A chronicle of a lifetime's passion for gig-going, by one of British television's most respected writers. “Foreground Music is an absolute gem. Charming, very funny and often achingly melancholy, Graham Duff's memoir is suffused with a genuine passion for live music and its (occasionally eccentric) power. —Mark Gatiss The result of a lifetime's passion for gig-going by one of British television's most respected writers, Foreground Music is at once enthusiastically detailed and tremendously illuminating—of both the concert moment and its place in popular culture. It is an engaging memoir of a life lived to the fullest, and a vivid, insightful, and humorous exploration of what music writing might be. Foreground Music describes music performances that range from a Cliff Richard gospel concert, attended by Duff at the age of ten, to the fourteen-year-old Duff's first rock show, where the Jam played so loudly he blacks out, to a Joy Division gig that erupted into a full-scale riot. Duff goes on pub crawls with Mark E. Smith of the Fall, convinces Paul Weller to undertake his first acting role, and attempts to interview Genesis P. Orridge of Throbbing Gristle while tripping on LSD. Foreground Music captures the energy and power of life-changing gigs, while tracing the evolution of forty years of musical movements and subcultures. But more than that, it's an honest, touching, and very funny story of friendship, love, creativity, and mortality, and a testimony to music's ability to inspire and heal. Illustrated with photographs and ephemera from the author's private collection.

Ethnomusicology: A Contemporary Reader is designed to supplement a textbook for an introductory course in ethnomusicology. It offers a cross section of the best new writing in the field from the last 15-20 years. Many instructors supplement textbook readings and listening assignments with scholarly articles that provide more in-depth information on geographic regions and topics and introduce issues that can facilitate class or small group discussion. These sources serve other purposes as well: they exemplify research technique and format and serve as models for the use of academic language, and collectively they can also illustrate the range of ethnographic method and analytical style in the discipline of ethnomusicology. Ethnomusicology: A Contemporary Reader serves as a basic introduction to the best writing in the field for students, professors, and music professionals. It is perfect for both introductory and upper level courses in world music.

Examining all aspects of the music industry functioning in contemporary American life, this book heightens students' awareness of the variety of musical experience available in everyday life and leads them from familiar subjects to the details of behind-the-scenes operations in the industry.

This collection of interviews with Hollywood composers offers the most intimate look ever at the process of writing music for the movies. From getting started in the business to recording the soundtrack, from choosing a musical style to collaborating with directors, including Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, the Coen brothers, Terry Gilliam, Kenneth Branagh, and Ken Russell, from learning to deal with editing to writing with time-sensitive precision, the leading practitioners in the field share their views on one of the most important -- and least understood -- aspects of filmmaking: the motion picture art that's heard but not seen.

This book is a solid introduction to the music industry for students with no prior experience, offering a comprehensive overview of the people, technologies, and law that impact on all aspects of the music business. Inside the Music Industry focuses primarily on popular/rock music and how it is created, marketed, recorded, and packaged, as well as the various media in which music plays apart, from radio to video, television, print, and film. The second edition has been thoroughly updated to take into account new developments over the last five years, including digital recording and broadcasting technology, changes in the copyright laws, and legal issues raised by new technologies, such as the controversy over "sampling" existing recordings. Throughout the text, new examples, photographs, and charts have been added to enhance the timeliness of the work.