Archive
Mike Doughty's memoir of his drug addiction is a standout in a crowded field of memoirs.
You’re going to get exactly what you want from Mike Doughty. “I’m writing mostly drug stories,” he warns from the outset of the oh-so-appropriately titled memoir, The Book of Drugs. “I have them. People read them.” He…
In 9-11: Was There An Alternative? Noam Chomsky proves more than just a clever linguist
This was my first Noam Chomsky book, but like many people the name was familiar to me. Familiar enough that my favorite one-liner by comedian Zack Galifianackis hit the target when I first heard it, even though…
Dead Letters tells a brief history of The Grateful Dead in the form of fan mail.
Until recently, it is expected to see a $20 fee for purchasing an already overpriced concert ticket. With some competition (finally) against the monopoly of ticket sellers, both band and fan occasionally have an alternative. As a…
Beethoven In America dissects the composer's proliferation of popular culture
Almost two hundred years after his death, the ghost of Beethoven still haunts our culture. He lords over us with his manic personality, his Godlike mythos, and his enduring riffs that have been endlessly proliferated through Western…
Courtney E. Smith details the trials and merits of Record Collecting for Girls.
When Record Collecting for Girls by Courtney E. Smith arrived at our house, I was pleasantly surprised that my husband was going to review this book for Stereo Subversion. Why wouldn’t he be interested in that book,…
A strange and wonderful book about a young man named Mattias.
Buzz Aldrin, What Happened To You In All The Confusion? is a strange and wonderful book about a young man named Mattias. Author Johan Harstad tells this Norwegian’s tale in long, imaginative story lines. Mattias is fascinated…
Charles attempts to separate the myth from the reality in the Pavement story
Allow me to relate a story: I was in a bar in Philly discussing music with a friend. Somehow The Shins came up. My friend professed to having never heard anything past the song from Garden State.…
Experienced is a cool grab bag of short rock and roll stories
Rock music doesn’t like to be contained, so compiling a collection of short tales regarding the subject could end poorly. Experienced: Rock Music Tales of Fact and Fiction pulls off the formula quite well, though, handling a…
Amazing photos and other eye candy from Def Jam, the last great record label
To be clear from the start, this is not a book for the long form reader. This coffee table book charts the course of the Def Jam record label, the label that brought hip-hop to the masses,…
Common's most un-Common of memoirs
The present is a gift and I just wanna be. -Common, “Be (Intro)” Recently in the saga of “What is the White House doing to Our Country Now?” the news media rose to arms at the idea…