Books!

[mediocreplayer]

Unfaithful Music by Elvis Costello -- Utterly terrible. He should be embarrassed that this came out. It's a mess and it's so boring.

Set the Boy Free by Johnny Marr -- Vaguely interesting but honestly the man has lived such a charmed life it's a little boring after awhile. "Chipper man who likes to play guitar gets to continue to do so" is basically the through-line.

Such a perfect description of the Marr book. But more importantly, I am glad that someone else thinks this about Costello's. I do not have an opinion because every time I picked up the book IT WAS FUCKING BORING and I just put it back down. What is this shit? I also don't know/like the guy's music so not sure what I was even looking for.

[Telliot]

I have both books and have never been able to get all the way through either one. I love both artists, but not sure I needed their autobiographies.

[stevejamsecono]

Unfaithful Music by Elvis Costello -- Utterly terrible. He should be embarrassed that this came out. It's a mess and it's so boring.

Set the Boy Free by Johnny Marr -- Vaguely interesting but honestly the man has lived such a charmed life it's a little boring after awhile. "Chipper man who likes to play guitar gets to continue to do so" is basically the through-line.

Such a perfect description of the Marr book. But more importantly, I am glad that someone else thinks this about Costello's. I do not have an opinion because every time I picked up the book IT WAS FUCKING BORING and I just put it back down. What is this shit? I also don't know/like the guy's music so not sure what I was even looking for.

I mean good on the guy, glad he got to meet the love of his life at 15 and basically do whatever he's wanted ever since, but don't rub it in, right?

And yeah that Costello book is... horrid, and I legitimately like the man's music! I think he'd just benefit someone else writing about him.

[budda12ax7]

Bobby Blozter the drummer from RATT wrote a good book....I know I know it’s RATT which holds little interest here, but the business details he describes is amazing and the lack of money he made..off tour he was installing carpets. It’s a good read.

[F15hface]

I've really enjoyed Patti Smith's various memoirs, really all of her writing that I've read to be honest. Currently part way through Miki Berenyi's book Fingers Crossed but am still in the middle of her childhood so can't really say anything conclusive. This Woman's Work, the essay collection edited by Kim Gordon was mixed - a couple of them felt far to academic and indecipherable for my taste, but a good third of it really hit the spot and much of the rest was at least interesting.

[stevemac100]

+1 for Kirstin Hersch and Beastie Boys. What came over really well with BB was what a blast they had over the years - see their great tale about recording with Lee Perry. Also contrast with Kim Gordon's book - moving in similar circles but she didn't seem to have nearly as much fun.

Brett Anderson's books also recommended.

Debbie Harry, not so much - very little self-awareness about what music was world beating and what was a bit meh.

Wayne Hussey - avoid. Really tedious slow book which barely got onto the Mission before stopping for part 2.

And I did enjoy Johnny Marr, much more than Morri**ey!

Slightly off-topic but currently reading The Big Lebowski and Philosophy which is very entertaining and perhaps even thought-provoking. Recommended!

[blacktiger]

I’m currently reading Husker Du: The Story of the Noise-Pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock. I have been enjoying it, but the author started talking about hardcore in the pages I read last night and it very much pissed me off. The POV of the book is pretty fanboy to begin with, but his assertion that HD made the best hardcore ever, then moved on (because they were too good for the genre) is a complete load of bullshit. Add bullshit quotes from Grant, who, as much as I respect him, never had any interest in or real knowledge of hardcore, and the band come off sounding like conceited pricks. The perspective might have been more balanced if Bob had contributed, but he didn’t. The most accurate part of the little diversion about hardcore was a quote from Steven Blush from American Hardcore saying it was good that they moved on from hardcore because they weren’t very good at it (which the authors derides, of course - Blush was clearly a hardcore Neanderthal who just didn’t understand). Husker Du was an ok hardcore band, but that certainly wasn’t their strength. As for Land Speed Record and In a Free Land being some pinnacle of achievement in hardcore…nope. Not by a long shot.

[stevemac100]

Think I'm very much in the minority of regarding Candy Apple Grey and Warehouse as the greatest of Husker's albums.

[sal paradise]

Green is the best Husker Du album

[blacktiger]

Think I'm very much in the minority of regarding Candy Apple Grey and Warehouse as the greatest of Husker's albums.

My favorites are Everything Falls Apart (the first HD record I bought) and Warehouse (the only record I saw them play live).

[cestlamort]

Just started Kid Congo Powers “Some new kind of kick” and it is excellent.

[Larry Mal]

Debbie Harry, not so much - very little self-awareness about what music was world beating and what was a bit meh.

This is the woman who did "Rhapsody" so self-awareness can't be among her strengths.

[Larry Mal]

The POV of the book is pretty fanboy to begin with, but his assertion that HD made the best hardcore ever, then moved on (because they were too good for the genre) is a complete load of bullshit.

Everyone is too good for hardcore. Hardcore was terrible, a cartoon of itself that wasn't in on the joke. Fuck hardcore. Fucking boring.

As long as we are talking about Minneapolis bands who weren't really hardcore, I'll leave us with a little bit about Paul Westerberg:

"The Replacements started their career as a punk rock band but had gradually grown beyond the straightforward hardcore of initial albums like Stink.Westerberg recalls that "playing that kind of noisy, fake hardcore rock was getting us nowhere, and it wasn't a lot of fun. This was the first time I had songs that we arranged, rather than just banging out riffs and giving them titles." By 1983, the band would sometimes perform a set of cover songs intended to antagonize whoever was in the audience. Westerberg explained that the punks who made up their audience "thought that's what they were supposed to be standing for, like 'Anybody does what they want' and 'There are no rules' [...] But there were rules and you couldn't do that, and you had to be fast, and you had to wear black, and you couldn't wear a plaid shirt with flares ... So we'd play the DeFranco Family, that kind of shit, just to piss 'em off."

Husker Dü weren't good at hardcore, but then again, there was nothing to be good at.

[wingnutkj]

Just started Kid Congo Powers “Some new kind of kick” and it is excellent.

Likewise - really enjoying it so far.

[budda12ax7]

Yngwie Malmsteen wrote a cool bio....I know he’s not cool here, but ....it’s interesting to read how much he practices to the point of total obsession and does nothing else. The inside scoop on Steeler is interesting and all the insane stuff he does to his guitars...I think he is insane medically speaking, it’s a good read.