Goodbye Babylon


Book Description

Contains personal insights on recent political events from this master of rumination and revelation. Bitchy, eccentric, brooding and razor sharp by turns, Ellis has crafted these brilliant vignettes to illuminate for the rest of us the corridors of power he has haunted for more than thirty years. Follows Goodbye Jerusalem.




It Still Moves


Book Description

In “a terrific piece of travel writing” a music journalist and New Yorker staff writer “takes us on a tour through the roots of American rural music” (The Guardian). “Where lies the boundary between meaning and sentiment? Between memory and nostalgia? America and Americana? What is and what was? Does it move?” —Donovon Hohn, “A Romance of Rust” Part travelogue, part cultural criticism, part music appreciation, It Still Moves does for today’s avant folk scene what Greil Marcus did for Dylan and The Basement Tapes. Amanda Petrusich outlines the sounds of the new, weird America—honoring the rich tradition of gospel, bluegrass, country, folk, and rock that feeds it, while simultaneously exploring the American character as personified in all of these genres historically. Through interviews, road stories, geographical and sociological interpretations, and detailed music criticism, Petrusich traces the rise of Americana music from its gospel origins through its new and compelling incarnations (as evidenced in bands and artists from Elvis to Iron and Wine, the Carter Family to Animal Collective, Johnny Cash to Will Oldham) and explores how the genre is adapting to the twenty-first century. Ultimately the book is an examination of all things American: guitars, cars, kids, motion, passion, enterprise, and change, in a fervent attempt to reconcile the American past with the American present, using only dusty records and highway maps as guides. “Like a smart, genial Persephone, Amanda Petrusich wanders the underworld of American roots music and reports back her insights with an open mind and an open heart.” —Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone “Sharply observed, intensely felt.” —Simon Reynolds, author of Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–84




Yes, Premier


Book Description

"Since 2002 - and for the first time since Federation - all state and territory governments in Australia have been held by the Australian Labor Party." "Yes, Premier features a chapter on each state or territory, and in each case focuses on the leader who has led their party to power and so created this unprecedented and historical situation. It examines each Labor premier (and in Tasmania's case, two!) and territory chief minister's individual rise to power and their political and personal style." "The chapters are written by experts in the politics and political culture of their home state. Part personal and part political biographies, the chapters also assess the instruments of leadership any modern state or territory leader must master in order to remain in the top job."--BOOK JACKET.




The Philosopher King


Book Description

Texas-born T Bone Burnett is an award-winning musician, songwriter, and producer with over forty years of experience in the entertainment industry. In The Philosopher King, Heath Carpenter evaluates and positions Burnett as a major cultural catalyst by grounding his work, and that of others abiding by a similar "roots" ethic, in the American South. Carpenter examines select artistic productions created by Burnett to understand what they communicate about the South and southern identity. He also extends his analysis to artists, producers, and cultural tastemakers who operate by an ethic and aesthetic similar to Burnett's, examining the interests behind the preservationist/heritage movement in contemporary roots music and how this community contributes to ongoing conversations regarding modern southern identity. The Philosopher King explores these artistic connections, the culture in which they reside, and most specifically the role T Bone Burnett plays in a contemporary cultural movement that seeks to represent a traditional American music ethos in distinctly Southern terms. Carpenter looks at films, songs, soundtracks, studio albums, fashion, and performances, each loaded with symbols, archetypes, and themes that illuminate the intersection between past and present issues of identity. By weaving together ethnographic interviews with cultural analysis, Carpenter investigates how relevant social issues are being negotiated, how complicated discussions of history, tradition, and heritage feed the ethic, and how the American South as a perceived distinct region factors into the equation.




Fly Fishing with Darth Vader


Book Description

One of the most gifted and entertaining journalists writing today, Matt Labash can extract comic humanity from even the most wary politicians, con artists, and rogues—while shedding wisdom about the rich corners of our American experience. Fly Fishing with Darth Vader pulls together the best of Labash’s feature writing and includes his masterful profiles of the outrageous characters who populate America’s periphery, his loving and lacerating portraits of New Orleans and Detroit, and his hilarious tirades on the health hazards of Facebook and the virtues of dodgeball. Among other must-read essays, Labash chronicles Al Sharpton’s eating habits, fishes the Snake River with Dick Cheney, and investigates the “great white waste of time” that is our neighbor to the north. Labash was born with a natural appreciation for the American scoundrel and a sense that life is one big chance for laughter. For those reasons, Fly Fishing with Darth Vader will be cherished and talked about for years.







The Gospel According to America


Book Description

Using icons from music, literature, film, and politics, David Dark hopes to provide fodder for lively conversation about what it means to be Christian and American in this day and age. The end result of this conversation, Dark hopes, will be a better understanding that "there is a reality more important, more lasting, and more infinite than the cultures to which we belong," the reality of the kingdom of God.




Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings


Book Description

Volumes 3 and 4 of the The Encyclopedia of More Great Popular Song Recordings provides the stories behind approximately 1,700 more of the greatest song recordings in the history of the music industry, from 1890 to today. In this masterful survey, all genres of popular music are covered, from pop, rock, soul, and country to jazz, blues, classic vocals, hip-hop, folk, gospel, and ethnic/world music. Collectors will find detailed discographical data—recording dates, record numbers, Billboard chart data, and personnel—while music lovers will appreciate the detailed commentaries and deep research on the songs, their recording, and the artists. Readers who revel in pop cultural history will savor each chapter as it plunges deeply into key events—in music, society, and the world—from each era of the past 125 years. Following in the wake of the first two volumes of his original Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, this follow-up work covers not only more beloved classic performances in pop music history, but many lesser -known but exceptional recordings that—in the modern digital world of “long tail” listening, re-mastered recordings, and “lost but found” possibilities—Sullivan mines from modern recording history. The Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volumes 3 and 4 lets the readers discover, and, through their playlist services, from such as iTunes toand Spotify, build a truly deepcomprehensive catalog of classic performances that deserve to be a part of every passionate music lover’s life. Sullivan organizes songs in chronological order, starting in 1890 and continuing all the way throughto the present to include modern gems from June 2016. In each chapter, Sullivanhe immerses readers, era by era, in the popular music recordings of the time, noting key events that occurred at the time to painting a comprehensive picture in music history of each periodfor each song. Moreover, Sullivan includes for context bulleted lists noting key events that occurred during the song’s recording




Flourish. Banner. Frame.


Book Description

Ornaments and motifs add something special to creative projects, but not all creatives can devote the hundreds of hours necessary to developing them. Flourish. Banner. Frame. is an amazing library of 555 original symbols, floral motifs, border treatments, frills, banners, shields, crests, ornaments, decorative frames, placards and cartouches. Each design element has been crafted with vector precision, and you can use this artwork within the context of your own projects, whether they are personal or professional in nature. There are 10 real-life examples in the book, so you can be inspired by top designers and illustrators. This extensive volume of ornaments and motifs is easy to use for any design or illustration project: publication layouts, book covers, website backgrounds, t-shirt graphics, scrapbooks, textiles, crafts, stencils, tattoos—and everything in between. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced design professional, you’ll turn to this resource again and again for years to come.




Best of the Black Keys


Book Description

(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook). 18 of the finest from this Ohio duo's first ten years, arranged for piano, voice, and guitar. Includes: Everlasting Light * Girl Is on My Mind * Gold on the Ceiling * I Got Mine * Lonely Boy * Psychotic Girl * Set You Free * 10 A.M. Automatic * Tighten Up * When the Lights Go Out * Your Touch * and more.