MSCI

I really wanted to put together a band that was open minded to my ideas, and wanted to attack the music industry in a very "UNTRADITIONAL" way. I am a computer nerd from way back, and I could see that over the years to come... this could be my big chance to accomplish my dream if the cards were played right. So, I put out an ad on 2 musicians classified sections (via the internet) seeking the like minded band mates I had always dreamed of meeting. Well, I met them all within a couple weeks thanks to the ads. We spoke on the phone, and through emails. Joe (guitarist) tells me on the phone that he has a few songs he could send me in mp3 format over the internet that he recorded at home. I set up an ftp server, and had the songs that same night. I wrote the vocals on the fly for the most part while recording them, and sent them back within hours of getting the music from Joe. He freaked out, and loved the vocals. He then sent me 2 more songs. They were completely finished over the next 2 days. He heard them, and freaked out again lol. Well, after feeling such strong chemistry, we knew we needed to meet in person, and we had to find a drummer ASAP. I happened to know of one that I met online as well. And he is our drummer still today. Our other guitarist is Joe's best friend (for over 10 years), and our bassist we met online several months later after the album was already complete. In 3 months time, we had written a full album, recorded it's demo, built a website,.... And were playing gigs. We were headlining by our 3rd show. A couple months later we recorded the ACTUAL album on our home computer, filmed the entire process, edited down the footage, turned it into an enhanced CD, sent it off to be mass produced, and are currently getting it to radio stations, labels, managers, publications, etc... all thanks to the internet. Although we had done all of this before I had even read "THE ULTIMATE SURVIVAL GUIDE to the NEW MUSIC INDUSTRY", in reading this book.... I feel more confident that our band is doing the correct steps that will give us the edge in this rapidly evolving "NEW MUSIC INDUSTRY". And I've learned plenty of new tricks that had not even crossed my mind. The wisdom in these pages is invaluable.

If you want to see some of the ideas from this book at work, you may visit www.zenm.com/e-card . This is a web address of my band TELEMETRIC. It is an E-CARD sent to music industry contacts.

Use this book by Justin Goldberg to enrich your life. The price of the book will pay for itself 1000 fold!

I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you how much I enjoyed your book. It was very informative- I would actually love to talk to you about your experiences some time when I am in Cali.It sounds like you were in the thick of it during some very interesting and informative times. The art work that you included was very cool-honestly really neat stuff.

I just received my copy of Justin Goldberg's book and have not been able to put it down. We are in the process of self releasing our CD and since things happen so quickly these days we wanted to get some advice that was written for today's music market, unlike some of the other music guides we have on our shelves.

This book has already proved itself to be an excellent resource guide--written by an insider for those of us on the outside. There are great tips on the proper way to promote your music (just in time for us to rework our packages!) as well as basic info about things like royalties, label hierarchy and the like.

Written in an easy to understand, conversational manner, the author's work is top notch. Also invaluable are the interviews with all sorts of folks in the biz. They give their 2 cents worth on a wide range of music business topics and share their pet peeves about the whole music industry.

This has been a great read, not only for practical reasons but entertaining and informative as well - Can't wait to delve into the stuff on the CD-ROM!

Having read what little Nabokov anyone has read (Lolita) I exchanged this book for a Bogart biography I received as birthday present. I was hooked and, having read the whole book through in a few days, I bought the second volume and I wasn't let down. The book is a jewel and Nabokov becomes almost as close an acquaintance of the reader as Johnson became per Boswell's book.

The elegiac childhood that Nabokov enjoyed as the son of an upper class family of political liberals and Russian patriots is hard to imagine given the awfulness of Russian history since the 1905. After the death of his grandfather Nabokov became a millionaire at age 10. His family was close knit and loving (which may explain his deep love for his wife Véra and his son Dmitri, named after Vladimir's father). The Nabokovs managed to escape Russia from their Crimean summer house and eventually ended up in Germany, where they endured hardship and persecution. Nabokov's father, who had been an Education Minister during Kerensky's brief democratic administration, was murdered by an extreme-nationalist from the "Black Hundreds", a paramilitary organisation. Amazingly, Nabokov never bored to learn German although he lived in Germany for twenty years because he felt German would destroy his gift for Russian. His French was flawless, though (he died in French Switzerland). His meeting of the beautiful, brilliant Véra is touching, a rare moment of perfection on this cursed globe, and they became a very close couple. Mrs Nabokov was much more than a wife: she was a soul-mate and a loving collaborator in all Nabokov's efforts. Nabokov, in spite of his poverty managed to continue to live with aristocratic non-chalance and was always able to afford extensive and elaborate holidays that nowadays are only possible for the very well-to-do. The book ends as the Nabokovs and young Dmitri move to America, barely escaping France before the German invasion. Better times were yet to come, and they are aptly told in the second volume.

Most of the books Nabokov wrote in this period were in Russian and thus they have not been as widely divulged as his books in English. I can't appreciate their quality, not reading Russian, but Boyd notes many references of experts which regarded them as some of the best writing in Russian in the 20th century, and more deserving of a Nobel prize than either Pasternak or Solzhenitzn.

The title of my review will probably be deplored by many Nabokov fans, but in fact I was deeply attracted to Nabokov's elegance, charm and tolerance, by his revulsion to snobbery (he was always annoyed by some Europeans' disdain for US culture or some Russian emigrés' disgust at the accent of Jewish Russian speakers), by his unerring political sense that led him to distrust most extremisms of the last century (he was one of the few important authors not to have written blatant political nonsense), and very much enjoyed his curious interest in butterflies (his fantasy of a lavish, multi-volume Encyclopedia of butterflies of the Russian Empire smacks of Borges to me), and his extensive work at Harvard concerning them (he does have a species to his name). Boyd's descriptions led to me seek Nabokov's literal translation of Pushkin's epical poem, Eugene Onegin (I found the translation unreadable, as many people have), and, in spite of Boyd's wonderful summaries, I couldn't really get into some of Nabokov' other works in English (Ada or Ardor and Pale Fire I thought too modernist for my taste- his literary criticism was great, although I winced at his evident distaste for Jane Austen- and shared his love for Dickens). But Nabokov is as great a writer as he as a biographer's subject, and Boyd's book is probably the best literary biography after The Life of Johnson. I heartily recommend it (it's great even if you haven't actually read Nabokov).

Brian Boyd's scope and research in this book are just outstanding. I'm not usually that interested in biographies of writers, often the biographer does not relate their life to their literature in a way that interests me, but Nabokov is one of my favorite writers, so I thought I'd give this book a try. First you should note that it is a huge book that spans a large time frame, but you shouldn't be put off by the size, because Boyd's prose is very succinct and the chapters are manageable. It's clear to me that he appreciates Nabokov's works, as the best chapters are the ones detailing the periods of time when Nabokov is writing his works. There is so much great background information to be found here, that Nabokov wrote on index cards, the road trips that influenced Lolita, and Nabokov's relationship with his wife, Vera. This is what literary biographies should be like. I highly recommend this to any fans of Nabokov who want to learn more about his life and his writing.

Both volumes of this set are excellent. This is the way literary biography should be done. It's so good, in fact, that you wouldn't necessarily have to be a huge Nabokov fan to want to read both books. (Of course, I am a diehard Nabokovian, so I raced through them even more eagerly.) Bravo to Brian Boyd.

This a great book filled with lot's of noise but if you open your ears lide Charlie did you'll hear not only noise but music.
Charlie Ive's is a boy who hears everything as music wether it's the sirens of a firetruck driving by or the drip drop of rain on the ground. Charlie loved music and so did his father his father was a conducter when he would conduct a band Charlie would make noise. charlie grew up and wrote his own music. When charlie would play it some people got mad and said this is not music this is noise. Charlie would say if you open your ears you will hear what I hear.
I'm not going to spoil the rest of the book for you. But maybe if you open your ears you'll hear what Charlie heard, not noise, but music.

I once heard an organist describe Charles Ives "America" in this way--a small town on the Fourth of July, where every band wants to perform in the parade, so they all agree to play the one song they know: 'America.' But they all play it differently. Ives's arrangment depicts the infinite complexity of all the bands' variations. This book not only show where he might have gotten an inspiration for this piece, but for all his other music also.
However, I think the most eloquent illustration is what Charlie heard when he got the news that his father had died. The depiction of total silence is a stark and effective contrast to the cacaphony of the rest of the book. This book can be used to introduce Ives' music to those unfamiliar with it, to explain it to those who don't understand it, or to increase the enjoyment of someone who already appreciates it.

"Charles Ives was born with his ears wide open. The very first sound he heard might have been his father's trumpet announcing his birth to the town of Danbury, Connecticut." During his life, no matter where he was or what he was doing, Charlie heard the wonder of music in the everyday sounds around him. It could be the rustle of his mother's dress, the tick of a clock, the hooves of horses clip-clopping down the street, or the ice cream man's bell. Charlie heard music in a bat hitting a baseball, the rumble of thunder, the applause and cheers of a crowd, and a train's bell and whistle. As he got older, Charlie wrote "music about things he'd heard or seen, or feelings he had. But sometimes it was just to hear how different notes would sound together." Charlie grew up, graduated from college, got married, and started a successful insurance company. But he never stopped writing his music. "It was a new kind of music. It didn't have to be pretty, it had to be true to his feelings... But most people didn't know how to listen to it. Some thought it was a joke. Others just heard noise and got angry." Finally, when Charles Ives was very old, musicians began to play and perform his music, and people began to hear what Charlie heard. "Maybe, if you open your ears like Charlie, you can hear the beautiful, funny, sad, joyous, amazing music he heard..." Mordecai Gerstein has written a spectacular introductory biography that really captures the essence of Charles Ives and his music. His simple, straightforward text is both engaging and informative. But it's Mr Gerstein's creative and inventive artwork that really makes this book stand out and sparkle. His busy and detailed illustrations are packed with sound effects, swirling around the pages, in all shapes, sizes, and colors. The visual becomes the audible, and readers will begin to "hear" the magic of music in the world around them, just like Charlie. Perfect for youngsters 8-12, What Charlie Heard is a marvelous, evocative story about an extraordinary composer, the entire family can savor, share, and enjoy together. And once you've finished reading, it's time to listen to some of Charles Ives' music, so that you can hear what Charlie heard.

This book is wonderful. The questions are not too hard and everyone will be able to answer some of them. I plan on having lots of fun with this book with my husband and friends for years to come. Everyone who enjoys r&b and hip hop music can relate to this book. It will bring back memories and spark many conversations.

I always enjoy Books as these they are fun for cook-Outs&things where you can ask questions&things on different Musical Artists.it covers a Wide Range.it truly has a Family Affari Vibe at how it covers so many different time periods but yet combines&brings them as one.

I heard these guys on the radio and saw them on TV talking about this book and they seemed real interesting and knowledgeable about music. The book proves it. It's full of tons of trivia questions about hiphop and r&b, but the best part is the funny and informative lists they have, like Top 5 Posse Records and Top 5 Blue-Eyed Soul records. I don't agree with their choice for the best Duet ("The Closer I Get To You" by Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack). I would have picked Donny and Roberta's "I Who Have Nothing". But anyway they got some good choices all over the book. You'll enjoy this book if you love music and you love trivia. It's like a hiphop version of "Jeopardy."

While the book version of this tale is much darker than the movie script, the overall message is valuable to 4th graders (when it was read to me), & adults alike - over indulgence, of any sort, leads to no good.... The tale always stuck w/ me, & is classic - it will stick w/ children by & large.
There are few comparisons to Dahl, when it comes to a descriptive setting, & lavish tale, w/ a lesson to boot (you in the patoot!)... My only lament is that the author is dead.
Sherry -(;o)~

I've read this book as a child, and think it is a classic.

The book fuses three basic themes - the cinderella story (a child who rises from poverty to fortune), every child's fanatasy of owning a sweets shop / factory, and Jules Verne style fantasy (Oompa Loompas from Africa, miraculous sweets, fantastic teleporting TV, etc).

This book was passed in my extended family from child to child, and as everybody knows and likes it, we sometimes jokingly refer to it.

I've read it nearly twenty years ago, and enjoyed picking up the same copy I read than and reread it a short while ago - it's one of my favourite childhood books.

It starts about a poor little boy who barly has anything to eat. He lives with his great grandparents and his mother. On his way to school everyday he walks past a gaint chocolate factory,the oner is a strange little man with lots of secrets.

In only 192 pages, Frankel presents writing for the musical theatre from the perspective of the book writer, lyricist and composer -- and how each contributes to the whole. Enough specifics for each to gain a better appreciation of the others' unique contributions. The book would be an excellent introductory text for a musical theate workshop. Most examples from My Fair Lady are illustrative and excellent; other examples from Company were less helpful (as that show was less successful). Highly recommended for those working on musical to keep near at hand.

Many of today's top talents in musicals on and off Broadway have studied with Aaron Frankel. Now anyone can learn the ropes from this honored director and instructor in a step-by-step guide that makes for good reading whether you are a writer, composer, or simply an avid theatergoer. I enjoyed the previous edition and found this revised and updated one an even more interesting read.

Aaron Frankel writes with the voice of helpful and comprehensive experience. He is a writer - and teacher - of the highest order, and there are important points made in this book that are of great value to actors, directors and producers, as well as the playwrights for whom the book is primarily intended. Mr. Frankel is one of the few authors who expresses himself with both a clear, accessible style and a with a talent for engaging the reader every step of the way.

The pictures are beautiful.

I was hoping for a bit more detailed history on all the instruments, but it does provide a good overview of the history.

The high quality pictures are a sight to behold. This is a great coffee table book.

I bought this book because I liked the first part of "The Complete Guitarist" book where the history and dissection of the guitar is shown.

This book is full of pictures and descriptions of a lot of guitars. The book is divided by guitar type, from acoustic, archtop, solid-body electics, semi-solid electrics and basses. The descrptions are short and give way to the pictures, but the guitars that demand, by respect, more description are given more pages.

The guitars shown are from all over the world and thus aren't limited to a specific market. Its cool to see how a russian guitar is made.

The only thing I would have liked is a timeline, but the book isn't formatted this way and its fine.

All in all a very fun book to have. No theory, nothing to tell you "practice damn it!", just enjoy.

If you were to never read one word of the text of Mr. Bacon's fine book, it would still be worth the cost. Encased between the two covers are some of the finest photos of guitars you'll ever lay your eyes on. Not only are there pictures of your "standard" American-made guitars (Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker), but also "axes" from around the world. Bacon has also included some interesting and unusual guitars as well. This is a book that you will go back to over-and-over; it's that interesting.

As a lover of the creative, colorful and very controversial culture known as Jamaican dancehall, I received this book ecstatically, but I wasn't quite sure of what to expect. I mean, this is a world that changes so rapidly that any attempts to document it have felt outdated even before their ink dried. I thought Stolzoff would play it safe and keep his approach as superficial as possible-a nice coffee table book perhaps, filled with eye-pleasing full-color pix of scantily-dressed dancehall queens, posturing dapper dons, maybe even the occasional text paragraph with amusing tidbits like, "Whatever happened to Wayne 'Sleng Teng' Smith?" Instead, I found a meticulously researched study packed with so much detail that several times I had to "wheel back and come again" (re-read pages) in order to digest it all.

Of course, this isn't the first piece of writing to cast a critical eye on dancehall; but past discussions (helmed mostly by staunch roots reggae apologists who make no bones about expressing their view of the subject as an anti-musical ebola responsible for devouring the innards of upright, "real" reggae as exemplified by the likes of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Burning Spear), irrespective of whether they have been pro- or anti-dancehall, have all revolved to varying degrees around the old dancehall "reggae" vs. "traditional" reggae issue.

Stolzoff distinguishes himself from the pack by sidestepping that stumbling block altogether: In (what I think is) a revolutionary move, he posits ALL Jamaican music, in essence, as dancehall-from the creolized drum and fiddle music of 18th century slave frolics to the thundering amplified bass blaring from contemporary Kingston sound systems. In short, he sees dancehall not as a distinct genre of music, but as an interactive method of experiencing music that might be specifically Jamaican.

Stolzoff's an anthropologist, not a rock critic, so rather than examining the music in isolation, he reconstructs the world that is dancehall's context, starting from the beginning with the sound systems, the cornerstone of the Jamaican music world.( Stolzoff scores a major coup by including extensive interviews with sound system pioneers like Hedley Jones, who provide a lot of insight into the Jamaican music experience prior to the birth of the local music industry-all other books on reggae up until this time have summed the whole era up in a sentence or two). Upon that foundation, Stolzoff layers the various social and ideological trends that have shaped the dancehall: rude boys, Rastafar-I, fashion, technology... You come to see that as chaotic as the dancehall universe appears to be, it is a well-ordered cosmology where everything has its place: sexuality, piety, violence, flamboyance, humility... They can all co-exist.

What I really, really love is the "career trajectory" Stolzoff maps out from his observation of the dancehall field. Using many of the aspiring and established dancehall stars he befriended, Stolzoff illustrates the stages of a career as a performer in the dancehall economy-which is an actual economy that employs millions of Jamaicans in various capacities.

I think this is definitely an important book and a complete must-read not only for fans of Jamaican music, but for anybody interested in the way that music and culture intersect with the daily lives of its participants.

This is an excellant book, written by a genuinely knowledgeable scholar of dancehall music and Jamaican popular culture. Dr. Stolzoff has done an incredible amount of research for this book and puts it altogether with Wake The Town. A must for all reggae and dancehall afficionados. This book will be a classic for a long time.

I would like to commend Mr. Stolzoff for an in depth and enjoyable study of dancehall reggae. Being a dancehall fan for some time now, it's wonderful to see the music and culture being taken seriously. Ready first hand accounts of artists like the great Tenor Saw was an unexpected and exciting part of the book. Mr. Stolzoff goes indept as he discusses the origins of dancehall back to Africa right up to today with the top artists like Buju Banton, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, Sizzla, etc etc. As Ricky Trooper says in the begining of the book, if you haven't been to the dancehall before, you wouldn't understand it, dancehall it something that you have to experience. Great reading!

As a professional singer, I greatly enjoyed the chapter on arranging. What a unique concept for a book.

What sets this book apart from the rest is its motivational style. When I Sit Down to Play not only gives you the tools to learn how to play the piano, but it convinces you that you can do it.

This book packed so much information into 166 pages. It was great - concisely written.

when i read the first couple of pages, i was already hooked. this is a must read for anyone who is relatively interested in philosophy and/or psychology. simply the best book i have EVER read in my LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm quite convinced that, had he not been disabled by his illness, Ross David Burke would have made a hell of an artist/entertainer -- novels, songwriting, perhaps even comedy. Now, yes, I live with a psychotic disorder myself, and yes, this book illustrates disordered thought better than any other I've read, but that's not the point I wish to make. Underneath all the crazy confusion, there's a lot of wit and humor, as well as some stunning insights on human nature. His supporting characters come alive -- which is especially impressive, considering the isolating effect schizophrenia has on its sufferers. As self-absorbed as protagonist/narrator Sphere may be, friends like Uncle Cane Toad, and lost love Elysium, are unforgettable.

Me, I got my illness well under control, with modern medication long ago (if only Ross had had access to today's drugs!) When sanity gets a little dull, there's much stimulation to be had from the story of Sphere. The tragic ending is a hefty price to pay for the wild ride, but I pay it at least twice a year.

I dearly hope Ross would be comforted to know: His book is not only educational, but FUN! Rest in peace, Sphere!

A must read for family and friends of someone who has schizophrenia. Should be required reading for mental health professionals. And, as a survivor of schizophrenia, I would highly recommend it to fellow survivors. A masterpiece.