Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres

 

 

Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres, by Kelefa Sannah, 476 pgs

This is a fun read that tracks the kinds of labels we as a culture have used to describe music genres over the years. Sennah writes about some of the most popular genres of music in the 20th century and while I had hoped for more actual historical context regarding major record labels in general, the author does a good job of taking the reader through the myriad of subgenres and micro-categories that are created by music listeners simply by way of consuming music--proto punk, alternative, sippy cup country, trap--there's seemingly no end to the labels and descriptors we'll give to even the slightest deviations and evolutions in popular music. Sennah spent a majority of his writing career covering music for the New York Times in the 2000s before moving over to the New Yorker, and he seems to put away his harshest criticism here, offering a more nuanced voice for his first non-fiction work.  Interestingly, the Rock and R&B chapters are the longest, probably because they have the most history. Sanneh recognizes he's not perfect though as he describes his first takes on Taylor Swift and Beyoncé to be less than ideal, but he has since learned that criticism is more fluid art then anything else. Recommended for adults.

The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic

The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic, by Jessica Hopper, 426 pgs 

Much of the time, reading criticism of someone else's artistic work is pure drudgery, but this book is just the opposite. Jessica Hopper's glorious prose is witty, hyperbolic and aggressive--just like a rock critic should be. This book is essentially a collection of articles and interviews from the last twenty years of the author on a band circuit in Chicago, where she built her own career without any schooling or professional network--a monumental task for anyone in this field. She wrote her heart out for music, chronicling the rise of Chance the Rapper, lamenting the capitalist take-over of meaningful punk rock venues and applying feminist theory to outdated ideas of rock music--the lack of inclusion and tearing down the punk rock "boys" club--band by band. Particularly fascinating is her transcription of an interview with Jim Derogatis, a fellow music critic working at the Chicago Tribune, who details how his investigative work led to R. Kelly being prosecuted for sexual assault. Each essay is more or less a memoir of Hopper's fixation on music and how it helps her learn more about herself and ourselves. The great thing about reading music criticism is getting to listen to the music after you've read something--try to hear what Hopper is hearing--and in so doing, you become a more involved listener.