Best Music Writing 2010: The Highlights

I recently read, and thoroughly enjoyed, a book called Retromania by Simon Reynolds.  When I was done reading that, I hopped over to Amazon.com to grab some advice on what to read next.  Whilst browsing through the links I saw a compilation entitled Best Music Writing 2010.  I read a few pages online and thought it seemed decently engaging so I picked it up. 

I just finished reading the last entry the other day.  Overall, I enjoyed this title.  The book is composed of thirty-six different articles, each somehow related to music, that was published in 2009 (the "2010" of the title refers to the date the compilation itself was published).  The articles vary greatly in both content and form.  There's an impressive range of music genres and personalities covered, and the writing styles on display include interviews, profiles, personal essays, and investigative pieces.  I enjoyed the variety in this volume as it exposed me to stuff I would never normally read about, and thus slightly broadened my worldview in the process (always a good thing).  Anyway, for those who enjoy reading entertainment journalism, this is a solid read that, on the whole, is well edited and assembled.  Only one article, the needlessly pretentious "Lady Gaga in Hell" (which bizarrely compares the "Poker Face" video to poet William Blake's description of Hell), came across as a complete dud.  All the other articles were amusing or interesting or both.

Now with that said, I'd like to switch up my normal book reviewing routine.  Since this is a compilation of a number of different writings, I'd like to take this space to highlight the articles I found particularly interesting or worth-reading.  I've picked three (a nice, arbitrary number) articles that particularly clicked with me, though of course I urge any interested parties to pick up the book and decide for themselves what's hot and what's not.  With that disclaimer out of the way let's begin the countdown:

1)  "The Gossip Takes Paris" - Michelle Tea.  This article opens the collection, and it's a strong opening indeed.  "The Gossip Takes Paris" is a retelling of author Michelle Tea's experiences at Paris Fashion Week as she follows Beth Ditto, lead singer of The Gossip.  One of the reasons why I enjoyed this piece was because of its characterization of Ditto.  I knew little about her before reading this article, and truthfully found her outspoken persona a bit repellent.  Tea's writing helped humanize and endear Ditto to me.  Hearing about Ditto's anxieties (she makes the author leave the room during a photoshoot "because loomers make Beth nervous when she's getting her photo taken") helped to give the eccentric pop star a relatable vulnerability.  Also of note in this essay are the author's descriptions of the various fashion shows and parties that occurred during fashion week.  Now I'm not one for fashion, so it's a testament to Tea's writing that I was actually interested in the events described.  One of my favorite parts in the article was the description of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac's Muppet themed collection.  It sounded so offbeat and fun, with the zany clothing designs and the onstage antics (the models threw fake money into the crowd at the end of the show). 

2)  "Michael Jackson: An Appreciation of His Talent" - Jason King.  This is the second of two articles in this compilation that were written in response to Michael Jackson's death in the summer of 2009.  And of the two articles, this one's my favorite.  King's article is useful both as a quick overview of Jackson's career and as an analysis of his public persona.  The historical overview of Jackson's career as presented here is thorough yet incredibly readable.  I loved the comparison King draws between Thriller and the blockbusters of the 1970s, "...1982's Thriller defined the pop album as a blockbuster mega-spectacle.  It did for music what Jaws and Star Wars did for film, turning an art form into an event".  Also interesting is King's analysis of Jackson's public persona, which manages to be sympathetic while still packing a critical punch.

3)  "Vanishing Act: In Search of Eva Tanguay, the First Rock Star" - Jody Rosen.  I loved this article because it exposed me to a historical entertainer I knew nothing about.  Eva Tanguay, as Rosen describes in her article, was born in 1878 and gained fame in the early 1900's as a vaudeville star.  What makes Tanguay such a fascinating figure was her outspoken eccentricity.  Of particular note is Tanguay's dramatic fashion sense, described by Rosen as follows, "The costumes, which Tanguay claimed to have designed herself were avant-garde and architectural: hats that rose several feet above her head, constructed from ribbons, bells, leaves, ostrich plumes; gowns made of feathers, beads, dollar bills, seashells, coral.  A particular cause celebre was Tanguay's '$40 dress' - a garment fashioned from 4,000 pennies"   Tanguay's stage persona was brash, loud, and overconfident.  Her hit song was entitled "I Don't Care" and the lyrics painted a picture of a outspoken and supremely confident female star.  Rosen's article approaches the figure of Tanguay under the angle that her star is "...forgotten, but not gone".  In other words, while Tanguay's name may have faded into obscurity, her legacy lives on in the careers of modern, image conscious female pop artists such as Madonna and Lady Gaga.  Rosen's article is a compelling testament to how art is indebted (often unconsciously) to the pioneering works that preceded it.  Plus Tanguay seems like an unbelievably awesome character and I'm glad to know about her.