And It Don't Stop on Substack
Robert Christgau's newsletter And It Don't Stop
appears three (or four) times a month on Substack. Subscribe
here.
Robert Christgau's Big-Hearted Theory of Pop
Book Reports features reviews of not only the pop-music
tomes you'd predict but also literary fiction, Marxist-adjacent
cultural commentary, feminist debates over pornography, and even books
about the past decade's financial crisis. It follows a collection that
Christgau published last year, Is It Still Good to Ya? Fifty Years
of Rock Criticism, 1967-2017, which includes Christgau's takes on,
among many other things, classic rock, Kanye West, the music of Desert
Storm, Lollapalooza, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and so-called guilty
pleasures--a category that Christgau rejects, since, for rock critics,
as he puts it, "pleasure is where meaning begins." Together, these
collections make the sneaky case that Christgau is not just the Dean
of American Rock Critics, his self-awarded and perhaps slightly
off-putting nickname, but one of America's
sharper public intellectuals of the past half century, and certainly
one of its most influential--not to mention one of the better stylists
in that cohort. Fun is a big part of why.
--David Cantwell, The New Yorker
News
This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- My Bloody Valentine/The Vaselines:
- My Bloody Valentine: Isn't Anything (Relativity '88) A-
- The Vaselines: Sex With an X (Sub Pop '10) B+
- Odds and Ends 024:
- Colin Stetson: New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges (Constellation) ***
- Dobie: We Will Not Harm You (Ninja Tune) ***
- 3:33: In the Middle of Infinity (Parallel Thought) ***
- My Bloody Valentine: mbv (mybloodyvalentine.org) **
- Flying Lotus: Pattern + Grid World (Warp) **
- Maga Bo: Quilombo Do Futuro (Crosstalk/Postworld) *
- Fatboy Slim: Big Beach Bootique Volume V (The End) *
- Flying Lotus: Until the Quiet Comes (Warp) *
[posted by Webmaster on 2013-02-22] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- The Platters/Hank Ballard & the Midnighters:
- The Platters: Enchanted: The Best of the Platters (Rhino '98) A
- Hank Ballard & the Midnighters: Sexy Ways: The Best of Hank Ballard & the Midnighters (Rhino '93)
- Odds and Ends 023:
- Japandroids: Post-Nothing (Polyvinyl) ***
- Django Django: Django Django (Ribbon Music) ***
- Thao & the Get Down Stay Down: We the Common (Ribbon) **
- Dum Dum Girls: He Gets Me High (Sub Pop) **
- Japandroids: No Singles (Polyvinyl) **
- The Vaccines: Come of Age (Columbia) *
- Tilly and the Wall: Heavy Mood (TeamLove) *
- The Nervous Wreckords: Let Them All Talk (The Nervous Wreckords) *
[posted by Webmaster on 2013-02-15] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- Batida/Diplo:
- Batida: Batida (Soundway) A-
- Diplo: Express Yourself (Mad Decent) B+
- Yo Ma Ma-Stephen Kalinich & Jon Tiven/Wussy:
- Yo Ma Ma: Symptomology/Stephen Kalinich & Jon Tiven: Shortcuts to Infinity (MsMusic) A-
- Wussy: Berneice Huff and Son, Bill, Sings . . . Popular Favorites (free Shake It mixtape) B+
[posted by Webmaster on 2013-02-08] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
[posted by Webmaster on 2013-02-01] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- Odds and Ends 022:
- Death Grips: Exmilitary (free Third Worlds mixtape) ***
- Lushlife: Plateau Vision (Western Vinyl) ***
- E-40: Revenue Retrievin': Graveyard Shift (Heavy on the Grind/EMI) **
- Lupe Fiasco: Food and Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 (Atlantic) **
- Roc Marciano: Reloaded (Decon) *
- Beanie Sigel: This Time (State Property/Ruffhouse) *
- Meek Mill: Dreams and Nightmares (Maybach Music/Warner Bros.) *
- Big Boi: Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors (Def Jam) *
- Public Enemy:
- Public Enemy: Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp (Enemy) A-
- Public Enemy: The Evil Empire of Everything (Enemy) B+
[posted by Webmaster on 2013-01-25] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- Odds and Ends 021:
- Animal Collective: Centipede Hz (Domino) ***
- El-P: Cancer4Cure (Fat Possum) ***
- Hot Chip: In Our Heads (Domino) **
- Cat Power: Sun (Matador) **
- Future: Pluto (Epic) **
- Tame Impala: Lonerism (Modular) **
- Purity Ring: Shrines (4AD) *
- Andy Stott: Luxury Problems (Modern Love) *
- The dB's/Yo La Tengo:
- The dB's: Falling Off the Sky (Bar/None) A-
- Yo La Tengo: Fade (Matador) A-
Also at Barnes and Noble Review:
Also at Black Clock:
[posted by Webmaster on 2013-01-18] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- Odds and Ends 020:
- Juju: Justin Adams and Judeh Camera: In Trance (Realworld) ***
- Zani Diabaté & les Héritiers: Tientalaw (Sterns Africa) ***
- Sofrito: International Soundclash (Strut) **
- Sékouba Bambino: The Griot's Craft (Sterns Africa) **
- Sory Kandia Kouyaté: La Voix de la Révolution (Sterns Africa) **
- Sotho Sounds: Junk Funk (Riverboat) **
- African Blues (Putumayo) *
- Gnonnas Pedro: Volume 1 (Syllart) *
- Moreno and L'Orch First Moja-One/Laba Sosseh:
- Moreno and L'Orch First Moja-One: Sister Pili + 2 (Sterns Africa) A-
- Laba Sosseh: Volume 1 (Syllart) B+
[posted by Webmaster on 2013-01-11] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- Odds and Ends 019:
- This One's for Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark (Icehouse) ***
- Shonen Knife: Osaka Ramones: A Tribute to the Ramones (Damnably) ***
- The Bachata Legends: The Bachata Legends (iASO) ***
- Enoch Assembly: King Elvis Dead (self-released) **
- Paul Simon: Live in New York City (Concord/Hear Music) **
- Taj Mahal: The Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal 1969-1973 (Columbia/Legacy) **
- Mighty Sparrow: Sparromania!--Wit, Wisdom, & Soul From the King of Calypso 1962-1974 (Strut) *
- Lowe Country: The Songs of Nick Lowe (Fiesta Red) *
- Carl Perkins/Willie Nelson:
- Carl Perkins: The Very Best of Carl Perkins: Blue Suede Shoes (Collectables '98) A
- Willie Nelson: Heroes (Legacy) B+
[posted by Webmaster on 2013-01-04] This Week in Expert Witness
New post this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- Miguel:
- Miguel: All I Want Is You (Jive '10) B+
- Miguel: Kaleidoscope Dream (RCA) A-
[posted by Webmaster on 2012-12-28] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- Thelonious Monk:
- Thelonious Monk: Thelonious Monk Trio (Prestige '01) A+
- Thelonious Monk/Sonny Rollins: Thelonious Monk/Sonny Rollins (Prestige '06) A
- The Quintet/Charlie Parker:
- The Quintet: Jazz at Massey Hall (Original Jazz Classics '91) A
- Charlie Parker: Now's the Time (Verve '90) A+
Also at Barnes and Noble Review:
Also at MSN Music:
Also at NPR:
[posted by Webmaster on 2012-12-21] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
[posted by Webmaster on 2012-12-14] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- The Dave Brubeck Quartet:
- The Dave Brubeck Quartet: Jazz Goes to College (Columbia '89) A
- The Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Out (Columbia/Legacy '97) B+
- Dobie:
- Dobie: Nothing to Fear (Big Dada) A-
- Dobie: . . . But Fear Itself (Big Dada) A-
[posted by Webmaster on 2012-12-07] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- Odds and Ends 018:
- Andra Kouyaté & Séké Chi: Saro (Studio Mali) ***
- Ramzi Aburedwan: Reflections of Palestine (Riverboat) ***
- The Rough Guide to Bellydance (World Music Network) ***
- The Rough Guide to the Music of Afghanistan (World Music Network) **
- The Lost Cuban Trios of Casa Marina (Ahi-Nama) **
- The Rough Guide to Arabic Lounge (World Music Network) **
- Gustavo Casenave: Tango Casenave (Watchcraft Music) **
- Egyptian Project: Ya Amar (Six Degrees) *
- Heems/Kool A.D.:
- Heems: Wild Water Kingdom (free Greedhead mixtape) A-
- Kool A.D.: 51 (free Greedhead mixtape) B+
[posted by Webmaster on 2012-11-30] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- Saigon/Kendrick Lamar:
- Saigon: The Greatest Story Never Told: Chapter Two: Bread and Circuses (Suburban Noize) A-
- Kendrick Lamar: good kid, m.A.A.d city (Top Dawg/Aftermath/Interscope) A-
- Encre:
- Encre: Flux (Clapping Music '04) A-
- Encre: Common Chord (Clapping Music '06) A-
[posted by Webmaster on 2012-11-23] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- Two Fingers/Lukid:
- Two Fingers: Stunt Rhythms (Big Dada) A-
- Lukid: Lonely at the Top (Werkdiscs/Ninja Tune) A-
- Taylor Swift/Donald Fagen:
- Taylor Swift: Red (Big Machine) A-
- Donald Fagen: Sunken Condos (Reprise) A-
[posted by Webmaster on 2012-11-16] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- Homeboy Sandman:
- Homeboy Sandman: Chimera EP (Stones Throw) B+
- Homeboy Sandman: First of a Living Breed (Stones Throw) A-
- The Mountain Goats/Ned Sublette:
- The Mountain Goats: Transcendental Youth (Merge) A
- Ned Sublette: Kiss You Down South (Postmambo) A-
[posted by Webmaster on 2012-11-09] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
Also in the Barnes & Noble Review:
[posted by Webmaster on 2012-11-02] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- Odds and Ends 017:
- JD McPherson: Signs & Signifiers (Rounder/Histyle) ***
- John Mayer: Born and Raised (Columbia) ***
- Jens Lekman: I Know What Love Isn't (Secretly Canadian) ***
- M. Ward: A Wasteland Companion (Merge) **
- Roxanne Potvin: Play (Black Hen) **
- Stew & the Negro Problem: Making It (TNP) **
- Carsie Blanton: Idiot Heart (Carsie Blanton) **
- Carole King: The Legendary Demos (Rockingale/Hear Music) *
- Royal Band de Thiés/Thiossane Ablaye Ndiaye:
- Royal Band de Thiés: Kadior Demb (Teranga Beat) A-
- Thiossane Ablaye Ndiaye: Thiossane Ablaye Ndiaye (Syllart/Sterns) B+
Also in the New York Times Sunday Book Review:
[posted by Webmaster on 2012-10-26] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
- The xx/Kid Koala:
- The xx: Coexist (Young Turks) A-
- Kid Koala: 12 Bit Blues (Ninja Tune) A-
- Jamey Johnson/G.O.O.D. Music:
- Jamey Johnson: Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran (Mercury) A-
- G.O.O.D. Music: Cruel Summer (G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam) B+
Also at MSN Music:
[posted by Webmaster on 2012-10-19] This Week in Expert Witness
New posts this week in Robert Christgau's
Expert Witness blog:
[posted by Webmaster on 2012-10-12] Most Recent -- More Recent -- More Ancient
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