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
New in Expert Witness:
- Angola Soundtrack 2 (Analog Africa) A-
- Aby Ngana Diop: Liital (Awesome Tapes From Africa) A-
- Ata Kak: Obaa Sima (Awesome Tapes From Africa) A-
- Les Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako: Les Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako (Sterns Africa) ***
- The Rough Guide to the Best African Music You've Never Heard (World Music Network) ***
- Monoswezi: The Village (Riverboat) ***
- Lala Njava: Malagasy Blues Song (Riverboat) **
- Dieuf-Dieul de Thiès: Aw Sa Yone Vol. 1 (Teranga Beat) **
- Alpha Blondy: Mystic Power (VP) **
- Afrobeat Airways 2: Return Flight to Ghana 1974-1983 (Analog Africa) **
- Seun Kuti + Egypt 80: A Long Way to the Beginning (Knitting Factory) **
- William Onyeabor: Who Is William Onyeabor? (Luaka Bop) *
- Mark Ernestus Presents Jeri-Jeri: 800% Ndagga (Ndagga) *
Recent articles:
[posted by Webmaster on 2015-03-13]
New in Expert Witness:
- Kate Tempest: Everybody Down (Big Dada) A
- Wormburner: Pleasant Living in Planned Communities (Dive) A-
- Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott: What We Have Become (Virgin EMI) ***
- Pet Shop Boys: Electric (X2) **
[posted by Webmaster on 2015-03-06]
New in Expert Witness:
- Willie Nelson and Sister Bobbie: December Day (Legacy) A
- Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Always With Us (Uyohlale Unathi) (CDBaby) A-
- Loudon Wainwright III: Haven't Got the Blues (Yet) (429) A-
- David Greenberger & Dozens: Near the Edge of the Penny Jar Spill (Pel Pel) ***
- Chuck E. Weiss: Red Beans & Weiss (Anti-) **
- Oscar Brown. Jr. & Maggie Brown: We're Live (ESP Disk) *
- Willie Nelson: Let's Face the Music and Dance (Legacy) *
- Scott Ramminger: Advice From a Father to a Son (Arbor Lane) *
[posted by Webmaster on 2015-02-27]
New in Expert Witness:
- Ex Hex: Rips (Merge) A-
- Allo Darlin': We Come From the Same Place (Slumberland) A-
- Alvvays: Alvvays (Polyvinyl) B+
- Shilpa Ray: It's All Self-Fellatio (Bad Seeds, Ltd.) ***
- Courtney Barnett: The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas (Mom + Pop/Milk!) **
- Girlpool: Girlpool (Wichita Recordings) **
- Potty Mouth: Hell Bent (Old Flame/Marshall Teller) *
[posted by Webmaster on 2015-02-20]
New in Expert Witness:
- Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love (Sub Pop) A
- tUnE-yArDs: Nikki Nack (4AD) A-
- TV on the Radio: Seeds (Harvest) A-
- The National: Trouble Will Find Me (4AD) ***
- Thurston Moore: The Best Day (Matador) **
- St. Vincent: St. Vincent (4AD) **
[posted by Webmaster on 2015-02-13]
New in Expert Witness:
- Taylor Swift: 1989 (Big Machine) A-
- Shakira: Shakira (RCA) A-
- Katy B: Little Red (Columbia) ***
- Tove Lo: Queen of the Clouds (Island) ***
- Haim: Days Are Gone (Columbia) **
- Lorde: Pure Heroine (Lava/Republic) **
- Sia: 1000 Forms of Fear (Puzzle/RCA) *
[posted by Webmaster on 2015-02-06]
New in Expert Witness:
- Burial: Rival Dealer (Hyperdub) A
- Steve Reich: Radio Rewrite (Nonesuch) A-
- Boozoo Bajou: 4 (Apollo) A-
- Khun Narin Electric Phin Band: Khun Narin Electric Phin Band (Innovative Leisure) B+
- Jaipur Kawa Brass Band: Dance of the Cobra (Riverboat) ***
- Oneohtrix Point Never: R Plus Seven (Warp) ***
- Moody Good: Moody Good (Owsla) **
- Rework: Philip Glass Remixed (Orange Mountain) **
- Flying Lotus: You're Dead (Warp) **
- Summonx: Power Salad (Interchill) **
- Skrillex: Recess (Atlantic) **
- Sam Shalabi: Music for Arabs (Majmua Music) *
[posted by Webmaster on 2015-01-30]
New in Expert Witness:
- Golem: Tanz (Corason Digital) A-
- Lily Allen: Sheezus (Warner Bros.) A-
- Toni Braxton & Babyface: Love, Marriage & Divorce (Motown) A-
- Mary J. Blige: The London Sessions (Capitol) A-
- Jonathan Richman: No Me Quiejo De Mi Estrella (Vapor/Munster) ***
- Keyshia Cole: Point of No Return (Interscope) **
- Derek Senn: The Technological Breakthrough (dereksenn.com) *
[posted by Webmaster on 2015-01-23]
New in Expert Witness:
- Company Freak: Le Disco Social (OpusLabel/Superlatude) A-
- Bushwick Gospel Singers: Songs of Worship Vol. 2 (self-released) A-
- Roy Nathanson's Sotto Voce: Complicated Day (Enja/Yellowbird) A-
- Chris Butler: Easy Life (Future Fossil) B+
Robert Christgau's Pazz & Jop ballot is
here. For more statistical analysis of his ballot, see
this.
[posted by Webmaster on 2015-01-16]
New in Expert Witness:
- Kool A.D.: Word O.K. (Bandcamp mixtape) A
- Kool A.D.: 63 (Bandcamp mixtape) A-
- Kool & Kass: Peaceful Solutions (Bandcamp mixtape) A-
- Kool A.D.: Not O.K. (Bandcamp mixtape) B+
- Kool & Kass Are . . . Peaceful Solutions: Coke Boys 5 (Bandcamp mixtape) **
- Kool A.D.: 19 (Bandcamp mixtape) *
Old, but new on the website:
[posted by Webmaster on 2015-01-09]
New in Expert Witness:
- The Old 97's: Most Messed Up (ATO) A
- Amy LaVere: Runaway's Diary (Archer) A-
- Bob Dylan in the 80s: Volume One (ATO) A-
- Link of Chain: A Songwriters Tribute to Chris Smither (Signature Sounds) A-
- Robert Randolph and the Family Band: Lickety Split (Blue Note) B+
- Jason Isbell: Southeastern (Southeastern) ***
- Mavis Staples: One True Vine (Anti-) **
- Grant Peeples and the Peeples Republik: Punishing the Myth (Gatorbone) **
- Valerie June: Pushin' Against a Stone (Concord) **
- Hard Working Americans: The First Waltz (Melvin) **
- Otis Taylor: My World Is Gone (Telarc) **
- Thomas Anderson: On Becoming Human (Out Here) **
- John Murry: The Graceless Age (Evangeline) *
- The Defibulators: Debt'll Get 'Em (PigCow) *
Recent articles:
Also note that Carola Dibbell has a
new website, featuring her first
published novel,
The Only Ones.
Many of her other writings are still hosted
here.
[posted by Webmaster on 2014-12-19]
New in Expert Witness:
- Wussy: Attica! (Shake It) A+
- Miranda Lambert: Platinum (RCA) A
- Withered Hand: New Gods (Slumberland) A
- Drive-By Truckers: English Oceans (ATO) A
Recent articles:
Also note that Carola Dibbell has a
new website, featuring her first
published novel,
The Only Ones.
Many of her other writings are still hosted
here.
[posted by Webmaster on 2014-12-12]
New Expert Witness post:
[posted by Webmaster on 2014-12-05]
New Expert Witness post:
[posted by Webmaster on 2014-11-28]
New Expert Witness post:
[posted by Webmaster on 2014-11-21]
New Expert Witness post:
[posted by Webmaster on 2014-11-14]
New Expert Witness post:
Also new:
[posted by Webmaster on 2014-11-07]
New Expert Witness post:
[posted by Webmaster on 2014-10-31] Most Recent -- More Recent -- More Ancient
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