ABBA's was an extraordinary journey through the pages of rock history - it took them from throwaway Eurovision turn to highly respected pop icons. Their story has everything; beautiful girls with incredible voices, love, marriages, break ups, divorces, not to mention some of the most memorable outfits ever seen on a stage. This indispensable eBook provides fans of the band with a perfect career retrospective; it looks beyond the glitz and the glamour to get to the heart of what made ABBA so special. This eBook features a biography of ABBA, along with in-depth interviews with Bj rn Again founder Rod Leissle, record producer Pip Williams, music journalist Hugh Fielder and Anni-Frid Lyngstad herself, who give unique insights into what it was like to work and socialise with the one of the hottest properties the pop industry had ever seen. The book also includes a detailed track-by-track analysis of all ABBA's studio releases.

Nigel Kennedy changed the course of classical music in the late 1980s with his interpretation of Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’. He was revolutionary: in his performance and presentation; in his technique and his open-minded attitude. A natural boundary-pusher and musical adventurer, Nigel Kennedy blew minds - and sales records - as he became the best-selling violinist of all time. Instead of an Introduction, Nigel opens with a tongue-in-cheek ‘Warning’: readers should beware of his politically incorrect writing style and his frank take on the BBC, record companies, the Bavarian Police and any other ‘self-appointed wielders of power.’ It sets the tone for a truly original memoir that is as playful, unconventional and carefully executed as his music. The book is structured like a musical performance, with ‘Interludes’, ‘Outros’ and an ‘Encore’ separating the regular chapters which cover Nigel’s life story, from his humble beginnings and scholarship to the newly created Yehudi Menuhin School - and then New York at The Juilliard School - to his flourishing career and break-through as a world-class superstar. ‘Interludes’ cover subjects varying from Nigel’s best and worst gigs (“It might seem strange that shit gigs stick in the mind so much more than the good ones but I suppose it makes sense…”), to run-ins with rock stars and Police forces around the world. His anecdote on the London Metropolitan Police’s handling of a noise complaint at an after-show all-star jam is particularly funny: “These guys (the Met) were cheerful, they dealt with the situation and didn’t escalate the problem when there wasn’t one. 10/10” ‘Outros’ cover Nigel’s thoughts on classical music today - fascinating reading from the perspective of a virtuoso - to Brexit, where the spelling of the word alone leaves the reader in little doubt as to which side of the fence the author sits. ‘Encores’ is a comprehensive section on Nigel’s recorded output, covering his early classical work, the Four Seasons and later albums. There are insights into his work with rock musicians including Robert Plant, the late drummer Michael Lee, Killing Joke singer Jaz Coleman, and producers Eddie Kramer (Jimmy Hendrix) and John Leckie (Stone Roses). Nigel’s writing on Gershwin, Yehudi Menuhin, Stephan Grappelli (‘my biggest inspiration’), Jimi Hendrix and the Doors is compelling. Nigel writes of his interests outside music - boxing and football - which provide inspiration and balance to his creative output (on Aston Villa - “a true blessing for me to have an outlet in which I was surrounded by normal, honest, hard-working people who did ‘proper jobs’”). There is a splendid chapter on ‘Kitchen Golf’, a not-without-risk variation of the game, conjured up with close friend and mischief-maker Gary Lineker, during a messy late night kitchen session. “My whole life has been spent breaking down barriers between people and this book is proof of that.” states Nigel in his ‘Warning’. It’s a Mission Statement borne out in ‘Uncensored’ with aplomb.

In 1995, Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier (Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville) and three fellow Danish directors swore allegiance to a “vow of chastity” aimed at jolting filmmakers around the world who had become stuck in the mire of slick, emotionally manipulative, high-concept, and bombastic movie productions. They named their philosophy “Dogme95,” and its tenets demanded a return to the basic core of filmmaking: the use of natural lighting and a hand-held camera, and the refusal to use special effects, a soundtrack of any kind (only natural sounds found on location were acceptable), and movie sets (all shooting was to take place on location). Like the French New Wave and 1960s American Underground film movements, Dogme had a profound affect on filmmaking around the world, including the sacred cow known as “Hollywood.” In part because of the proliferation of relatively inexpensive digital cameras and technology, the movement resonated with young and independent filmmakers, creating a surge in back-to-the-basics, guerilla filmmaking. It also had a profound influence on everything from Hollywood filmmakers to dance choreographers to computer game manufacturers. The list of films and filmmakers to come out of the Dogme movement reads like a who’s who of art-house cinema from the late-1990s and early-2000s: the aforementioned Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg (The Celebration), Harmony Korine (Julien Donkey-Boy), Lone Scherfig (Italian for Beginners), and Susanne Bier (Open Hearts), among many others. Dogme Uncut is written by film journalist and historian Jack Stevenson, who, while living in Demark for the past decade, has had a true insider’s view of the Dogme movement from its conception to its early triumphs to its current incarnation. With a good deal of humor and fascinating insights, Stevenson brings a mixture of history, analysis, and reportage to bear on the eight-year-old film movement, examining the subject from multiple perspectives. Dogme’s debt to previous film “waves” is explored, as is the impact Dogme itself has had on current trends in cinema and on today’s young filmmakers. Penned in a lively, accessible, and jargon-free style, Dogme Uncut is a richly illustrated survey of the entire Dogme canon that is both entertaining and hugely informative.

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