This book provides the first comprehensive musicologically-informed account of Icelandic singer-songwriter Bjork. Bjork is internationally recognized for her unique and innovative musical style, as well as her collaborative working relationship with artists, musicians and sound engineers. Her work crosses the boundaries between club and dance culture and high art. Bjork has won numerous awards, including Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in the film Dancer in the Dark, for which she also wrote the music. Nicola Dibben presents an analysis of audio and video tracks, live...

Finalist, ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards 2012, Performing Arts and Music (Adult Non-Fiction) Brian Wilson is a musical genius. Ever since British press agent Derek Taylor launched a publicity campaign with that theme to promote the landmark LP Pet Sounds in 1966, some variation of that claim has been obligatory when discussing the significance of the Beach Boys' founder and chief composer. Originally designed to liberate Wilson from his outmoded image as a purveyor of sun-and-surf teen pop so the symphonic sophistication of his music might be properly appreciated, the assertion has...

For ten years between 1965 and 1975, James Brown was the most popular and cutting-edge of any black artist. As one journalist put it, "before Brown, there was music with a beat. After Brown music had found a groove." The drawing out of this "groove," leveraged on "the one," - or the first and third beats of a 4/4 bar, - would provide the key to much of Brown's subsequent musical success and instil within popular music an unprecedented drive that would characterize not only the funk style, but also provide the rhythmic blueprint for dance music up to the present day. This book explores how...

In this book, Ian Inglis provides a succinct critical appreciation of the group that is balanced, informative and objective.