In the intro, Robert Christgau says about making the selections for the book, “When I said I was on the hunt for writing, I wasn’t kidding.” He wasn’t. There are pages and pages of rock criticism in a gamut of styles ranging from journalism to Chris Ryan’s e-mail rants written in all caps. A collection of essays by eminent writers about eminent musicians, this book could be a load of pretentious crap—but the book sidesteps this danger because the writers clearly revere the musicians and the musicians clearly love their art.
Not all of the essays are about musicians. To list a few of the compilation’s highlights, Kelefa Sanneh writes about music in New Orleans post-Katrina, Will Hermes writes about Holly the waitress who inspired several songs by Hold Steady, Jessica Shaw writes about Streisand devotees, and Carl Wilson, Ann Powers and Michaelangelo Matos each discuss the social and personal importance of particular songs.
Still, the most intriguing essays about musicians happen as writers try to glimpse the person behind the performer only to find that musicians are always performing. Jonathan Lethem attempts to puzzle out James Brown and Rob Harvilla works to fathom the weirdness that is Kool Keith. In many of these articles the writers learn that scrutiny doesn’t always enlighten and the musicians remain enigmatic. As music lovers the writers are willing to surrender to the spectacle and admit they don’t always understand, but they appreciate. In this book, writers start by trying to make sense of artists and find out that the best they can do is try to capture the performance.
– Rihoko Ueno
Best Music Writing 2007
Editors Daphne Carr and Robert Christgau
Paperback, 351 Pages
$15.95, Da Capo Press