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FABER & FABER

Thurston Moore

Sonic Life - A Memoir

    A study of a life lived in an environment of wild music and endless wonder, Sonic Life is the long-awaited memoir of iconic American musician and Sonic Youth frontman, Thurston Moore.

    A music-obsessed retrospective, beginning with his childhood epiphany of rock ’n’ roll in the early 1960s into an infatuation with the subversive world of 1970s punk and no wave blasting forth from New York City – where he eventually runs off to join a band in 1978. By 1981 Moore would form the legendary and notorious experimental rock group Sonic Youth, who proceeded to record and tour relentlessly for almost 30 years, always progressing, always exploring.

    Along the way we meet a constellation of artists and musicians who colluded and collided with Sonic Youth including Velvet Underground, Stooges, Patti Smith, Television, Sex Pistols, Clash, Nirvana, Hole, Beastie Boys, Neil Young and a cavalcade of other musical visionaries, as well as figures from the art world – Jean Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Gerhard Richter. Simply put, Thurston Moore and Sonic Youth changed the sound of modern alternative rock music and opened the minds of a generation of artists to new possibilities within the form. This is essential reading.

    Alan McGee

    How To Run An Indie Label - Signed Edition

      *Signed edition.*

      Music is like no other business. It's about being at the right place at the right time, following your nose and diving in feet first. It's about being plugged into the mystical electricity and about surfing on the wild energy. It's about how to fuck up and how to survive and be sustained by the holy grail of the high decibel. No-one captures this wild feral spirit better than Alan McGee whose helter skelter career through music has made him a major force. Wilder than his bands, more out of control than his most lunatic singer, more driven than his contemporaries and closer in spirit to the rock n roll star he could never be himself, McGee was always in a rush. Creation would sign people and not just the music. McGee understood that running an indie label is mainly about the charisma, the game changers, the iconography and the story. It's about neverbeing boring.

      His ability to start a raw power ruckus brought the visceral danger back to
      a moribund mid-eighties music scene. His nose for danger and his ear for
      classic guitar rock n roll brought us Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream,
      My Bloody Valentine, Teenage Fan Club and Ride before topping out in the
      nineties with the biggest band in the world, Oasis.

      By no means a conventional instruction manual or business book How To Runan Indie Label tells you everything you need to know about how to be a creative force.

      David Cavanagh

      The Creation Records Story - My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize

        Out of print for many years and regarded as one of the greatest music books ever written, My Magpie Eyes are Hungry for the Prize: The Creation Records Story is the definitive account of the iconic British record label, republished for the label's 40th anniversary.

        'The greatest book ever written on British independent music' Guardian 'One of the best British music books of the last ten years' Mojo

        Founded by Alan McGee in 1983, Creation Records achieved notoriety as the home of Primal Scream, the Jesus and Mary Chain and other anti-Establishment acts. During the Britpop boom of the mid-90s, the astonishing success of Oasis brought Creation fame on the world stage. In 1999, however, McGee announced his shock departure as his label's influence over a generation of British music came to a confusing and disappointing end. Containing interviews with Creation musicians, employees, supporters and detractors, this is the inside story of Creation Records - and of British music since the 1980s.

        Robin Pecknold

        Wading In Waist-High Water - The Lyrics Of Fleet Foxes

          Featuring over 50 song lyrics alongside never-beforeseen insights from Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold, Wading in Waist-High Water is an intimate look into-and resounding celebration of-musical craftsmanship and care.

          “There is something quite moving about seeing the lyrics of these fifty-six songs collected and assembled this way. You can see the evolution of the minds and hearts at work behind the lyrics. . . . It’s a thrill, realizing that it’s a still-evolving and growing body of work.” —Brandon Taylor, from the Introduction

          Since the release of their breakout debut in 2008, Fleet Foxes and their frontman, singer-songwriter Robin Pecknold, have enjoyed international critical and commercial acclaim. Drawing comparisons to Simon & Garfunkel; Crosby, Stills & Nash; and the music of Brian Wilson, Grammy-nominated Fleet Foxes have reshaped the American indie-folk sound, crafting songs that are acoustically and melodically driven, steeped in gospel-like harmonies, and propelled by resonant and timeless lyrics.

          Wading in Waist-High Water: The Lyrics of Fleet Foxes contains Robin Pecknold’s complete lyrics from 56 songs, capturing the poetic and inventive storytelling that is a hallmark of the band’s music. These richly layered lyrics explore the complexity, darkness, and beauty of physical and emotional landscapes, both pastoral and modern. Alongside the lyrics, Pecknold includes hand-written notes and candid observations on creative processes, inspirations, and motivations.

          With an introduction by celebrated author Brandon Taylor, Wading in Waist- High Water: The Lyrics of Fleet Foxes is a moving and intimate look at the art of songwriting, the joy of music-making, and what it means to produce meaningful and memorable sound.

          Kate Molleson

          Sound Within Sound - A Radical History Of Composers In The Twentieth Century

            A groundbreaking music history book from BBC Radio 3 broadcaster Kate Molleson, which fundamentally changes the way we think about classical music and the musicians who made it on a global scale.

            In a world undergoing rapid transformation, twentieth century classical musicians brought forth a truly paradigm-shifting aural catalogue of human existence. Yet when we reflect on the genre’s history its central figures seem to share three characteristics: they were white, male and western. Sound Within Sound is the impassioned and exhilarating story of the composers who dared to challenge the conventional world of classical music in the twentieth century. Kate Molleson tells the stories of ten figures from across the globe who altered the course of musical history, only to be sidelined during an era that systemically favoured certain sounds – and people – over others.

            A celebration of radical creativity rooted in ideas of protest, gender, race, ecology and resistance, Sound Within Sound is an energetic reappraisal of twentieth-century classical music that opens up the world far beyond its established centres, challenges stereotypical portrayals of the genre and shatters its traditional canon.

            Michael Pedersen

            Boy Friends - A Memoir Of Joy, Grief And Male Friendship

              An intimate and original memoir of love, grief and male friendship by one of Scotland's brightest young talents.

              Ever feel like you were fated to be friends with someone? An alchemy in your meeting, instant fondness – part chemical, part kismet. This is how I’ve felt about every friend I’ve fallen in love with – none so much as you.

              In 2018, Michael Pedersen lost a most cherished friend soon after their collective voyage into the landscape and luminosity of the Scottish Highlands. Sitting at a desk at The Curfew Tower, Northern Ireland, Michael begins to write to his departed friend – Scott Hutchison. What starts as a love letter to one magical, coruscating human soon becomes a paean to many friendships – perhaps all friendship.

              In Boy Friends, Pedersen confronts the bewildering process of grief. As memories rise to the surface – both heart-wrenching and hilarious – he recalls his younger self: the overly sensitive boy growing up in working-class Edinburgh; his befuddling stint in an ancient collegiate university; a short-lived, combustible career as a lawyer; and, foremost, the gorgeous male friendships that have transformed his life.

              Written to glitter, with intoxicating energy, Boy Friends is a powerful depiction of friendship and loss, a homage to the beauty of moments shared.

              Simon Armitage

              Never Good With Horses - Signed Edition

                The first-ever collection of the Poet Laureate's lyric output.

                In Simon Armitage’s work, there has always been a territory he identifies as ‘a twilight zone’ where poetry and song lyric converge. He has explored it through numerous enterprises – most recently with the ‘ambient post-rock’ band Land Yacht Regatta. Many of the lyrics collected here were written for LYR. Others are drawn from Armitage’s days with the DIY indie band The Scaremongers, various film and theatre productions including Songbirds and the BAFTA-winning Feltham Sings, and other miscellaneous ventures. The volume’s ‘Intro’ charts these projects and the blurred origins of ritualised language, while its ‘Outro’ offers contextualising notes and anecdotal insights.

                Never Good with Horses further demonstrates the rich range of Armitage’s repertoire and celebrates his ear for the music of language, harnessed here for the page.

                Kate Bush

                How To Be Invisible

                  Selected and arranged by the author, How To Be Invisible presents the lyrics of Kate Bush in a beautiful new paperback edition featuring a new cover by illustrator Jim Kay. 'The greatest singer-songwriter of the past 40 years, whose work is complex, ethereal and filled with so many secrets that one can listen to the albums for decades and still discover new delights every time.

                  There's not a spare word anywhere in Bush's work. Everything means something.' Irish Times


                  Philip Watson

                  Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer : The Guitarist Who Changed The Sound Of American Music

                    The definitive biography of guitar icon and Grammy Award-winning artist Bill Frisell. FEATURING EXCLUSIVE LISTENING SESSIONS WITH: Paul Simon; Justin Vernon of Bon Iver; Gus Van Sant; Rhiannon Giddens; The Bad Plus; Gavin Bryars; Van Dyke Parks; Sam Amidon; Hal Willner; Jim Woodring; Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill'A beautiful and long overdue portrait of one of America's true living cultural treasures.'JOHN ZORN'The perfect companion-piece to the music of its subject.'MOJO'Outlines the subject's life in a series of scrupulous strokes and intimate interviews that are rare in such undertakings . .

                    . a cool, casual victory.'IRISH TIMESOver a period of forty-five years, Bill Frisell has established himself as one of the most innovative and influential musicians at work today. A quietly revolutionary guitar hero for our genre-blurring times, he connects to a diverse range of artists and admirers, including Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, Gus Van Sant and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, all of whom feature in this book.

                    A vital addition to any music lover's book collection, Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer tells the legendary guitarist's story for the first time. 'Stuffed with musical encounters, so many that every couple of pages there's an unheard Frisell recording for the reader to chase down.'NEW YORKER'Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer is the definitive biography.'BILL MILKOWSKI, DOWNBEAT'Superb . .

                    . the book races along like Sonny Rollins in full sail. Like subject, like writer: this is super-articulate, adventurous prose.'PERSPECTIVE'[Watson's] writing balances unbridled passion and dispassionate research nearly as deftly as Mr.

                    Frisell's playing does sound and silence . . .

                    compelling.'WALL STREET JOURNAL

                    Lou Reed & Laurie Anderson

                    The Art Of The Straight Line : My Tai Chi

                      The Art of the Straight Line captures the energy of Lou Reed's worlds of Tai Chi, music, and meditation. It was edited by his wife, the artist Laurie Anderson. Lou Reed was a musician, singer, songwriter, poet, and founding member of the legendary rock band the Velvet Underground.

                      He collaborated with many artists, from Andy Warhol and John Cale to Robert Wilson and Metallica. Reed had a groundbreaking solo career that spanned five decades until his death in 2013. Reed was also an accomplished martial artist whose practice began in the 1980s.

                      He studied with Chen Tai Chi pioneer Master Ren GuangYi. This book is a comprehensive collection of Reed's writings on Tai Chi. It includes conversations with Reed's fellow musicians, artists, friends, and Tai Chi practitioners, including Julian Schnabel, A.M.

                      Homes, Hal Willner, Mingyur Rinpoche, Eddie Stern, Tony Visconti, and Iggy Pop. 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.

                      Emma Warren

                      Dance Your Way Home : A Journey Through The Dancefloor

                        This book is about the kind of ordinary dancing you and I might do in our kitchens when a favourite tune comes on. It's more than a social history: it's a set of interconnected histories of the overlooked places where dancing happens . .

                        . Why do we dance together? What does dancing tells us about ourselves, individually and collectively? And what can it do for us? Whether it be at home, '80s club nights, Irish dancehalls or reggae dances, jungle raves or volunteer-run spaces and youth centres, Emma Warren has sought the answers to these questions her entire life. Dancing doesn't just refract the music and culture within which it evolves; it also generates new music and culture.

                        When we speak only of the music, we lose part of the story - the part that finds us dancing as children on the toes of adults; the half that triggers communication across borders and languages; the part that finds us worried that we'll never be able to dance again, and the part that finds us wondering why we were ever nervous in the first place. At the intersection of memoir, social and cultural history, Dance Your Way Home is an intimate foray onto the dancefloor - wherever and whenever it may be - that speaks to the heart of what it is that makes us move.

                        Brian Eno

                        A Year With Swollen Appendices : Brian Eno's Diary

                          The diary and essays of Brian Eno republished twenty-five years on with a new introduction by the artist in a beautiful hardback edition. 'One of the seminal books about music . .

                          . an invaluable insight into the mind and working practices of one of the industry's undeniable geniuses.'GUARDIANAt the end of 1994, musician, producer and artist Brian Eno resolved to keep a diary. His plans to go to the cinema, theatre and galleries fell through quickly.

                          What he did do - and write - however, was astonishing: ruminations on his collaborative work with artists including David Bowie, U2, James and Jah Wobble, interspersed with correspondence and essays dating back to 1978. These 'appendices' covered topics from the generative and ambient music Eno pioneered to what he believed the role of an artist and their art to truly be, alongside razor-sharp commentary on his day-to-day tribulations and happenings around the world. A fascinating, candid and intimate insight into one of the most influential creative artists of our time, A Year with Swollen Appendices is an essential classic, reissued for a new generation of readers.

                          This beautiful 25th anniversary paperback edition has been re-designed in A5, the same size as the diary that eventually became this book. It features two ribbons, pink paper delineating the appendices (matching the original hardback edition) and a two-tone cover that pays homage to the original design.

                          Paul Morley

                          From Manchester With Love : The Life And Opinions Of Tony Wilson

                            THE TIMES & UNCUT MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEARCritically-acclaimed and bestselling author Paul Morley's long-awaited biography of Factory Records co-founder and Manchester icon Tony Wilson. A BOOK OF THE YEARSUNDAY TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, MOJO, LOUDER THAN WAR'Compelling . .

                            . befitting its extraordinary subject.'BRIAN ENO'Bracing and often surprisingly tender . .

                            . the perfect monument.'SUNDAY TIMES'Via Morley's magical prose Tony Wilson comes back to life . .

                            . inspiring.'RICHARD RUSSELLTony Wilson was a man who became synonymous with his beloved city. As the co-founder of the legendary Factory Records and the Hacienda, he appointed himself a custodian of Manchester's legacy of innovation and change, becoming a cultural pioneer for the North.

                            To Paul Morley, he was this and much more: bullshitting hustler, flashy showman, inventive broadcaster, self-deprecating chancer, publicity seeker, loyal friend. It was Morley to whom Wilson left a daunting final request: to write this book. From Manchester with Love is the biography of a man who changed the world around him through sheerforce of personality.

                            In the cultural theatre of Manchester, Tony Wilson broke in and took centre stage. 'An immersive experience . .

                            . very moving indeed.'MIRANDA SAWYER, OBSERVER'Not just a "biog" but the story of a city's history and culture and a unique and disappearing figure.'STUART MACONIE, NEW STATESMAN'Morley's biography is as illuminating on Wilson's strange ability to hold others in his orbit, even after his death, as it is on the story of his life.'THE SPECTATOR'The man/myth Wilson died aged 57 in 2006, but here he burns on fantastically bright.'UNCUT

                            Dave Rimmer

                            Like Punk Never Happened : New Expanded Edition

                              The definitive account of the first rise and fall of Boy George and Culture Club, and British pop music in the 1980s. NEW EXPANDED EDITION, WITH A FOREWORD BY NEIL TENNANTFEATURES A BONUS CHAPTER ON DURAN DURAN AND A NEW AFTERWORD'Speaks from the centure of pop's beating heart.' DYLAN JONES'Fascinating.' NEW YORK TIMES'A controversial and honest account.' NME'Music journalism at its best.' THE WORDA story of money, sex, stardom, screaming fans and forgotten ideals, Like Punk Never Happened is Dave Rimmer's witty, authoritative, fast-moving and provocative insider account of the roller-coaster ride that was Boy George & Culture Club and the new '80s pop. 'Rimmer is among the most entertaining writers ever to pen a rock book.'ROCK AND ROLL CONFIDENTIAL'The funniest, smartest book I know about the connections between pop glitter and real-life human passion, the erotics of fandom, or the dirty details.'ROB SHEFFIELD, author of Talking to Girls about Duran Duran'As sharp a study of British pop as we'll get.'SIMON FRITH, CITY LIMITS

                              Warren Ellis

                              Nina Simone's Gum : A Memoir Of Things Lost And Found

                                THE TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLERA GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH, THE TIMES, IRISH TIMES, ROUGH TRADE, MOJO, CLASH, ROLLING STONE, UNCUT BOOK OF THE YEARFrom award-winning musician and composer Warren Ellis comes the unexpected and inspiring story of a piece of chewing gum. FEATURING AN INTRODUCTION BY NICK CAVE'Warren has turned this memento, snatched from his idol's piano in a moment of rapture, into a genuine religious artefact.'NICK CAVE'Such a mad, happy book about art and music and obsession. I'm so glad I got to read it.

                                It made the world feel lighter.'NEIL GAIMAN'In praise of meaning-rich relics and magical things. Totally heartwarming project.'MAX PORTER'A unique study of a fan's devotion, of transcendence and of the artistic vocation - it's got depth and great warmth. It's a beautiful piece of work.'KEVIN BARRYI hadn't opened the towel that contained her gum since 2013.

                                The last person to touch it was Nina Simone, her saliva and fingerprints unsullied. The idea that it was still in her towel was something I had drawn strength from. I thought each time I opened it some of Nina Simone's spirit would vanish.

                                In many ways that thought was more important than the gum itself. On Thursday 1 July, 1999, Dr Nina Simone gave a rare performance as part of Nick Cave's Meltdown Festival. After the show, in a state of awe, Warren Ellis crept onto the stage, took Dr Simone's piece of chewed gum from the piano, wrapped it in her stage towel and put it in a Tower Records bag.

                                The gum remained with him for twenty years; a sacred totem, his creative muse, a conduit that would eventually take Ellis back to his childhood and his relationship with found objects, growing in significance with every passing year. Nina Simone's Gum is about how something so small can form beautiful connections between people. It is a story about the meaning we place on things, on experiences, and how they become imbued with spirituality.

                                It is a celebration of artistic process, friendship, understanding and love. 'This is such a beautiful f*@king book. Thank you, Warren.

                                I highly recommend this motherf*@ker.'FLEA'A beautifully written book about the power of music and objects. I powered through it in two days.'COURTNEY BARNETT'A moving, inspiration insight into a beautiful mind.'JIM JARMUSCH'The year's most eccentric and joyful musical memoir.'DAILY TELEGRAPH (Books of the year)'[Nina Simone's Gum] is a metaphor for [Ellis'] creativity - the blossoming of a small idea into something bigger and bolder - but also a journey inside the impulsive, improvisatory mind of Warren Ellis, his passions, obsessions and superstitions.' OBSERVER'[A] beautiful, strikingly idiosyncratic book - part memoir, part essay, part conceptual art project, all testament to humans at their strangest and best . .

                                . [Ellis] sees signifiance where others might not.'MOJO'A glorious piece of object fetishism . .

                                . Marvel as Ellis' collection of eccentric personal mementos morphs into a celebration of the intangible wonder of music.'UNCUT'Wonderful.' THE TIMES'The most peculiar book I've ever read.' CRAIG BROWN, MAIL ON SUNDAY'Delightful . .

                                . A joy from start to finish.' BIG ISSUE'A joyous work full of love, connection, creativity and gratitude.' THE SPECTATOR'Completely charming and joyful . .

                                . glorious.' LA REVIEW OF BOOKS'Beautiful . .

                                . remarkable.' NEW EUROPEAN

                                Cosey Fanni Tutti

                                Re-sisters : The Lives And Recordings Of Delia Derbyshire, Margery Kempe And Cosey Fanni Tutti

                                  From the acclaimed author of Art Sex Music comes a vital meditation on womanhood, creativity and self-expression, and a revelatory exploration into the lives of three visionary artists. 'A fascinating tale of the interlinking lives of three legendary trailblazers.'SALENA GODDEN'Re-sisters emanates an enthralling power.'JUDE ROGERS, MOJO'Cosey Fanni Tutti has lived the life and has the stories to tell: not just hers, but those of two other still unheralded female pioneers.'JON SAVAGEMyself , Delia and Margery - a trinity of the sacred and profane , sinners and saints of a kind. Three defiant women with our individual, unconventional attitude to life.

                                  Untameable spirits, progressive thinkers living within the inherent societal constraints of our times. In 2018, boundary-breaking visual and sonic artist Cosey Fanni Tutti received a commission to write the soundtrack to a film about Delia Derbyshire, the pioneering electronic composer who influenced the likes of Aphex Twin and the Chemical Brothers. While researching Delia's life, Cosey became immersed in Derbyshire's story and uncovered some fascinating parallels with her own life.

                                  At the same time Cosey began reading about Margery Kempe, the 15th century mystic visionary who wrote the first English language autobiography. Re-sisters is the story of three women consumed by their passion for life, a passion they expressed through music, art and lifestyle; they were undaunted by the consequences they faced in pursuit of enriching their lives, and fiercely challenged the societal and cultural norms of their time. 'An impeccably researched meditation on womanhood as viewed through the lives of three firebrands.'FIONA STURGES, GUARDIAN'Awe-inspiring.

                                  Read these revelatory portraits: this book is for anybody who wants to discover the work of three women who, without fanfare, have enriched our world.'ROBERT WYATT'Passionate, original and fiercely defiant.'RUPERT THOMSON

                                  Jennifer Otter Bickerdike

                                  You Are Beautiful And You Are Alone : The Biography Of Nico

                                    A redemptive, myth-shattering biography of one of the twentieth century's most underestimated creative and artistic forces.

                                    'What I have in common with Nico is the understanding of her furious frustration at not being recognised.' - MARIANNE FAITHFULL

                                    The real story of Nico is one of determination, self-destruction and belief in one's artistic vision, at any cost. Nico was an ever-evolving myth, an enigma that escaped definition. Born Christa Paffgen, Nico grew up in war-torn Berlin before being scouted by a fashion photographer in her early teens. At age twenty-seven, she became Andy Warhol's newest Superstar, securing the position of chanteuse for the Velvet Underground. Though she is primarily remembered for contributions to their seminal debut album - and her relationships with Brian Jones, Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison - her own artistry and influence have often been overlooked.

                                    Nico spent most of her career as a solo artist on the road, enduring empty concert halls, abusive fans and the perilous reality of being a drug addict. Yet beneath the superficial denigrations and one-dimensional myths was a complicated visionary determined to make art that was truly her own. In You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone, defying the sexist casting of her life as the tragedy of a beautiful woman losing her looks, youth and fame, Jennifer Otter Bickerdike cements Nico's legacy as one of the most vital artists of her time, inspiring a generation of luminaries including Bjoerk, Morrissey and Iggy Pop.

                                    Containing over a hundred new interviews and rare archival material, this is an empowering reappraisal of an underappreciated icon.

                                    STAFF COMMENTS

                                    Javi says: One of the most enigmatic, problematic, and chameleonic figures in alternative music's history, who finally gets the biography she deserves. Iconic - Controversial - Nico.

                                    Tom Service

                                    The Listening Service: 101 Journeys Through The Musical Universe

                                      Based on his critically-acclaimed BBC Radio 3 programme The Listening Service, in which Tom Service takes an idea on an ear-opening and mind-expanding walk through the musical landscape every week, this book is a celebration of music's multi-dimensional power in our lives. With 101 short chapters based on the programmes and grouped thematically the book will open ears and imaginations to find answers to the questions we all have about why and how music - from Toots and the Maytals and J S Bach, Gustav Mahler and Miley Cyrus, to Anna Meredith and Mozart - works its magic over us. With direct links to the programmes using a QR code, the chapters draw on powerful and communicative anecdotes and analogies, as well as the latest scientific research, and above all, a spirit of discovery and connection across genres, cultures, and histories. At its heart is the conviction that music changes us.

                                      Bob Stanley

                                      Let's Do It: The Birth Of Pop

                                        The prequel to Bob Stanley's universally acclaimed Yeah Yeah Yeah, Let's Do It is the only book that brings together all genres to tell the definitive story of the birth of Pop, from 1900 to the mid-fifties.

                                        Pop music didn't begin with the Beatles in 1963, or with Elvis in 1956, or even with the first seven-inch singles in 1949. There was a pre-history that went back to the first recorded music, right back to the turn of the century . . . Who were the earliest record stars, and were they in any meaningful way 'pop stars'?

                                        Who were the likes of George Gershwin writing songs for? Why did swing, the hit sound for a decade or more, become almost invisible after the Second World War? The prequel to Bob Stanley's Yeah Yeah Yeah, Let's Do It is the first book to tell the definitive story of the birth of pop, from the invention of the 78 rpm record at the end of the nineteenth century to the beginnings of rock and the modern pop age. Taking in superstars such as Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra alongside the unheralded songwriters and arrangers behind some of our most enduring songs, Stanley paints an aural portrait of pop music's formative years in stunning clarity, uncovering the silver threads and golden needles that bind the form together.

                                        Bringing the eclectic, evolving world of early pop to life - from ragtime, blues and jazz to Broadway, country, crooning and beyond - Let's Do It is essential reading for all music lovers.

                                        Ian Winwood

                                        Bodies: Life And Death In Music

                                          Money, freedom, adoring fans: professional musicians seem to have it all. But beneath the surface lies a frightening truth: for years the music industry has tolerated death, addiction and exploitation in the name of entertainment. In Bodies, Ian Winwood explores the industry's reluctance to confront its many failures in a far-reaching story which features first-hand access to artists such as Foo Fighters, Green Day, Trent Reznor, Biffy Clyro, Kings of Leon, Chris Cornell, Mark Lanegan, Pearl Jam. Much more than a touchline reporter, Winwood also tells the tale of his own mental-health collapse following the shocking death of his father. Written with warmth, humour and bracing honesty, Bodies is a deeply personal story and essential reading for musicians and fans alike.

                                          Jeffrey Boakye

                                          Musical Truth: A Musical Journey Through Modern Black Britain

                                            This extraordinary retelling of black British history will dazzle readers of all ages.

                                            Music can carry the stories of history like a message in a bottle.

                                            Lord Kitchener, Neneh Cherry, Smiley Culture, Stormzy... Groundbreaking musicians whose songs have changed the world. But how? This exhilarating playlist tracks some of the key shifts in modern British history, and explores the emotional impact of 28 songs and the artists who performed them. This book redefines British history, the Empire and postcolonialism, and will invite you to think again about the narratives and key moments in history that you have been taught up to now. Thrilling, urgent, entertaining and thought-provoking, this beautifully illustrated companion to modern black music is a revelation and a delight.

                                            Caryn Rose

                                            Why Patti Smith Matters

                                              A radical exploration of the artistry and influence of Patti Smith: the Poet Laureate of Punk whose uninhibited creativity inspired an entire generation and triggered a cultural revolution.

                                              Patti Smith arrived in New York City at the end of the Age of Aquarius in search of work and purpose. Through her poetry, her songs, her unapologetic vocal power, and her very presence as a woman fronting a rock band, she kicked open a door that countless others walked through. No other musician has better embodied the "nothing-to-hide" rawness of punk, nor has any other done more to nurture a place in society for misfits of every stripe.

                                              Why Patti Smith Matters is the first book about the iconic artist written by a woman. The veteran music journalist Caryn Rose contextualizes Smith's creative work, her influence, and her wide-ranging and still- evolving impact on rock and roll, visual art, and the written word. Rose goes deep into Smith's oeuvre, from her first album, Horses, to acclaimed memoirs operating at a surprising remove from her music. The portrait of a ceaseless inventor, Why Patti Smith Matters rescues punk's poet laureate from "strong woman" cliches. Of course Smith is strong. She is also a nuanced thinker. A maker of beautiful and challenging things. A transformative artist who has not simply entertained but also empowered millions.

                                              Jeff Tweedy

                                              How To Write One Song

                                                One of the century's most feted singer-songwriters, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, digs deep into his own creative process to share his unique perspective about songwriting and offers a warm, accessible guide to writing your first song, championing the importance of making creativity part of your everyday life and experiencing the hope, inspiration and joy that accompanies it.

                                                Mark Mordue

                                                Boy On Fire: The Young Nick Cave

                                                  A brilliant and soulful biography of one of today's most acclaimed singer-songwriters, Nick Cave.

                                                  An intensely beautiful, profound and poetic biography of the formative years of the dark prince of rock 'n' roll, Boy on Fire is Nick Cave's creation story, a portrait of the artist first as a boy, then as a young man. A deeply insightful work which charts his family, friends, influences, milieu and, most of all, his music, it reveals how Nick Cave shaped himself into the extraordinary artist he would become.

                                                  A powerful account of a singular, uncompromising artist, Boy on Fire is also a vivid and evocative rendering of a time and place, from the fast-running dark rivers and ghost gums of country-town Australia to the torn wallpaper, sticky carpet and manic energy of the nascent punk scene which hit staid 1970s Melbourne like an atom bomb. Boy on Fire is a stunning biographical achievement.

                                                  Mark Edwards

                                                  The Tao Of Bowie: 10 Lessons From David Bowie's Life To Help You Live Yours

                                                    What would David Bowie do?

                                                    When life gets tough, who can we turn to for help? Who will help us find happiness, meaning and purpose? The Tao of Bowie suggests that we turn to David Bowie for guidance - and use his amazing journey through life as a map to help us navigate our own.

                                                    Buddhism was central to David Bowie's life, but he was a wide-ranging thinker who also drew meaning from other sources including Jungian psychology, Nietzschean philosophy and Gnosticism. The Tao of Bowie condenses these concepts - the ideas that inspired and supported Bowie throughout his life and career - into ten powerful lessons, each with a series of exercises, meditations and techniques to encourage readers to apply these learnings to their own lives.

                                                    The Tao of Bowie will help readers understand who they really are, clarify their purpose in life, manage their emotions and cope with setbacks and change. This fresh approach to the search for spirituality and happiness unites the perennial human quest for answers with the extraordinary mind and unique career of one of the most important cultural figures of the past halfcentury

                                                    Viv Albertine

                                                    Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

                                                      A new edition as part of the Faber Social Greatest Hits - books that have taken writing about music in new and exciting directions for the twenty-first century.

                                                      SUNDAY TIMES MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR
                                                      ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR
                                                      MOJO BOOK OF THE YEAR

                                                      In 1975, Viv Albertine was obsessed with music but it never occurred to her she could be in a band as she couldn't play an instrument and she'd never seen a girl play electric guitar.

                                                      A year later, she was the guitarist in the hugely influential all-girl band the Slits, who fearlessly took on the male-dominated music scene and became part of a movement that changed music.

                                                      A raw, thrilling story of life on the frontiers and a candid account of Viv's life post-punk - taking in a career in film, the pain of IVF, illness and divorce and the triumph of making music again - Clothes Music Boys is a remarkable memoir.

                                                      Tim Burgess

                                                      Tim Book Two

                                                        In 2012, Tim Burgess of the Charlatans published his hugely successful and critically acclaimed memoir, Telling Stories. Tim really enjoyed his new role as an author, and so here it is: Tim Book Two - a tale of Tim's lifelong passion for records, the shops that sell them, and the people who make them.

                                                        In some ways, the biggest events in Tim's life happened in the couple of years after he had finished writing his first book rather than in the forty years before. So he had more to say, but instead of another autobiography he chose a different way of telling the story. Tim set himself a quest. He would get in touch with people he admired, and ask them to suggest an album for him to track down on his travels, giving an insight into what makes them tick. It would also offer a chance to see how record shops were faring in the digital age - one in which vinyl was still a much-treasured format.

                                                        Tim assembled his cast of characters, from Iggy Pop to Johnny Marr, David Lynch to Cosey Fanni Tutti. Texts, phone calls, emails and handwritten notes went out. Here is the tender, funny and surprising story of what came back.

                                                        Tim Burgess is a singer-songwriter and record label owner, best known as the lead singer of one of the defining bands of the 1990s, The Charlatans.

                                                        Tim was born in Salford but grew up in a village near Northwich, Cheshire. Leaving school at 16 to work at ICI, his real love was music and soon afterwards he was invited to join new band, The Charlatans. They went on to have 3 number 1 albums and 17 top 30 singles. For 12 years, Burgess lived in Los Angeles but now lives back in the UK. 


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