Where Are Your Boys Tonight?

Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008 by Chris Payne, 496 pages.

This book follows the rise of emo music and culture from its earliest days rising from the hardcore scene in New Jersey to the chart-topping phenomenon it eventually became. It explores not only the musical influences, but the way that the genre's explosion on a newly developing internet forced the music industry to address early issues of file sharing and internet virality. Payne interviews more than 150 people, from big names to people behind the scenes, to give an immersive picture of the whole history. 

I found this book engaging and informative, but there were also aspects I found challenging and confusing. One of which is that I listened to the audiobook (read by the author), thinking an oral history would be good in an oral format. However, 150 people is too many to keep straight, and Payne rarely takes time to identify who people are, which can make the rapid switching between interviewees confusing. That being said, I still definitely found it worth the read, and I think it would be even more interesting for people who were more involved in this scene. 

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of Chance the Rapper, lamenting the capitalist take-over of meaningful punk rock venues and applying feminist theory to outdated ideas of rock music--the lack of inclusion and tearing down the punk rock "boys" club--band by band.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.