Books of Note

Far be it from me to encourage you to buy any music book this year that isn't called Still In A Dream.... 

But I concede that there are some other interesting music books out there. A couple of which I have blurbed. 

There's ex-Contortion Adele Bertei's No New York: A Memoir of No Wave and the Women Who Shaped the Scene. 

About which I offered: 

"Adele Bertei rips up the history of No Wave and starts again, recentering the women: fearless artists and confrontational performers who put body and psyche on the line. Written with feral elegance and a keen cinematic eye, this mash-up of memoir and cultural history feels like time travel: an entire era of the New York underground brought back to vivid life." 

No New York is out now on Faber & Faber,

Here is Bertei being interviewed by The Quietus's Elizabeth Wiet. 

Another is Daniel Dylan Wray's  Groovy, Laidback, & Nasty: A History of Independent Music in Sheffield 

About which I offered:

"From '70s postpunk through '80s synthpop to ‘90s bleep techno and beyond,  Sheffield has long been the U.K.’s unacknowledged capital for futurist pop.  Finally the city finds the champion it deserves in Daniel Dylan Wray. A rich blend of urban history and music chronicle, Groovy, Laidback, & Nasty tells in vivid detail the story of a place, a people, and a succession of innovative sounds that would change pop again and again."  

Groovy, Laidback, & Nasty is out in early May on White Rabbit 

And there is a third book deserving of your attention: Ben Cardew's Space Age Batchelor Pad Music: The Story Of Stereolab In 20 Songs

That's out in late April on Jawbone Press

Here's an extract from Space Age Bachelor Pad Music at The Quietus to whet your appetite. 

Goodness me, I almost forgot - I have a book out that isn't called Still In A Dream, or at least, the paperback edition has just come out    

Older eyes will recognise the graphic design's nod to this best-seller of the 1970s