Claim OwnershipThe Music Book Podcast
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© 2024 The Music Book Podcast
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A podcast about music books, talking to authors about how they wrote their books about music! Hosted by music writer Marc Masters.
48 Episodes
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On this episode, Marc talks with Marcus J. Moore, author of “High and Rising: A Book about De La Soul,” published today, November 19. It’s a biography of the legendary rap trio that also weaves in Moore’s own story as well as the evolution of rap from the 80s, when De La Soul started, to today. It's a follow up to Moore's first book, “The Butterfly Effect,” about Kendrick Lamar, which came out in 2020.As Marcus writes, “High and Rising doesn’t just tell the story of De La Soul; it unpacks the...
On this episode, Marc talks with Laura Davis-Chanin and Liz Lamere, co-authors of “Infinite Dreams: The Life of Alan Vega,” a deep and thorough portrait of the man most know as half of the innovative duo Suicide, but who also had an amazing career as a visual artist and poet. Laura and Liz weave a compelling narrative of his life with extended quotes from many people whose lives were affected by him, as well as an amazing wealth of images from along his entire, massively-productive career.As ...
On this episode, Marc talks with Steve Wynn, author of “I Wouldn't Say It If It Wasn't True: A Memoir Of Life, Music, And The Dream Syndicate,” published in August of 2024. It’s an entertaining and insightful memoir of his music-obsessed life, from his childhood biking to the store to buy records, to his days as a record store clerk and radio DJ, to his co-founding of the Dream Syndicate, the LA band whose debut album “Days of Wine and Roses” is a classic of 80’s post-punk.As Wynn write...
On this episode, Marc talks with Jonathan Grasse, author of “Jazz Revolutionary: The Life and Music of Eric Dolphy,” due out on October 15. It’s a thorough history of the legendary jazz multi-instrumentalist, who produced an impressive body of work both on his own and in groups led by John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Oliver Nelson, and many more, before his tragic death in 1964 at age 36. Grasse crafts the first truly comprehensive biography of Dolphy by tracing nearly every step of his music c...
On this episode, Marc talks with Corey duBrowa, author of “An Ideal For Living: A Celebration of the EP,” published in early 2024. It’s an overview of some of the best EP’s from the 1950s until the present, with decade-themed chapters containing entries on individual releases by a wide range of writers. In addition, duBrowa wrote an opening chapter on the history of the format, and put together a final chapter of what he and his friends deem the best EPs of all time. There’s also an intro by ...
On this episode, Marc talks with Henry Rollins, author of “Stay Fanatic! Volume 4,” the latest entry in his series of books chronicling, as he puts it, “Lessons in Possession and Confessions of Obsession.” Written in diary form, “Stay Fanatic!” dives into Rollins’ adventures in listening to music, finding out about music, and hunting for records on Ebay and Discogs. It’s also a kind of travelogue, as many entries were written while Rollins was on tour, as well as a kind of evolving philosophi...
On this episode, Marc talks with David Stubbs. He’s the author of “Fear of Music: Why People Get Rothko But Don't Get Stockhausen,” originally published in 2009 and recently reissued. It's an examination of how avant-garde visual art gets mainstream acceptance but avant-garde music is comparatively obscure and unpopular. It's also a pocket history of modern art and music that brings up all kinds of interesting issues and associations among many different artistsAs David writes, “Part of this ...
On this episode, Marc talks with Frans de Waard, author of “America’s Greatest Noise,” published in July of 2024 by Frans’s own imprint, Korm Plastics. It’s the story of Ron Lessard, founder of RRRecords in Massachusetts, which he ran from the mid-80s until 2009. It's a story told in Lessard’s own words, compiled by de Waard from a series of Skype conversations the pair had over the past year. There are so many fascinating and often hilarious stories about how Lessard put together his re...
On this episode, Marc talks with Robyn Hitchock, author of “1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left,” published in July of 2024. You probably know Robyn as an incredibly creative and accomplished musician. His first book could be called a memoir, but it’s confined to the year 1967, when he left home at age 13 to enter boarding school in England, and fell in love with music. It's a super compelling book filled with Hitchcock’s vivid depictions and idiosyncratic notions, written to read like...
On this episode, Marc talks with Toby Manning, author of “Mixing Pop and Politics: A Marxist History of Popular Music,” published in May of 2024. It’s an extensive examination of pop music from the early 1950’s to the present in America and England, and how it interacted with the political culture of its respective times. Covering a vast selection of songs and albums, Manning finds connections and provides insights that you might never have considered. Anyone interested in pop music of the la...
On this episode, Marc talks with Mike Smith, author of “In With The In Crowd: Popular Jazz in 1960s Black America,” published in May of 2024. Smith argues that most studies of 60s jazz focus on the avant-garde centered around John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, and more, and he sets out to balance that with a history of the more popular jazz artists from that decade, such as Eddie Harris, Nancy Wilson, and Ramsey Lewis, showing how their music also influenced the form and culture of...
On this episode, Marc talks with Tom Maxwell, author of “A Really Strange and Wonderful Time: The Chapel Hill Music Scene, 1989-1999,” published in April of 2024. It's the story of a community where musicians played in each other’s bands, toured with each other, produced each other’s records, and supported each other’s work regardless of style or pedigree. Tom also shows what it was like to be in a place where major labels descended, boosting some bands and discarding others. He experienced i...
On this episode, Marc talks with Tara Lopez, author of “Chuco Punk: Sonic Insurgency in El Paso,” published today, June 4th, 2024. It’s a fascinating history of how punk rock developed and grew in the Texas city of El Paso, and the way this opened punk up to marginalized groups. It’s a story about community and self-reliance that adds a new chapter to the history of punk rock.As Tara writes, “While punk is known for its daring subversion, so too is El Paso. Indeed, in the nineteenth century, ...
On this episode, Marc talks to Bill Sassenberger, author of “Toxic Shock Records - Assassin of Mediocrity: A Story of Love, Loss, and Loud Music,” published in the spring of 2024 by Fluke Publishing. Bill and his wife Julianna ran Toxic Shock Records from 1980 up until about 2014 - it was a store, a label, a distributor, and tour booker, and much more.Bill’s book is both a personal memoir and a history of his business, as well as a diary of his time with Julianna after she had a stroke in the...
On this episode, Marc talks to Laina Dawes, author of “What Are You Doing Here?: A Black Woman's Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal,” first published in 2013 by Bazillion Points books, then republished in a new edition in 2020. It’s a combination of memoir, oral history, and highly-researched documentation of the roles black women have played in heavy metal, both as artists and as fans, and by extension in all kinds of music scenes.As she writes, “What are you Doing Here? reveals the common t...
On this episode, Marc talks to Michael Veal, author of “Living Space: John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Free Jazz, from Analog to Digital,” released in April 2024. It’s a fascinating, complex study of John Coltrane’s work from 1965 to his death in 1967, and Davis’s “Lost Quintet,” who played from 1968 to 1970 without ever recording in the studio. Comparing the former to digital architecture, and the latter to experimental photography, Veal explores themes of outer space, free meter, race, music...
On this episode, Marc talks with Jon Fine editor of “Your Band Sucks: What I Saw at Indie Rock's Failed Revolution (But Can No Longer Hear),” published in May of 2014. It’s a memoir of his time in the late 80s band Bitch Magnet, as well as his later bands Vineland and Coptic Light, plus the Bitch Magnet reunion in 2011. It's also a bird’s-eye history of indie rock in the 80s and 90s, including quotes from many people who had bands at the time, and lots of compelling descriptions of how exciti...
On this episode, Marc talks with Ira Robbins, editor of “Zip it Up! The Best of Trouser Press Magazine, 1974-1984,” published in March 2024. It’s an anthology of pieces published in the New York-based magazine Trouser Press, which covered all kinds of rock music and other genres, and launched the careers of writers like David Fricke, Jon Leland, and Tim Sommer. The selections are roughly chronological in order but also grouped into categories such as glam rock, roots of punk, reggae, and post...
On this episode, Marc talks with Will York, author of “Who Cares Anyway: Post-Punk San Francisco and the End of the Analog Age,” published in April 2023. It’s a thorough and fascinating history of underground music in San Francisco, from the punk scene at Mahubey Gardens, to the post-punk craziness of Flipper, to the art rock of Tuxedomoon and the Residents, to the weirdness of Thinking Fellers, Caroliner, and Amarillo Records, to the massive success of Faith No More. Will captures San Franci...
On this episode, Marc talks to Michael Azerrad, author of “The Amplified Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana,” published in October of 2023. It’s an update of his 1993 biography of Nirvana, in which he annotates his original book, adding context, perspective, behind the scenes details, and his own feelings about the experience, three decades later, presenting new research and new insights that deepen the narrative and show what it was like to write a book about the biggest band in the world...
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