a career in music.

The book traces the story of how a song recorded in 1981 by a young punk rock band from a cultural backwater on the English-Welsh border, and released on a tiny independent record label, became famous in a Yugoslavia formed in the image of Marshall Tito? Why was it 30 years before the members of the band found out? How did this 'socialist' country have one of the most vibrant punk scenes in the world?Gloucester, England, 1981; multi-racial, teenage street-punk band, Demob, recorded and released what would become their best known and most enduring song, No Room For You. A rasping vocal told the story of the 1979 closure of a short-lived, punk rock venue at a disused motel on the edge of the provincial city. Depending on your mind-set, the lyrics were either a howl of rage at the injustice, a wail at the loss, or a love-song to an era. More than three decades later, the author - and Demob's bass player in 1981 - set out to follow the song across a country that no longer exists. On the road he heard the life stories of the heroes of Yugoslavian punk and the punks themselves; from the Tito era, through the disintegration and wars, forced displacements and permanent exiles, to today's turbulent 'reconstruction. Who were 'Tito's punks' and who are they now?An unvarnished but also affectionate portrait of Yugoslavia in the years before its demise through to the present, seen through the unlikely lens of punk and punk rockers. Part travelogue, part history the book is both, and neither, of those things. Rather, it is a mural and soundtrack of a journey through a time and place which no longer exists. The latest addition to the Global Punk series from Intellect.

Dance Your Way Home is a captivating novel penned by the talented Emma Warren. Published by Faber & Faber in 2023, this book is a must-read for all literary enthusiasts. The story unfolds in a unique genre, blending elements of drama, romance, and dance, creating a mesmerizing narrative that will keep you hooked from beginning to end. Dance Your Way Home is more than just a book; it's an experience. It takes you on a journey of self-discovery, love, and the transformative power of dance. The author, Emma Warren, has a knack for creating vivid imagery and relatable characters that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page. Published by Faber & Faber, known for their commitment to quality literature, Dance Your Way Home is a testament to their reputation. Don't miss out on this gem of a book; it's time to dance your way home.