The Music Book Podcast
Marc Masters
A podcast about music books, talking to authors about how they wrote their books about music! Hosted by music writer Marc Masters.
055 Eric Shade on the Bangles
On this episode, Marc talks with Eric Shade, author of "All Over The Place - The Rise of The Bangles From The L.A. Underground," published in January of 2024. It's a super detailed, comprehensive biography of the Bangles from the childhoods of each member up to the present day, as well as a compelling depiction of the LA scene, especially the Paisley Underground, that they grew up from and are still really a part of. Eric has been a Bangles fan since he was a kid and the amount of knowledge and
Mar 4, • 42:18
054 Angela Jaeger on her Punk Diaries
On this episode, Marc talks with Angela Jaeger, author of “I Feel Famous: Punk Diaries 1977-1981,” released on February 4th, 2025. It’s a compendium of her diary entries when she was a teenager living in New York and London, going to see punk bands at CBGB’s, Max’s, Tier 3, and many other places. Jaeger seemingly saw and met every band around, forging friendships with the Cramps, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, X-Ray Spex, the Raincoats, and the Clash, among many others. Her diary entries rush with
Feb 18, • 47:31
053 Donna-Claire Chesman on Emo Rap
On this episode, Marc talks with Donna-Claire Chesman. She’s the author of “Crybaby: The Artists Who Shaped Emo Rap,” published on January 21, 2025. It’s a fascinating look at a genre that grew up from the Soundcloud underground to become wildly popular, focusing on artists like Atmosphere, Lil Peep, Yung Lean, and Juice WRLD. “Crybaby” does justice to a musical subculture that’s more complex and rewarding than you might realize.As Donna-Claire writes, “The history of Emo Rap is imperfect, and i
Feb 4, • 52:55
052 Daniel Spicer on Peter Brötzmann
On this episode, Marc talks to Daniel Spicer, author of "Peter Brötzmann: Free-Jazz, Revolution and the Politics of Improvisation,” published January 14, 2025. It’s a thorough and fascinating biography of the German musician best known for his roaring saxophone tone and boundary-breaking albums like “Machine Gun” and “Nipples." Talking with Brotzmann and his collaborators, Spicer digs deep into his many great recordings, performances, and partnerships, showing him to be a three-dimensional artis
Jan 21, • 48:22
051 Liz Pelly on Spotify
On this episode, Marc talks with Liz Pelly, author of “Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Cost of the Perfect Playlist,” published on January 7, 2025. by One Signal. It’s a deeply reported expose of the streaming service Spotify and how their decisions and manipulations have changed music both for artists and for listeners. Liz has been reporting on Spotify for almost a decade and her many published articles on the subject led her to this fascinating book, which will hopefully change the
Jan 7, • 54:57
050 Brendan Greaves on Terry Allen
On this episode, Marc talks with Brendan Greaves, author of “Truckload of Art: The Life and Work of Terry Allen,” published in March of 2024. It’s a thorough and compelling biography of artist, musician, and performer Terry Allen, whose art has crossed lines from museum-hosted visual art to outlaw country to work that no genre can contain. Greaves, who runs the record label Paradise of Bachelors, met Allen many years ago and reissued many of his classic albums, forging a relationship in which re
Dec 17, 2024 • 1:02:17
049 Jim Saah on Photographing Punk
On this episode, Marc talks with Jim Saah, author and illustrator of “In My Eyes: Photographs 1982-1987,” originally published in 2021 and out in a second edition now. It’s a huge, beautiful book of black and white photographs taken by Saah of an astounding array of punk and post-punk groups, from the Ramones to Black Flag to Fugazi to Pavement. It also includes Saah’s interviews with artists who work at the cross sections of music and imagery, including J. Robbins, Jon Langford, Shepard Fairey,
Dec 3, 2024 • 51:31
048 Marcus J. Moore on De La Soul
On this episode, Marc talks with Marcus J. Moore, author of “High and Rising: A Book about De La Soul,” published today, November 19. It’s a biography of the legendary rap trio that also weaves in Moore’s own story as well as the evolution of rap from the 80s, when De La Soul started, to today. It's a follow up to Moore's first book, “The Butterfly Effect,” about Kendrick Lamar, which came out in 2020.As Marcus writes, “High and Rising doesn’t just tell the story of De La Soul; it unpacks the bi
Nov 19, 2024 • 49:18
047 Laura Davis-Chanin and Liz Lamere on Alan Vega
On this episode, Marc talks with Laura Davis-Chanin and Liz Lamere, co-authors of “Infinite Dreams: The Life of Alan Vega,” a deep and thorough portrait of the man most know as half of the innovative duo Suicide, but who also had an amazing career as a visual artist and poet. Laura and Liz weave a compelling narrative of his life with extended quotes from many people whose lives were affected by him, as well as an amazing wealth of images from along his entire, massively-productive career.As Liz
Nov 5, 2024 • 54:30
046 Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate
On this episode, Marc talks with Steve Wynn, author of “I Wouldn't Say It If It Wasn't True: A Memoir Of Life, Music, And The Dream Syndicate,” published in August of 2024. It’s an entertaining and insightful memoir of his music-obsessed life, from his childhood biking to the store to buy records, to his days as a record store clerk and radio DJ, to his co-founding of the Dream Syndicate, the LA band whose debut album “Days of Wine and Roses” is a classic of 80’s post-punk.As Wynn writes, “I ha
Oct 22, 2024 • 48:23
045 Jonathon Grasse on Eric Dolphy
On this episode, Marc talks with Jonathan Grasse, author of “Jazz Revolutionary: The Life and Music of Eric Dolphy,” due out on October 15. It’s a thorough history of the legendary jazz multi-instrumentalist, who produced an impressive body of work both on his own and in groups led by John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Oliver Nelson, and many more, before his tragic death in 1964 at age 36. Grasse crafts the first truly comprehensive biography of Dolphy by tracing nearly every step of his music care
Oct 8, 2024 • 49:35
044 Corey duBrowa on The EP
On this episode, Marc talks with Corey duBrowa, author of “An Ideal For Living: A Celebration of the EP,” published in early 2024. It’s an overview of some of the best EP’s from the 1950s until the present, with decade-themed chapters containing entries on individual releases by a wide range of writers. In addition, duBrowa wrote an opening chapter on the history of the format, and put together a final chapter of what he and his friends deem the best EPs of all time. There’s also an intro by Spo
Sep 24, 2024 • 55:33
043 Henry Rollins on Staying Fanatic
On this episode, Marc talks with Henry Rollins, author of “Stay Fanatic! Volume 4,” the latest entry in his series of books chronicling, as he puts it, “Lessons in Possession and Confessions of Obsession.” Written in diary form, “Stay Fanatic!” dives into Rollins’ adventures in listening to music, finding out about music, and hunting for records on Ebay and Discogs. It’s also a kind of travelogue, as many entries were written while Rollins was on tour, as well as a kind of evolving philosophical
Sep 10, 2024 • 1:09:33
042 David Stubbs on Why People Get Rothko But Don't Get Stockhausen
On this episode, Marc talks with David Stubbs. He’s the author of “Fear of Music: Why People Get Rothko But Don't Get Stockhausen,” originally published in 2009 and recently reissued. It's an examination of how avant-garde visual art gets mainstream acceptance but avant-garde music is comparatively obscure and unpopular. It's also a pocket history of modern art and music that brings up all kinds of interesting issues and associations among many different artistsAs David writes, “Part of this boo
Aug 27, 2024 • 50:58
041 Frans de Waard on RRRecords
On this episode, Marc talks with Frans de Waard, author of “America’s Greatest Noise,” published in July of 2024 by Frans’s own imprint, Korm Plastics. It’s the story of Ron Lessard, founder of RRRecords in Massachusetts, which he ran from the mid-80s until 2009. It's a story told in Lessard’s own words, compiled by de Waard from a series of Skype conversations the pair had over the past year. There are so many fascinating and often hilarious stories about how Lessard put together his releases,
Aug 13, 2024 • 55:18
040 Robyn Hitchcock on 1967
On this episode, Marc talks with Robyn Hitchock, author of “1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left,” published in July of 2024. You probably know Robyn as an incredibly creative and accomplished musician. His first book could be called a memoir, but it’s confined to the year 1967, when he left home at age 13 to enter boarding school in England, and fell in love with music. It's a super compelling book filled with Hitchcock’s vivid depictions and idiosyncratic notions, written to read like a
Jul 30, 2024 • 48:39
039 Toby Manning on Pop and Politics
On this episode, Marc talks with Toby Manning, author of “Mixing Pop and Politics: A Marxist History of Popular Music,” published in May of 2024. It’s an extensive examination of pop music from the early 1950’s to the present in America and England, and how it interacted with the political culture of its respective times. Covering a vast selection of songs and albums, Manning finds connections and provides insights that you might never have considered. Anyone interested in pop music of the last
Jul 16, 2024 • 49:45
038 Mike Smith on Popular 60s Jazz
On this episode, Marc talks with Mike Smith, author of “In With The In Crowd: Popular Jazz in 1960s Black America,” published in May of 2024. Smith argues that most studies of 60s jazz focus on the avant-garde centered around John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, and more, and he sets out to balance that with a history of the more popular jazz artists from that decade, such as Eddie Harris, Nancy Wilson, and Ramsey Lewis, showing how their music also influenced the form and culture of ja
Jul 2, 2024 • 56:04
037 Tom Maxwell on 90s Chapel Hill Music
On this episode, Marc talks with Tom Maxwell, author of “A Really Strange and Wonderful Time: The Chapel Hill Music Scene, 1989-1999,” published in April of 2024. It's the story of a community where musicians played in each other’s bands, toured with each other, produced each other’s records, and supported each other’s work regardless of style or pedigree. Tom also shows what it was like to be in a place where major labels descended, boosting some bands and discarding others. He experienced it f
Jun 18, 2024 • 55:23
036 Tara Lopez on Chuco Punk
On this episode, Marc talks with Tara Lopez, author of “Chuco Punk: Sonic Insurgency in El Paso,” published today, June 4th, 2024. It’s a fascinating history of how punk rock developed and grew in the Texas city of El Paso, and the way this opened punk up to marginalized groups. It’s a story about community and self-reliance that adds a new chapter to the history of punk rock.As Tara writes, “While punk is known for its daring subversion, so too is El Paso. Indeed, in the nineteenth century, El
Jun 4, 2024 • 45:53
035 Bill Sassenberger on Toxic Shock Records
On this episode, Marc talks to Bill Sassenberger, author of “Toxic Shock Records - Assassin of Mediocrity: A Story of Love, Loss, and Loud Music,” published in the spring of 2024 by Fluke Publishing. Bill and his wife Julianna ran Toxic Shock Records from 1980 up until about 2014 - it was a store, a label, a distributor, and tour booker, and much more.Bill’s book is both a personal memoir and a history of his business, as well as a diary of his time with Julianna after she had a stroke in the ea
May 21, 2024 • 39:51
034 Laina Dawes on Black Women in Heavy Metal
On this episode, Marc talks to Laina Dawes, author of “What Are You Doing Here?: A Black Woman's Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal,” first published in 2013 by Bazillion Points books, then republished in a new edition in 2020. It’s a combination of memoir, oral history, and highly-researched documentation of the roles black women have played in heavy metal, both as artists and as fans, and by extension in all kinds of music scenes.As she writes, “What are you Doing Here? reveals the common thre
May 7, 2024 • 49:54
033 Michael Veal on John Coltrane and Miles Davis
On this episode, Marc talks to Michael Veal, author of “Living Space: John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Free Jazz, from Analog to Digital,” released in April 2024. It’s a fascinating, complex study of John Coltrane’s work from 1965 to his death in 1967, and Davis’s “Lost Quintet,” who played from 1968 to 1970 without ever recording in the studio. Comparing the former to digital architecture, and the latter to experimental photography, Veal explores themes of outer space, free meter, race, musical
Apr 23, 2024 • 51:36
032 Jon Fine on Indie Rock's Failed Revolution
On this episode, Marc talks with Jon Fine editor of “Your Band Sucks: What I Saw at Indie Rock's Failed Revolution (But Can No Longer Hear),” published in May of 2014. It’s a memoir of his time in the late 80s band Bitch Magnet, as well as his later bands Vineland and Coptic Light, plus the Bitch Magnet reunion in 2011. It's also a bird’s-eye history of indie rock in the 80s and 90s, including quotes from many people who had bands at the time, and lots of compelling descriptions of how exciting
Apr 9, 2024 • 1:00:27
031 Ira Robbins on Trouser Press
On this episode, Marc talks with Ira Robbins, editor of “Zip it Up! The Best of Trouser Press Magazine, 1974-1984,” published in March 2024. It’s an anthology of pieces published in the New York-based magazine Trouser Press, which covered all kinds of rock music and other genres, and launched the careers of writers like David Fricke, Jon Leland, and Tim Sommer. The selections are roughly chronological in order but also grouped into categories such as glam rock, roots of punk, reggae, and post-pu
Mar 26, 2024 • 47:49
030 Will York on San Francisco Post-Punk
On this episode, Marc talks with Will York, author of “Who Cares Anyway: Post-Punk San Francisco and the End of the Analog Age,” published in April 2023. It’s a thorough and fascinating history of underground music in San Francisco, from the punk scene at Mahubey Gardens, to the post-punk craziness of Flipper, to the art rock of Tuxedomoon and the Residents, to the weirdness of Thinking Fellers, Caroliner, and Amarillo Records, to the massive success of Faith No More. Will captures San Francisco
Mar 12, 2024 • 1:02:33
029 Michael Azerrad on Amplifiying Nirvana
On this episode, Marc talks to Michael Azerrad, author of “The Amplified Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana,” published in October of 2023. It’s an update of his 1993 biography of Nirvana, in which he annotates his original book, adding context, perspective, behind the scenes details, and his own feelings about the experience, three decades later, presenting new research and new insights that deepen the narrative and show what it was like to write a book about the biggest band in the world.As
Feb 27, 2024 • 52:19
028 Marshall Gu on Krautrock
On this episode, Marc talks to Marshall Gu, author of “Krautrock,” published on November of 2023. Part of the 33.3 "Genre" series, it's a look at Krautrock through chapter-length examinations of 12 individual groups: Can, Faust, Cluster & Harmonia, Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, Agitation Free, Guru Guru, Popol Vuh, Amon Duul II, Embryo, NEU!, and Kraftwerk. Along the way Marshall points out commonalities between these groups without boxing them into strict genre rules.As he writes in his intro
Feb 13, 2024 • 37:37
027 Simon Price on The Cure
On this episode, Marc talks to Simon Price, author of “Curepedia: An A to Z of The Cure,” published on December 12, 2023. It’s a literal encyclopedia of the great British band the Cure, arranged in alphabetical order by subjects, including entries on albums, singles, and band members, plus themed entries such as Drugs, Hair, Drowning, and even Lockjaw. Price’s weaves interesting narratives in many of the entries, with tons of research to back him up.As he writes in his introduction, “...even tho
Jan 30, 2024 • 38:38
026 Paul Steinbeck on the AACM
On this episode, Marc talks with Paul Steinbeck, the author of “Sound Experiments: The Music of the AACM,” published in paperback in December of 2023. It’s a look at the longtime Chicago-based musical organization the AACM, or Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and began in 1965 and is still going strong today. Paul chose to approach the history of the AACM through individual recordings, focusing each of his chapters on a single album, and providing both a background of the a
Jan 16, 2024 • 41:48
025 Steven Jones on Murder Ballads
On this episode, Marc talks to Steven Jones, author of "Murder Ballads Old and New: A Dark and Bloody Record," published on November 12, 2023. It’s a fascinating and in-depth look at songs throughout history that have dealt with death and tragedy, including folk songs that have been passed down through and transformed by generations, as well as more recent works that are just as affecting and impactful as tunes that are hundreds of years older.As Steven writes in his introduction, “This book is
Jan 2, 2024 • 50:39
024 Ben Apatoff on Body Count
On this episode, Marc talks to Ben Apatoff, author of "Body Count," published on September 7th, 2023. It’s a thorough study of the 1992 self-titled album by Body Count, a band most famous for having Ice-T as their frontman and for a song called “Cop Killer” that stirred up so much controversy even the President had something to say about it. But there’s so much more to the Body Count story, and Ben tells it so well.As Ben writes, “Body Count outlasted the politicians that scorned them and the re
Dec 19, 2023 • 39:11
023 Nate Patrin on Music in Movies
On this episode, Marc talks to Nate Patrin, author author of “The Needle and the Lens: Pop Goes to the Movies, From Rock and Roll to Synthwave,” published on November 28th, 2023. It’s a look at the way songs that already exist–needle drops, as they’re known–have been used in films, transforming both the music and the movie. Each of Nate’s 16 chapters focuses on a specific film and a specific song it uses, exploring the background behind each and the way the combination changes both.As Nate writ
Dec 5, 2023 • 45:48
022 Amy Coddington on Rap and Radio
On this episode, Marc talks to Amy Coddington, author of “How Hip Hop Became Hit Pop,” released on September 12, 2023. It’s a fascinating study of how hip-hop made its way into the musical mainstream through pop radio in the 80s and 90s. Coddington explores so many issues: what exactly is mainstream, what exactly is rap, how did those two things change each other, plus issues of backlash, economics, authenticity, and more. As she writes, “This history is really a story about money, about how the
Nov 21, 2023 • 45:05
021 Will Hermes on Lou Reed
On this episode, Marc talks to Will Hermes, author of “Lou Reed: The King of New York” released on October 3rd, 2023. It’s a thorough yet highly entertaining biography of the legendary musician, who Will depicts as a figure with so many sides and so many pursuits, who really can never be reduced down to a single personality, a single motivation, or a single classification.As Will writes in his introduction, “If you’re hoping for some neat totalizing statement or psychological profile to explain
Nov 7, 2023 • 48:50
020 Thurston Moore on Thurston Moore
On this episode, Marc talks with Thurston Moore, author of “Sonic Life: A Memoir,” released today, October 24, 2023. It’s a fascinating story of Moore’s journey through music as a creator and a fan, from his early days discovering records with his older brother, to the end of his longtime band Sonic Youth. It's also a history of the music that surrounded and inspired him, with so many great stories about some of the amazingly creative people he’s met along the way.We hope you enjoy Marc's talk w
Oct 24, 2023 • 1:01:23
019 Marc Masters on Cassette Tapes (w/guest host Jesse Jarnow)
On this episode, our host Marc Masters is the subject, talking about his new book "High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape," released in October of 2023. It’s a technical and cultural history of the cassette tape format, charting the many ways that cassettes changed the course of music and brought new possibilities and new kinds of freedom to creators and listeners–tape artists, bootleg traders, mixtape makers, international tape hunters, current tape labels, and more.To talk abou
Oct 10, 2023 • 42:49
018 Lior Phillips on South African Pop Music
On this episode, Marc talks with Lior Phillips, author of “South African Popular Music,” released in May of 2023. It's one of the first installments in 33.3's “Genre" series–an extensively researched, information packed narrative covering many different styles of South African music, from stars like Miriam Makeba and Johnny Clegg, to artists little known outside of the country.As Lior writes, “My greatest hope is that by diving deep into the popular music of South Africa, the ways in which Afric
Sep 26, 2023 • 50:34
017 Jeff Schwartz on Free Jazz
On this episode, Marc talks to Jeff Schwartz, author of “Free Jazz,” published in April of 2023. It’s a smart survey of free jazz that’s structured not around individual artists but more around aspects of free jazz, with chapter titles such as "Energy", "Spirituality", and "Self-Determination."As Jeff writes, “Few pieces or artists will fall neatly into one chapter…There is no discography or recommended listening list at the end of this book. The goal is to suggest things to listen for rather th
Sep 12, 2023 • 42:51
016 John Szwed on Harry Smith
On this episode, Marc talks with John Szwed, author of “Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith,” published in August of 2023. It’s a fascinating and superbly skillful portrait of a man who played so many roles: anthropologist, archivist, musicologist, filmmaker, painter. He's best known for his massively influential Anthology of American Folk Music, but he did so much more. Szwed takes a figure who is so hard to pin down and crafts a real story without losing all the mystery of his li
Aug 29, 2023 • 42:10
015 Clifford Allen on Matthew Shipp
On this episode, Marc talks to Clifford Allen, author of “Singularity Codex: Matthew Shipp on Rogue Art,” published in August of 2023. It focuses on the 25 releases pianist Matthew Shipp has been involved in for the Rogue Art label, while also functioning as a biography of Shipp as well as a history of the free jazz scene he’s been involved in in New York since the late 1980s. As Clifford explains in his introduction, “[this book]’s purpose is to take a 25-disc slice of Shipp’s universe as a mic
Aug 15, 2023 • 44:44
014 Audrey Golden on Women at Factory Records
On this episode, Marc talks to Audrey Golden, author of “I Thought I Heard You Speak: Woman At Factory Records,” published in June of 2023. It’s a fascinating oral history of the legendary UK record label told exclusively by women involved in at all levels. Golden talked to nearly 100 individuals for her book, from people who ran the office, to people who managed the bands, to people who promoted the music, to people who worked at the label’s nightclub, the Hacienda, and so much more.As she writ
Aug 1, 2023 • 46:52
013 Eric Harvey on Rap and Reality
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
Jul 18, 2023 • 39:29
012 Kerry O'Brien and Will Robin on Minimalism
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
Jul 3, 2023 • 48:50
011 Steve Turner on Mudhoney and Grunge
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 alr
Jun 20, 2023 • 39:08
010 Bill Perrine on San Diego Experimental Music
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
Jun 6, 2023 • 48:58
009 Lily Hirsch on Sexist Labels in Music
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 certa
May 23, 2023 • 48:16
008 Dan LeRoy on Drum Machines
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 yo
May 9, 2023 • 45:17
007 Vashti Bunyan on Vashti Bunyan
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 i
Apr 25, 2023 • 43:07
006 Dee Peyok on Cambodian Music
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 Frequenci
Apr 11, 2023 • 41:42
005 Michael Tau on Extreme Music
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 cat
Mar 28, 2023 • 33:05
004 Annie Zaleski on Duran Duran
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-
Mar 21, 2023 • 34:44
003 Kate Molleson on 20th Century Composers
On this episode, Marc talks with Kate Molleson, a journalist, documentarian, and radio presenter for BBC3. She’s the author of the fascinating book Sound Within Sound: Radical Composers of the 20th Century, which focuses on ten composers left out of the standard histories of classical music. In her intro, Kate says she wrote the book out of “love and anger” - “the love because I want to shout from the rooftops that classical music is gripping, essential, personally and politically game-changing.
Mar 7, 2023 • 42:34
002 John Lingan on Creedence Clearwater Revival
On our second episode, Marc talks to John Lingan, author of the book “A Song for Everyone: The Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival." John does a great job telling the story of this amazing band, framing it more like a cinematic narrative than an oral history. He puts you right in the middle of the CCR journey, which started slow but flew fast once their career took off. Hope you enjoy Marc's chat with John!
Feb 21, 2023 • 49:08