We all need to read more. Our brains are turning to mush. With that said, here's a quick run-down of some of our favorite music-related books.
Revolutions on Canvas: Rich Balling, former trombonist for ska-punk group Rx Bandits, is the editor of this poetry/prose series. There are two
Canvas volumes, both of which feature narratives and assorted poetic musings from a slew of indie band members. The list of contributors tends to skew toward the indie realm, and the writings often look like discarded lyrics from the bands B-sides. Still, Balling manages to elicit some good stuff from a number of writers, and omnipresent headline-grabber Pete Wentz even contributes a surprisingly solid account of loveless love-making in
Vol. 2. Middle-school teachers could use this stuff to inspire their students to read poetry, but they should censor the selections beforehand.
High Fidelity: Every record collector should own this book. Actually, nevermind every human being should own this book. Nick Hornbys tale of love and audiophilia has been adapted by both Hollywood and Broadway, but its still strongest in its original form. The writing is solid, the jokes are funny, the characters are authentic, and the music references are apt and well-placed. It takes a true music fan to write fiction this believable, and Horby mustve bled himself silly to give such life to such a book.
The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band: The members of Motley Crue team up with
New York Times music writer Neill Strauss to catalogue their past debaucheries, from Nikki Sixxs rising from the dead (after a supposedly fatal overdose) to the bands mid-80s tour with Ozzy Osbourne. Each band member contributes separate entries that are entirely too well-written to be the work of former drunk addicts, so we suspect Neill Strauss rewrote a
lot of this material. Still, it feels awesomely voyeuristic to read about this bands glammy heyday, regardless of whether or not you like the music.
So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful Of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer's Life: As the drummer for '90s semi-stars Semisonic, Jacob Slichter knows a thing or two about the music business.
Rock & Roll Star tells the story of Semisonic's career, from their roots in Minnesota to their brief fling with fame (ultimately launched by the hit "Closing Time"... and ultimately killed by the absence of a follow-up hit). Slichter's book benefits from the fact that his band
couldn't sustain a chart-topping career, since his bittersweet tone and "to hell with it" attitude exposes the payola-obsessed business in clear, simple terms.
