Good books about music

This review makes Thurston Moore's book sound intriguing. I flipped through Gordon's book in the Seattle airport (did you know Sub Pop has a store in the Seattle airport?) a couple of weeks ago but didn't buy it. Maybe I need to read both, I don't know.

Like Patti Smith’s Just Kids, much of this book doubles as a cultural ethnography of a city that doesn’t exist anymore, as Moore meticulously reconstructs the nightlife, scene politics, and artistic cross-pollination that catapulted local stars like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Madonna Ciccone, Jenny Holzer, and Jim Jarmusch (all of whom Moore brushed elbows with) into national prominence. He apparently attended every consequential show and purchased every consequential record, while barely getting by in a dilapidated Alphabet City apartment through a series of odd jobs. This young man, as he reflects, was not fit for steady employment — he would be an artist and nothing else. Early on, he flirted with being a musician-critic like Smith and even aspired to write for the seminal rock magazine Creem, which eventually led to a brief series of sweet interactions with the late Lester Bangs. You can glimpse that in the adjective-heavy, overly enthusiastic way he writes about his favorite performers: “a righteous celebration of hypersonic beauty” (Bad Brains), “the sound of every alien artist in the city looking to find sense in a reality infused by perversion and absurdity” (Teenage Jesus & the Jerks), “psychedelic heavy metal no wave rainbow spiraling into their ears and hearts” (his own band).

An editor might have trimmed the surplus of described shows — one chapter is wholly dedicated to a raucous Public Image Ltd. gig — but the ground-floor perspective of this fertile milieu is definitely interesting. More conspicuous, the longer he goes on, is Moore’s emotional absence in these pages. He doesn’t appear to have many close friendships, not even within the band; there is such little accounting of his relationship with Ranaldo or Shelley that around the 300-page mark, I looked up and wondered aloud, “Are he and Lee … friends?” He doesn’t really date; by his own telling, Gordon, whom he met at age 22, was his first serious girlfriend, and he’s drawn not just to her looks, her demeanor, and their mutual friendships but by what she represents. “It was obvious that she was genuinely devoted to being an artist, a stance that she embodied naturally and that attracted me profoundly,” he writes. “Her feminism was a radical revelation to me, and it would inform my own self-awareness.” He depicts himself as a loner and voyeur, hovering on the margins and waiting to be invited into some grand party of his fantasies, a mentality that serves him well for the stardom Sonic Youth does achieve. He talks about his personal feelings with a stoic’s remove, reserving his enthusiasm for whenever he’s engaging with music.

Sonic Youth die-hards will appreciate the rigorous accounting of the band’s working process, from the way they selected album art through the unconventional guitar tunings they used on particular songs. But the more Moore writes, the more he circles a lacuna at the heart of his story: his relationship with Gordon. It’s not that he avoids her altogether, but his reticence to divulge entirely may be logistical or even legal: Moore is now married to “the other woman,” and the knottiness of how to write about the ex-wife who despises your current wife (feelings that, I imagine, are mutual) is not for me to untangle.

Yet given how much of the band’s experience is wrapped up with his previous marriage, the glancing way he talks about Gordon feels increasingly incomplete, certainly every time we get another story about some great concert. “The gathering energy of Sonic Youth and the growing intimacy of my relationship with Kim had subsumed my earlier ideas of what my life and my art should be,” he writes of the band’s chemistry taking shape. While discussing how they fell in love, he describes their respective personalities: Gordon “possessed a sensitivity that could be emotionally raw or coolly distant,” while Moore himself is “a younger, somewhat on-the-loose rock-and-roll boy.” This dynamic was reified in the band’s own music, both in their voices — Gordon’s breathy and mysterious, Moore’s flat and sneering — and in their song material. The breadth of Sonic Youth’s output makes it unwise to erect a barrier between “the Kim songs” and “the Thurston songs,” but it’s true that Moore did sing more of the better-known songs that conventionally “rocked” — a role that may have carried over from his marriage.

And when he does dig into some facet of their relationship, like how they fell in love or their shotgun wedding or the prickly nuances of cohabitating in the same band, it’s instantly more compelling than whatever else he’s just been talking about. Here’s what passes for a juicy admission: “I got jealous sometimes about the way Kim gave attention to other male musicians, men whom it was obvious that she admired, either intellectually, emotionally, or both,” he writes. “She seemingly took in stride my platonic friendships with other women. Whatever feelings may have lingered within us, neither of us ever felt the need to confront the other in any accusing way.” He doesn’t name names, but if you want to connect the dots, it’s notable how much Gordon wrote about her affection for Kurt Cobain in her memoir — and, in turn, about her disdain for Courtney Love, whom Moore seems to like just fine.

The best celebrity memoirs demonstrate a willingness to grapple with how their author is perceived and to unpack their own feelings about that perception. (The most memorable one I’ve read in the last ten years is Jessica Simpson’s Open Book.) One of the book’s most revealing passages is when Moore describes hanging a calendar bearing a cheesy pinup girl in the apartment he shares with Gordon, on which he scrawls a bit of “punk art” poetry. Whatever clever commentary he intends is received differently by Gordon, who takes that bit of writing and turns them into the lyrics for “Flower” (“There’s a new girl in your life … hanging on your wall”), which would appear on their 1985 album, Bad Moon Rising. “In this bit of lyrical interplay,” he writes, “lay the seed of a conflict in our relationship, one that would remain unspoken but that would someday contribute to its dissolution.” Moore, despite his repeatedly stated feminist bona fides, “couldn’t deny [his] attraction to the nude calendar girl.” And though he believes he can turn his lurid appreciation “into a statement of solidarity and a sublimation of beauty,” the truth is that it’s only so interesting for a straight man to be turned on by a sexy woman — something Gordon picks up on instantly and turns into her own, more thoughtful art.

> An editor might have trimmed the surplus of described shows — one chapter is wholly dedicated to a raucous Public Image Ltd. gig
Glad this editor wasn't around, this sounds like a good chapter to me?

it’s true that Moore did sing more of the better-known songs that conventionally “rocked”

dunno, "kool thing" and "bull in the heather" have to be up there with the most well-known Sonic Youth songs, right?

that public image show was big news at the time and pretty important when it came to drawing artistic lines lol

assuming it's the "we are not a rock band we are a happening" ritz riot

Looks like you're atrial fibrillation buddies w/Thurston.

Idk I think I want as much "I was there" hipster shit out of a TM book as possible, and would not expect any insightful emotional analysis.

otm, also

Sonic Youth die-hards will appreciate the rigorous accounting of the band’s working process, from the way they selected album art through the unconventional guitar tunings they used on particular songs

definitely feels more interesting to me than the 'what really happened in the divorce' stuff

i loved kim's book for what it's worth

kim's book is great, yeah, but i agree — I don't really want a thurston tell-all.

If you don't want to hear more about the Ritz PIL riot, I don't want to know you.

actually surprised someone hasn't written an entire book about that one show (maybe someone has?)

the big new Two Tone book is in the amazon monthly deal (uk) this month (which surprises me as it is kinda new. maybe it sold better than expected in hardback)

I picked up the Hungry Beat oral history on Scottish indie cos I saw it in a charity shop. Very interesting, also that a load of English bands got picked up by small labels up there. Didn't know Gareth Sager was originally Scottish. running through my head that I've seen him in a kilt but wouldn't have made that connection.
book is by Grant McPhee and Douglas MacIntyre with Neil Cooper.

I'm reading Paul Becker's HOW WE MADE THE KICK INSIDE by Paul Becker. It's kind of a freaky, free-jazz fantasisa on the Guardian's How We Made format, with an imaginary Kate quoting Claire Lispector, describing how she wove a nest out of electrical cables, and recounting how she feel into and got trapped inside a 70 foot tall Wicker Man style effigy of herself in her back garden. Not sure it illuminates the music very much but an interesting essay on *creative process* (the writer is a fine artist).

It's by Paul Becker in case I didn't make that clear.

Fast Product is more than a small label, really one of the pioneering forces of UK indie.

The Light Pours Out of Me: The Authorised Biography of John McGeoch
Rory Sullivan-Burke

I talked a little bit about this book on the McGeoch thread: John McGeoch

i almost never read books about music, but i loved kyle gann's article on robert ashley as a minimalist so reading his ashley book now. starting with the chapter on the tetralogy (since 'improvement' is my favorite of ashley's works), it's good but feels like he rushed it to completion or condensed it or something. it's more like the outline of a really good, in-depth book or article. he drops some good insights that i want him to explore further, then it's over.

Ah, felt sure the thread revive would be about the new (due 2024) Simon Reynolds book.

xxps

I think one of the most intriguing things Fast Product put out, in terms of how did that end up on there, was putting Out Of Vogue by the Middle Class on one of their Earcom compilations. I suppose they had a connection to the California scene because they also put out California Uber Alles by the Dead Kennedys.

is My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize worth reading if your interest in Creation is largely restricted to pre-Oasis? it is now available again

It’s a pretty good primer for things you already know, CP, ie the uk indie scene 1979-83, then its a fairly faithful account afaict of the per-oasis years, i recall nothing of the later part of the story- it perhaps I stopped readers my it.

My gripe with it was that it didn’t seem to try any critical reappraisal, so the stuff which got the attention then (eg House of Love, Primal Scream) got good coverage and things I’d loved that I thought underexposed back then were barely touched on (eg Jasmine Minks, even Biff Bang Pow!). I accept this is primarily my problem.

It’s solid, interesting, no fireworks that I recall.

I read some complaints that they hadn't reappraised MBV at all so most of it was complaining about how much money they spent.

I would probably have similar gripes by the sounds of it. it's not expensive atm though so might be worth a go or something I can ask for as an xmas present maybe

Given all those stiff Thurston quotes---the more earnest he gets, the more awkward the phrasing, like he's sweating through his rental formalware----don't think I'll be seeking it out, but will take a look if library gets it, esp. that Public Image experience.

Noh Mercy on the earcom comp was also Bah area I think.

Anyone else read Michael Cragg’s Reach For The Stars? Can’t recommend it highly enough.

Anymore For Anymore: The Ronnie Lane Story by Caroline and David Stafford

Published by Omnibus Press (out now)

This is a fascinating account of a key player in the late 60’s British music explosion. There are many great stories here from his peak years with the Small Faces and the Rod Stewart-led Faces. Ronnie Lane was at the heart of the storm, playing bass, singing and writing. But it’s not all “happy days toy town” – it’s depressing to read of yet another young musician ripped off and exploited by the music biz sharks, and the last section of the book describing his lingering decline and death from MS, which makes for some grim reading.

The book doesn’t dwell too long on his East End childhood, so we’re spared the usual guff about jellied eels and Pearly Kings. Fortunately, his older brother Stan was well into music and Ronnie was playing in bands from a young age.

Just read the girl group oral history, But Will You Love Me Tomorrow?. I should have been warned by a couple of the comments upthread.

Frustrating. This book really needed to be edited with a heavier hand - to clean up grammar, to explain confusing quotes, to reconcile contradictory testimony, to add any kind of context. Dates! It needed far more dates.

For better or worse it gets quite gossipy. Some big names don't come off very well. Most of the new information the book left me with has to do with developments of the last 25 years, stuff not covered in Alan Betrock's Girl Groups: The Story of a Sound (1982) or John Clemente's Girl Groups: Fabulous Females that Rocked the World (2000). Was struck by one thing, which is the seemingly high rate of depression and mental issues associated with people who were involved in the girl group business.

Now I'm in the middle of Listen: On Music, Sound, and Us by Michel Faber, which seems mainly concerned with questioning assumptions we make about music that are tied up in our listening habits. So far so interesting.

The novelist?

Yep

Would read.

Especially since the main blurb seems to be from Gary Lucas!

Oh, I overlooked Robert Fripp, sorry

With regard to the other book: yeah I read a little and it also seemed to me to be super-disorganized, unedited and too gossipy even for me. Not surprised that many people ended up unhappy. Think I told you about the one guy I know– well, met a few times– who played guitar on some of those records and also produced a bit later on but really survived later on by writing and producing jingles.

Yeah, some people got rich from the girl group phenomenon but it wasn't the performers, outside of Diana Ross.

Ellie Greenwich ended up singing jingles.

One time I asked my guy about the whole Red Bird fiasco and he just stood there for a second standing next to his wife with his jaw dropped staring at me and said “you want to talk about THAT!?” so I changed the subject. At least I hope I did.

Now recalling some notorious Morris Levy quote about “they should pay ME!”

Which reminds me to ask, does Michel Faber weigh in on record man George Goldner?

Faber book has me hooked from the first footnote!

No Faber on Goldner. He seems more concerned with the listening end of music rather than production/business end.

No worries, figured, was really just tagging up

You still reading it?

Finished it. It gets a little scattershot as it goes along, but occasionally a point is made that would be a good start to a discussion. At times it seems as if the way he expresses his musical opinions, and his opinions of people who hold differing opinions, contradict his opening statement that particular tastes are beside the point of the book.

But it did make me dig out my Nana Mouskouri best of CD. Hadn’t listened to that in a while.

I sort of confirmed in passing one of his main points last night at karaoke

new book about the Village Voice The Freaks Came Out To Write, author Tricia Romano has a section about Christgau getting into hiphop and hiring writers to cover it.

This book seems really good to dip into.

The oral history quote after quote approach of the Village Voice book sounds like it is one that one would want to dip in and dip out of .

Ha, yeah, although I did read PLEASE KILL ME straight through from front to back, in non-hopscotch order.

I'm around page 300. You could skip around--the chapters are very short and often self-contained--but I think you'd want to read it in order; there's a story there.