In its open improvisations, lapidary lyrics, errant melodies, and relentless pursuit of spontaneity, the British experimental band Henry Cow pushed rock music to its limits. Its rotating personnel, sprung from rock, free jazz, and orchestral worlds, synthesized a distinct sound that troubled genre lines, and with this musical diversity came a mixed politics, including Maoism, communism, feminism, and Italian Marxism. In Henry Cow: The World Is a Problem Benjamin Piekut tells the band’s story—from its founding in Cambridge in 1968 and later affiliation with Virgin Records to its demise ten years later—and analyzes its varied efforts to link aesthetics with politics. Drawing on ninety interviews with Henry Cow musicians and crew, letters, notebooks, scores, journals, and meeting notes, Piekut traces the group’s pursuit of a political and musical collectivism, offering up its history as but one example of the vernacular avant-garde that emerged in the decades after World War II. Henry Cow’s story resonates far beyond its inimitable music; it speaks to the avant-garde’s unpredictable potential to transform the world.

Henry tells his mother that he is afraid that a cow will crawl through his window while he is sleeping.

A cow eats fallen fruit in an apple orchard and runs amok.

Music writer/historian Aaron Joy presents his series of rock music crossword puzzle books. A great starting point for growing a music collection, enjoying a particular musical genre or band or winning the next game of rock trivia. This volume (15 puzzles) features the following: Matching Mole, Uriel/Egg/Arzachel, Centipede, Henry Cow, Khan, Kevin Ayers, Caravan, Gilgamesh, Soft Heap/Soft Head, Daevid Allen, Delivery/Hatfield And The North, In Cahoots, Short Wave, National Health, Gong/Pierre Moerlen's Gong, Soft Machine and Rock In Opposition. Series 1: thrash, grunge, classic NYC rock bands, women in rock, prog-rock, L.A. hair metal. Series 2: sludge metal, Boston bands, LGBT musicians (3 vols). Series 3: drone metal, Canterbury prog, boy bands, classic surf bands, early Christian & Jesus music

A Civil War–era girl’s courage is tested in this haunting, wordless story. When a farm girl discovers a runaway slave hiding in the barn, she is at once startled and frightened. But the stranger’s fearful eyes weigh upon her conscience, and she must make a difficult choice. Will she have the courage to help him? Unspoken gifts of humanity unite the girl and the runaway as they each face a journey: one following the North Star, the other following her heart. Henry Cole’s unusual and original rendering of the Underground Railroad speaks directly to our deepest sense of compassion. Praise for Unspoken A New York Times Best Illustrated Book “Designed to present youngsters with a moral choice . . . the author, a former teacher, clearly intended Unspoken to be a challenging book, its somber sepia tone drawings establish a mood of foreboding.” —The New York Times Book Review “Moving and emotionally charged.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review “Gorgeously rendered in soft dark pencils, this wordless book is reminiscent of the naturalistic pencil artistry of Maurice Sendak and Brian Selznick.” —School Library Journal, starred review “Cole’s . . . beautifully detailed pencil drawings on cream-colored paper deftly visualize a family’s ruggedly simple lifestyle on a Civil War–era homestead, while facing stark, ethical choices . . . Cole conjures significant tension and emotional heft . . . in this powerful tale of quiet camaraderie and courage.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Effie learns what it takes to be a state-fair cow.