Village Voice rock critic Christgau finally achieves life between
hardcovers (although the paperback original collections of his
justly famous "Consumer Guide" columns have long been in print)
with this wildly variegated assortment of profiles. A book that
skips directly from Elvis to Janis is clearly not intended to be a
history of rock 'n' roll, and Christgau makes no effort to pretend
otherwise. Rather, the collection is a book of his enthusiasms, a
cornucopia that allows him to include such odd-artists-out as the
women's rock band L7 and the blackface yodeler Emmett Miller.
Christgau's idiosyncratic selection omits a lot of key figures, and
some of the volume's inclusions - jazz sax player James Carter,
country poseur Garth Brooks - are dispensable. Christgau is rightly
revered for his wide-ranging taste and astonishing ability to make
totally wacked-out connections. Who else would link Chuck Berry to
post-punk lesbians Sleater-Kinney and make it work? Of course, the
downside to that particular habit, which runs throughout
Christgau's oeuvre, not just this volume, is that when the
connection is less apparent, the reference becomes alarmingly
private, not to say downright abstruse. For a guy who claims to
eschew musicological analysis, he is disarmingly adept at tossing
in just the right detail to make a point; he's one of the only
Voice arts regulars who doesn't seem intoxicated by the brilliance
of his own prose style. As a result, this is a highly entertaining
book to dip into at random. On the other hand, reading it in
extended doses is like gorging on fudge. All of Christgau's
considerable strengths and weaknesses are on display. (Kirkus
Reviews)
Two generations of American music lovers have grown up listening
with Robert Christgau, attuned to his inimitable blend of judgment,
acuity, passion, erudition, wit, and caveat emptor. His writings,
collected here, constitute a virtual encyclopedia of popular music
over the past fifty years. Whether honoring the originators of rock
and roll, celebrating established artists, or spreading the word
about newer ones, the book is pure enjoyment, a pleasure that takes
its cues from the sounds it chronicles. A critical compendium of
points of interest in American popular music and its far-flung
diaspora, this book ranges from the 1950s singer-songwriter
tradition through hip-hop, alternative, and beyond. With unfailing
style and grace, Christgau negotiates the straits of great music
and thorny politics, as in the cases of Public Enemy, blackface
artist Emmett Miller, KRS-One, the Beastie Boys, and Lynyrd
Skynyrd. He illuminates legends from pop music and the beginnings
of rock and roll-George Gershwin, Nat King Cole, B. B. King, Chuck
Berry, and Elvis Presley-and looks at the subtle transition to just
plain "rock" in the music of Janis Joplin, the Rolling Stones, Eric
Clapton, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and others. He praises the
endless vitality of Al Green, George Clinton, and Neil Young. And
from the Rolling Stones to Sonic Youth to Nirvana, from Bette
Midler to Michael Jackson to DJ Shadow, he shows how money calls
the tune in careers that aren't necessarily compromised by their
intercourse with commerce. Rock and punk and hip-hop, pop and world
beat: this is the music of the second half of the twentieth
century, skillfully framed in the work of a writer whose reach,
insight, and perfect pitch make him one of the major cultural
critics of our time.
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