Morrissey Autobiography

An audiobook of Autobiography by Morrissey is released on CD format in the US. The audiobook is read by acclaimed British actor David Morrissey.

Author of Note To Self

Alina Simone is a singer and writer based in Brooklyn, NY. She was born in Kharkov, Ukraine and came to the U.S. at a young age as the daughter of political refugees after her father refused recruitment by the KGB and was blacklisted for ‘refusal to cooperate.’ Raised in the suburbs of Massachusetts, Simone moved to Austin, Texas after graduating from art school in Boston. It was there that she first started singing in public, in the doorway of an abandoned bar on Sixth Street. After the release of her first EP, Prettier in the Dark (2005), and her debut album, Placelessness (2007, 54º 40′ or Fight!), Simone became known for her sparse instrumentation and raw and powerful delivery, earning national airplay and critical acclaim.

Praise for How Music Works

"From the former Talking Heads frontman, a supremely intelligent, superbly written dissection of music as an art form and way of life...Byrne touches on all kinds of music from all ages and every part of the world... Highly recommended—anyone at all interested in music will learn a lot from this book."

—Kirkus (Starred Review)

"In this fascinating meditation, Talking Heads frontman Byrne (Bicycle Diaries) explores how social and practical context, more than individual authorship, shaped music making in history and his own career... his chapters on Heads recording sessions are some of the most insightful accounts of musical creativity yet penned. The result is a surprising challenge to the romantic cliché of musical genius... Byrne’s erudite and entertaining prose reveals him to be a true musical intellectual, with serious and revealing things to say about his art."

—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Kevin Young

Poetry & Music: Essays by Cooper, Emerson & Young

A poem turned top-40 radio hit; the sonic impressions of both a lyric poem and a memorable tune; and the parallels between Blues and modernist poetry are three examples of the varied intersections between poetry and music. Read essays on these topics by poets Wyn Cooper, Claudia Emerson, and Kevin Young from the newly-released anthology The Poetics of American Song Lyrics.

New Leonard Cohen Song to Be Streamed by The New Yorker

New Yorker poetry editor Paul Muldoon, who has been listening to Cohen since 1967, said that he is "thrilled" this will be happening in the magazine, which has recently been acknowledging the great power and achievement of singer-songwriters. ... See all stories on this topic »

Listen To A Musical Interpretation of Murakami’s ‘The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle’

If you’re getting a little sick of all those run-of-the-mill book reviews and formulaic music journalism, we don’t blame you. There are only so many ways to describe a sentence, after all. But try this on for size: New York City-based composer Ryan Anthony Francis has composed ‘Wind-Up Bird Preludes,’ a piano set based on Haruki Murakami’s beautiful novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, incorporating both literary and musical allusions into his work. 

Taken from: http://flavorwire.com/category/books

CAKE is proud to announce the release of "BOUND AWAY"

CAKE is releasing the book BOUND AWAY in tandem with BANDmade Books in San Francisco. The name of the book comes from a track off the band's most recent album, Showroom of Compassion, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard chart in January 2011. Of note is the band's complete involvement in all aspects of the creation of BOUND AWAY.

2 year anniversary show!

HAPPY ENDING MUSIC & READING SERIES

feat. Nelly Reifler, A.M. Homes, Michael Cunningham w/ musical guests Sam Amidon & Doveman
7:00 pm; $15
New York's "most vital authors' series" (Time Out NY) celebrates it's second anniversary!
click here for tickets

Daily Dose Pick: James Hamilton

2:00 pm Monday Jan 3, 2011 by Shana Nys Dambrot

Collecting four decades of work, James Hamilton’s You Should Have Heard Just What I Seencombines the dedication of a photojournalist with the passion of a true music fan and the eye of a fine-art photographer.

The new book, edited by longtime friend and frequent subject Thurston Moore, chronicles Hamilton’s 40 years immersed in the downtown NYC music and art scene. Lovingly culled from the artist’s vast private archive, the volume also features never-before published candid photographs of icons from Joni Mitchell to the Ramones.

Visit James Hamilton’s official website, read an excerpt of Thurston Moore’s essay via Vanity Fair, watch a video from Hamilton’s recent gallery opening in Tribeca, and buy a copy of the book.

Poems about jazz by Yusef Komunyakaa and W.S. Di Piero from Poetry magazine.

Strange Fruit / Poetry Off the Shelf : The Poetry Foundation

The Rock Bottom Remainders

Elizabeth Goodman

Cat Power: A Good Woman

by Elizabeth Goodman
Book NineteenReview:

"Chan Marshall does not want you to read this book." When a book starts off like that, you have to force yourself to push forward to find out what could be so bad that a person is against you reading their story. Who is Cat Power? or Chan Marshall? This is one of those books that you want to put down many times, but are afraid you may miss out on some important message and are reluctant to abandon.

Having seen Cat Power in concert a few times, I felt compelled to getting to know her beyond the music. She has been a controversial character from the get go, whether it be her stage presence or addictions, she is dramatic in every sense of the word. After reading this book, I am still not sure it matters where she came from, because I do not have any idea where she is going. Besides indie music lovers, no one I know even knows or cares about her. It is sad to say, but I do not think she will ever become the star she has the potential to be. Her cult like following is all she really has going for her.

I just recently saw her open for The Pretenders and there were probably a dozen people in the audience who knew of her and cared that she was on stage. She really has a powerful voice, a great band behind her and a spooky stage presence that makes her worth seeing as an opener or main act. This book takes you behind the scenes and into the tormented, psychotic life of one young girl. A must read for music fans alike.

Goodman, the editor-at-large at Blender, interviews her family and friends such as Thurston Moore, Nick Cave, Dave Grohl, Jack White, Bill Callahan, Vincent Gallo, Karl Lagerfeld and Wong Kar-Wai, trying to paint the real Chan Marshall. Although, this is not an ordinary biography,Goodman really tries her hardest lure you in to the private life of an indie singer. The New York Times, Alan Light said it best:

It is very much to Goodman's credit that Cat Power: A Good Woman sustains interest, especially since Marshall refused to participate. Goodman thoroughly explores the central drama of Marshall's life: the "career-long argument Chan has with herself…about whether or not she wants to be up there singing in the first place"…Goodman makes a decent case—to this skeptical reader, anyway—for Cat Power's musical significance.

Lyrics to "Good Woman", which appears on the album You Are Free:

I want to be a good woman

And I want, for you to be a good man.
This is why I will be leaving
And this is why, I can’t see you no more.
I will miss your heart so tender
And I will love
This love forever

I don’t want be a bad woman
And I can’t stand to see you be a bad man
I will miss your heart so tender
And I will love
This love forever
And this is why I am leaving
And this is why I can’t see you no more
This is why I am lying when I say
That I don’t love you no more

Cause I want to be a good woman
And I want for you to be a good man

Boog City's 5 Days of Poetry & Music

Ugly Duckling Presse

at

Boog City's 5 Days of Poetry & Music

Sept 9-12, 2009

Friday, September 11, 7pm to 1am Boog Poet's Theater (starting at 9pm) featuring plays from Charles Bernstein, Corina Copp and Dana Ward, Kristen Kosmas, Filip Marinovich, etc. and performance by Dan Machlin (11pm) @ Sidewalk Cafe, 94 Ave. A, at E. 6th St., NYC

Saturday, Sept 12, Noon - 9pm Boog City Poetry Fest with many readers including UDP authors:Rachel Levitsky (2pm), Karen Weiser (4:45), Dana Ward (5:20) @ Unnameable Books, 600 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn (btwn Prospect and St.Marks)

Sunday, Sept 13, Noon - 9pm Boog City Poetry Fest with many readers including UDP authors: Corina Copp (4:40) and Lewis Warsh (4:55) @ Unnameable Books, 600 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn (btwn Prospect and St. Marks)

Joe Pernice

"It Feels So Good When I Stop" is a companion piece to Joe Pernice's debut novel It Feels So Good When I Stop. According to Pernice,'Though the book is not explicitly about music, there are quite a few cover and fictional songs mentioned, so I thought it would be a cool idea for me to record some of those songs and release them, as a soundtrack album to the novel.''

About Joe Pernice

Joe Pernice began his recording career in the mid-90 s with the Scud Mountain Boys, in Northampton, Massachusetts. They released two records before signing to Seattle s Sub Pop in 1996 and releasing Massachusetts, along with The Early Year, a compilation of the two pre-Sub Pop recordings. In 1997, he disbanded the Scuds to form Pernice Broth ers, whose debut Overcome By Happiness was released by Sub Pop, as was Chappaquiddick Skyline, more of a Joe Pernice side project in 2000. Big Tobacco, a Joe Pernice solo record was released in Europe in 2000 (and later in the US). Later that year, Joe left Sub Pop and he and his longtime manager Joyce Linehan established Ashmont Records, based in Boston, where they have released several Pernice Brothers records: The World Won t End (2001) , Yours, Mine and Ours (2003), Nobody s Watch ing/Nobody s Listening live album and DVD (2004) Discover a Lovelier You (2005) and Live a Little (2006). Joe has also published a volume of poetry called Two Blind Pigeons and a novella for Continuum Books 33 1/3 series, Meat is Murder. His music has appeared in the movies Fever Pitch and Slaughterhouse Rules, the television shows Six Feet Under and The Gilmore Girls, and in television ads for Sherwin-Williams, Sears and Southern Comfort. A Massachusetts native, he now lives in Toronto. A new album of Pernice originals is planned for early 2010.

(taken from Amazon.com)

What do people have to say about Leonard Cohen?

LEONARD COHEN AND HIS CRITICS 

by Michael Gnarowski

Book Ten

Review:

So much to say about Cohen and here are a few words of wisdom from the great man himself.

”Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in. 

”A scar is what happens when the word is made flesh” 

”Every heart to love will come – but like a refugee” 

”Act the way you'd like to be and pretty soon you'll be the way you act” 

”I don't consider myself a pessimist. I think of a pessimist as someone who is waiting for it to rain. And I feel soaked to the skin” 

”The term clinical depression finds its way into too many conversations these days. One has a sense that a catastrophe has occurred in the psychic landscape” 

“We are so small between the stars, so large against the sky” 

This is from the blurb on the back:

"Poet, singer, novelist, song writer, pop saint - Leonard Cohen's writing is discussed here from many points of view. The essential reviews, articles, fascinating interviews and controversies are gathered together for the first time from sources as diverse as Canadian Literature, The Village Voice, Weekend Magazine and the New York Times Review for Books, among many others.

Michael Gnarowski's Introduction offers a perspective in which each contribution takes on added significance, while the collection itself provides context in which not only individual passages but all Cohen's novels and poetry may be further appreciated..."

Yes, Leonard Cohen is a poet!

Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs

by Leonard Cohen

Book Nine

Review:

Even if you aren't familiar with Cohen as a musician, you've probably heard his music. "Suzanne" "Bird on a Wire," "Famous Blue Raincoat," "Joan of Ark", and "Hallelujah". Cohen has written many other songs too, as well as poetry and prose poetry not set to music. If you have not read any other Cohen books, read this first - it has a great variety of poems and clips of prose. The chapters are laid out by book and album title.

I suggest you listen to some of the poems that turned into songs after you read this book to really get the feel for the "voice" of the man. A few months ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Cohen perform at the Beacon Theater and was mesmerized by his stage presence. The crowd of people that he attracted was unbelievable. There were a ton of celebrities, musicians and travelers in the audience. You could tell that you were in the presence of something special. If you haven't been exposed to Cohen, you need to rush out now and grab onto anything you can find.

Neko Case

My Flaming Hamster Wheel of Panic About Publicly Discussing Poetry in This Respected Forum  by Neko case

When I was asked by Poetry to write an article for them I was ecstatic. I was flattered. I felt important! I agreed immediately. About twenty minutes after sending my e-mail of acceptance I paused to triumphantly sharpen my claws on the bookcase when I noticed the blazing, neon writing on the wall. It said: YOU'VE NEVER EVEN PASSED ENGLISH 101 AND EVERYONE WHO READS THIS MAGAZINE WILL KNOW IT. Why do I care? I'm not sure. I think it's because I don't want to let poetry down. Poetry is such a delicate, pretty lady with a candy exoskeleton on the outside of her crepe-paper dress. I am an awkward, heavy-handed mule of a high school dropout. I guess I just need permission to be in the same room with poetry. 

I think the fear began in about fifth grade. Right off the top they said poetry was supposed to have "form." Even writing a tiny haiku became a wrestling match with a Claymation Cyclops for me. (I watched a lot of Sinbad.) We aren't too cool for poetry; it's the other way around. At least that's the impression I took from public school. The fact that these feelings would remain into adulthood is ridiculous. We all have the right to poetry! How could I still think it's for other people? Smarter people. What's doubly confusing is I don't have the same reservations when poetry is accompanied by music. Perhaps I feel that way because there is music all around us — it's the wallpaper of our lives. It's not considered precious in American culture unless a symphony is performing it. 

I do know when a string of printed words busts my little dam and the tears spill over and I sponge them up with my T-shirt. I couldn't give you that formula before it happens, it  just hits me like a bat to the face. That's a sweet, hot, amazing, embarrassing moment. It even makes me feel a little included, as if  I have to be "ready for the poetry" for it to be happening. 

I can't choose which kind of poetry I like best. Sonnets? Prose? I don't know the terminology. I just blurt out some fragmented gibberish into the vast, woodsy country of poetry. It freezes in midair. Here come some examples now . . . 

Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus haunts me. Aaron's death speech is veiled, venomous gospel music. I read it over and over even though I've already memorized it like a teenage girl in love. W.H. Auden scares me under the couch (even when he's being funny). I hold my flashlight on "The Witnesses," with its haunting "humpbacked surgeons/And the scissors man," until my arm shakes, my trusty dictionary in my other hand. Dorothy Parker makes me manic! I can't even make it through the first three lines of "The Godmother" without bursting into tears. Lynda Barry and Sherman Alexie save my life constantly. They battle identity crisis with a sense of  humor and a language that speaks so hard to me because they came from my home, in my own time, and they talk to me in our special parlance. They tell me I'm not crazy because they remember it too. It really is the old Washington State that created my personal brain-picture ABC's. (D is for "Douglas fir.") The same Washington State I can never go back to. Barry and Alexie volunteer to go in my place. Their memories make friends with mine. I can't live without them. 

What do these poets have in common? They don't write sycophantic, roman-numeral-volumed postcards to God. They don't get all "love-ity-love-love" either. I get the sense they imagine their audience and want to comfort them. They are so good at it they even have the ability to comfort us with scariness. Sadness too. I think that is a powerful magic. They don't just write poetry either; they are playwrights and painters and singers and novelists. 

How can we help them out? I guess we keep on needing them, even if it's kind of a secret. If the poets handed out anonymous comment cards for us shy poetry lovers to fill out so they could get a better idea of what we needed, I would direct them to the Osbourne Brothers' bluegrass classic, "Rocky Top." They say in two lines what poets and writers "Anna Karenina" themselves to death to convey, about a girl who's "wild as a mink, but sweet as soda pop/I still dream about that." If those lines were written about me I could lie down and die. It is perfection. Uncool Perfection. 

This essay originally appeared in the November 2007 issue of Poetry.

Tom Moon

1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die 

by Tom Moon

You have heard of the book and have wanted to check out the music. Well, now you can go to Moon's website and explore the online version of the list (published alphabetically in the book). 

Jonathan Lethem

Jonathan Lethem,longtime author and 

first-time songwriter collaborated with the Silos to release the album, I'm Not Jim. Check out their myspace to listen to a few tracks.

The World in Six Songs

The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature is written by Daniel J.Levitin, a research scientist and ex-record producer. Some artists cited in this work include Sting, The Talking Heads, Brownsville Station and Johnny Cash. If you enjoyed This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, you'll love this book!

"This is the worst idea for a book I've ever heard - it makes me want to vomit. The idea encapsulates the very worst part of Western thought. It makes a purely Socratic distinction about something that isn't intellectualizable." [One week later:] "I take it back - I'm sorry! This is great!" — Joni Mitchell