Listen To This

In Listen to This, the award-winning music critic and author of The Rest is Noise, Alex Ross looks forward and backward in musical culture: capturing essential figures in classical music history, as well as giving an alternative view of recent pop music.

Winner of the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism A New York Times Book Review Top Ten Book of the Year Time magazine Top Ten Nonfiction Book of 2007 Newsweek Favorite Books of 2007 A Washington Post Book World Best Book of 2007 In this sweeping and dramatic narrative, Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker, weaves together the histories of the twentieth century and its music, from Vienna before the First World War to Paris in the twenties; from Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia to downtown New York in the sixties and seventies up to the present. Taking readers into the labyrinth of modern style, Ross draws revelatory connections between the century's most influential composers and the wider culture. The Rest Is Noise is an astonishing history of the twentieth century as told through its music.

Listen To This If You Love Great Music is a must read for anyone with even a passing interest in music. Featuring 100 of the best albums from the last four decades, clashmusic.com​ editor Robin Murray shares his passion for exceptional music and offers insightful takes on what elevates these records above the competition. Robin steers clear of the usual classics – The Beatles and The Clash, for example – and instead goes deep into his record collection to pull out the albums he considers the greatest ever. For each, a solid case is made for why it represents a watershed moment in music history, outlining the story behind the record and critiquing what constitutes a classic. Uniquely curated to offer a fresh perspective on the last 40-plus years of music, find politically charged rock brushing shoulders with dub-infused electronica, progressive pop and dreamy shoegaze shaken awake by ear-drum rattling grime and house music. Whether it’s bass-heavy hip-hop from Nas that inspired a thousand MCs to pick up a mic or experimental indie dance from LCD Soundsystem that blurred genres and tempted musicians to trade in their guitars for synthesizers, this is an essential rundown of the albums that really matter. You need to play them loud.

Listen to the Music is a narrative non fiction trip through the history of music, complete with 12, 10 second sound clips of the world's best loved, era defining pieces from baroque to bebop.

Listen to This stands out as the first book exclusively dedicated to Davis’s watershed 1969 album, Bitches Brew. Victor Svorinich traces its incarnations and inspirations for ten-plus years before its release. The album arrived as the jazz scene waned beneath the rise of rock and roll and as Davis (1926–1991) faced large changes in social conditions affecting the African-American consciousness. This new climate served as a catalyst for an experiment that many considered a major departure. Davis’s new music projected rock and roll sensibilities, the experimental essence of 1960s’ counterculture, yet also harsh dissonances of African-American reality. Many listeners embraced it, while others misunderstood and rejected the concoction. Listen to This is not just the story of Bitches Brew. It reveals much of the legend of Miles Davis—his attitude and will, his grace under pressure, his bands, his relationship to the masses, his business and personal etiquette, and his response to extraordinary social conditions seemingly aligned to bring him down. Svorinich revisits the mystery and skepticism surrounding the album, and places it into both a historical and musical context using new interviews, original analysis, recently found recordings, unearthed session data sheets, memoranda, letters, musical transcriptions, scores, and a wealth of other material. Additionally, Listen to This encompasses a thorough examination of producer Teo Macero’s archives and Bitches Brew’s original session reels in order to provide the only complete day-to-day account of the sessions.

One of The Telegraph's Best Music Books 2011 Alex Ross's award-winning international bestseller, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, has become a contemporary classic, establishing Ross as one of our most popular and acclaimed cultural historians. Listen to This, which takes its title from a beloved 2004 essay in which Ross describes his late-blooming discovery of pop music, showcases the best of his writing from more than a decade at The New Yorker. These pieces, dedicated to classical and popular artists alike, are at once erudite and lively. In a previously unpublished essay, Ross brilliantly retells hundreds of years of music history—from Renaissance dances to Led Zeppelin—through a few iconic bass lines of celebration and lament. He vibrantly sketches canonical composers such as Schubert, Verdi, and Brahms; gives us in-depth interviews with modern pop masters such as Björk and Radiohead; and introduces us to music students at a Newark high school and indie-rock hipsters in Beijing. Whether his subject is Mozart or Bob Dylan, Ross shows how music expresses the full complexity of the human condition. Witty, passionate, and brimming with insight, Listen to This teaches us how to listen more closely.

Listen to the music. Hear the elements. Expand your playlist. Created for today''s students, Listen To This, 3/e provides readers with the tools to listen to music, hear the elements, and ultimately expand their musical horizons. Readers are encouraged to explore history, culture, and musical styles through active listening, not just through passive reading. By concentrating on the elements of music, students develop the ability to connect earlier music with their own music. Praised for its engaging writing style, flexible format, listening-oriented approach and focus on musical elements, Listen To This will instill a life-long appreciation and understanding of music in students'' by expanding their playlist today! This new edition retains the admired focus on the basic elements of music with the addition of new features to offer an enhanced online learning experience with MyMusicLab. Key learning tools within MyMusicLab include significantly expanded Needle Drop exercises, new Listening Guide assessments, the all new Writing Space learning tool, and more! Teaching and Learning Experience This program will provide a better teaching and learning experience--for you and your students. It: Personalizes Learning with MyMusicLab: MyMusicLab is an online homework, tutorial, and assessment program, complete with Writing Space, a tool to enhance student essay writing. MyMusicLab helps students prepare for class and instructors gauge individual and class performance. Encourages Active Listening: Redesigned online Listening Guides, developed for tablet as well as PC compatibility, encourage student engagement and understanding through the use of visuals (including animated visual scores by Stephen Malinowski), tailor-made assessments, and personalized learning tools. Includes Tools to Improve Critical Thinking: Key Learning Outcomes encourage students to think critically about visual arts as part of the larger world. Engages Students: Updated scholarship, MyMusicLab, and the readability of the text provide a wonderful engaging student experience. Provides Outstanding Instructor Support: With a wealth of online resources, including an expanded teacher''s manual, instructors have videos, images, and teaching support materials to create a dynamic, engaging course. Offers a Fully Integrated Digital Experience: Complete with eText, streaming audio, listening guides, and MyLab assets, all at an affordable price. Note: You are purchasing a standalone product; MyMusicLab does not come packaged with this content. If you would like to purchase both the physical text and MyMusicLab search for ISBN-10: 0205994431 / ISBN-13: 9780205994434. This package includes: 0205978614 / 9780205978618 Listen to This and 0205986838 / 9780205986835 NEW MyMusicLab with Pearson eText -- Valuepack Access Card - for Listen to This. ALERT: Before you purchase, check with your instructor or review your course syllabus to ensure that you select the correct ISBN. Several versions of Pearson''s MyLab & Mastering products exist for each title, including customized versions for individual schools, and registrations are not transferable. In addition, you may need a CourseID, provided by your instructor, to register for and use Pearson''s MyLab & Mastering products. Packages Access codes for Pearson''s MyLab & Mastering products may not be included when purchasing or renting from companies other than Pearson; check with the seller before completing your purchase. Used or rental books If you rent or purchase a used book with an access code, the access code may have been redeemed previously and you may have to purchase a new access code. Access codes Access codes that are purchased from sellers other than Pearson carry a higher risk of being either the wrong ISBN or a previously redeemed code. Check with the seller prior to purchase.