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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This fourth volume is edited by Simpsons creator and onetime music critic Groening, who writes that he didn't try for any overview of significant trends, but instead "just went for essays jammed with information and conveyed with style, passion and wit." Each of the 21 examples vividly displays those qualities, and there is nary a weak essay (although, once again, writings on country, reggae and classical are sparsely represented). Some of the best include Bill Tuomala's hilarious alternate history of Van Halen, with the rock superstars recast as underground critics' favorites who never achieved success in an era when punk groups like the Ramones were "dominating the charts"; Chuck Klosterman's investigation of the present-day popularity among Mexican-Americans of Morrissey, the sexually ambiguous front man of the mid-1980s British cult band the Smiths; two long pieces from the New Yorker on funk legend James Brown and recently rediscovered bluesman R.L. Burnside; and Elvis Costello's remarkable selections for what he sees as appropriate listening music for every hour of the day, from 6 a.m. to 5 a.m. As in previous collections, satirical writers from the Onion provide criticism masked as comic relief in "37 Record-Store Clerks Feared Dead in Yo La Tengo Concert Disaster" ("It's just a twisted mass of black-frame glasses and ironic Girl Scouts T-shirts in there").
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Like its predecessors, this edition of Da Capo's annual includes something from The Onion ("37 record-store clerks feared dead in Yo La Tengo concert disaster"), pieces by known quantities (Greil Marcus, Chuck Klosterman), and a few surprises. Marcus' disquisition on the world of Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins and doo wop is, of course, deep. Novelist Jay McInerney offers an evocative portrait of blues throwback R. L. Burnside. Singer-songwriter Elvis Costello charts appropriate musical selections by time of day. And the best of the best, 2003? Quite possibly Philip Gourevitch's "Mr. Brown: On the Road with His Bad Self," about the hardest-working man in show business (James Brown), which catches readers up with the Godfather of Soul; introduces yet another nom de guerre for the venerable Soul Messiah, "the Napoleon of the Stage"; and peruses Soul Brother #1's relationship with Al Sharpton. Oh, almost forgot: in the introduction, guest editor Groening cites a Don Knotts movie and Frank Zappa in the same paragraph. Neat trick. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Da Capo Press; 2003 edition (October 7, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0306812363
ISBN-13: 978-0306812361
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,194,073 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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	37% buy the item featured on this page: Da Capo Best Music Writing 2003: The Year's Finest Writing On Rock, Pop, Jazz, Country & More (v. 4) 4.0 out of 5 stars (2) $16.95
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Homer without homework, August 31, 2005

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

My first impression of the latest addition in this essential series was that guest editor Matt Groening is no Homer, his book no Odyssey. The brains behind The Simpsons admits in his skimpy introduction that during his brief career as a rock critic he realised he "had the enthusiasm but not the discipline" required. Nearly two decades later, he's as likely to be listening to the Chordettes and Frank Zappa as Yma Sumac and Joe Venuti. He can fake it with the obscure stuff, he says, just don't ask him to be knowledgeable about the mainstream. His record collection probably resembles his selections here: an eccentric, eclectic mix full of "style, passion and wit". It's probably not that large, this edition being 25 percent smaller than the series' debut in 2000, and his appendix listing "other notable essays" is woefully short rather than the usual rewarding treasure hunt.
Much of the best writing about music isn't found in magazines dedicated to music. Instead, it's in publishing polar opposites: glossies like The New Yorker, big-city newspapers or cyberspace fanzines such as Perfect Sound, Tin House and the satirical Onion. Now that the music itself is so readily available, it's more of a challenge finding something decent to read among all the dross, and here Groening combined with Google provides a service. One can easily find essays left out such as Eric Idle paying tribute to George Harrison <http://www.dailyllama.com/news/2002/llama157.html> or Andrew Hultkrans' essay on Brian Wilson (subtitle: "When Good Vibrations Go Bad") <http://www.tinhouse.com/Issues/Issue_10/feature.html>
But considering the wealth of material the editors must consider, the appendix could go so much further.
That said, there is plenty of excellent writing in the 288 pages of essays here, I just wish I'd read fewer of them before. It's useful to have permanent copies of essays such as Elvis Costello's annual Vanity Fair contribution (this one selecting 24 hours of music) and Gary Giddins' always wonderful jazz writing for the Village Voice (here it's an accessible guide to post-war jazz). But maybe in future editions, the mainstream essays can just be referenced, while more obscure gems get the spotlight.

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Packed with important insights and fun memoirs, November 14, 2003

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Matt Gronening's Best Music Writing 2003 compiles the fourth, latest volume in the series. From a surprising survey of Morissey's most devoted fans - heterosexual Latinos - to the real roots of Detroit rhythm n blues music, this is packed with important insights and fun memoirs musicians will relish.

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