Sound Tracks

A Musical ABC

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by Michael Jarrett

Temple University Press

Due/Published September 1998, pages, cloth

ISBN 1566396417

This is the first book in a new series from Temple that will use music as the entry point for cultural analysis. Krin Gabbard says, "I can think of no better introduction to the critical theory that is now at the heart of popular music studies."

So what is this? A mix of music criticism, album art, interviews, definitions, discographies, and a willingness to blend a somewhat improvisational style with a reference book structure. One example the Temple gives is the entry for "ambient music." It begins with images of album covers and lists of readings and recordings (videos, too)--but then we get an interview with Carla Bley and Steve Swallow on Satie. Under the Ls, record producer George Avakian talks about how the technology that made LPs possible changed the music industry, and Pat Metheny talks about the challenges of sequencing an LP from a musician's point of view. The entry for "Carol" (as in traditional songs for Christmas) opens into a riff on cultural roots and survivals that invoke Chuck Berry's classis song. Anyway, it's and Zulu Nation, Sonny rollins to the Beastie Boys and Elvis's tailor (?). Series: Sound Matters