Brand from Home | July 15, 2021

Contactless pickup services and in-person services are now available at Glendale Central Library, Brand Library, and Montrose Library.

Music Playlists

Listen to a streaming playlist from Freegal Music, Naxos Music Library, Naxos Jazz Music Library, Hoopla or Music Online from Alexander Street free with your library card. Alexander Street will ask for an academic institution, use Glendale Public Library.

Today's recommending listening is Run DMC, the soundtrack from In the Heights, Louis Armstrong, dance music from South Louisiana, Buddhist music, and Bob Dylan.

Read About Music

Here are a few of the new music biographies on the shelf! Look for them in the library catalog.

There are hundreds of music eBooks on Freading and Cloud Library. Login with your Glendale library card number. Biographies, music instruction, theory and much more.

Music Podcasts

The Naxos Blog includes podcasts which are useful supplements to albums in the Naxos Music Library. The podcast includes information about Naxos albums which you can listen to on NML for free using your Glendale Library card. Recent episodes include Liszt’s Musical Makeovers, piano music by Khachaturian, Villa Lobos’s choral transcriptions, guitarist Mabel Millan and more. Some of the albums covered in recent podcast episodes are featured below.

AfroPop Worldwide is a syndicated radio series available as a podcast. The NPR radio show started in 1988 as a weekly series and has won a Peabody Award. Recent episodes include Africa In Melbourne, the Panama Beat and the Cuban Intervention in Angola.

Sound Opinions started as a Chicago show in 1993. Rock critics Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis host and there are over 800 episodes. They have covered such diverse topics as Robert Johnson, De La Soul and guests have included Steve Cropper, Nancy Wilson and Todd Rundgren.

Brand Associates Dance Series Application Online

On behalf of the Associates of Brand Library & Art Center, we are accepting applications for the Brand Associates Dance Series 2022 season. We are looking for Dance Companies with at least 5 years of experience to present an educational, site-specific dance program appropriate for all ages onsite at Brand Library & Art Center as part of the 2022 Dance Series. Acclaimed choreographer, teacher and producer Jamie Nichols is the juror. Applications are open through September 30, 2021.

Films Online

Creativity, Explained is an animated series from Adobe exploring the fundamental principles of art and design. Each segment is voiced by a luminary in the field providing advice for hobbyists and working creatives alike. Start with On Color with Eddie Opara explaining why certain shades resonate with our emotions and prompt us to act. Also available: On Type with Erik Spiekermann.

Watch Out of Paper a film on Li Hongbo, a Beijing-based artist, who uses paper to create extraordinary stretchable sculptures. Intricately and painstakingly constructed, each paper sculpture opens out like the bellows of an accordion, revealing a beautiful honeycomb pattern hidden between each layer.

Visual arts educator Annie Kyle performed a very informative and charming alphabet song about art history. Each letter was about an artist whose last name began with the same letter and featured a recognizable piece of their art. Kyle also included a bit of body language that described the work of each artist.

Checkout some art books from the library in person or using our Contactless Pickup Services.

Brand Library Staff Reviews

Not many graphic memoirs on the market were created in a fury when the author temporarily regained her vision for a few weeks before becoming permanently blind. Vivian Chong and Georgia Webber’s memoir Dancing After TEN begins with Chong’s terrifying experience developing TEN (toxic epidermal necrolysis), a rare syndrome caused by an adverse reaction to a medication. Chong was left in a coma for two months and developed peeling skin, scarring, vision and hearing loss requiring intensive care and rehabilitation. Chong started the illustrations two years after being diagnosed and a decade later enlisted cartoonist Webber’s help to complete them and fill out the narrative. Webber’s illustrations give structure and ground the memoir while Chong’s give the emotional texture needed to feel the confusion, isolation, and joy of her inner world. Together, the illustrations work seamlessly to convey this incredibly difficult and heartbreaking story. Although Dancing After TEN is a challenging read initially, ultimately Chong’s story is not merely one of survival and adaptation to having a disability (which would be more than enough) but of artistically flourishing under any circumstances. -SB

Lovebites - Glory, Glory, to the World (2021 EP). Japan has been a true creative hotbed for metal bands for at least the past decade and one of the most internationally successful has been the female power metal quintet Lovebites. Front and center is the virtuoso guitar team of Midori and Miyako who trade solos and fast intricate guitar harmonies but the whole band is incredibly accomplished. Midori is a wild yet articulate player while Miyako is more melodic and also plays keyboards. The opening track, Glory to the World, has life affirming power metal lyrics. Some might interpret it as vaguely religious but I think it’s singer Asami positively telling us we will get through this pandemic together. Midori has said in interviews that her love of black gospel music was a big influence on the song. Asami has said one of her her favorite singers is Aretha Franklin which also sheds light on the song’s musical influences. No Time To Hesitate and Paranoia both are very fast and heavy songs. Dystopia Symphony is progressive metal and Miyako quotes a phrase of Beethoven’s Appassionata Sonata in the keyboard part while the lyrics reflect on Beethoven’s suffering and comfort through his music. Winds of Transylvania is the theme song for the popular anime vampire series Vladlove. The song is fast and crazy and ends with Asami singing a high A that will take the house down in a live performance. A super high energy wild ride. If you like bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica you will probably love this band. -BW

Get a free Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Library eCard instantaneously.

It can be used to access online resources including eBooks, eAudiobooks, eNewspapers, eMagazines, online classes, online tutoring, and learning games, as well as streaming movies and music, and more!

If you don't already subscribe to our weekly Wowbrary email newsletter sign up here. Wowbrary contains all of our newest books CDs, DVDs and more for Glendale Library, Arts & Culture.