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
Expert Witness: Robert Christgau Reviews Charly Bliss' 'Young Enough'
New in Expert Witness:
- Chai: Punk (Burger) A-
- Charly Bliss: Young Enough (Barsuk) A-
- Tacocat: This Mess Is a Place (Hardly Art) **
- Abjects: Never Give Up (Yippee Ki Yay) **
- Drinking Boys and Girls Choir: Keep Drinking (Damnably) **
- Pup: Morbid Stuff (Little Dipper) *
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-06-21] Xgau Sez New batch of
Xgau Sez questions and answers.
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-06-18] Expert Witness: Lizzo's Casual Confidence
New in Expert Witness:
- Lewis Capaldi: Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent (Capitol) A-
- Lizzo: Cuz I Love You (Atlantic/Nice Life) A-
- Kevin Abstract: Arizona Baby (Question Everything, Inc./RCA) ***
- Lizzo: Coconut Oil (Atlantic/Nice Life) **
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-06-14] Expert Witness: Robert Christgau on Vampire Weekend's Puzzlers and Big Thief's Minor Miracles
New in Expert Witness:
- Big Thief: U.F.O.F. (4AD) A-
- Vampire Weekend: Father of the Bride (Columbia) B+
- Martin Frawley: Undone at 31 (Merge) ***
- Fred Thomas: Aftering (Polyvinyl) **
- The Yawpers: Human Question (Bloodshot) *
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-06-07] Expert Witness: Robert Christgau Reviews Dub Master Lee 'Scratch' Perry
New in Expert Witness:
- Lee "Scratch" Perry: Rainford (On-U Sound) A-
- Tanya Tagaq: Toothsayer (Six Shooter) A-
- Sneaks: Highway Hypnosis (Merge) A-
Here's a choice quote from
David Cantwell's New Yorker review of Robert Christgau's essay
collections, Book Reports and
Is It Still Good to Ya?:
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, (he has insisted that he was a little bit drunk
and a little bit joking when he coined it), 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.
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-05-31] Xgau Sez New batch of
Xgau Sez questions and answers.
Here's another excerpt from Robert Christgau's new
Book Reports: A Music Critic on His First
Love, Which Was Reading:
My Friend Marshall, on Marshall Berman.
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-05-28] Expert Witness: Robert Christgau Reviews Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba's 'Miri'
New in Expert Witness:
- Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Miri (Out Here) A-
- Youssou N'Dour: History (Naďve/Believe) A-
- Two Niles: To Sing a Melody: The Violins and Synths of Sudan (Ostinato) B+
New review of Robert Christgau's essay collections
Book Reports and
Is It Still Good to Ya?:
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-05-24] Expert Witness: Robert Christgau Reviews Quelle Chris' Crisis Raps
New in Expert Witness:
- Quelle Chris: Guns (Mello Music) A-
- Epic Beard Men: This Was Supposed to Be Fun (Strange Famous) A-
- Quelle Chris: Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often (Mello Music) **
- Epic Beard Men: Season 1 (Strange Famous) *
Robert Christgau will be at
Word Bookstore, 126 Franklin St., in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Thursday
5/23 at 7:30 PM, for a discussion of his new collection of book reviews
and essays,
Book Reports: A Music Critic on His First
Love, Which Was Reading.
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-05-17] Expert Witness: Robert Christgau Reviews Music From Priests and the Coathangers
New in Expert Witness:
- The Coathangers: The Devil You Know (Suicide Squeeze) A-
- Priests: The Seduction of Kansas (Sister Polygon) A-
- Camp Cope: How to Socialise and Make Friends (Run for Cover) **
- Ex Hex: It's Real (Merge) *
A new batch of
Xgau Sez questions and answers
appeared last Tuesday.
Robert Christgau's second Duke University Press collection in six
months, Book Reports: A Music Critic on His First Love, Which Was
Reading, is shipping now. Some shopping options are listed on our
book page (although consider your local
bookseller). You can read the introduction
here.
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-05-10] Xgau Sez New batch of
questions and answers.
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-05-03] Expert Witness: Robert Christgau Reviews 'Springsteen on Broadway'
New in Expert Witness:
- Bruce Springsteen: Springsteen on Broadway (Columbia) A
- Robert Forster: Inferno (Tapete) B+
- Chris Butler: Got It Together! (Future Fossil) **
- Peter Stampfel and the Atomic Meta Pagans: The Ordovician Era! (Don Giovanni) **
Rolling Stone has published an excerpt from Robert Christgau's
new collection,
Book Reports: A Music Critic on His First Love,
Which Was Reading:
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-05-03] Expert Witness: Billie Eilish's Teen Goth Angst
New in Expert Witness:
- Billie Eilish: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (Darkroom/Interscope) A
- Little Simz: Grey Area (Age 101) A-
- Billie Eilish: Dont Smile at Me (Darkroom/Interscope) B+
- Little Simz: Stillness in Wonderland (Age 101) *
- Little Simz: A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons (Age 101) *
Robert Christgau's second Duke University Press collection,
Book Reports: A Music Critic on His First Love, Which Was
Reading, is now ready to ship. 30% off from
here with promo
code E19CRGAU. Read
an excerpt, including the introduction.
Christgau will appear and read from his book at
McNally Jackson Independent Booksellers, 52 Prince Street, New York,
NY, on Monday, April 29, at 7:00 pm.
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-04-26] Expert Witness: Khalid's Textured Anxiety
New in Expert Witness:
- 6lack: East Atlanta Love Letter (LVRN/Interscope) A-
- Khalid: Free Spirit (RCA) A-
- Kyle: Light of Mine (Independently Popular/Atlantic) ***
- Khalid: Suncity (RCA) ***
- Brockhampton: Iridescence (Everything/RCA) **
- Fat Tony: 10,000 Hours (Don Giovanni) *
A new batch of
Xgau Sez questions and answers
appeared last Tuesday.
Official publication date is May 3, but Robert Christgau's second
Duke University Press collection in six months, Book Reports: A
Music Critic on His First Love, Which Was Reading, is now ready
to ship. 30% off from
here with promo
code E19CRGAU. Read
an excerpt, including the introduction.
Christgau will appear and read from his book at
McNally Jackson Independent Booksellers, 52 Prince Street, New York,
NY, on Monday, April 29, at 7:00 pm.
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-04-19] Xgau Sez New batch of
questions and answers.
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-04-16] Expert Witness: Salif Keita's 'Un Autre Blanc'
New in Expert Witness:
- Salif Keita: Un Autre Blanc (Believe/Naive) A-
- Hama Sankare: Ballébé (Clermont Music) A-
- Hama Sankare: Niafunké (Clermont Music) B+
- Gato Preto: Tempo (Unique) ***
- Bombino: Deran (Partisan) ***
Gabriella Paiella interviews Robert Christgau and Carola Dibbell for
New York magazine's "Marriage: An Investigation":
When Infidelity, Infertility, and Cancer Only Make Your Marriage
Stronger.
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-04-12] Expert Witness: Stella Donnelly's Musical Encyclopedia of Assholes
New in Expert Witness:
- Stella Donnelly: Beware of the Dogs (Secretly Canadian) A-
- Sharon Van Etten: Remind Me Tomorrow (Jagjaguwar) A-
- Jenny Lewis: On the Line (Warner Bros.) ***
- Sir Babygirl: Crush on You (Father/Daughter) **
- Girls on Grass: Dirty Power (self-released) *
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-04-05] Expert Witness: Pedro the Lion's Return
New in Expert Witness:
- Pedro the Lion: Phoenix (Polyvinyl) A-
- Jason Ringenberg: Stand Tall (Courageous Chicken) B+
- Eric Church: Desperate Man (EMI Nashville) **
- Gurf Morlix: Impossible Blue (Rootball) *
- Bottle Rockets: Bit Logic (Bloodshot) *
A new batch of
Xgau Sez questions and answers
appeared last Tuesday.
We've added a
book page for Robert Christgau's new
book, Book Reports: A Music Critic on His First Love, Which Was
Reading (Duke University Press), to be published April 12.
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-03-29] Xgau Sez New batch of
questions and answers.
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-03-26] Expert Witness: Ariana Grande's Garden of Sonic Delights
New in Expert Witness:
- Ariana Grande: Sweetener (Republic) A-
- Amber Mark: Conexao EP (Virgin EMI) A-
- Diana Gordon: Pure (self-released) ***
- Ariana Grande: Thank U, Next (Republic) ***
- Robyn: Honey (Konichiwa/Interscope) ***
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-03-22] Expert Witness: Todd Snider's Replayable 'Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3'
New in Expert Witness:
- Todd Snider: Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3 (Aimless) A
- Leyla McCalla: Capitalist Blues (PIAS America) A-
- Our Native Daughters: Songs of Our Native Daughters (Smithsonian Folkways) **
- Leyla McCalla: A Day for the Hunter, a Day for the Prey (Jazz Village) *
[posted by Webmaster on 2019-03-15] Most Recent -- More Recent -- More Ancient
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