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Canuck Rock: A History Of Canadian Popular Music

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By Kate Harper (CHARTattack) September 11, 2009 11:17 am
Don't let the title of Ryan Edwardson's Canuck Rock: A History Of Canadian Popular Music fool you. The book is less a who's who and historical rundown of Canadian rock music as it is a history of the Canadian music industry. Edwardson begins with the advent of rock 'n' roll in the 1950s and examines how the rise of Elvis Presley and Bill Haley...
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Canuck Rock: A History Of Canadian Popular Music
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Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History Of Seattle Rock Music

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By Ian Gormely (CHARTattack) May 7, 2009 11:37 am
"Do we really need another book about Seattle bands?" is the immediate thought when presented with Greg Prato's new book, Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History Of Seattle Rock Music. It's a fair question. Countless authors have tried to make sense of the Pacific northwest's massive cultural explosion in the decade-and-a-half since the...
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Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History Of Seattle Rock Music

Million Dollar Bash: Bob Dylan, The Band And The Basement Tapes

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By David McPherson (CHARTattack) November 26, 2008 12:46 pm
What more can really be said on Bob Dylan's elusive recordings with The Band? Author Sid Griffin feels he has enough new material to shed more light on the seminal recordings, many of which are still unreleased. Million Dollar Bash is well researched and offers new insights and interviews, but for fans who want the inside scoop of what happened...
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Best Music Writing 2007

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By Shehzaad Jiwani (CHARTattack) November 26, 2008 12:41 pm
Great music journalism has a way of captivating even the most casual music listeners. I defy you to read one of the articles collected in this year's annual Best Music Writing anthology and be able to put the book down with ease. Artists you may have zero interest in come off as compelling in pieces that cover subjects ranging from Matisyahu's...
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50 X 50: 50 Cent In His Own Words

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By Pete Richards (CHARTattack) November 26, 2008 12:37 pm
For those who haven't been completely exhausted by the 50 Cent story comes 50 X 50, a hefty hardcover autobiography full of photos spanning Fiddy's life and includes a CD containing the never-before released track "Puppy Love." Extras aside, the written content is surprisingly solid, as 50 is given the chance to explain in his own words...
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It Still Moves

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By Jen White (CHARTattack) November 14, 2008 10:36 am
According to its cover, Pitchfork writer Amanda Petrusich was attempting to find the "next American music" in her non-fiction novel It Still Moves. Her highway journey comes in the form of a throwback to Chuck Klosterman's almost true road narrative, Killing Yourself To Live. Petrusich drove from her New York City home to explore the...
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It Still Moves

GHOSTKEEPER

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By Cameron Gordon (CHARTattack) July 18, 2008 1:56 pm
Calgary indie rockers Ghostkeeper are keen students of their genre. They've incorporated bits and blips of The Flaming Lips, Pavement and Neutral Milk Hotel into And The Children Of The Great Northern Muskeg. A quirky 10-song effort that runs just over half an hour, the album's most distinct features are vocalist Shane Ghostkeeper's nonplus words...
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Rollin' With Dre: The Unauthorized Account: An Insider's Tale Of The Rise, Fall, And Rebirth Of West Coast Hip Hop

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By Andre Mihsin (CHARTattack) July 1, 2008 1:42 pm
The early '90s gangsta rap explosion was one of the most significant eras in the history of hip-hop, making household names out of Snoop, Tupac and Dr. Dre. Behind the scenes was Bruce Williams, Dre's right-hand man and the self-proclaimed confidant to many members of the Death Row Records family. In Rollin' With Dre, Williams recalls a few inside...
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Rollin' With Dre

We Owe You Nothing: Punk Planet Collected Interviews Expanded Edition

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By Keith Carman (CHARTattack) January 22, 2008 9:14 pm
Revered for its punk rock staples of honesty, sincerity and ambition throughout its 13 years, Punk Planet Magazine was an essential force in understanding the inner workings of the music and politics of this unique force of art. The reprinting of select Q&A interviews in the 2001 edition of We Owe You Nothing was refined insight that offered...
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We Owe You Nothing

Song Man: A Melodic Adventure, Or, My Single-Minded Approach To Songwriting

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By David McPherson (CHARTattack) January 7, 2008 10:35 am
Will Hodgkinson learned to play the guitar at 34, resulting in the critically acclaimed Guitar Man. Now the author returns with a book about his quest to become a songwriter and cut a 45 rpm single at London, England's legendary ToeRag Studios. Through his songcrafting journey, Hodgkinson gets advice from Ray Davies and Keith Richards. The result...
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Th Anti-Matter Anthology: A 1990s Post-Punk & Hardcore Reader

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By Shehzaad Jiwani (CHARTattack) November 30, 2007 2:01 pm
The behind-the-scenes look at rock stars' excessive lives is an age-old cliché, so it's interesting to read a punk rock counterpoint. And unsurprisingly, things are far more compelling on the punk side. Reading Ian MacKaye's thoughts on the economics of his Dischord label, or Zack De La Rocha discuss the paradoxical nature of violent,...
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Legends Of The Chelsea Hotel: Living With The Artists And Outlaws Of New York's Rebel Mecca

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By Shannon Whibbs (CHARTattack) November 2, 2007 10:28 am
From the glut of media out there on the Chelsea Hotel, this book stands out. Ed Hamilton, the author and a current tenant, pays homage to the vast and varied non-famous guests. Hamilton's stories are creative nonfiction vignettes that paint pictures of Chelsea life that are funny and heartbreaking, believable and absurd. Guests include a Deadhead...
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Around The World In 57 1/2 Gigs

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By Shannon Whibbs (CHARTattack) October 28, 2007 1:42 pm
Former Rheostatic Dave Bidini takes three done-to-death genres — travelogue, music history and memoir — and combines them into a riveting account of his world travels as a solo performer. There's the drunken hilarity of Finland, the perplexity of China and the inspiring sense of hope amidst tragedy in Africa. In exploring the musical history of...
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The Heroin Diaries Are Real

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By Caitlin Hotchkiss (CHARTattack) September 18, 2007 1:38 pm
Although junkie journals are the new thing (Pete Doherty and even Kurt Cobain), Nikki Sixx has no interest in glamourizing his former "love affair" with heroin. The long-awaited publication of the Motley Crue bassist's diaries from 1987 (the Crue's debauched heyday) is a quick read, but hardly a simple one. Accounts from friends and band and crew...
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The Heroin Diaries

Riot On The Sunset Strip: Rock 'N' Roll's Last Stand In Hollywood

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By Steve McLean (CHARTattack) July 12, 2007 10:32 am
Los Angeles-based Domenic Priore knows his city's music history well. This overview of the mid-'60s explosion on the famed street that helped create folk-rock and nurtured garage-punk and early psychedelia — while also fuelling art and fashion movements and influencing film and television — is full of info, photos and album graphics. Things...
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Accidental Revolution: The Story Of Grunge

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By Shaun Hatton (CHARTattack) July 10, 2007 11:12 am
This overview of the grunge movement is presented as a series of mini biographies of bands from the era. Those given the most attention are the ones you couldn't get away from in the '90s — Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Other acts such as The Melvins and Mudhoney aren't given as many pages. Half the fun is author Kyle Anderson's sly slags on...
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The Art Of The Band T-Shirt

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By Nicole Kai (CHARTattack) June 26, 2007 10:33 am
From its inception as a brilliant marketing ploy by Elvis' promoters in 1956 to its reincarnation as a current subversive fashion trend, the band T-shirt continues to connect music and style. This small, colourful coffee table book traces the evolution of the staple concert souvenir, from the classically ubiquitous Ramones Tee to the rare hand-...
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Punk Rock Dad: No Rules, Just Real Life

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By Keith Carman (CHARTattack) May 1, 2007 10:56 am
Pennywise singer Jim Lindberg seems the most unlikely candidate for parenting or writing a book about it. Yet through his honest, sincere and humourous recounting of the pressures of parenting three kids while teaching the world to "fuck authority," you learn he's an authority. Fellow punk parents will chuckle at the been-there, done-...
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My First Time: A Collectin Of First Punk Show Stories

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By Shehzaad Jiwani (CHARTattack) May 1, 2007 10:37 am
In My First Time, punk historians such as Michael Azerrad, notable rockers including Joe Queer, and regular people working blue-collar jobs all recall their first punk shows through a few dozen anecdotes. Their experiences are varied, but they all come to the same conclusion: punk rock somehow changed their lives. Each story is a testament to the...
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Blondie: Unseen 1976-1980

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By Deanna McFadden (CHARTattack) April 19, 2007 11:17 am
In Blondie: Unseen 1976-1980, photographer Roberta Bayley documents many of the iconic band's moments, from their beginnings in the thriving New York City punk scene to their rise as one of the most successful pop groups of the '70s and '80s. The insightful and emblematic photos capture a genuine sense of the group's experiences and reflect the...
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