The Music Book Podcast

On this episode, Marc talks to Eric Harvey, author of “ Who Got the Camera? A History of Rap and Reality,” published in October of 2021. It’s a fascinating investigation into how rap music in the 80s and 90s intersected with the rise of reality TV and tabloid news - as Eric once put it, “(when) the news was getting more entertaining…and rap was becoming more informational.”Eric covers so much ground in this book, dissecting some of the best and most important hip-hop of the time while connecting it to so much that was going on politically and culturally throughout those years.We hope you enjoy Marc's conversation with Eric!

On this episode, Marc talks to Kerry O'Brien and Will Robin, co-editors of “On Minimalism: Documenting a Musical Movement,” published in April of 2023. It's an anthology of writings on the modern musical style known as minimalism, presenting essays, interviews, reviews, and more. There are over 100 documents included in “On Minimalism,” organized chronologically but also grouped under themes such as “Dream Music,” “Altered States,” and “Gurus and Teachers.” As Kerry and Will write in the book’s introduction, “It’s a retelling of the history of musical minimalism - a revisionist history…Who was there? What did it sound like? How was it described? And what is missing from how it was remembered?”We hope you enjoy Marc's conversation with Kerry and Will!

On this episode, Marc talks to Steve Turner, author of “Mud Ride: A Messy Trip through the Grunge Explosion,” published in June of 2023. Steve is a founding member of Mudhoney, the great Seattle band who helped explode Sub Pop and Grunge with their first single “Touch Me I’m Sick. “Mud Ride” is a memoir of Steve’s own life in music, but also of the Seattle scene in the 90s and beyond, including the moment where Steve was asked to join Nirvana but turned them down because he thought they were already great as a trio.In his introduction, Steve writes, “What I have to offer is an insider’s insight into a time that went from homespun fun to international acclaim in a handful of years. It still seems unreal to me, because it was so unexpected.”We hope you enjoy Marc's conversation with Steve!

On this episode, Marc talks with Bill Perrine, author of “Alien Territory: Radical, Experimental, & Irrelevant Music in 1970s San Diego,” published in May of 2023. It’s a fascinating look at so much varied experimental music, much of it centered around the University of California at San Diego, whose archives Bill was able to comb through for unheard gems. Bill highlights familiar figures such as Harry Partch, Pauline Oliveros, and Diamanda Galas, but also lesser known characters like Jim French, Warren Burt, Arthur Frick, and tons more.In his introduction, Bill writes, “I take it as a given that the music is not, and should not be, the sole providence of academics, specialists, or art snobs. It is made by professors at universities as well as punks in trailer parks.”We hope you enjoy Marc's conversation with Bill!

On this episode, Marc talks with Lily Hirsch, author of “Can't Stop the Grrrls: Confronting Sexist Labels in Music from Ariana Grande to Yoko Ono,” published in March of 2023. It’s a thorough look at the many ways women artists, including Courtney Love, Britney Spears, and FKA Twigs, have been the target of unfair labels in the media, and how they’ve fought back. As Lily writes in her intro, “By spotlighting the consequences as well as the pervasiveness of this labeling, I hope to create a certain awareness and, in the end, real change.”We hope you enjoy Marc's conversation with Lily!

On this episode, Marc talks with Dan Le Roy, author of “Dancing to the Drum Machine: How Electronic Percussion Conquered the World,” published by Bloomsbury in November of 2022. It’s a fascinating look at the winding, surprising history of drum machines, and it covers so many musicians and styles of music, from Raymond Scott to RUN-DMC. As Dan writes in his introduction, "The story of the most high-tech endeavor is still the story of people.” Hope you enjoy Marc's chat with Dan!By the way, if you have any feedback, suggestions, questions, or anything you'd like to say about the Podcast, you can email us at MusicBookPodcast@gmail.com. Thanks!

On this episode, Marc chats with Vashti Bunyan, writer, singer, songwriter, poet, artist, and author of the memoir "Wayward: Just Another Life to Live," released in 2022 on White Rabbit books.  It covers her entire life, with special focus on her 1968 journey across the UK, when she wrote songs that appeared on her 1970 debut album Just Another Diamond Day. Since its reissue in 2000, Bunyan made two more incredible records, and she writes about all of this in a voice very similar to that heard in her enchanting songs. We hope you enjoy Marc's conversation with Vashti Bunyan!

On this episode, Marc chats with Dee Peyok, author of Away From Beloved Lover: A Musical Journey Through Cambodia, published by Granta in January of 2023.  It’s a history of Cambodian music mostly from the 60s and 70s, a travelogue through the country to track down musicians from that time, and a detailing of all the societal upheaval that happened in Cambodia during those decades.  If you ever got into the Cambodian Rocks compilations or the Cambodian Cassette Archives comp on Sublime Frequencies, or are simply curious about Cambodian music, you’re going to love this book!Thanks for checking out Marc's conversation with Dee!

For this episode, Marc chats with Michael Tau, the author of Extreme Music: From Silence to Noise and Everything In Between, published by Feral House in October of 2022. The book delves into all kinds of music that could be called extreme: long music, short music, fast music, loud music, vulgar music, even “disgusting” music, just to name a few. It’s kind of a field guide to all kinds of conceptually committed sounds and releases, structured in a taxonomy that groups artists and records into categories but also tells their stories and the motivations behind why they do such interesting and challenging audio experiments.Hope you enjoy Marc's chat with Michael!

On this episode, Marc talks with Annie Zaleski, author of Duran Duran's Rio, an entry in Bloomsbury's 33.3 series exploring classic albums. The book originally came out in 2021, and about a year later, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of "Rio," a second, larger edition was released with extra material and illustrations.  Annie is a great at telling stories and unearthing information, and her book is so full of details and insight, painting a portrait of a band that was more than just a chart-topping pop act.Hope you enjoy our chat with Annie!