"A powerful polemic against agricultural technology."— NatureA major new book that shows the world already has the tools to feed itself, without expanding industrial agriculture or adopting genetically modified seeds, from the Small Planet Institute expertFew challenges are more daunting than feeding a global population projected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050—at a time when climate change is making i...

Timothy E. Wise presents the first book to focus specifically on the musical content of yodeling in our culture. He shows that yodeling serves an aesthetic function in musical texts. A series of chronological chapters analyzes this musical tradition from its earliest appearances in Europe to its incorporation into a range of American genres and beyond. Wise posits the reasons for yodeling’s changing status in our music. How and why was yodeling introduced into professional music making in ...

"A powerful polemic against agricultural technology."—NatureA major new book that shows the world already has the tools to feed itself, without expanding industrial agriculture or adopting genetically modified seeds, from the Small Planet Institute expertFew challenges are more daunting than feeding a global population projected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050—at a time when climate change is making it...

Perpetual economic growth is physically impossible on a planet with finite resources. Many concerned with humanity's future have focused on the concept of "sustainable development" as an alternative, as they seek means of achieving current economic and social goals without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own goals. Sustainable development brings together elements of economics, public policy, sociology, ecology, resource management, and other related areas, and ...

In the hallowed halls of academia, where knowledge is revered and wisdom is sought, a young man named Philip Sterling embarks on a transformative journey under the guidance of an enigmatic mentor, Professor Van Dyke. As Philip delves into the depths of literature, philosophy, and the human condition, he discovers the profound power of mentorship and the transformative impact it can have on one's life. Through their intimate conversations and shared experiences, Philip and Professor Van Dyk...

From the only artist ever to win Grammy Awards for music, lyrics & orchestration, "perhaps the finest book about songwriting of our time" ( Musician )."An eminently readable master class in songwriting—one that will thrill aspiring composers and lyricists, yet still interest the general reader." — Albany Times UnionJimmy Webb has given the American songbook more hits, in m...

"There are no definitive histories," writes Elijah Wald, in this provocative reassessment of American popular music, "because the past keeps looking different as the present changes." Earlier musical styles sound different to us today because we hear them through the musical filter of other styles that came after them, all the way through funk and hip hop. As its blasphemous title suggests, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll rejects the conventional pieties of mainstream jazz...

An Economist Best Book of the YearAn acclaimed music scholar presents an accessible introduction to the art of listening to jazz.**“Mr. Gioia could not have done a better job. Through him, jazz might even find new devotees.” ―**EconomistIn How to Listen to Jazz, award-winning music scholar Ted Gioia presents a lively introduction to one of America's premie...

Praised as "suave, soulful, ebullient" (Tom Waits) and "a meticulous researcher, a graceful writer, and a committed contrarian" (New York Times Book Review), Elijah Wald is one of the leading popular music critics of his generation. In The Blues, Wald surveys a genre at the heart of American culture. It is not an easy thing to pin down. As Howlin' Wolf once described it, "When you ain't got no money and can't pay your house rent and can't buy you no food, you've damn sure...

The life of blues legend Robert Johnson becomes the centerpiece for this innovative look at what many consider to be America's deepest and most influential music genre. Pivotal are the questions surrounding why Johnson was ignored by the core black audience of his time yet now celebrated as the greatest figure in blues history.Trying to separate myth from reality, biographer Elijah Wald studies the blues from the inside -- not only examining recordings but also the recollections of...

Poised to become a classic of jazz literature, Visions of Jazz: The First Century offers seventy-nine chapters illuminating the lives of virtually all the major figures in jazz history. From Louis Armstrong's renegade-style trumpet playing to Sarah Vaughan's operatic crooning, and from the swinging elegance of Duke Ellington to the pioneering experiments of Ornette Coleman, jazz critic Gary Giddins continually astonishes the reader with his unparalleled insight. Writing with the g...

There is more to sound recording than just recording sound. Far from being simply a tool for the preservation of music, the technology is a catalyst. In this award-winning text, Mark Katz provides a wide-ranging, deeply informative, consistently entertaining history of recording's profound impact on the musical life of the past century, from Edison to the Internet. Fully revised and updated, this new edition adds coverage of mashups and Auto-Tune, explores recent developments in file-shari...