Dancing about Architecture: A MixtapeLike this list

19 items

• Music Is History

  Questlove • Greenman, Ben

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  This is more of an examination of how we think, write, and produce history than a history of popular music, but Questlove is an engaging and fascinating thinker and narrator.

• Major Labels

  A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres

  Sanneh, Kelefa

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  Sanneh is a pop music critic for the New Yorker (which somehow feels like an oxymoron. He is such a generous, open-hearted/minded lover of music that he turned not a few of my long secret "guilty pleasures" into openly admitted pleasures. And that's…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Wrecking Crew

  the Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-kept Secret

  Hartman, Kent

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  You might not know their names, but these folks played on so many of the biggest hits of the 1960s that it would be pointless to list them. These are lunch bucket working pros who happened to make some of the greatest expressions of American culture…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Rest Is Noise

  Listening to the Twentieth Century

  Ross, Alex, 1968-

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  Ross explores history and music and history through music and examines the ways the avant grade and experimental strains have infiltrated pop culture.

• Motown

  the Sound of Young America

  White, Adam, 1947 or 1948-

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  Motown Records, at the height of its creative power in the '60s and '70s, was an almost impossible thing: a wellspring of artistic expression on an industrial scale. Barry Gordy and the geniuses he brought on board changed the world and made it look…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Respect Yourself

  the Stax Records Story

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  At a distance, you might be forgiven for thinking of Stax as "Motown South." It wasn't. It was a whole different sound and sensibility with its own set of visionaries, geniuses, and legends.

• Corporate Rock Sucks

  the Rise and Fall of SST Records

  Ruland, Jim,

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  What happens when hardcore punks end up, through no fault of their own, becoming wildly successful business tycoons? About what you would imagine, only louder and uglier.

• Punk Women

  40 Years of Musicians Who Built Punk Rock

  Ensminger, David A.

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  Was the hardcore punk scene sexist? Yep. Despite the sexism, did some women kick down the doors and stomp the tundra, demanding to be heard? Yep. Did those women embody punk in its truest form? Undoubtedly.

• Black Punk Now

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  Was there heinously racist elements in the punk scene from its beginnings? Yep. Did people of color and other marginalized groups demand accountability and inclusion. Yep. This anthology gives voice to many of those people in a way I've never seen…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Cool Town

  How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture

  Hale, Grace Elizabeth,

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  The subtltle overstates Athens' role. The fact is that similar scenes--notably in Austin--started earlier and had similar impacts, but reading this resurfaced some bands I had once loved, but forgotten.

• Mud Ride

  A Messy Trip Through the Grunge Explosion

  Turner, Steve • Tepedelen, Adem

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  Alt Rock is still being made and played, but the Grunge wave of the 90s was the last time rock moved the cultural needle in any significant way. Some of us geezers hope it was not the last time, but until it happens, we pick over the bones. Turner,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Hip-Hop is History

  Questlove • Greenman, Ben

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  Questlove's follow-up to Music is History--a deeper dive into the genre he helped expand and popularize.

• Souled American

  How Black Music Transformed White Culture

  Phinney, Kevin

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  "Cultural appropriation' is a problematic idea. Have white people time and time again raised themselves on the shoulders of black groundbreaking creatives? Without a shadow of a doubt. But, has that process also helped African American culture…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll

  An Alternative History of American Popular Music

  Wald, Elijah

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  Don't judge a book by its title--or do. Idc. But this title would have hit harder a couple of decades ago. Now, thanks to the internet, there is no shortage of provocateurs willing to die on that and similar musical hills. But the book itself works…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• This Is What It Sounds Like

  What the Music You Love Says About You

  Rogers, Susan • Ogas, Ogi

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  I usually find people who try to explain why a song or band is good by talking about the finer points of music theory and studio equipment and mic placement annoying. Rogers has the real world bona fides and Ph.D to pull it off.

• How Music Works

  Byrne, David

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  Byrne has always been restless and exploratory in his music. Here he digs into the big picture and sheds light on his process and career.

• Anatomy of a Song

  the Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R & B and Pop

  Myers, Marc, 1956-

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  Artists in general are usually not the best sources to talk about their work and musicians probably less so than others. But Myers interviews songwriters and musicians about what they do and how they do it and it is a fascinating read. You can…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Musical Human

  a History of Life on Earth

  Spitzer, Michael,

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  Some say our storytelling ability makes us human. Others say it's our thumbs. Our ability to combine the two and make music is probably more accurate. We can go over a month without food, and almost a week without water, but try going a day without…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• This Is Your Brain on Music

  the Science of a Human Obsession

  Levitin, Daniel J.

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  Speaking for myself, no other art form consistently makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. A great movie or painting may stick with me, but a great song seems to get into me at a cellular level. Levitin explores the way music works for…Read moreRead more of this annotation