Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with books and music

Publishing a book on rivethead culture

velvet winter — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:51:33 -0800

I want to write and publish a book on the industrial music scene from a feminist perspective. I’m a decent writer, but I have no photography, graphic design, marketing, or publishing experience, and no industry connections. Where do I start? I have a long-standing interest in the harsh distorted music, extreme fashion, dystopian military aesthetic, and apocalyptic culture of the industrial/dark electro/EBM/powernoise underground music scene. I want to write and publish a book focusing on the people who are involved – bands, artists, fans and supporters.

There are a few books on industrial music and culture out there already, but I want to approach my project from a different angle. I envision the book as an affectionate portrait of a selected group of unusual people, focused on certain aspects of the subculture that I particularly appreciate. Rivethead culture is commonly seen as overwhelmingly male-dominated, but I see it as much more feminist-friendly than it might appear at first glance. It’s very accepting of LGBT folks, geeks, and body types that don’t fit conventional standards, for example. It’s also one of very few places (aside from a few others like goth, riotgrrl and punk culture) where women’s anger and aggression are accepted, and even encouraged.

What I want to do is shine the feminist spotlight on rivetheads of various genders, ethnicities and sexual identities. I want bold, insightful feminist analysis. I want to feature photos of real people with a variety of body types, rather than professional fashion models. I want to highlight older people involved in the scene, to counter the mistaken idea that this is just a youthful phase that everyone outgrows. And hey…it certainly doesn’t hurt that gritty settings featuring men in eyeliner and utilikilts, or women with purple hair and spiked leather jackets, are inherently interesting to me.

Inspirations for this project include:
* AxWound: Gender in the Horror Genre
(I found this while searching for one of my childhood heroes, Lt. Ellen Ripley in Alien!)
* The work of Kyle Cassidy, author of Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes (previously on MeFi)
* The work of UK journalist Mick Mercer
* The Origins of Industrial Music by Jennifer Onativia

I’ve never done anything like this before. I don't know any of the people I mentioned whose work inspires me. Though the scene is fairly small, I’m not well-connected at all – I’m not a musician, DJ, or promoter. I'm just a fan with an abiding interest (and an introverted one at that). I’m definitely not a photographer. And although some of my writing has been published in small-press zines, I’m hardly a professional writer, editor, marketer, graphic designer or publisher. So I really have no idea where to start. And furthermore, I just finished a post-bac in accounting and am currently looking for a job, which means I’m cleverly camouflaged as a semi-normal middle-aged woman and would not be able to devote myself to this book project full-time.

In any case, I would not want this to be a fly-by-night kind of thing. I'm organized, hard-working and responsible, and I’d prefer to take a professional approach. I realize that the market for a book like this is very limited, and that it would be more a labor of love than a profitable venture. But beyond that, I'm clueless. What kind of budget would I be looking at, and would I have any realistic funding options aside from tapping my own pocketbook? Would it even be worth trying to pitch this idea to a traditional publisher? Are there any specific people I should talk to, and if so, what would be the most appropriate way to approach them about a project like this?

What else should I know that I probably haven’t considered?

Any advice would be very much appreciated, particularly from those who've successfully completed projects of similar scope. Thanks!

Let's say I'm a Russian student in my mid-twenties.

klue — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:58:36 -0800

Let's say I'm a Russian student in my mid-twenties. What Russian music am I likely to carry around on my mp3-player? Which Russian movies am I likely to have seen and discussed over the last few years, and which Russian books am I likely to have enjoyed?

I'm sure Russians are as exposed to foreign culture as anyone else, but that's not what I'm looking for here. Apologies in advance for my general ignorance.

I can hez organizeyshun?

GrooveStix — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:36:51 -0800

Help me find a website/software for making lists about interests like music, movies, books, etc. I make lists about things that I am interested in, kinda like to-check-out lists for movies, music, books, etc but at the moment I am quite disorganized about it. For movies I use imdb, for music I bookmark whole bunch of artist pages from allmusic.com, for books I use amazon's wishlist, and for games I keep a simple text file with the list within. As you can see, this is quite annoying to keep track of, and I'd like to use a centralized location that will work with most if not all interests. It could be a software, or it could be a website, I really don't care. I've tried listal.com and that seems like an answer to what I need, but the site is too clunky and a facebook/myspace wannabe, and I really don't need all those features.

Do you know what could I use?

How to discover new books, movies or other media you're prone to like?

kissan — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:40:44 -0800

Are there similar sites such as last.fm and the likes for other media types? I'm thinking sites which can recommend e.g. books and movies based on what I've recently read or watched. I'd prefer non-commercial sites, thus eliminating amazon.com and sites which recommend other titles based on what other users also bought together with a selected book/movie. Thanks.

Where to sell used books, CDs, DVDs, and gaming stuff in Chicagoland?

korpios — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:59:49 -0800

What are the best places in the Chicago area to sell used books, CDs, DVDs, and tabletop gaming materials? My wife and I are moving into a new place in a month; since we're largely a digital-only household these days (Kindle, MacBook, iPhone), I'd like to take this opportunity to clean out the physical media that keeps following us around. We have a bunch of DVDs and CDs, as well as quite a few boxes of books (largely non-fiction and older tabletop gaming stuff, e.g., AD&D 2nd Ed.); I refuse to drag it all to yet another apartment.

I'd ideally like to be able to visit as few places as possible to offload the majority of what I have; I'm willing to drive (both within Chicago and the suburbs), but I don't want to end up having to visit 15 different places. I also don't want to list items individually on Craigslist since what I can expect to be paid per-item isn't worth the hassle of making many individual sales; by the same token, I really don't want to bother with eBay. My primary goal is getting rid of the stuff — not making the most amount of money possible. (Anything I don't end up selling will be given away and/or tossed.)

So, Chicago submodule of UsedStuffFilter ... suggestions? (The closest AskMeFi post I've found was this one for used CDs.)

Book recommendations for learning to play musical instruments

Alvy Ampersand — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:34:26 -0800

Which books do you recommend for learning to play musical instruments? Although learning with a teacher is probably more effective, I'm a busy person with a weird schedule and limited budget. And while there are an abundance of resources on-line, I prefer the portability and convenience of a book.

Personally I'm interested in learning more about mandolin, violin, trumpet, and piano, but if you've found "Didgeridoo For Dummies" to be instructive, by all means include it.

January, it's just this month, you know?

Rinku — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:57:55 -0800

I have a month in which to do a project. What kind of project, you ask? Good question. Perhaps something fun, perhaps something educational, perhaps something mind-expanding. The options, they are endless. The college I attend has a "winter term" between fall and spring semesters. It lasts through most of the month of January. The three official options for winter term are as follows:

1. Academic Study: a faculty-sponsored, academically-focused research, study, or performance project that can be conducted on- or off-campus, individually or as part of a group project.

2. Field Experience: a learning activity that could include career exploration, social or political action, community service, or an unpaid internship.

3. Personal Growth and Development: an opportunity to learn a skill, try something new, or pursue subject matter outside of traditional academic disciplines.

As you can see, the possibilities are endlessly broad, especially the third - under its banner of "personal growth and development" a student in the seventies (it is told) once etched the word "potato" into every tray in the dining hall. I'm wouldn't be surprised if this was true, considering how every single tray in the dining hall has the word "potato" etched into it. Given, these were the Seventies, and if I were to propose this to a teacher today (your project must be approved and sponsored by a teacher) I doubt they would accept.

Still, you can do pretty much anything, as long as it's more or less worthwhile. Last year I did a private study of Buddhism, where I read books and went to Buddhist services at a local shrine, but the shrine's only monk was gone on a tour of India for three weeks out of the month, and the books, they were long, they were dry, and the project devolved into me attempting to win every achievement from the Orange Box.

This January, I'm hoping for fewer gnomes in fewer rockets, that is, less boredom. Not that my project last year wasn't interesting, it was, I really enjoyed attending the few services I did, and the books were interesting, even if I didn't read as much of them as I probably should have. I am aware that no matter what project I choose, I will be a little bit bored, just because January is a long time. The exact dates you're supposed to be doing the project are January 2nd - 27th, weekdays, supposedly about 5 hours a day, but most people don't do quite that many hours. It can be all at once, too - I've heard of a group project that only took a week, but the kids were working almost solid, save sleep, during that time.

So, what do I do? I'll have access to a computer and the internet, (obviously), a good reading couch, a kitchen, and Seattle (an hour away) if I choose to do it at home, which I'm leaning towards. Travel is an option - I could go somewhere and write about it, propose it to a Journalism teacher - that works but it costs money. What projects can I do at home, on a relatively limited budget? Seattle specific recommendations would be cool (oh hey you should totally just go volunteer at ___) but, more generally... what kinds of projects could I do in a snow-locked cabin for the winter? That's really not too far off from what I'm talking about here.

The only thought I've had so far is of an "Ambient Music History and Appreciation" kind of thing, which sounds interesting in one way but also devastatingly dull in another. I've also thought of learning to play the guitar, or writing a comic of some kind, or writing songs in Reason, and while those might be fun I'm sure there are more creative ideas out there. Oh, also: I cannot get paid.

There are sponsored projects and team projects and things like that, but they haven't really started to be advertised yet. I'm asking this early because I've been thinking about it the last couple of days, and on the off chance there's some awesome program I have to apply for now, or what have you.

This is a really awesome opportunity, MeFites. Help me make the most of it. Thanks in advance.

Do you know of small towns in the Adirondacks?

Nillocsoc — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:47:29 -0800

What are some small towns in the Adirondacks (NY)- with nice community, local food, and art? I am looking to spend a few months in the Adirnodacks and am searching for small towns that offer a nice sense of community: art, food, music, books, outdoor activities. Ideally not too touristy, but even that would be okay.

All ideas are appreciated, and anything details about the places would be great!

Thanks.

Works About The Relationship Between Fathers and Sons?

Jaybo — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:49:19 -0800

I'm the first-time father of a one-year old boy. Having recently finished "The Road" and "The Prince of Frogtown" and enjoyed the movie "The Kite Runner", I'm looking for suggestions of other books (or movies or songs) that are about the relationship between fathers and sons. I'll throw in a quote from "The Prince of Frogtown" to help illustrate the type of thing I'm looking for:

"You learn to stand the smell of sour-apple bubblegum and the company of a boy who jabs you in the your belly before he makes himself comfortable, and tells you that you are "comfy", not to be mean but just stating a fact. Then, just when you get used to it, not minding it so much, it all vanishes, and the little boy you launched in the air stands at your shoulder like a man, and when you turn to say something you find yourself looking right into his eyes."

Thirty-three and a third books.

OmieWise — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:08:16 -0800

Which are the best books in Continuum's Thirty-Three and a Third series? I just read Daydream Nation and ended up frustrated and and a bit disappointed. I've been wanting to read into this series for a while, and finally picked up the Daydream Nation book. Daydream Nation is a favorite album of mine, although I don't feel as if it's a particularly personal album for me, but the book did not satisfy me. The book isn't horrible, but it wasn't great, and I expected it to be. The author wrote quite a bit about how "scary" and "mind-blowing" the record is, something that isn't at all true for me. He also admitted things best kept to oneself when writing a semi-critical exegesis like this. (He had, for instance, apparently never considered that "Hey Joni" might have some relationship to Joni Mitchell.)

I do like personal music writing, and I like behind the scenes stories of album creation, and I also like the kind of rank speculation that Greil Marcus engages in (although his pomposity can get a bit grating). I can certainly imagine reading the volumes written by people I'm already interested in (Joe Pernice, John Darnielle). Since the books aren't available at my local library I would appreciate suggestions for which people have enjoyed the most.

Physical cut-ups: Making Frankenstein vinyl records and books

0bvious — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:29:01 -0800

I want to physically cut-up vinyl records and books into pieces, which I will then glue back together in various, alternate combinations. What are the best methods of doing this? Artist Christian Marclay did a similar thing with records (anyone know any sources of info on this?), so that when he glued them back together the frankenstein records could still be played. This would mean that the cutting technique did not destroy any of the vinyl's structure, it also meant that each record had to be cut very precisely, otherwise the fragments from several different records could not be glued back together.

I also wish to do a similar thing with old books, so that you get a kind of frankenstein, mish-mash of different book combinations. It would eventually be like doing a Burroughesque cut-up on physical forms.

Any ideas on technique would be greatly appreciated. How would I go about doing this? Have you seen similar things done by other artists?

Thanks

Following artists, sans spam.

dmd — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:46:47 -0800

Is there a service that will let you to subscribe to notifications of new artist (music) and/or author (books) releases, but is not spammy?

The Wire... what next?

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:19:45 -0800

The Wire's finished (wipes tear)... what do I watch/read/listen to, now ? So I'm looking for suggestions for television, films, books etc that have the same breath and depth that The Greatest Show On Television, Ever (TM) had. Also any music in the same vein that was used in the series would be good.

An obvious place to start is one of the several novels written by the show's main writers... but I'm wondering what else might be out there that I might miss otherwise.

Need Books/Movies for Kids Going to Rome

bjennings — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:55:33 -0800

I'm looking for recommendations for books, movies and even music that might be relevant for a group of middle school (7th & 8th grade, ages 12-14) kids who are going to Rome over spring break. I'm a teacher, and I'm leading a group of 20 middle school kids as well as three other faculty members. I'd like to be able to recommend novels, movies and music for them.

They've all read Caroline Lawrence's "The Roman Mysteries" series. I'm very familiar with the range of children's and young adult historical fiction, especially that set in ancient times. I'd love to have any recommendations for novels set in modern Italy. Some of the students have read Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons", but teen and young adult books would be great, too.

I suggested "Roman Holiday"; all of the parents said "Oooh, I love that movie", and all of the kids were bored out of their skull. Fluff like the Mary Kate and Ashley "When In Rome" and "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" is right up their alley.

I figure music is a long-shot, but maybe there are some recommendations there as well. Thanks!

Sing Me This Book!

gfrobe — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:34:17 -0800

What are some good children's books that have been put to song? I'm trying to find books for young children that have accompanying songs i.e. you can sing the entire book to a child page by page. A couple I've found are "Chicken Soup With Rice" sung by Carole King and "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom", which has a pretty catchy song to go with it.

Are there other good ones out there?

Recommend Some Books For Breaking In To The Music Industry

DudeAsInCool — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:42:30 -0800

Can you recommend some books on the recording industry that would be helpful to someone wanting to enter the field? One of our members at Beatking is exploring a career in music and was looking for material that dealt with:

1. The solo musician (NO bands)
2. Deals with computer music
3. Covers aspects of getting music into TV, movies, or video games
4. Good networking tips
5. Covers the dark side of the music industry; pitfalls to watch out for

The book doesn't have to cover all 5, but at least one of the topics. If you know a title, could you let me know what numbers it covers? Thanks.

International favorite books, movies, music?

sLevi — Tue, 29 May 2007 08:47:53 -0800

Where can I find lists of other countries' favorite books, music and movies? I'm looking for lists like the BBC Big Read, which I've had really good luck with. People's all-time favorite books, not the ever-changing best-seller lists. Any and all countries and languages...failing that, how about best international literature lists?

Same for music and movies?

Book about Rock Music

richmondparker — Mon, 14 May 2007 16:23:48 -0800

I don't remember the original question, but someone answered a post a while back with a recommendation for a book on the history of rock music. Lots of others chimed in and agreed that the book was great...so what was it? Sorry I can't remember any other details.

American Popular culture from the early 20th century?

jdroth — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 08:05:26 -0800

I'm looking for sites related to American popular culture from the early 20th century: books, films, radio, magazines, music, dance, comic strips, celebrities — you name it. I'm particularly interested on the period between the wars, but open to great stuff from before (and during) World War I, as well. Little Nemo, Keystone Kops, the Lindy Hop, Enrico Caruso, Fatty Arbuckle, Al Jolson, Clara Bow, Flash Gordon, Alice blue, Teddy bears, etc. These are all the sorts of things I'm after, especially as they're represented on the web. Bonus points for sites with RSS feeds. A similar question about personal finance led to my personal finance site. I'm planning to use this question to jumpstart a site about American popular culture from the early 20th century.

Used CDS, records & books in/around Waco TX?

horseblind — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:50:07 -0800

I'm in Waco TX for tonight and tomorrow (Fri 6th October - Sat 7th Oct) visiting family. Anytime I travel I like to visit the local record shops. I'm staying close to Baylor University. Are there any decent cool shops in the area (20 mi radius) for second hand CDs & Records? Books too while I'm at it.

Darling -the're playing our playlist!

rongorongo — Fri, 26 May 2006 03:23:32 -0800

Do you think you could choose a future partner purely on the basis of his or her music (or book) collection? Have any of you, in fact, ever done this? If so what were the deciding factors and did it work out? When I was a teenager I used to imagine that if I could find a girlfriend who shared the same obscure reading and listening tastes as me (at least I thought they were obscure - we lived in the sticks and this was pre-metafilter) we might live happily ever after. Like most people I suspect my real world relationships have been with partners who shared some of my choices and hated others.

But now that technology has bought us LastFm, Amazon Wishlists and myriad other tools for discovering a stranger via their artistic taste I was wondering if people were starting to use these to find a match.

need help remembering a childrens book

airnxtz — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 00:11:42 -0800

ok heres a toughie, im 24, when i was really younger say around 10 i had this childrens book, i vaguely remember anything about it ... i THINK it was about 2 kids, a boy and girl, and a bear, or monster of some sort... it was amazingly artworked, real nice, it was a large book with big pages.. heres the thing, it was set to classical music and came with an audio tape that went along with the story, i think the kids used weopons of some sort to attack the bear/monster.... any one remember anything like this??

Learning Music Theory

phrontist — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 07:40:32 -0800

How should I go about learning music theory? Having read this excellent thread a while back I'd really like to learn more about music theory. My musical experience is highly limited: I do not play a musical instrument, though I learned to read sheet music fairly well whilst playing clarinet in elementary/middle school. In school the theory portion of everything was really downplayed in favor of musicianship, which is, in my humble opionion, really a shame.

This approach certainly seems interesting, is anybody familiar with it? Any reccomendations for solid music theory textbooks? I don't mind it being overly dry or technical, as long as it's comprehensible. A friend of mine is always telling me how mathematically interesting western music can be, and if there is any truth to that I'd certainly be interested in that angle.

What's a good cheap bass/bass amp, and a good pop/rock theory book?

Frankieist — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 17:36:34 -0800

I'm looking to purchase a bass, bass amp, and bass or general music theory book. The bass and bass amp part don't really have much of an extended explanation, as I know very little about either. I've been playing guitar for a few years and would like to try my hand at the bass. I wanted to know what's the best quality bass and bass amp I could get for under $200. The power of the bass amp isn't a big issue for me.

The second part of my question is more specific, and I don't even know if what I'm looking for exists. I'm not much interested in bass lessons (have neither the time nor money) and so I'll probably learn from example (Beatles, Beach Boys, Belle and Sebastian, etc...). However, I'm sort of theory-minded and would like to be able to have a vocabulary for the examples I'm learning from. I started off on Harmony by Piston et al (on the Classical canon), and I've also found Alan Pollack's Notes On... Series (on the Beatles canon) very helpful.

If I could get my hands on a book that was a combination of the Harmony book and a musicological analysis of various pop/rock songs, I would be in heaven. I'd prefer that if it is general pop/rock theory, it would not be restricted to guitar theory and would have a section on bass-leading, rhythm and things of that nature as well. Thanks!

Staying Current

eatcherry — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 12:17:09 -0800

KeepingUpWithTheKidsFilter: How do you keep up with new books, music, films, etc.? More inside. I seem to have a hard time staying current when it comes to interesting books, cool bands, good films, stuff like that. I think it's because I'm a bit indecisive and I find it hard to deal with huge amounts of information and choices, so I'd like to find some sort of resource that would make it easy to see what's new and interesting and worth checking out without being totally overwhelming. Any suggestions?