Da Capo Best Music Writing 2005: The Year's Finest Writing on Rock, Hip-hop, Jazz, Pop, Country & More [Paperback]

JT LeRoy (Author)

Book Description

Series: Da Capo Best Music Writing | Publication Date: September 27, 2005

Da Capo Best Music Writing has become one of the most eagerly awaited annuals of them all. Celebrating the year in music writing by gathering a rich array of essays, missives, and musings on every style of music from rock to hip-hop to R&B to jazz to pop to blues and more, it is essential reading for anyone who loves great music and accomplished writing. Scribes of every imaginable sort-novelists, poets, journalists, musicians-are gathered to create a multi-voiced snapshot of the year in music writing that, like the music it illuminates, is every bit as thrilling as it is riveting.Past writers have included:Elizabeth MEndez Berry * Ta-Nehisi Coates * Michael Corcoran * Robbie Fulks * Michaelangelo Matos * Alex Ross * Roni Sarig * Joel Selvin * Tour8E * Lynn Hirschberg * Chuck Klosterman * Elizabeth Gilbert * Jay McInerney * Elvis Costello * Susan Orlean * Jonathan Lethem * David Rakoff * Mike Doughty * Lorraine Ali * Greil Marcus * Richard Meltzer * Robert Gordon * Sarah Vowell * Nick Tosches * Anthony DeCurtis * William Gay * Whitney Balliett * Lester Bangs * Rosanne Cash * Eddie Dean * Selwyn Seyfu Hinds * Kate Sullivan * Alec Wilkinson * David Hadju * Lenny Kaye * The Onion * Mark Jacobson * Gary Giddins * John Leland * Luc Sante * Monica Kendrick * Kalefa Sanneh

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This year's package of bite-size think pieces about pop music continues the fine tradition of previous editions. Subjects and contributors include Robert Christgau on "postmodern minstrelsy" and why studying it matters, Robert Hilburn on Bob Dylan as "rock's enigmatic poet," and Chris Norris on the continuing cult-icon status of Saint [sic] Kurt Cobain. Greil Marcus kicks in on Buddy Holly, and two other contributors take on punk's legacy: Is it dead, or does it just smell funny? Nicole White and Evelyn McDonnell bring news that cautious fans and musicians can use in their timely "Police Secretly Watching Hip-hop Artists," and again this year, an Onion article, "Heartbreaking Country Ballad Paralyzes Trucking Industry" (a story that, factual or not, had to be told), peacefully coexists with the verifiable stuff. Ben Yagoda explores a subject that will grab catalogers and other metadata enthusiasts, "reflexivity" (fancy for self-referential lyrics and criticism thereof); examples include "musical intertextuality" in "Waylon, Willie, and Me," "American Pie," and "Garden Party." How could any rockin' collection pass this by? Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"A varied and interesting set of articles which will appeal to both general readers and music fans." -- Library Journal10/1/05

"All of the selections are worth reading." -- Dirty Linen, August/September 2006

"As usual, a delight to read...I continue to be amazed by the consistent quality of the highly diverse writings." -- Kliatt, January 2006

"Some of the year's most compelling and informative music journalism.... A welcome read for music fans and journalism buffs." -- Chart October 2005

"The pieces in this collection are...written well." -- Read Magazine

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; Revised edition (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306814463
• ISBN-13: 978-0306814464
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,675,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Half-hearted effort at full price, November 15, 2005

By 

C. Bourke "Backbeat" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Da Capo Best Music Writing 2005: The Year's Finest Writing on Rock, Hip-hop, Jazz, Pop, Country & More (Paperback)

A series that seemed exciting and essential when it started in 2000 now just looks like a half-hearted franchise looking for a new owner. Da Capo have downsized these volumes each year, and at less than 200 pages, this is the thinnest yet. JT Leroy's selections are lazy and predictable, with none of the big names featured being represented by compelling, innovative work. Robert Christgau is typically verbose and incoherent on minstrelsy, and Ingrid Sischy's conversation with Camille Paglia is banal. Tributes by David Ritz (on Ray Charles), Greil Marcus (on Buddy Holly) and Tom Roche (on John Peel) are heartfelt straight reportage, while other pieces are mere news items. Every day the web shows the literary sub-genre of music writing is healthier than ever; other than cost-cutting, there is no excuse for this showpiece anthology to be so lame and lacking in vitality.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What was De Capo thinking?, January 13, 2006

By 

Gage "a reader" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Da Capo Best Music Writing 2005: The Year's Finest Writing on Rock, Hip-hop, Jazz, Pop, Country & More (Paperback)

And the hoax of J.T. Leroy was asked to be editor because...?

Maybe next time around De Capo will return to using editors who are 1) real people, 2) respected and qualified to edit such a seemingly important collection, and 3) valued more for their insight instead of bringing someone else onboard who, regardless of whether they exist or not, is wrongly assumed to be so ultra-hip and edgy that the name alone would sell more books.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Throw away your money and support fraudster J.T.Leroy, January 26, 2006

By 

Benoit Lamy (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Da Capo Best Music Writing 2005: The Year's Finest Writing on Rock, Hip-hop, Jazz, Pop, Country & More (Paperback)

The editor of this book is forty-something Laura Albert, pathetic phone sex worker and con artist masquerading as a victimized street youth infected with HIV after being prostituted by his own mother. She knows as much about quality writing and quality music as she knows about the life in the streets, which is nothing. She selected the pieces in this collection. Enough said. Don't support liars and greedy publishers without principles.