Lovely bio of the famed cult singer-songwriter features a desultory narrative highlighting key periods of Cohen's life, nicely rendered with Girard's Lovely bio of the famed cult singer-songwriter features a desultory narrative highlighting key periods of Cohen's life, nicely rendered with Girard's elegant drawings, which capture a certain poetry about the man. I didn't know too much about Cohen's work before this (though I adore his song "First We Take Manhattan"), but I now feel compelled to explore. ...more
A beautifully warm and ultimately heartrending biography, written with love and respect for its subject—without being anything like a mere hagiographyA beautifully warm and ultimately heartrending biography, written with love and respect for its subject—without being anything like a mere hagiography—and deep empathy. Kudos to McDonough, he's a smart and passionate writer. He made me really love Tammy and cry a little for her bitter, awful end. ...more
A really excellent autobiographical comic structured around music and how we use it to process our emotions—especially those that are difficult or paiA really excellent autobiographical comic structured around music and how we use it to process our emotions—especially those that are difficult or painful. Pierre really bares her soul here, and it’s just a really well told and beautifully drawn story. ...more
Although my oldest sister was a big fan of Joni Mitchell and played her records all the time while we were growing up, it wasn’t until Mitchell’s WildAlthough my oldest sister was a big fan of Joni Mitchell and played her records all the time while we were growing up, it wasn’t until Mitchell’s Wild Things Run Fast LP of 1982 that I became a genuine fan and immediately began amassing her old stuff. During the rest of the eighties and throughout the nineties Mitchell would release a new record every few years and I would always be all over it, right away. Though I genuinely enjoyed all of those records, even 1985’s oft-maligned Dog Eat Dog, none were revelatory in the way that Mitchell’s groundbreaking experimental LPs of the mid-to-late 70’s were: The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, and even the misunderstood-in-its-time Mingus (which has held up quite well and sounds really fresh today). And these records came *after* her acknowledged early-70’s classics Ladies of the Canyon, For The Roses, Blue, & Court and Spark! I liked and still like Joni’s “weird” & arty music best of all. She was just absolutely flyin’ high throughout the decade as a truly important, and, as it turned out much later, tremendously influential artist.
David Yaffe’s book is a good, absorbing read for Mitchell fans. He’s clearly a huge fan (well duh) and writes very well about the technical as well as aesthetic aspects of crafting music. And he paints a convincing, well-rounded portrait of Mitchell as an enormously complicated, mercurial, brilliant, but often unpleasant person (i.e. she can be quite cranky, narcissistic and petty). He reveals a lot of startling information about her personal life over the years, but his work is generally strongest when he's examining the inner workings of Mitchell's creative process. I was absorbed throughout. While I have mixed feelings about her as a person, Mitchell is one of my genuine musical heroes. She is Her Own Thing, standing apart. It's no surprise, but reading Reckless Daughter spurred a week-long Joni music binge, which I enjoyed even more than the book (as above, was startled at how much I got into Mingus, which I'd previously admired more than I enjoyed). Four out of five stars, and get completely well soon, Joni....more
Personal testimonies from various writers about The Smiths and what made them and still makes them awesome. This is just one of the First Time I HeardPersonal testimonies from various writers about The Smiths and what made them and still makes them awesome. This is just one of the First Time I Heard series, some of the others being about Kate Bush and another about Joy Division & New Order. Pretty cool stuff. ...more
This is the music I grew up on. The book itself is a on a par with the second volume, which I read first, I think about a year ago. I still wish Marc This is the music I grew up on. The book itself is a on a par with the second volume, which I read first, I think about a year ago. I still wish Marc Taylor was a better, more inspired writer, but appreciate his efforts to spotlight this era and its stars nonetheless. Takes me back to my childhood. ...more
The R&B and soul music scene of the late seventies saw the decline of neo-classic soul, the rise and fall of disco, the emergence of funk as a dominanThe R&B and soul music scene of the late seventies saw the decline of neo-classic soul, the rise and fall of disco, the emergence of funk as a dominant force, and the early seeds of rap as a major trend. This book looks at 31 artists from that time, from huge crossover stars like Earth, Wind, and Fire and The Commodores, to popular acts like Parliament/Funkadelic and Rufus (with the scintillating Chaka Khan), to far lesser-known acts like Enchantment, BT Express, and G.Q. Marc Taylor is an engaged but uninspiring and workmanlike writer - he never quite puts over the excitement a really great song can generate in listeners, which is something any genuinely good music writer should be able to pull off - but he was able to nab interviews with several key musicians, many from long-defunct bands, letting them speak about their experiences for themselves (oral histories very helpful in books of this nature). One unhappy recurrent theme addressed is the shortsightedness and racism of the music industry; one hopes that with the commencement of the digital revolution artists have more power over the fates of their careers than this book indicates they had in the past. Shortcomings and all, A Touch of Classic Soul 2 remains a serviceable, fairly entertaining document of an often unfairly maligned era in black music; hopefully more thorough and better written books will (or already have) come along to strengthen the written history. And I'll totally read volume one. ...more
J. Randy Taraborelli writes the best trashy celeb bios and this one was the perfect balm for the madness of this past Xmas holiday weekend (with its rJ. Randy Taraborelli writes the best trashy celeb bios and this one was the perfect balm for the madness of this past Xmas holiday weekend (with its requisite family stress, commercialism overload, etc). Not as good as the pointedly-titled Call Her Miss Ross or the hilariously cheesily-titled Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness, but still fun. Madonna has the overwhelming, monstrous narcissism of both Diana Ross and Jackson (RIP), and that seems to be the core quality you need from the subject of one of these books to ensure a good, juicy read. ...more
This book was perhaps a tad overstuffed and overly detailed for the first 100 pages or so (love the right-on complaint from the reader below: "did we This book was perhaps a tad overstuffed and overly detailed for the first 100 pages or so (love the right-on complaint from the reader below: "did we really need to know about Morrissey's *grandmother*?") but once Rogan got into the nuts and bolts of the formation of the group and their brief, tumultous, but often glorious history, I plowed through the last half of the book in a day, as my love of The Smiths rose like a phoenix from the ashes of my years as a twentysomething fanboy. I had a major crush on Morrissey back then, never knowing what an often-insufferable diva he was, but so many his of songs still rank high in the Top 100 in the soundtrack of my life and probably always will. Rogan is an obsessive biographer and his passion for his subject shines clearly through here. As a bonus, he writes really well about music, capturing the essence of many of the greatest Morrissey/Marr compositions. I would recommend this to any bona-fide Smiths or Morrissey fan without hesitation. ...more
In the summer of '88 Patti's Horses album suddenly made my brain go KAPOW, and I listened to it a lot for the rest of the season. Now it lurks about iIn the summer of '88 Patti's Horses album suddenly made my brain go KAPOW, and I listened to it a lot for the rest of the season. Now it lurks about in my memory and occasionally calls out to be heard again, it being one of the unadulterated masterpieces of the Rock Era - just totally brilliant - with her Easter LP and parts of Radio Ethiopia and Wave being terrific as well. Anyway, was very interested to read this always-engaging book, which is basically her statement of love, friendship and devotion to Robert Mapplethorpe. Patti captures a very unique era in the NYC art and music worlds here and her saga made me want to explore far more of both her and Mapplethorpe's work than I have (I vaguely knew she had published some poetry books but I had no idea she was a visual artist also). Meanwhile, both Horses and Easter are getting some heavy rotation around here again. ...more
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