Selected writings on three decades of popular music from one of the most influential critics of his generation.
Spanning three decades worth of astute, acerbic, and overall astounding music writing, Kick Out the Jams is the first large-scale anthology of the work of renowned critic Dave Marsh. Ranging from Elvis Presley to Kurt Cobain, from Nina Simone to Ani DiFranco, from the Beatles to Green Day, the book gives an opinionated, eye-opening overview of 20th-century popular music-offering a portrait not just of an era but of a writer wrestling with the American empire.
Every essay bears the distinct Dave Marsh attitude and voice. That passion is evident in a heart-wrenching piece on Cobain's suicide and legacy; a humorous attack on "Bono's bullshit;" an indignant look at James Brown and the FBI; deep, revelatory probes into the work of underappreciated artists like Patty Griffin and Alejandro Escovedo; and inspiring insight into what drives Marsh as a writer, namely "a raging passion to explain things in the hope that others would not be trapped and to keep the way clear so that others from the trashy outskirts of barbarous America still had a place to stand-if not in the culture at large, at least in rock and roll."
If you want to explore the recent history of pop music-its politics as well as its performers-Kick Out the Jams is the perfect guidebook.
| ISBN: | 9781982197179 |
| Publication date: | 12th September 2024 |
| Author: | Dave Marsh |
| Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 336 pages |
| Genres: |
Music reviews and criticism |
Selected writings on three decades of popular music from one of the most influential critics of his generation.
Spanning three decades worth of astute, acerbic, and overall astounding music writing, Kick Out the Jams is the first large-scale anthology of the work of renowned critic Dave Marsh. Ranging from Elvis Presley to Kurt Cobain, from Nina Simone to Ani DiFranco, from the Beatles to Green Day, the book gives an opinionated, eye-opening overview of 20th-century popular music-offering a portrait not just of an era but of a writer wrestling with the American empire.
Every essay bears the distinct Dave Marsh attitude and voice. That passion is evident in a heart-wrenching piece on Cobain's suicide and legacy; a humorous attack on "Bono's bullshit;" an indignant look at James Brown and the FBI; deep, revelatory probes into the work of underappreciated artists like Patty Griffin and Alejandro Escovedo; and inspiring insight into what drives Marsh as a writer, namely "a raging passion to explain things in the hope that others would not be trapped and to keep the way clear so that others from the trashy outskirts of barbarous America still had a place to stand-if not in the culture at large, at least in rock and roll."
If you want to explore the recent history of pop music-its politics as well as its performers-Kick Out the Jams is the perfect guidebook.
Kick Out the Jams features in the following genres: Music reviews and criticism
Kick Out the Jams is available in Paperback, Hardback
Kick Out the Jams was written by Dave Marsh and published by Simon & Schuster
Kick Out the Jams has 336 pages
£11.69