Profiles seven classical composers, including Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, and discusses their impact on the history of music.

"Will Ashon tells, in 36 interlinked 'chambers', the story of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and how it changed the world. As unexpected and complex as the album itself, Chamber Music ranges from provocative essays to semi-comic skits, from deep scholarly analysis to satirical celebration, seeking to contextualize, reveal and honor this singular work of art. Chamber Music is an explosive and revelatory new way of writing about music and culture."--...

Focusing on the years 1971 to the present, the DJ, producer, and Sundance award-winning director chooses one essential track from each year, revealing the pivotal role that American music plays around issues of race, gender, politics, and identity.

With the advent of recording technology, LGBT messages were for the first time brought to the forefront of popular music. Bullock covers the history of recorded music by and for the LGBT community, and shows how those records influenced the evolution of the music we listen to today. He discusses how gay, lesbian, and bisexual performers influenced jazz and blues; examines the almost forgotten Pansy Craze in the years between the two World Wars; chronicles...

"Which Side Are You On? tells the story of a song which was written in 1931 by Florence Reece in a rain of bullets. Florence's husband Sam was a coal miner in Kentucky. Miners went on strike until they could get better pay, safer working conditions, and health care. The company hired thugs to attack the organizers like Sam Reece. Writer George Ella Lyon tells this hair-raising story through the eyes of one of Florence's daughters, a dry-witted pig-tailed...

Originally serialized on the hugely popular website Boing Boing, The Hip Hop Family Tree is an encyclopedic comics history of the formative years of hip hop capturing the vivid personalities and magnetic performances of old-school pioneers and early stars.

''Play for all that are gone and for all that are still to come.'' Once the dam is finished, the land will be flooded. But before it is lost forever, Kathyn and her father return to the still and silent valley and fill the empty homes with one final song. And if you listen closely you can still hear it. -- a song for all that was and all that will never be. --Blurb. ''This is a true story. It was told to me by Mike and Kathryn Tickell. Kielder Water...