RSSThey're Not Gonna Live Forever
Robert Christgau published a piece, They're Not Gonna Live Forever, about Selo i Ludy: Live and Unconquered, as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-06-23]
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
Xgau Sez
Robert Christgau published his monthly Xgau Sez q&a section -- Standing by some old judgments; grade-grubbing Nas, Al Green, and A Tribe Called Quest; appreciating Billy Joel's attention to prose; and an encomium to the estimable C.D. -- in his Substack newsletter And It Don't Stop. Like all of Xgau Sez, this is archived here.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-06-15]
Consumer Guide: June, 2022
Robert Christgau published his Consumer Guide: June, 2022: "Songlets from Africa, songs from Brooklyn, thoughts on fame and sudden wealth from a Pulitzer winner, and unique music to match unique rhymes. Reviews of: Drive-By Truckers, Mary Gauthier, Hata Unacheza, Kendrick Lamar, Leikeli47, My Idea, Youssou N'Dour, Bonnie Raitt, Homeboy Sandman, Vince Staples, Pusha T. This is part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-06-08]
The Big Lookback: "Loving Women and Duran Duran"
Robert Christgau published a Big Lookback piece, "Loving Women and Duran Duran" -- a Sept. 20, 2010 review of Rob Sheffield's Talking to Girls About Duran Duran -- as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-06-01]
After the Revolution
Robert Christgau published a piece, After the Revolution, a review of C.A. Davids, How to Be a Revolutionary (2021, 296 pp.) as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-05-25]
Xgau Sez
Robert Christgau published his monthly Xgau Sez q&a section -- Spreading out from NYC, Pulitzer to pop: drop dead, reviews not on the road to ruin, impressed by David Crosby (sorta), abundance and multiplicity vs. marginal differentiation, and wedding playlists. -- in his Substack newsletter And It Don't Stop. Like all of Xgau Sez, this is archived here.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-05-18]
Consumer Guide: May, 2022
Robert Christgau published his Consumer Guide: May, 2022: Sexual autonomy & mortality in a country style, almost abstract polygrooves in a South African style, and indie-femme pop sopranos. Plus: soul heroines, leftist shitfits, & more. Reviews of: Mary J. Blige, Kady Diarra, Bobby Digital vs. RZA, DJ Maphorisa X Kabza de Small, Miranda Lambert, The Linda Lindas, Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder, The Muslims, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Ann Peebles, Oumou Sangaré, Wet Leg. This is part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-05-11]
The Big Lookback: Rock 'N' Revolution
Robert Christgau published a Big Lookback piece, Rock 'N' Revolution -- Thoughts on John and Yoko, the MC5, People's Park and the difference between changes in style and structure, from The Village Voice, July 3, 1969 -- as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-03-30]
Guest Post: Greil Marcus
Robert Christgau published a guest piece by Greil Marcus: On music and politics, the musicality of writing, and a Village Voice column from 1969. This is part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop. The guest posts this month are in honor of Christgau's 80th birthday.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-04-27]
Guest Post: Rob Sheffield
Robert Christgau published a guest piece by Rob Sheffield: A Consumer's Guide to the Consumer Guide. This is part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop. The guest posts this month are in honor of Christgau's 80th birthday.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-04-20]
Honky Tonk, Parts 1-41
Robert Christgau published a piece, Honky Tonk, Parts 1-41: A 41-song playlist to mark 80 years. This is part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-04-18]
Consumer Guide: April, 2022
Robert Christgau published his Consumer Guide: April, 2022: A Ukrainian band lays claim to democratic capitalism and artistic freedom, a late-night band leader summons many (many) spirits, a late-night band member remixes James Brown, and punk lives again. Reviews of: Amyl and the Sniffers (2), Jon Batiste, Cheekface, Stro Elliot & James Brown, Clay Harper, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Terry Klein, Lenny Kaye Presents Lightning Striking, Gurf Morlix, Pony, Selo i Ludy Performance Band, Spoon, Superchunk. This is part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-04-13]
Guest Post: Tim Quirk
Robert Christgau published a guest piece by Tim Quirk: Some thoughts on writing about music from someone who has both made art and written criticism of other people's art. This is part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop. The guest posts this month are in honor of Christgau's 80th birthday.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-04-06]
The Big Lookback: Stevie Wonder
Robert Christgau published a Big Lookback piece, Stevie Wonder -- From 1999, written for the program to the Kennedy Center Honors induction -- as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-03-30]
Finding Refuge/J Dilla
Robert Christgau published a piece, Finding Refuge, a review of Jonas Poher Rasmussen (director), Flee (2021), as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
Christgau also published a book review in Observer: How J Dilla Turned the Sound of Error Into a Brand New Beat, a review of Dan Charnas, Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-03-23]
Xgau Sez
Robert Christgau published his monthly Xgau Sez q&a section -- On not grading on a curve, not loving Nina Simone, not pledging unqualified fealty to Bruce Springsteen, & not finding fun in fascism, Kid Rock, or Kanye West. Plus: the story of Nirvana's "Bluebaby." -- in his Substack newsletter And It Don't Stop. Like all of Xgau Sez, this is archived here.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-03-16]
Consumer Guide: March, 2022
Robert Christgau published his Consumer Guide: March, 2022: Haunting delicacy that clatters, queer noise-pop that's cleansing, a Malian feminist produced by an ex-punk, & a Romani horn band covering Bill Withers. Plus: songs from Trinidad, Lagos, & John Prine. Reviews of: Benji. & Spillage Village, Big Thief, Fimber Bravo, Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine Vol. 2, Fanfare Ciocarlia, R.A.P. Ferreira, A Gift to Pops: The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong All Stars, Jack Ingram/Miranda Lambert/Jon Randall, Rokia Koné & Jacknife Lee, Femi Kuti & Made Kuti, Playboi Carti, Slum of Legs, Wiki, Lainie Wilson. This is part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-03-09]
Reports From the Front
Robert Christgau published a piece, Reports From the Front, a review of Evgeny Afineevsky, "Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom" (115 minutes, 2015); Sergey Loznitsa, "Maidan" (130 minutes, 2014); Kalani Pickhart, "I Will Die in a Foreign Land" (300 pp., 2021), as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-03-07]
The Big Lookback: Neil Young
Robert Christgau published a Big Lookback piece, Neil Young -- From 1997, "Wasted on the Young," a survey of a vast catalogue that has only grown since then -- as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
We've also added Carola Dibbell's Modern With a Human Face, a review of books by John Edgar Wideman.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-03-02]
Hippy, Punk, Guitarist, Historian
Robert Christgau published a piece, Hippy, Punk, Guitarist, Historian, a review of Lenny Kaye, Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments in Rock and Roll (496 pp, 2022), as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
We've also added a 2016 Art News article on the Ramones: It's Alive! The Ramones Prove Too Tough to Die at the Queens Museum.
[posted by Webmaster on 2022-02-23]