Summer Reads 2015: The Definitive Guide

Summer time is a time to spend poolside (responsibly) soaking up rays, sipping on an ice cold luridly decorated beverage, highly stylish sunglasses suitably angled whilst you gorge on some of the best books you can lay your hands on.
Yes! It’s the Definitive Summer Reads for 2015 (oh and FYI this year is an absolute corker).
1) Philip Glass – Words Without Music

A world-renowned composer of symphonies, operas, and film scores,Philip Glass has, almost single-handedly, crafted the dominant sound of late-twentieth-century classical music.
Here in Words Without Music, he creates an entirely new and unexpected voice, that of a born storyteller and an acutely insightful chronicler, whose behind-the-scenes recollections allow readers to experience those moments of creative fusion when life so magically merged with art.
Click here to buy at musicroom.com
2) David Bowie – The Music And The Changes – David Buckley

David Bowie: The Music And The Changes is the complete guide to the music of this musical genius, fashion icon and near-mythical rock god. Author David Buckley was awarded a PhD on David Bowie so is best placed to guide you through an album by album and track by track exploration of this incredible man’s incredible music.
Click here to buy at musicroom.com
3) Kurt Cobain – Montage of Heck – Brett Morgen

 
Written by Brett Morgen with Richard Bienstock, Cobain: Montage Of Heck is a true goldmine of exclusive material collected and created for the acclaimed documentary. Delving further into the interviews, art and photography used in the film, this book is the perfect companion piece to the definitive film on this genuine legend’s life.
Click here to buy at musicroom.com
4) Dolly Parton – Smart Blonde – Stephen Miller

Smart Blonde: Dolly Parton is a comprehensive and revealing biography which includes interviews with family members, musicians and producers who have worked with Dolly over the years. This new and fully updated edition includes a detailed section on the superstar’s legendary performance at 2014’s Glastonbury Festival.
Click here to buy at musicroom.com
5) Rick Buckler: That’s Entertainment – My Life In The Jam

During their golden years of 1977 to 1982, The Jam‘s frontman Paul Weller was their outspoken leader, but it was drummer Rick Buckler who was the beating heart of the band, and it is his fascinating story that is told in his autobiography, That’s Entertainment: My Life In The Jam, replete with insights into his life and music.
Click here to buy at musicroom.com
6) Slipknot – Dysfunctional Family Portraits – Paul Harries

Slipknot, the instantly-recognisable heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa, shot to fame after the release of their first album in 1999, grabbing the attention of millions of adoring fans, and some not-so-adoring conservative commentators. From the first, Paul Harries photographed them on stage, backstage and through artistic eyes, and Dysfunctional Family Portraits is a fascinatingly creative look at this distinctive band.
Click here to buy at musicroom.com
7) Kanye West: God & Monster – Mark Beaumont

Inside the pages of Kanye West: God & Monster by author Mark Beaumont, you will find the most in-depth, detailed and comprehensive biography of one of popular culture’s most polarising icons. Divisive and dissident, the producer, rapper and entrepreneur has remained at the forefront of his musical genre, while simultaneously cultivating controversy in his private life. This biography will reveal all.
Click here to buy at musicroom.com
8) Alex Ross: Listen To This

In Listen To This Alex Ross, the music critic for the New Yorker, looks both backwards and forwards in time, capturing essential figures and ideas in classical music history, as well as giving an alternative view of recent pop music that emphasizes the power of the individual musical voice. A thoroughly enjoyable read for anyone who has any desire to learn about music.
Click here to buy at musicroom.com
9) Yeah Yeah Yeah – The Story Of Modern Pop -Bob Stanley

For fifty years, pop music was created and consumed like this: you heard a record on the radio, or read about it in a music paper; you bought it on Saturday; you lent it to, or taped it for, a friend; and they reciprocated it with another record. It was a secret network. It was how you made friends, how you met girls, and how you soundtracked your world.
Click here to buy at musicroom.com
10) Leonard Cohen – Everybody Knows – Harvey Kubernik

Leonard Cohen’s songs and poetry are defined by their emotional and intellectual intelligence. Lyrically potent, his records are full of romance, innuendo and humour, and in performance his smoke-black vocal cords navigate the most sophisticated and arresting of melodies. He has captivated generations of listeners and audiences around the world and his work has inspired many other performers from Johnny Cash to Nick Cave, Judy Collins to Adele. There have been over three hundred cover versions of the sublime ‘Hallelujah’, which took Cohen ten years to perfect.
Click here to buy at musicroom.com
11) Do Not Sell At Any Price – Amanda Petrusich

Subtitled “the wild, obsessive hunt for the world’s rarest 78rpm records”,Do Not Sell At Any Price is a fascinating, complex story of preservation, loss, obsession, and art, written by prolific music critic Amanda Petrusich.

Do Not Sell At Any Price is the untold story of a fixated coterie of record collectors working to ensure those songs aren’t lost forever. Music critic and author Amanda Petrusich considers the particular world of the 78—from its heyday to its near extinction—and examines how a cabal of competitive, quirky individuals have been frantically lining their shelves with some of the rarest records in the world. 
Click here to buy at musicroom.com