{"title":"Alex Harvey","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlex Harvey’s works delve into the rich intersection of \u003cstrong\u003earts and culture\u003c\/strong\u003e, offering readers a compelling journey through creative expression and artistic insight. His writing often explores the nuances of music, visual arts, and performance, evoking a vivid sense of atmosphere and emotion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith a style that blends thoughtful reflection and evocative storytelling, Harvey invites readers to engage deeply with the cultural forces that shape our world. Titles like \u003cem\u003eSong Noir\u003c\/em\u003e exemplify his ability to illuminate the hidden rhythms beneath everyday life.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"song-noir-by-alex-harvey-9781789146639","title":"Song Noir","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSong Noir\u003c\/i\u003e examines the formative first decade of Tom Waits' career, when he lived, wrote, and recorded nine albums in Los Angeles; from his soft, folk-inflected debut, \u003ci\u003eClosing Time\u003c\/i\u003e (1973), to the abrasive, surreal \u003ci\u003eSwordfishtrombones\u003c\/i\u003e (1983). Starting his songwriting career in the '70s, Waits absorbed LA's wealth of cultural influences. Combining the spoken idioms of writers like Kerouac and Bukowski with jazz-blues rhythms, he explored the city's literary and film noir traditions to create hallucinatory dreamscapes. Waits mined a rich seam of the city's low-life locations and characters, letting the place feed his dark imagination. Mixing the domestic with the mythic, Waits turned quotidian, autobiographical details into something more disturbing and emblematic; a vision of LA as the warped, narcotic heart of his nocturnal explorations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne can easily make the argument that musician, songwriter, and actor Tom Waits is the consummate chronicler of down-and-out life in Los Angeles. Producer, director, and critic Harvey describes the busy first decade of Waits' idiosyncratic career and his nine Los Angeles-themed albums. Beautifully written, \u003ci\u003eSong Noir\u003c\/i\u003e is a fascinating and compelling read featuring striking and evocative black-and-white photographs. - \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eSong Noir\u003c\/i\u003e, Harvey brilliantly reconstructs the colorful characters and grimy street life in Tom Waits's head. \u003ci\u003eSong Noir\u003c\/i\u003e guides us through Waits's evolution as an artist in parallel with the dark shades of Los Angeles in the 1970s, a world that helped shape his songs and ultimately his very persona. Harvey manages to craft a glimpse into Waits's creative process, a swirling cauldron of sorts where Bukowski, Kerouac, Raymond Chandler, and all the tragic victims from the pages of \u003ci\u003enoir\u003c\/i\u003e come to life, showing us the arrival and progression of Tom Waits the artist, with his rich cinematic vision in full bloom. - Tree Adams, composer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47428117692652,"sku":"9781789146639","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781789146639.jpg?v=1774767235"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/alex-harvey.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}