{"title":"Professor or Dr. Nicholas Tochka","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProfessor or Dr. Nicholas Tochka\u003c\/strong\u003e offers a fascinating exploration of complex topics where arts and culture intersect with the darker edges of human experience. His works delve into the intricate narratives behind musical and cultural phenomena, revealing layers of meaning through meticulous research and compelling storytelling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect to encounter gripping studies that traverse both creative expression and crime, shedding light on controversial figures and intriguing events. With titles like \u003cem\u003eArdit Gjebrea’s Projekt Jon\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Musical Lives of Charles Manson\u003c\/em\u003e, Tochka’s writing invites reflection on the volatile blend of art, culture, and shadowy human behaviour.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-musical-lives-of-charles-manson-by-professor-or-dr-nicholas-tochka-9781501384554","title":"The Musical Lives of Charles Manson","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNicholas Tochka analyzes the role of rock music in the life of Charles Manson, the Family, and the August 1969 Tate-LaBianca killings, which also gives larger insight into Sixties counterculture.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFailed singer-songwriter. Devious cult leader. A rock Pied Piper. The product of a sick society. Just another dime-a-dozen singing hippy mystic. Did the guitar-playing guru personify the violence that the rock counterculture inflicted on America? Or did his music diagnose the dehumanizing effects of that society’s broken institutions?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor over five decades, commentators have debated the meaning of Charles Manson and the Tate-LaBianca killings. Rock music links their narratives: from the acid-drenched singalongs at the Spahn Movie Ranch, to a bizarre theology centred on Beatles songs, to his commune’s alleged links with Hollywood’s elite, to an album, \u003cem\u003eLIE: The Love and Terror Cult\u003c\/em\u003e (1970).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this first comprehensive examination of the Manson Family’s music, Nicholas Tochka writes with, against, and alongside the many authors—true-crime hacks, gonzo journalists, conspiracy theorists, and rock critics alike—who have told and retold the story of the Manson murders. Playing the truth games that these postwar Americans helped invent, \u003cem\u003eThe Musical Lives of Charles Manson\u003c\/em\u003e presents a new take on the story of the commune—and on rock’s role in fracturing the possibility of writing trustworthy histories after the Sixties.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“They are afraid of it, because it tells the truth,” Manson once claimed, describing his music. Just what truths did the Manson Family’s music-making tell?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47371553112300,"sku":"9781501384554","price":40.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/15125163482722.jpg?v=1773228939"},{"product_id":"ardit-gjebreas-projekt-jon-by-professor-or-dr-nicholas-tochka-9781501363061","title":"Ardit Gjebrea’s Projekt Jon","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAs market reforms and migration transformed Albania in the early 1990s, Ardit Gjebrea began mixing traditional folk music with world music and Italian pop. The resulting album, \u003ci\u003eProjekt Jon\u003c\/i\u003e (1997), provided a new model for song—Western and cosmopolitan, yet firmly rooted in the fertile soil of the nation—against a backdrop of deepening political uncertainty about the very future of Albania.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Ionian Project announced itself with the frenetic beating of the \u003ci\u003edaullë\u003c\/i\u003e and the traditional cries of Albania’s highland shepherd. This sprawling collaboration between singer-songwriter Ardit Gjebrea, folk singer Hysni Zela, producer Paul Mazzolini, and a team of crack studio musicians in Italy, had an outsized ambition: to transcend the small postsocialist nation-state’s borders, imaginatively crafting through sound a new home in Europe for its citizens.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut as Gjebrea prepared to launch \u003ci\u003eProjekt Jon\u003c\/i\u003e, violence prompted by the collapse of widespread pyramid schemes threatened to tear Albania apart. For the intellectuals concerned about growing cracks in the symbolic foundations of the Albanian nation-state, the album came to serve as a referendum on the nature of postsocialist citizenship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47429939560684,"sku":"9781501363061","price":40.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781501363061.jpg?v=1774559833"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/professor-or-dr-nicholas-tochka.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}