Nothing Has Been Done Before includes a discography within its Bibliography, but the entries are limited to only the most pertinent because I was running up against my word count for the book. So I've created--partly because I said so in the book--a Complete Discography that includes pretty much every song or album discussed in… Continue reading Under Construction: Complete Discography
Book Launch Event November 2
Nothing Has Been Done Before: Seeking the New in 21st Century American Popular Music is almost here. Let's celebrate with a launch party on the book's publication date, Thursday Nov. 2nd. The newly-opened Two Dollar Radio HQ bookstore has graciously agreed to host this shindig starting at 7pm. I'll read for a bit. We'll listen… Continue reading Book Launch Event November 2
Reading at Bexley Library in December
I'll be discussing and reading from Nothing Has Been Done Before at the Bexley Library in Bexley, OH on Thursday, December 7 at 7PM. The library has a history of hosting some great authors, so I'm pleased they'll even let me in the door. More info to come closer to the date...and there will be… Continue reading Reading at Bexley Library in December
Nothing Has Been Done Before: Book Launch
Click here to say you'll be stopping by for the party. The book is out the same day: Thursday, Nov. 2. Pre-order at Bloomsbury or Amazon if you can't make the party. (Also, please consider buying from your local bookstore.) Here's the excellent cover:
Origin Story
Nothing Has Been Done Before began coming together in the late summer and early fall of 2014, largely as a collision of three texts: Arthur Danto's After the End of Art, Boris Groys' On the New, and Greil Marcus' The History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ten Songs. I was reviewing the latter for the… Continue reading Origin Story
The Book Has Arrived
In my hands, at least. My advance copies were delivered the other day and they look fantastic.
Outtakes 2: R.E.M.
The book was going to include a chapter on R.E.M. adapted from a column I wrote some years ago about the song "Driver 8" from the band's 1985 album Fables of the Reconstruction. The point was to discuss how a song's context can change over time, a point made by Stipe himself in his introduction… Continue reading Outtakes 2: R.E.M.
Outtakes 1: Prologue
The original opening of the Prologue focused on Roy Brown recording "Rockin' at Midnight" in a New Orleans studio in January 1949. You listen to this song, and no matter how familiar the jump blues form may be, you hear a voice and a band of musicians on the verge of something entirely new. Eventually… Continue reading Outtakes 1: Prologue
The Latest: Shake It Up and Twin Peaks
A day late and a dollar short, as usual, but here we go:My review of the rock 'n' pop writing anthology SHAKE IT UP is live at Los Angeles Review of Books, one of my favorite sites for criticism. A lot of leftovers from this one which I hope to get posted here in an… Continue reading The Latest: Shake It Up and Twin Peaks
The Latest: An Interview with Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs
I had the great fortune to interview Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs last month for PopMatters. I don't conduct interviews very often, but as a Whigs fan since 1994, I jumped at the chance. It came a difficult time for Dulli and everyone in the Whigs/Twilight Singers extended family--it's explained in the article--so I… Continue reading The Latest: An Interview with Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs
Robert Loss 