JANUARY - MARCH 2026
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Day in the Life of a Global Website Manager
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The 18th-century publicity stunt that turned the house where Shakespeare was born into the tourist a raction it is today
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COLLECTIONS
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COLLECTIONS
33 1/3
UK January 2026 • US January 2026
168 Pages
PB 9798765132708 • £10 99 / $14 95
ePDF 9798765132722 • £9 89 / $13 45
ePub 9798765132715 • £9 89 / $13 45
Bloomsbury Academic
COLLECTIONS
33 1/3
UK March 2026 • US March 2026
144 Pages
PB 9798765133552 • £10 99 / $14 95
ePDF 9798765133576 • £9 89 / $13 45
ePub 9798765133583 • £9 89 / $13 45
Bloomsbury Academic
COLLECTIONS
33 1/3
UK March 2026 • US March 2026
160 Pages
PB 9798765133248 • £10 99 / $14 95
ePDF 9798765133262 • £9 89 / $13 45
ePub 9798765133279 • £9 89 / $13 45
Bloomsbury Academic
Interpol's Antics
Gabriel T Saxton-Ruiz, University of the Incarnate Word, USA
At the dawn of the 21st century, the New York City indie rock scene emerged as a beacon of artistic innovation, capturing widespread attention Within this vibrant milieu, Interpol’s second album, Antics, stands out as a landmark release
Released in 2004, Antics initially received a spectrum of responses acclaimed by fans yet somewhat dismissed by critics Nevertheless, time has favored Antics, elevating it to a revered status among aficionados Covering everything from its intricate musical craftsmanship to its innovative marketing, this book explores Interpol’s creative evolution and the album’s shift toward distinct singles while preserving its atmospheric essence
Highlighting Interpol’s widespread appeal, especially in Latin America, this book examines their passionate fanbase and the cultural phenomena that emerged, showcasing the enduring bond between the band and their international audience It also considers the global impact of Antics, underscoring the album’s longevity and Interpol’s role as architects of a sound that has resonated across borders and generations, cementing their place in the annals of modern music history
Mazzy Star ’s So Tonight That I Might See Anthony Gomez III, University of Oklahoma, USA
Anthony Gomez III explores how out of the commercial failure of the 1980s Paisley Underground genre, a Los Angeles that suffered one of the highest crime rates in the country, the rise of Chicano/a art in the public eye, and record label disputes, singer Hope Sandoval and guitarist David Roback form the influential dream pop band Mazzy Star
Mazzy Star ’s So Tonight That I Might See was a slow, reluctant success Pushed by Capitol Records as an album for teenagers to make out during, as a record about girlhood, and as music for those uninterested in the era’s male aggression, the album’s reputation has been plagued by these forced connections ever since Not that the band’s Hope Sandoval or David Roback ever publicly cared to dispel these notions They preferred to disdain publicity and offer their art without introduction But there is far more to the Mazzy Star story than media-reluctant musicians and corporate-generated narratives
By tracing the hurried development of their second record, this book revisits how imposed mythologies have contributed to the marginalization of Hope Sandoval’s Mexican American background, and the band’s place in the larger tradition of Chicano music It combs through the histories of musicians involved in Sandoval and Roback’s prior projects to highlight how Mazzy Star formed partly in response to the rising violence and gentrification of their hometown Los Angeles
Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material
Kevin Dunn, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, USA
Situating the band and its groundbreaking debut within the context of The Troubles, this book explores the band’s complicated and controversial relationship with the Belfast punk scene, a scene that actively defied violent social divisions to create important non-sectarian spaces through which an “Alternative Ulster” was imagined and put into practice
Stiff Little Fingers’ 1979 debut album, Inflammable Material, was the first independent album to ever reach the UK Top 20 and is regarded as one of the most influential punk releases of all time, containing the singles Suspect Device” and “Alternative Ulster ” Inflammable Material was both a product of, and response to, The Troubles, the era of political violence in Northern Ireland that claimed more than 3,500 lives over three decades
Though Inflammable Material was regarded as the clarion call for that scene, with anthemic songs now regarded as synonymous with the times, the band was often viewed with suspicion and outright hostility by many of their contemporaries
COLLECTIONS
33 1/3 Europe
UK February 2026 • US February 2026
128 Pages
HB 9798765111277 • £60 00 / $80 00
PB 9798765111260 • £16 99 / $22 95
ePDF 9798765111291 • £15 29 / $20 65
ePub 9798765111284 • £15 29 / $20 65
Bloomsbury Academic
CCCP - Fedeli Alla Linea's 1964-1985 Affinità-Divergenze Fra Il Compagno Togliatti E Noi Del Conseguimento Della Maggiore Età
Giacomo Bottà, University of Turku, Finland
A squat in West Berlin, a farmhouse in Fellegara, a garret in Reggio Emilia, a cellar in Bologna - where is AffinitàDivergenze Fra Il Compagno Togliatti e Noi really from? This book traces the tangled geographies behind one of Italy’s most enigmatic records asking: how do places shape music, and how does music make space?
Giacomo Bottà explores the groundbreaking album by Italian band CCCP – Fedeli alla Linea, arguing that their aesthetic, musical and ideological approach embodies an ‘imaginary and affective territorialization’ caught between maximalism and minimalism
Through chapters that analyze the band’s origins, the album as an artifact and its deeper theoretical implications, the book explores CCCP’s ambiguous position, their unique sound and their lasting influence on Italian alternative music Ultimately, this study reveals the band’s out-of-time and out-of-place nature, capturing their controversial yet pioneering role in shaping creative identities across Europe
COLLECTIONS
33 1/3 Oceania
UK January 2026 • US January 2026
160 Pages
HB 9798765137000 • £60 00 / $80 00
PB 9798765137017 • £16 99 / $22 95
ePDF 9798765137031 • £15 29 / $20 65
ePub 9798765137048 • £15 29 / $20 65
Bloomsbury Academic
Tame Impala’s Currents
Alister Newstead, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia
Tame Impala’s psychedelic third album Currents (2015) is emblematic of a cultural shift in music production and consumption in the early days of streaming and a project that cemented its creator, Kevin Parker, as one of Australian music’s most unlikely success stories and influential exports
Currents marked a conscious shift in sound and attitude for its creator, West Australian polymath Kevin Parker, resisting his role as psych rock savior to embrace soul, disco, funk and his latent pop instincts The result was Tame Impala’s most popular and influential album, transforming them into festival-headlining, internet-famous Gen Z idols and turning the ear of popular acts, from Rihanna and Lady Gaga to Travis Scott and Dua Lipa Parker ’s increasingly substantial credits as a collaborative producer and songwriter, with the likes of these artists as well as The Weeknd, Mark Ronson, Justice, Gorillaz and many more, served to enshrine him as a modern architect of pop music Not bad for a shy, shaggy teen who used to lurk in basement Perth venues and play gigs with a towel on his head
This book dives deep into Currents, examining its context, creation, content and lasting impact on the history of Australian popular music The album’s theme of metamorphosis and genre-blurring sound embodied (and possibly encouraged) a wider shift in the 2010s of popular music trends, consumption and listening habits
COLLECTIONS
UK January 2026 US November 2025
280 Pages • 16 x b/w photos; 1 x 8-page
4CP photospread
PB 9781493074785 • £21 99 / $29 95
ePDF 9798765161630 £19 79 / $26 95
ePub 9781493074792 • £19 79 / $26 95
Backbeat
Magnum Opus
The Unbelievable 15-Year Saga of Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy
James Greene Jr , Freelance writer, Austin, TX, USA
By 1993, Guns N’ Roses had hit practically every benchmark possible for a rock n’ roll band Their eight-year journey had included an explosive and game-changing debut record, a self-indulgent but even more successful double album release, a handful of raucous global tours, and various front-page controversies over their lyrics, band members’ drug addictions, and lead singer Axl Rose’s rattlesnake temper
The most captivating part of the Guns N’ Roses story was just beginning, however A fifteen-year saga was about to unfold over the creation of the group’s sixth studio album, Chinese Democracy a perverse and jaw-dropping tale that would come to involve not only a small nation of diverse musical talent but also several figures from the world of professional sports, a multinational soft drink company, and the FBI Cultural critics couldn’t agree if the resulting work was unprecedented genius or a criminally mediocre
Magnum Opus: The Unbelievable 15-Year Saga of Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy recounts in engaging depth and detail the long and often ludicrous road to the last mythic rock ’n’ roll album of the 20th Century Of course, Chinese Democracy was not released until well into the 21st Century, and Magnum Opus assembles a thrilling narrative of the mishaps, detours, and near-death experiences that accompanied the long journey to its release
COLLECTIONS
UK February 2026 • US February 2026
328 Pages • 20 Color Photos
PB 9781493078028 • £23 99 / $32 95
ePDF 9798765161647 • £21 59 / $29 65
ePub 9781493078035 • £21 59 / $29 65
Backbeat
When Rock Met Hip-Hop
How Run-DMC, Aerosmith, Anthrax, The Beastie Boys, and More Crossed Cultural and Musical Boundaries
Steven Blush, Freelance writer, New York City
One of the most important events in modern music remains the late 80s cross-collision of rock and hip hop. Aerosmith/Run DMC, Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique, Public Enemy and Anthrax, Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, De La Soul and Third Bass, and the 318 hip hop records that sampled Billy Squier ’s “The Big Beat exemplify the era Rap records sampled rock bands, elevating sampling into an art form, while influencing all other forms of popular music One of the themes this book will explore is the way the fusion of rap and rock gave hope to a sense of interracial harmony In keeping with When Rock Met Disco and When Rock Met Reggae, this title relates the musical cross collision, and cultural fallout that changed music for the better, and remains an influence through today
COLLECTIONS
UK February 2026 • US February 2026
208 Pages
HB 9798765124710 • £90 00 / $120 00
PB 9798765124758 £17 99 / $24 95
ePDF 9798765124734 • £16 19 / $22 45
ePub 9798765124727 • £16 19 / $22 45
Bloomsbury Academic
Punk and Disorderly
Acting Out Gender and Class in First-Wave British Punk
Karen Fournier, University of Michigan, USA
A discussion of the 1970s British punk scene, this book foregrounds the participation of women as performers and songwriters in early British punk, and examines how women in the scene crafted expressions of social alienation that were informed by the intersection of classism and sexism
Early British punk rock is often associated with male bands like the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, the Buzzcocks, or The Stranglers, whose songs capture and reflect a historical moment in Britain that was defined by unemployment, nationwide strikes, racial strife, and the growing sense of hopelessness within a seemingly deteriorating British Empire While lesser-known, the work of female punk bands like Penetration, The Raincoats, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Slits, and X-Ray Spex also engaged with these themes, but added a gendered perspective on what it meant to be “an underdog” in Britain in the 1970s
Through a close reading of punk art, fashion, and music, this book examines how female contributors to the early British scene responded uniquely to the alienation expressed by their male peers, and demonstrates how social alienation was inflected by the intersection of classism and sexism in the work of those women who helped to shape the early British scene
COLLECTIONS
UK November 2025 • US November 2025
424 Pages • 24 b/w photos
HB 9798881802714
• £25 00 / $35 00
ePDF 9798765155950 • £22 50 / $31 50
ePub 9798881802721 • £22 50 / $31 50
Bloomsbury Academic
Punk
Spirit!
An Oral History of Punk Rock, Spirituality, and Liberation
John Malkin, author
A wide cast of musicians and artists provide surprising and thought-provoking insights into punk rock from the lens of spirituality and liberation
Punk Spirit! is an oral history that examines this movement from many unique perspectives, bringing together well-known and cutting-edge bands including Sex Pistols, Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, The Ramones, Gang of Four, Pussy Riot, Crass, Talking Heads, Propagandhi, The Slits, Bad Religion, Shelter, Rebel Riot, Blackfire, and many others
Punk Spirit! ventures into the emotional and personal experiences of punk artists and activists from around the world and highlights intelligent, thoughtful, and humorous discussions on liberation, spirituality, and living freely They discuss a myriad of topics from creativity and anger to freedom from suffering and the ways that punk rock has opposed or embodied religious and moral tenets Chapters dive deeply into a variety of interconnected realms of punk rock such as the subgenre of straight edge, Krishnacore and Taqwacore, evangelical punk concerts in southern California churches, illegal punk concerts in East German churches, anti-religious sentiment within punk rock, the vital connections between punk and selfexpression, and the myriad ways punk rock has been combined with spiritual and religious traditions to illuminate ideas from science, atheism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other ways of being in the world
COLLECTIONS
UK January 2026 • US November 2025
192 Pages • 20 b/w illustrations
HB 9781538195635 • £25 00 / $34 00
ePDF 9798881856540 • £22 50 / $30 60
ePub 9781538195642 • £22 50 / $30 60
Bloomsbury Academic
Magic Moments
The Perry Como Story
Matthew Long
This biography explores the inspiring story of one of the world’s greatest entertainers, from humble beginnings to superstar success
Matthew Long sheds light on the enduring popularity of the Italian American legend In a career spanning 65 years, Como perfected a style and approach to popular music that was timeless and cross-generational in its appeal Magic Moments provides fresh insights into the life of a man whose relaxed on-screen persona belied his strong work ethic and high standards, both personally and professionally After years of one-nighters on the road as a band singer, Perry was ready to give up singing at 30, but through the belief and insistence of his wife, Roselle, he would go on to become an international superstar From barber to balladeer, Perry Como’s story is one that epitomizes the “American Dream ”
Como’s prolific achievements on record and his pioneering contributions to the television medium are discussed in detail, supported by commentary from friends, colleagues, and critics Each chapter focuses on a specific period in the Como career and includes a recommended listening section Completing the study is an extensive, specially curated index of essential songs from records, radio, television and beyond
COLLECTIONS
For the Record: Studies in Rock and Popular Music
UK February 2026 • US February 2026
248 Pages
PB 9798216382829 • £28 99 / $39 95
HB 9781666973792 • £90 00 / $120 00
ePDF 9798216251132 • £81 00 / $108 00
ePub 9781978767263 • £81 00 / $108 00
Bloomsbury Academic
American Melodies
Popular Music, Ecology, and the Quest for Community
Robert McParland, Felician University, USA
Robert McParland explores American music as a bridge between art, audiences, and the environment
American Melodies is a study of America’s varied music genres that is grounded in interviews with folk, rock, and jazz musicians, music listeners, songwriters, and organizers of music programs in local communities The author explores artists’ ecological, social, and technological concerns and the ways that music as an art form can reflect upon and actively reshape lived realities Through interviews and conversations, he examines how the spirit of jazz, folk music and Americana, country, and rock music brings to life relationships between people, connection with their communities, and expression of social and ecological concern
COLLECTIONS
UK February 2026
• US February 2026
248 Pages
PB 9798765138656 • £28 99 / $39 95
HB 9781501354472 • £90 00 / $120 00
ePDF 9781501354496 • £81 00 / $108 00
ePub 9781501354489 • £81 00 / $108 00
Bloomsbury Academic
Electro Rap
Science Fiction, Fantasy and Reality in the Circuitry of Hip Hop
Adam de Paor-Evans, University of Plymouth, UK
The culture of hip hop shifted dramatically soon after the first wave of studio-recorded vinyl releases at the turn of the 1980s Drawing upon science fiction, ideas of fantasy, futurism, and sociocultural dynamics, this book presents a study of the impact and influence of electro rap on the formative years of recorded hip hop and beyond
de Paor-Evans reveals a parallel and occasionally dialectical evolution of hip hop music spawned from transatlantic, transdisciplinary, and transcultural engagements and unearths linkages between innovations in music technology, fantasy, folklore, arcade and video gaming, non-white diasporas, and transglobal politics of the time
Historically located between 1982 and 1987, the book takes exemplary well-known and equally obscure records as points of departure for analysis It makes visible the greater significance of formative and future electro rap in hip hop culture, other musics and broader society
UK February 2026 • US February 2026
352 Pages
PB 9798216382386 • £28 99 / $39 95
HB 9781666902174 £90 00 / $120 00
ePDF 9798216269410 • £81 00 / $108 00
ePub 9781978767058 • £81 00 / $108 00
Bloomsbury Academic
African American Covers of Country Music Before Ray Charles
Timothy Dodge, Auburn University, USA
Timothy Dodge explores African American interest in and participation in country music from the earliest days of the recording industry’s racial segregation of vernacular music into African American “race” and white “hillbilly” music
Ray Charles’s then-controversial decision to record an entire album of country music covers in 1962 turned out to be a major success that, in effect, made it “legitimate” for African Americans to record country music However, the author ’s intensive research reveals that African Americans had been recording such music as far back as the early 1920s
Previous scholarship has focused on the important influence of African American popular music, especially the blues, on country music This study investigates the prevalence of country music first recorded by white artists subsequently recorded by African Americans artists from several musical genres including blues, R &B, gospel, jazz, and pop
The author analyzes and discusses his findings to confirm that African American interest in and participation in country has been part of the music’s history from the beginning despite the segregation of such vernacular music by the early recording industry into the basic racial categories of “race” and “hillbilly,” the influence of which to some extent continues to inform contemporary 21stcentury understandings of country music
COLLECTIONS
UK February 2026 US February 2026
192 Pages
PB 9798765124802 • £28 99 / $39 95
HB 9798765124765 £90 00 / $120 00
ePDF 9798765124789 • £81 00 / $108 00
ePub 9798765124772 • £81 00 / $108 00
Bloomsbury Academic
Remembering Mgqumeni Polyphonic Narratives of His Life, and Music
Kathryn Olsen, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and Stellenbosch University, South Africa
A detailed documentation and analysis of music and lyrics of iconic maskanda musician, Mgqumeni, this book offers carefully researched insights in to the contemporary Zulu belief system and associated challenges
Mgqumeni continues to have influence in the maskanda domain as musicians imitate his style in the quest for success in the marketplace His name is referenced and appropriated by others in the field as a way of enticing audience support, and interest from the recording industry Commercial maskanda is made and distributed through a cut-throat monopoly
The book draws out a deeper understanding of the life experiences and aspirations of ordinary Zulu people through the creative presentation of multifaceted perspectives and agendas attached to the telling of Mgqumeni’s story It includes analysis and translation of the sound structures and the lyrics of Mgqumeni’s music, which are used as a source of insight into his life experiences The book takes a postcolonial stance in that it resists exoticizing or demonizing Zuluness but takes refuge in a transparent recognition of the author ’s role as both a stranger, and a compatriot
Bob Dylan
UK May 2025 •
256 Pages
HB 9781399416306 • £20 00 / $28 00
ePDF 9781399416276 £14 00 / $19 60
ePub 9781399416283 • £14 00 / $19 60
Bloomsbury Continuum
Jewish Roots, American Soil Harry Freedman
From the day that Bobby Zimmerman first turned on the radio in his parents’ home in Hibbing, he’d had a pretty good idea that big things were happening
When Bob Dylan arrived in New York one winter morning in 1961 he was a complete unknown His music and spirit would go on to capture the hearts and minds of a generation, but what no one knew then was that, like so many before him, Dylan was concealing his Jewish origins
Covering the same turbulent years as the hit film starring Timothée Chalamet, this entertaining biography offers new insights into Bob Dylan's early career For Harry Freedman, Dylan’s roots are the key to grasping how this young musician burst onto the scene and reinvented not only himself, but popular music The instinct for escape and reinvention has defined Dylan’s long career
Freedman traces the heady atmosphere of the 1960s and the folk-rock revolution spearheaded by Dylan Right up until the moment in 1966 when Dylan stepped out onto the stage and went electric – exploring how his musical decisions, genius for reinvention and his Jewishness go inescapably hand in hand
COLLECTIONS
Double Stopping
UK January 2026 US January 2026
296 Pages
PB 9798765135037 • £28 99 / $39 95
HB 9798765135044 £90 00 / $120 00
ePDF 9798765135068 • £81 00 / $108 00
ePub 9798765135075 • £81 00 / $108 00
Bloomsbury Academic
How Migration Shaped the Careers of Australia’s Celebrity Violinists
Edited by Suzanne Robinson, University of Melbourne, Australia & Curt Thompson, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Australia
Double Stopping traces the migration of celebrity violinists to and from Australia to investigate routes of contact between metropoles and peripheries, and the impact of world wars and political instability on patterns of musical migration
Mobility and migration were integral to the careers of twentieth-century concert artists Double Stopping explores how the increasing speed of travel and communication, the development of new media and the rise of celebrity culture enabled outstanding musicians to construct a global career
Documenting movement through and between Belgium, Britain, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia and emerging hubs in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, this book explores aspects of musical migrant culture including the influence of teachers who were themselves migrants, the role of arts organizations in promoting (or hampering) the careers of immigrant musicians, the impact of the explicitly racist ‘White Australia’ policy on immigrant artists whose mission was to propagate whiteness and cultural elitism, the obstacles faced by women as aspiring soloists as well as immigrants, and the ways that migration re-oriented or re-shaped career trajectories It argues that an approach to the history of music performance through the lens of migration can bring into view lives that have been obscured because they crossed borders and transgressed boundaries
COLLECTIONS
UK March 2026 • US March 2026
320 Pages
HB 9798765111048 • £95 00 / $130 00
PB 9798765111086 • £28 99 / $39 95
ePDF 9798765111062 • £85 50 / $117 00
ePub 9798765111055 • £85 50 / $117 00
Bloomsbury Academic
Music with Stanley Cavell in Mind
Edited by David LaRocca, Cornell University, USA
Why does Stanley Cavell’s philosophical thought matter for music? And how did Cavell’s musical practice and appreciation of music give shape to his indelible philosophical claims about cinema, human speech, opera, the expression of skepticism, and ordinary language philosophy?
Music with Stanley Cavell in Mind provides a first-of-its-kind intervention by leading philosophers and scholars of music into an intellectual landscape in need of such charting As a performer who then trained as a philosopher, the arc of Cavell’s wide-ranging investigation of music maps consistently with a proximate concern for the features of human experience that involve music and sound, including the sound of prose, authorial voice (its possession, its divestment, its arrogation), the presence/problem/potentiality of silence in communication, and related features of sonic phenomena central to life lived at the scale of the everyday Despite widespread scholarly fascination with the intersection of “Cavell” and “music”--that music is famously a core theme for him--no book like this has yet appeared Moreover, our efforts here are addressed to the serious student (at all levels) and the general reader alike arriving from many precincts of thought and practice: musical performance, literary theory, cultural studies, musicology, and philosophy
COLLECTIONS
UK February 2026 • US February 2026
304 Pages
HB 9798765113264 • £90 00 / $120 00
PB 9798765113301 • £28 99 / $39 95
ePDF 9798765113288 • £81 00 / $108 00
ePub 9798765113271 • £81 00 / $108 00
Bloomsbury Academic
The Music of Mzilikazi Khumalo
Language, Culture, and Song in South Africa
Edited by Thomas Pooley, University of South Africa, South Africa, Naomi André, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA, Innocentia Mhlambi, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa & Donato Somma, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Mzilikazi Khumalo (1932-2021), an iconic figure in choral music in South Africa, rose to prominence as one of Africa’s leading composers of art music. This is a work of music history.
Biographical essays on Khumalo’s major works, including those for choir, orchestra, and opera are complemented by contextual studies of his compositions and arrangements as well as reflections on his roles as editor, conductor, and music director Specifically in the context of South Africa's cultural and political transition from Apartheid to democracy, Khumalo's key role in establishing the Nation Building Massed Choir Festival, a multi-racial institution that forged an inclusive space for music, in the 1980s is discussed as evidence of his importance and relevance in South African culture
Khumalo's major works are studied in relation to contemporary art music, choral composition, and traditional song These are UShaka KaSenzangakhona (1996), an African epic, and Princess Magogo KaDinuzulu (2002), one of the first indigenous African operas Khumalo's artistic collaborators provide insight into their experiences working on these major projects, documenting the relationships the composer cultivated with his peers This volume addresses a lacuna in the literature on South African art music which until recently tended to focus on works in the classical tradition and shows that Khumalo is a composer without peer in his synthesis of classical and choral, traditional and contemporary
COLLECTIONS
UK December 2025 • US December 2025
256 Pages • 6 b/w illustrations
HB 9798765143179 • £24 99 / $29 95
ePDF 9798765143193 • £22 49 / $26 95
ePub 9798765143186 • £22 49 / $26 95
Backbeat
Unfinished
The Role of the Artist in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Lucas Cantor Santiago
For most of his career, the Emmy Award–winning composer and producer Lucas Cantor Santiago was a self-described luddite Technology, he felt, was moving too fast, transforming the world and the arts with no regard for the cost in tradition, hard-won human wisdom, and tried-and-true methods of mastery
That changed, however, when Cantor Santiago was commissioned by Huawei, one of the largest technology companies on the planet, to collaborate with artificial intelligence and finish Franz Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony a successful experiment that attracted attention throughout the world Creating music in collaboration with a machine led him to question his long-standing assumptions about what music is, what technology does, and how the two have evolved together over the course of human history, from the first bone flute to today’s landscape of constant innovation and change
Drawing on Cantor Santiago’s extensive experience in the arts and tech worlds and his ongoing experiments with AIpowered musicmaking, Unfinished is an engaging and refreshingly optimistic meditation on the role of technology in music and the arts What is the current state of the art? How did we get here? Where do we go now? This book provides an informed perspective on what is lost but what we also gain when we bring our machines ever further into the creation of art in its many different forms
COLLECTIONS
The Study of Sound
UK February 2026 • US February 2026
224 Pages • 20 bw illus
HB 9781501350917 • £72 00 / $90 00
PB 9781501350900 • £22 99 / $27 95
ePDF 9781501350931 • £20 69 / $25 15
ePub 9781501350924 • £20 69 / $25 15
Bloomsbury Academic
Wild Sound
Michael Pigott, University of Warwick, UK
Bringing concepts from early film theory into dialogue with the vibrant field of contemporary sound studies, Wild Sound turns an analytic eye and ear to the role of the soundscape in cinema, particularly the way that film soundtracks capture, create, represent, and even critique our sonic environment
Listening beyond music and dialogue, this book draws attention to the oft-ignored background soundscape film's "wild sound" which plays a quiet but substantial role in determining how film audiences feel about certain places, people, and processes It explores the relationship between location sound and wider practices of phonographic field recording in the creation of a cinematic sonic environment
The latter half of the book shifts attention from the controlled soundscapes of cinema to the relatively chaotic sonic environments of the world around us Michael Pigott ultimately demonstrates how a theory of cinematic soundscapes helps us develop practical strategies for investigating the sonic environment in our personal and natural sound worlds, beyond the cinema auditorium
UK February 2026 • US February 2026
192 Pages • 19 bw line art, 4 bw photos, 3 bw illustration 7 tables
HB 9798881805289 • £70 00 / $120 00
PB 9798881805296 • £27 99 / $34 95
ePDF 9798881867898 • £25 19 / $31 45
ePub 9798881805302 • £25 19 / $31 45
Bloomsbury Academic
Generations Z and Alpha Students at the Piano A Guide for Piano Teachers
Diana Dumlavwalla & Melody Morrison
This resource bridges generational gaps and fosters creativity in piano pedagogy by providing research-backed insights, innovative strategies, and real-life stories
Diana Dumlavwalla and Melody Morrison provide a comprehensive guide for piano educators aiming to effectively engage and teach students from Generation Z and Generation Alpha This book looks at the unique circumstances that have shaped the upbringing of younger generations--including their extensive use of digital technology, social media, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic--and how these traits influence their learning and educational experiences
Dumlavwalla and Morrison highlight the importance of adapting teaching methods to meet the needs of Gen Z and Alpha students, emphasizing the use of technology, fostering creativity, and understanding musical tastes They offer practical strategies that teachers can readily implement in their pedagogical practices While avoiding generalizations, it addresses common challenges faced by these students, such as the length of attention spans and hand dexterity and strength A variety of solutions are offered to overcome these and other barriers They also highlight the strengths of Gen Z and Alpha students, such as their digital familiarity and openness to diverse musical genres and suggest impactful ways to leverage these strengths in piano lessons
By focusing on generational differences and the evolving educational landscape, this book bridges the gap between traditional teaching methods and the contemporary needs of today’s students, offering tools to enhance student-teacher connections and ensure that piano education remains relevant and engaging for the next generation
UK January 2026 • US January 2026
320 Pages
PB 9798765114025 • £28 99 / $39 95
HB 9798765113981 • £90 00 / $130 00
ePDF 9798765114001 • £81 00 / $117 00
ePub 9798765113998 • £81 00 / $117 00
Bloomsbury Academic
Sound and Detention
Towards Critical Listening, Sonic Citizenship and Social Justice
Edited by Lucy Cathcart Frödén, University of Oslo, Norway, Kate Herrity, University of Cambridge, UK & Áine Mangaoang, University of Oslo, Norway
In this book, over 40 contributors collectively tune in to how sound and its absence can function as a source of power that enables isolation, control and harm, as well as connection, healing and resistance
Sound and Detention explores soundscapes in places, processes and systems of confinement in order to better understand experiences of imprisonment and to imagine alternatives to the carceral state Bringing together over 40 contributors from five continents, the book tunes in to some of the manifold effects associated with the presence and absence of sound and music in prisons and places of detention: from isolation, harm and control, to connection, healing and resistance
Scholarly texts feature alongside poetry, dialogue, memoir and experimental creative writing, as well as a diverse collection of audio productions on the book’s accompanying website This plurality of form mediates the voices of artists, activists, thinkers and practitioners – some themselves currently or formerly incarcerated Through deep engagement with the sonic realm and with questions of power, the contributors explore what it might mean to listen nearby – making space to hold distinct perspectives and positionalities in respectful simultaneity – while also amplifying resonances between sound, listening and broader questions of epistemic and social justice
Geosonics
UK March 2026 • US March 2026
208 Pages
HB 9798765104576 • £80 00 / $120 00
PB 9798765104569 £28 99 / $39 95
ePDF 9798765104590 • £72 00 / $108 00
ePub 9798765104583 • £72 00 / $108 00
Bloomsbury Academic
Listening Through Earth's Soundscapes
Joshua Dittrich, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada
How do we listen to the earth? That is the central question posed in Geosonics: Listening Through Earth's Soundscapes.
Working across sound studies, media theory, and environmental media studies, Joshua Dittrich explores the material and metaphorical geology of the sonic environment In an epoch of climate crisis, environment is no longer a neutral background, site, or simple “surrounding”: environment is immanently implicated in the chains of mediation that make up the material and imaginative infrastructure of our lives The analytical task of Geosonics is to tune into that infrastructure through sound Drawing on influential work in sound studies around the concept of transduction, this book explores how listening does not take place in a pre-existing soundscape, but rather makes place by etching out a mediated, mutually constitutive set of relations between listeners, media, and environments
COLLECTIONS
Visual
Music
New Approaches to Sound, Music, and Media
UK February 2026 • US February 2026
264 Pages
PB 9798765128749 • £28 99 / $39 95
HB 9798765128701 • £95 00 / $130 00
ePDF 9798765128725 • £85 50 / $117 00
ePub 9798765128718 • £85 50 / $117 00
Bloomsbury Academic
A History and Theory of the Abstract Moving Image
Henry Balme, Independent Scholar, USA
This book traces the evolving relationship between the abstract moving image and music, from the eighteenth century to the present, across media including film, concert projections, and kaleidoscopes
Although the term visual music has become widespread among artists, curators, and scholars over the past three decades, its meaning remains unsettled Is it a translation of musical form into visual representation, or a musical response to images? This book offers a critical redefinition of the term, grounding visual music in the category of the abstract moving image
Close readings of seminal films by Mary Ellen Bute, Jordan Belson, Oskar Fischinger, Walter Ruttmann, and James Whitney are complemented by analyses of contemporary work by Joanna Priestley, Takashi Ohashi, and Clayton McCracken These films are examined through multiple critical lenses, including middlebrow modernism, mysticism, transmediality, and the relation of abstract art to music
By bringing theoretical precision and historical depth to the subject, the book offers fresh perspectives on visual music and provides a valuable foundation for students and scholars in musicology, film studies, and art history, as well as those working in the growing field of audiovisual studies It is essential reading for anyone interested in the fertile terrain where music and the visual arts converge
COLLECTIONS
COLLECTIONS
New Approaches to Sound, Music, and Media
UK February 2026 US February 2026
216 Pages
PB 9798765124178 • £28 99 / $39 95
HB 9798765124130 £90 00 / $120 00
ePDF 9798765124154 • £81 00 / $108 00
ePub 9798765124147 • £81 00 / $108 00
Bloomsbury Academic
Tyler the Creator ’s Remaking of Hip Hop Transmedia Journeys Beyond Gangsta
Gustavo Souza Marques, University of Michigan, USA
An in-depth exploration of Tyler, The Creator ’s evolution as an artist and cultural force, positioning his audiovisual productions as a watershed in American hip hop
Through close analysis of his music videos, lyrics, and performances as rapper, producer and director it examines how Tyler redefines race, gender and identity in contemporary Black expression Engaging postcolonial theory and critical race studies, the book draws on the work of Frantz Fanon to unpack music videos like “Yonkers,” “Buffalo,” “Find Your Wings” and “Sorry, Not Sorry” alongside original ethnographic research in Los Angeles Featuring a conversation with Luis “Panch” Perez, director of photography for many of Tyler ’s videos, Tyler, The Creator ’s Hip Hop Revolution illuminates one of the most visionary and subversive figures in the current music landscape
UK January 2025 US January 2025
172 Pages • 68 BW illustrations 1 table
HB 9781666948684 • £81 00 / $105 00
ePub 9781666948691 £72 90 / $94 50
Lexington Books
Luigi Dallapiccola, America, and the Unlocking of Visionary Creativity
Mario Ruffini & Franco Sciannameo
The year 2025 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Luigi Dallapiccola’s death, a time to reflect on significant episodes that enriched his life, works, and the generations of composers he influenced Luigi Dallapiccola, America, and the Unlocking of Visionary Creativity intends to add a few tassels to two fundamental works by Mario Ruffini: Luigi Dallapiccola e le Arti figurative (Marsilio, 2016) and L'opera di Luigi Dallapiccola: Catalogo ragionato (SZ Sugar, 2025) The latter book, dedicated to the memory of Laura Dallapiccola and translated into English by Elisabetta Zoni (Olschki, 2025), has inaugurated a new era in the field of Dallapiccola Studies In this book, Dallapiccola’s life, the authors argue, was marked by a series of creative epiphanies, from his encounter with Laura, his adoption of twelve-tone music serialism, the birth of their daughter Annalibera which coincided with the fall of fascism and his career in the United States that included the world premiere of Quaderno musicale di Annalibera (Pittsburgh, 1952) The world premiere of Ulisse, which took place at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on September 29, 1968, under the baton of Lorin Maazel, was an ultimate milestone marking Dallapiccola’s extraordinary career and life
Letters for the Ages
• US November 2025
UK November 2025
288 Pages
• 20 black and white images
PB 9781399419451
• £12 99 / $ 00
HB 9781399419468
• £20 00 / $26 00
ePDF 9781399419499
• £14 00 / $18 20
ePub 9781399419482
• £14 00 / $18 20
Bloomsbury Continuum
COLLECTIONS
UK January 2026
• US January 2026
288 Pages
HB 9781501384561
• £60 00 / $80 00
PB 9781501384554 • £17 99 / $24 95
ePDF 9781501384585 • £16 19 / $22 45
ePub 9781501384578 £16 19 / $22 45
Bloomsbury Academic
Letters for the Ages The Great Musicians
Edited by James Drake & Edward Smyth
For tens of thousands of years, across various civilisations, our species has been creating music But what is behind the human fascination with music? This new volume in the Letters for the Ages series explores that question through the personal correspondence of history’s most brilliant musical talent, ranging from Hildegaard of Bingen to Freddie Mercury
Spanning from the 12th to the 21st centuries, the letters assembled in this collection combine to delve into musicians’ personal relationship with music and the creative process behind their greatest works of art Witness your musical idols, warm-hearted and compassionate, arrogant and angry, insecure and egocentric, defeated and morose
The letters serve to inspire both through the high-flown language and philosophical rhetoric employed by ‘the greats’, but also by the realisation that even the most extraordinary music has been created by normal people with normal worries and preoccupations
COLLECTIONS
Studies in Metamodernism: Theory and Criticism across the Disciplines
UK February 2026 • US February 2026
272 Pages
PB 9798216365556 • £28 99 / $39 95
HB 9798216365549 • £80 00 / $120 00
ePDF 9798216351955 • £72 00 / $108 00
ePub 9798216351948 • £72 00 / $108 00
Bloomsbury Academic
The Musical Lives of Charles Manson
The Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Invention of the Sixties or, No Sense Makes Sense
Nicholas Tochka, University of Melbourne, Australia
Nicholas Tochka analyzes the role of rock music in the life of Charles Manson, the Family, and the August 1969 Tate-LaBianca killings, which also gives larger insight into Sixties counterculture
Failed singer-songwriter Devious cult leader A rock Pied Piper The product of a sick society Just another dime-a-dozen singing hippy mystic Did the guitar-playing guru personify the violence that the rock counterculture inflicted on America? Or did his music diagnose the dehumanizing effects of that society’s broken institutions?
For over five decades, commentators have debated the meaning of Charles Manson and the Tate-LaBianca killings Rock music links their narratives: from the aciddrenched singalongs at the Spahn Movie Ranch, to a bizarre theology centered on Beatles songs, to his commune’s alleged links with Hollywood’s elite, to an album, LIE: The Love and Terror Cult (1970) In this first comprehensive examination of the Manson Family’s music, Nicholas Tochka writes with, against, and alongside the many authors true-crime hacks, gonzo journalists, conspiracy theorists, and rock critics alike who have told and retold the story of “the Manson murders ” Playing the truth games that these postwar Americans helped invent, The Musical Lives of Charles Manson presents a new take on the story of the commune and on rock’s role in fracturing the possibility of writing trustworthy histories after the Sixties
My Impossible Soul
The Metamodern Music of Sufjan Stevens
Tom Drayton, University of East London, UK, Joshua Kalin Busman, UNC Pembroke, USA, Maren Haynes Marchesini & Greg Dember, Independent scholar, USA
This book is the first edited collection dedicated to the work of “canonically” metamodern multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens
Contributors critically examine Stevens' output and impact across the relevant fields of musicology, literature, queer theory, performance studies, religious studies, and cultural studies The volume provides the first international and interdisciplinary analysis of the music, lyrics, performance process and cultural impact of Sufjan Stevens, through the framework of metamodernism
COLLECTIONS
UK February 2026 US February 2026
384 Pages • 1 Table
HB 9781538187012
£25 00 / $33 00
PB 9798216379645 • £19 99 / $26 95
ePDF 9798216332299
£22 50 / $29 70
ePub 9781538187029 • £22 50 / $29 70
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Livin' Just to Find Emotion Journey and the Story of American Rock
David Hamilton Golland
“Golland leaves no stone unturned in this fine-grained chronicle of the rock group Journey Golland’s passion and precision make this a pleasure ” – Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“A welcome study of one of rock’s most enduring musical fusions ” – Salon
Since exploding on the scene in the late 1970s, Journey has inspired generations of fans with hit after hit But hidden under this rock ‘n’ roll glory is a complex story of ambition, larger-than-life personalities, and clashes David Hamilton Golland unearths the band’s true and complete biography, based on over a decade of interviews and thousands of sources
Golland dispels rehashed myths and also shows how race in popular music contributed to their breakout success As the economy collapsed and as people abandoned the spirit of Woodstock in the late 70s, Journey used the rhythm of soul and Motown to inspire hope in primarily white teenagers’ lives Decades later, the band and their signature song remain classics
COLLECTIONS
UK February 2026 • US February 2026
344 Pages
• 29 b/w photos
HB 9781538160350 • £25 00 / $32 00
PB 9798216379652 • £19 99 / $26 95
ePDF 9798216205289 • £22 50 / $28 80
ePub 9781538160367 £22 50 / $28 80 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Darker with the Dawn Nick Cave's Songs of Love and Death
Adam Steiner
From his early work with The Birthday Party to the future sounds of Ghosteen, Nick Cave has rewritten the language of rock ‘n’ roll
Darker with the Dawn uncovers the history and deeper meanings behind Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ most well-known songs from “Tupelo”, “The Mercy Seat”, “Red Right Hand”, “Stagger Lee”, “Into My Arms”, to “Higgs Boson Blues” and beyond
The book explores Nick Cave’s life in music drawing upon his inspirations of the Bible, Greek myth, and literature, as well as his enduring passion for gospel, blues, and progressive rock Steiner reflects upon Cave's journey from his childhood in Australia, struggles with drug addiction, his young fascination with the nightmare landscapes of America's wild west and the southern gothic towards a reckoning with his own sense of Christian spirituality In a career spanning four decades Cave's songwriting has moved from the saints and sinners of the traditional murder ballad to piano-based heartbreak songs, deconstructed garage rock and ambient fever dreams delivered through minimalist electronica Adam Steiner dives into the world of a complex songwriter who, in his universal expressions of love and death, continues to speak to us of the light and shade of humanity
COLLECTIONS
UK September 2025 • US September 2025
368 Pages
HB 9781538181164 • $32 00
PB 9798881807528 $22 00
ePDF 9798765160510 • £15 96 / $19 80
ePub 9781538181171 • £15 96 / $19 80
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Running Up That Hill
50 Visions of Kate Bush
Tom Doyle, journalist and author
"Praiseworthy " The Guardian
The most comprehensive book on Kate Bush to date, featuring exclusive interview content with Kate herself, close friends, and collaborators
Kate Bush: the subject of murmured legend and one of the most distinctive musicians of the modern era Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush is a multi-faceted biography of this famously elusive figure, viewing her life and work from fresh and illuminating angles Featuring details from the author ’s one-on-one conversations with Kate as well as vignettes of her key songs, albums, videos, and concerts this artful, candid, and often brutally funny portrait introduces a refreshingly real Kate Bush Tom Doyle also intertwines vivid reconstructions of transformative moments in her career and insights from the friends and collaborators closest to her, including her photographer brother John Carder Bush and fellow artists David Gilmour, John Lydon, and Youth
With Netflix’s Stranger Things inspiring a new generation of fans, Kate Bush has made an incredible resurgence in popularity and has broken new records Running Up That Hill is a vibrant and comprehensive re-examination of the artist and her many creative landmarks
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