#books about music

[gothicmagpie]

“Thousands of women erupted into shrieks. I remembered Vavra telling me that incidents of shattered eardrums at the boys’ concerts were rising, prompting the entertainment company that managed them to recommend earplugs. But I saw none being worn by the fans around me. They were finally breathing the same air as the boys; now was not the time to be less of a body.”

-from Y/N by Esther Yi.

#Y/N #esther yi #book quotes #books about music

[meeghanreads]

Top 5 books about music

Hello friends!! Welcome to Top 5 Tuesday!! This week’s topic is top 5 books about music!! According to the British Indian Ocean Territory’s National Holidays Calendar (I had no idea it was a BIO calendar when I did the prompts), 2 February is National Ukulele Day. So, because my brain melted when I did the prompts for this quarter and I needed some inspiration, we have been linking topics to…

View On WordPress

#A Thousand Perfect Notes #Books #Books about music #C. G. Drews #Chris Russell #Daisy Jones and The Six #Jen Wilde #Music #Read #Songs About a Girl #Soul Music #Taylor Jenkins Reid #Terry Pratchett #The Brightsiders #Top 5 Tuesday

[pjstafford]

Pledging My Time - A Review

Pledging My Time is a book by Ray Padgett published by EWP Press in 2023. It is a book of forty interviews with people who have been in Bob Dylan's band or, in some way or another, have been a musical collaborator.

Bob Dylan has a 60-year history of being one of, if not the most, influential and essential writer, performer, and musician of our modern times. The possibility for scholarship seems as never-ending as his legendary touring schedule. This book has a simple task - interview people who have played with Bob to see what that is like. It is so simple that it is hard to believe it hasn't been done before and, yet, I predict, this book will be quoted in scholarship about Dylan for decades to come.

What I like best about the book is the variety of people interviewed- from the performance artist responsible for the Soy Bomb incident to Jeff Bridges, from the early years to Rough and Rowdy Ways. I liked that the author included footnotes of clarification because no one has a perfect memory. I like that there were different versions of the same events. I like most that it was not about Dylan's personal life. We might hear that a leg of the tour was challenging because Dylan was having marital issues, but that does not elicit follow-up questions about the romantic drama as much as a follow-up about what it was like to play with Dylan while he was going through personal life stuff. I would have liked more in certain portions of Dylan's musical career. It left me wanting more.

So what are my five top takeaways?

Dylan is not as aloof as we have heard. There are stories in this book about performers who worked alongside Dylan for a tour without Dylan speaking much to them. There are many stories, though, about Dylan being shy and, yet, he goes to a rat pack concert, walks with a bandmate at night through the streets of cities, attends a baseball game, he plays cards on the tour bus. These are stories we don't typically hear which humanizes him in a nice way.

Dylan is highly respected and honored among almost all musicians who have played with him. Perhaps, this shouldn't be surprising, but stories of Tom Petty, who while touring with the Heartbreakers often skipped sound checks, coming to every sound check while touring with Dylan out of respect "in case" Dylan wanted to work something up with the band. The person who said that, with all the great musicians who dropped by to play, George Harrison was the only one who was of par. The stories of musicians who played alongside him for several concerts and suddenly found themselves in tears on stage realizing that they were playing with Dylan on THAT song. Those show the incredible talent and respect in which musicians hold him. People love him for his lyrics and his music and for his historical type of interest in music of all genres.

Dylan loves children. Again, perhaps this shouldn't be surprising. He is after all a father of six and a grandfather, but the stories of bandmates children having an interaction with Dylan is priceless. One person indicated that Dylan seems to like kids because they don't know he's famous and are not in awe of him.

Dylan is an athletic type of guy. I knew he was a boxer, but there are not many stories of boxing. There are biking around Europe, going to the batting cages, and swimming at the Y in different towns. How does a man with a grueling tour schedule keep going into his eighties? Incorporating physical activities in the routine of touring has, perhaps, helped over the years.

Dylan approach to music is kind of like jazz, many band members said. It was a challenge to play with him because no song is sung or played the same. Some band members thrived with this approach and some did not, but several commented on it. He is clearly in charge of the direction he wants his music to go and what worked great on one leg of the tour might not be where he wants to go on the next. Many musicians spoke about keeping a strict eye on him the whole time and described a certain movement in his leg or his shoulder to know he was appreciating their playing.

The book has already enhanced my enjoyment of his playing. I watched a video the other day of Tom Petty and Bob Dylan singing into the same microphone and remembered the musician from the Heartbreakers who talked about the intimacy of that - that they are smelling each other's breath in that moment. I had never considered why they made that decision or how it might impact their ability to play together - like brothers - like a tri

I recommend the book and look forward to a second volume if one is released.

#bob dylan #tom petty #Books about music

[ourmindonmusicpodcast]

"The Cello Still Sings" by Janet Horvath

View On WordPress

#books about music #Canada #Canadian #cello #classical music #Janet Horvath #music #music discussion #Music Education #music history #music of our youth #musician #The Cello Still Sings #Women in Music

[verityreadsbooks]

Book of the Week: Reach for the Stars

A non-fiction pick today, just to make a change… I was very much buying pop music through a lot of this era, so it was fascinating to read the story behind the music, as told by (most of) the people who were there. The majority of this book takes the form of quotes from the people involved – with comments and context from the author inserted where necessary. Michael Cragg is a music writer, who…

View On WordPress

#Book of the Week #book reviews #books #books about music #music books #New books #non-fiction #pop culture

[pensivegladiola]

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

#books #literature #book recommendations #quotes #literature quotes #black authors #books about music #violin #novels #reading #reading recommendations #contemporary fiction #fiction #music #booklr #book quotes

[unpretty]

society is spiraling and culture is a wasteland. i know this because i looked and most people prefer things that are fun and easy, making fun and easy things extremely popular. this is the first time that's ever happened, historically.

#original #why is every post about books and movies and music and food like this #also the posts are always about tiktok like it's a mystery why the most popular app's most popular posts are about popular interests #please learn to accept when you are simply out of step with popular culture which i know you are because you are on tumblr #i know everyone hated hipsters and their interests being more obscure than yours but at least they recognized that they were the outliers #'hipsters suck because they think their taste is sooo much better than everyone else smh' #'my tastes are extremely normal which is why i can say definitively that popular things must be popular due to a conspiracy of some kind'

[whitneydaniell]

by: Phyllis Dixon Published: Jul 25, 2023 Genre: Contemporary, Adult, Fiction 320 Pages, E-Book Courtesy of NetGalley

★★

GoodReads Synopsis:

An insightful and dramatic novel of women’s friendship, feuds, and fame as a 1990s pop music group, reminiscent of Destiny’s Child, reunites for a second shot at mega-success and must deal with both the new demands of today’s social media and the same old traps of yesterday. Perfect for fans of Terry McMillan and Sheila Williams.

Angel. Carmen. Doreen. Jade. Talented Memphis girls who had a brush with pop music fame—guided by Carmen's warm-hearted mother. But when she was elbowed out for a bigger manager, Carmen walked too. The bitter breakup shattered the Diamonds' never-easy “sisterhood” ��and cost them the big-time Now a reunion offers a fresh start, just as mid-life struggles are pushing all four to the brink.

My Review:

This was a quick and easy read but, the story itself was very predictable and underwhelming.

The story of The Diamonds is told through the point of view of each member, with two (maybe 3) chapters told by them as a group. Jade, Carmen, Doreen, Angel, and Ms. Gloria really give you Xscape, plus Mama Joyce or, Destiny's Child, plus Ms. Tina.

One of my biggest issues with the story is, how quickly the pacing of the chapters - it all seemed rushed and I had no concept of the timing of the story. From what seems like just a few days is really months. There is a car accident and then a few chapters later, it has been a whole year. It feels like so much was put into each storyline but, nothing was really fleshed out. The characters have no substance.

Carmen spends most of the story making rash and immature decisions without thinking of the long-term (or even short-term) implications of her actions. Most of her behavior is not the way I would envision a 40-something-year-old woman.

Doreen has a sordid past with her husband and to their credit, turned their lives around. However, for most of the story her husband, James is selfish, controlling, unhelpful, and rude! I hated that for Doreen and wanted her to stand up for herself.

Jade, oh Jade. Naive as they can be but also, with a husband who is literal trash. Her personal story and journey were much more confusing to me. Again, the pacing just didn't allow for her to be fully fleshed out.

Angela (Angel) is BIG "I just want to be solo" vibes. While she does have some redeeming qualities, it comes late in the story. From the jump, she rubbed me the wrong way.

Another issue is, when we jump to the present-day Diamonds, what year is the present day? The prologue says that the original group got together in 1991, then six years later they were stars and preparing to tour internationally when Carmen quits, this would be 1997. Then 20 years later is 2017 and the story runs for a little over a year, let's say 2 (I think). By my math, if its 2019 and Doreen is 40, then in 1991, she would have been 12! Something about the timeline is throwing me off.

Final thoughts: It reads like a Tyler Perry play or film. Lots of emphasis on God even when it's borderline ridiculous. "God is the best lawyer. We just need to pray," that is a direct quote.

One-Word Summary: Laughable

#Intermission #Phyllis Dixon #books about black women #books i read #tbr 2023 #fiction books #books about music #contemporary books #young women books #2 star reads

[jackklinemybeloved]

[…]

Percy’s warning to fellow half-bloods in the audience, across different mediums.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (2005) The Lighting Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (2017) Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series Teaser (2023)

#I have been thinking about making this for SO long #but this semester sucked #anyway I love it when adaptations play to their strengths and make changes to fit the medium #and these little differences tingle my brain a little bit #I didn’t want to check if the movies had something similar because I am Tired and the show and movie version would be pretty similar #anyway #the musical line always gets me #‘better get headed to the exits now’ is such a good adaptation of the ‘close this book idea’ #and I know I could’ve just done one of the excerpts from the book but I like both #and I didn’t want to have the paragraph in between to make it just like. a block of text. #percy jackson #pjo #pjo disney+ #pjo Disney #walker scobell #pjo show #percy jackon and the olympians #web weaving #riordanverse

[iphigeniacomplex]

it’s very easy to tell the good satires and pastiches from the bad ones because the bad ones are too afraid to live within the form. like if you are doing work with fairy tales and you are refusing to look closer at the underlying logic and unspoken rules of what can seem at first to be a senseless form, you are not going to create meaningful work. to borrow a turn of phrase originally used by maria tatar, if you refuse to enter “the house of fairy tale” as anything more than a gawking tourist, you will miss the particular order to the way the table is set, the rooms that are locked vs the rooms that are simply difficult to enter, the set of the floorboards and the position of the furniture. whatever you build will then be a gilded imitation of how you believe the house of fairy tale ought to look, the table set according to your educated specifications and every door open. there can be no interrogation of themes from a writer who views the form as beneath them!

#it speaks! #sondheim understood this with into the woods; the deconstruction of narrative itself is able to happen because we are able to believe in -> #<- the fairy tale logic he employs prior to this. #its a kids book but adam gidwitz understood this with a tale dark and grimm!! #cant speak for the rest of the series but that first book uses the absurdity of fairy tale logic to speak about the absurdity of -> #<- adulthood and the pedagogy present in many fairy tales to discuss the ways parents hurt their children. #rule of threes is important but theres so much on my list ive yet to read; always welcome recommendations. #fairy tales #into the woods #<- this comes from musings on how successfully i feel that musical functions so it gets the tag

[yet-another-autism-blog]

It's actually really ableist that I have several expensive interests and no money. I should be given 5k a month just autism related spending money

#actuallyautistic #actually autistic #autism #autistic #autism spectrum disorder #this is sarcasm #but also its true #special interest #i have several expensive special interests #they all tie into each other #glam rock music which leads into fashion/makeup #but also ties into music in general #anyway i went to the store to buy hair dye and black face glitter #because i need it for an outfit for an upcoming concert #they didnt have either one #but i stopped at the bookstore #and they had david bowies moonage daydream book #about ziggy stardust #and they had a beginners learn-to-play drums set #and i wanna learn to play drums #but i think i need to get better at guitar before i take on a whole new instrument #but i cant justify spending the money right now #especially with the upcoming concert #thats going to be expensive #i have to go out of state for it

[yookikiku]

「Future Eve」 displayed at NicoNicoChokaigi 2024

#niconicochokaigi #hatsune miku #2024 #future eve #very brief explanation but #an exhibition called the “world of music if” is held at a Japan held event “niconicochokaigi2024” #the theme of this exhibition is “what if that popular song's mv was drawn by a different artist” #and i was assigned to draw the “what if” for future eve! #ill make a different post about this soon! #i did a book signing event there yesterday!

[m-ir-a-nd-a]

My most anticipated chapter.

#snippets of my life #book #books #brian eno #Steve Reich #books about music #musician #composer #music composer #contemporary music #my photo

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

#polls #incognito polls #anonymous #tumblr polls #tumblr users #questions #polls about interests #movies #tv shows #music #books #video games #friends #recommendations #submitted nov 15

[scribefindegil]

As much as I adore conlangs, I really like how the Imperial Radch books handle language. The book is entirely in English but you're constantly aware that you're reading a "translation," both of the Radchaai language Breq speaks as default, and also the various other languages she encounters. We don't hear the words but we hear her fretting about terms of address (the beloathed gendering on Nilt) and concepts that do or don't translate (Awn switching out of Radchaai when she needs a language where "citizen," "civilized," and "Radchaai person" aren't all the same word) and noting people's registers and accents. The snatches of lyrics we hear don't scan or rhyme--even, and this is what sells it to me, the real-world songs with English lyrics, which get the same "literal translation" style as everything else--because we aren't hearing the actual words, we're hearing Breq's understanding of what they mean. I think it's a cool way to acknowledge linguistic complexity and some of the difficulties of multilingual/multicultural communication, which of course becomes a larger theme when we get to the plot with the Presgar Translators.

#imperial radch #also a great example of the 'you don't have to be Tolkien' phenomenon #if you want to think about linguistic differences by building all the languages in your setting #and being able to explain what those differences are through actual texts in the language in question #that's AWESOME #but it's not the only way to do it #it's also interesting because of course this style only works in book form #everyone's speaking different languages but in a written account they're all 'translated' for you #but of course if it was a TV series they would all have to be speaking a language the audience understands #(or you *would* have to go wild with conlangs) #and i think that's really cool as well-- #how for a series where song is so central we don't actually hear any of the actual in-universe words or any of the music #it's all been filtered #and again you know this is happening but seeing the examples of how real songs--the shape hymns and 'L'homme Arme'--are presented #makes you a lot more viscerally aware of how limited your perspective is #it's good #ann leckie i love you

[panthermouthh]

What could go wrong

#Victor Frankenstein #Frankenstein #the creature #frankenstein 1931 #gothic art #gothic literature #mary shelley #gothic lit #not sure if I really like this but since finishing the book again I have even More stuff I want to do #but that’ll take time and planning #so here ya go <33 #I’m gonna check out that musical people keep talking about in the tags lol #text from the original 1931 movie #my art