Aesthetics and Music (Continuum Aesthetics) [Paperback] Review

The aesthetics of music is an underserved field.Roger Scruton's "Aesthetics of Music" is a formidable achievement, and perhaps so imposing that few have attempted to update it or even tread on the same territory.Andy Hamilton's "Aesthetics and Music" not only dares to engage Scruton, but does so convincingly and with a clarity not often seen in music scholarship.The strength of the book is its attention to the simplest, most important questions we can ask about music: What is it? Is it distinct from mere sound, and if so, how?Hamilton's book should be required reading for all musicologists and music scholars.

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Product Description:
"The Continuum Aesthetics" series looks at the aesthetic questions and issues raised by all major art forms. Stimulating, engaging and accessible, the series offers food for thought not only for students of aesthetics, but also for anyone with an interest in philosophy and the arts. "Aesthetics and Music" is a fresh and often provocative exploration of the key concepts and arguments in musical aesthetics. It draws on the rich heritage of the subject, while proposing distinctive new ways of thinking about music as an art form. The book looks at: the experience of listening; rhythm and musical movement; what modernism has meant for musical aesthetics; the relation of music to other 'sound arts'; improvisation and composition; as well as more traditional issues in musical aesthetics, such as absolute versus programme music and the question of musical formalism. Thinkers discussed range from Pythagoras and Plato to Kant, Nietzsche and Adorno. Areas of music covered include classical, popular and traditional music, and jazz. "Aesthetics and Music" makes an eloquent case for a humanistic, democratic and genuinely aesthetic conception of music and musical understanding.Anyone interested in what contemporary philosophy has to say about music as an art form will find this thought-provoking and highly enjoyable book required reading.

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Steely Dan's Aja (33 1/3) [Paperback] Review

Finally, a piece of writing worthy of Steely Dan.Don Breithaupt, himself a Juno-nominated musician, tells the inside story of the making of this classic through exclusive interviews with Fagen and many of the major players.He places Aja in the context of the Dan catalogue, of pop culture, even song-writing history.He expertly deconstructs lyrics, chord patterns, instrumentation, gives us insider-studio details, making-of stories, and does it in engaging -- often hilarious -- language.Casual readers will be engrossed.Serious musicians will reference it over and over.And Becker & Fagen fanatics will get the answer to the question so many of them ask:How the hell did they DO that?

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Aja was the album that made Steely Dan a commercial force on the order of contemporaries like Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and Chicago. A double-platinum, Grammy-winning bestseller, it lingered on the Billboard charts for more than a year and spawned three hit singles. Odd, then, that its creators saw it as an "ambitious, extended" work, the apotheosis of their anti-rock, anti-band, anti-glamour aesthetic. Populated by thirty-five mostly jazz session players, Aja served up prewar song forms, mixed meters and extended solos to a generation whose idea of pop daring was Paul letting Linda sing lead once in a while. And, impossibly, it sold. Including an in-depth interview with Donald Fagen, this book paints a detailed picture of the making of a masterpiece.

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