RSSThe Big Lookback: Joy of Cooking
Robert Christgau published a piece, The Big Lookback: Joy of Cooking -- as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-06-02]
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
The Book of Books, Rockcrit and Musicology Division
Robert Christgau published a piece, The Big Lookback: Joy of Cooking -- as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-05-26]
Xgau Sez
Robert Christgau published his monthly Xgau Sez q&a section -- Some thoughts on dolts (or not), the Smart Monkee, rock bios, the greatest albums of the '90s (not ranked) and the best novels of the 21st century (ranked). Plus: In every dream life a headache -- as part of his subscription newsletter And It Don't Stop. Like all of Xgau Sez, this is archived here.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-05-19]
Consumer Guide: May, 2021
Robert Christgau published his Consumer Guide: May, 2021: The gospel from an Atlanta rap collective, hummable hooks from LDR, free flowing zingers from a well-read alt rhymer, and powerhouse vocals from the Sahara via the Hudson Valley. Reviews of: Anti-Flag, Khaira Arby, Carsie Blanton, Blue Muse, Lana Del Rey, For the Good Times: The Songs of Kris Kristofferson, Milo, No-No Boy, Nostrum Grocers, Todd Snider, Spillage Village, Too Much Joy. This is part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-05-12]
All the Time in the World
Robert Christgau published a piece, All the Time in the World: The Living End in Peter Stampfel and Willie Nelson -- his 2019 Museum of Pop Culture Conerence lecture, themed around music, death, and after life -- as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-05-05]
A Century in Four Hours and Forty Minutes
Robert Christgau published a piece, A Century in Four Hours and Forty Minutes -- a review of Peter Stampfel's 20th Century in 100 Songs -- as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-04-30]
Xgau Sez
Robert Christgau published his monthly Xgau Sez q&a section -- Taste vs. judgment, the (somewhat) enduring appeal of Leon Thomas, the diminishing appeal of Green Day, reading about if not listening to Joanna Newsom, and the hymnals of Judee Sill and Todd Snider -- as part of his subscription newsletter And It Don't Stop. Like all of Xgau Sez, this is archived here.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-04-14]
Consumer Guide: April, 2021
Robert Christgau published his Consumer Guide: April, 2021: Dispatches from the inferno as seen from Melbourne, the Twin Cities, Detroit, NYC and Prague. Plus the White Stripes ring the bell, Neil Young empties the rust bucket, and '60s blues wrecks L.A. Reviews of: Tamar Aphek, Sarah Mary Chadwick, Eminem, Joe Fahey, Girl in Red, Felix Hatfield, If I Have to Wreck L.A., Adeena Karasick/Frank London, Gary Lucas, Mike, The Plastic People of the Universe, Dua Saleh, The White Stripes, Neil Young With Crazy Horse. This is part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-04-07]
Root of All Evil
Robert Christgau published a piece, Root of All Evil -- a review of Ned and Constance Sublette, The American Slave Coast (2016, 754 pp) -- as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-03-24]
Xgau Sez
Robert Christgau published his monthly Xgau Sez q&a section -- On writing (or not) a history of popular music, consumer guiding (or not) the '60s (and Aretha) (and James Brown) (and the Dead), and Drake (or not). Plus organizing CDs and vinyl -- as part of his subscription newsletter And It Don't Stop. Like all of Xgau Sez, this is archived here.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-03-17]
Auriculum (Ep. 5)
Robert Christgau posted a podcast, Auriculum (Ep. 5): Bob & Carola & The Art and Science of List Making, as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-03-12]
Consumer Guide: March, 2021
Robert Christgau published his Consumer Guide: March, 2021: Rhyme sprees from a revolutionary, a poet with laundry to do, and a compulsive veteran. Plus staccato guitar outbursts, an Arkansas bard, a South African doyenne, and losers get a glow up. Reviews of: Hayes Carll, R.A.P. Ferreira (3), The Hold Steady, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Lithics, Little Ann, Irene Mawela, Harvey McLaughlin, Gurf Morlix, Paris, Django Reinhardt. This is part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-03-10]
The Definitive Guide to (What May Be) Pop's Definitive Year
Robert Christgau published a piece, The Definitive Guide to (What May Be) Pop's Definitive Year -- a review of Michaelangelo Matos, Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year -- as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-02-25]
Xgau Sez
Robert Christgau published his monthly Xgau Sez q&a section -- On writing (or not) a history of popular music, consumer guiding (or not) the '60s (and Aretha) (and James Brown) (and the Dead), and Drake (or not). Plus organizing CDs and vinyl -- as part of his subscription newsletter And It Don't Stop. Like all of Xgau Sez, this is archived here.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-02-17]
Oh? OK Then.
Robert Christgau published a piece, Oh? OK Then, as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-02-13]
Auriculum (Ep. 4)
Robert Christgau posted a podcast, Auriculum (Ep. 4): Xgau & Sheffield Trade Year-End Lists, as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-02-12]
Consumer Guide: February, 2021
Robert Christgau published his Consumer Guide: February, 2021: Hip-hop from an anxiety-ridden melodicist, an FDNY veteran, and an unpredictable eccentric. Plus bellowing punk protest, durable jangle-pop, solo acoustic road tales, and Gaga Gaga Gaga. Reviews of: The Beths, Jay Electronica, Justin Farren, Idles, Juice Wrld, Ka, Lady Gaga (3), Mukdad Rothenberg Lankow, Naeem, New Orleans Mambo: Cuba to Nola, Sleaford Mods, Lil Uzi Vert. This is part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-02-10]
Dean's List: 2020
Robert Christgau published a piece, Dean's List: 2020, as part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop. The piece is archived in the Pazz & Jop section, split into essay and list.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-01-02]
Xgau Sez
Robert Christgau published his monthly Xgau Sez q&a section -- Going underground with movies and the Velvets, saying yes to sampling and no to Sidney Bechet and the War on Drugs, and putting "Brown Sugar" out to pasture. -- as part of his subscription newsletter And It Don't Stop. Like all of Xgau Sez, this is archived here.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-01-20]
Consumer Guide: January, 2021
Robert Christgau published his Consumer Guide: January, 2021: Music from Morocco, Senegal, Kingston (Jamaica and New York), Minneapolis, and Omaha, Nebraska. Plus rhyme as analysis and rhyme as meaning, and Taylor Swift's future Christmas classic. Reviews of: Phoebe Bridgers, Drive-By Truckers, Open Mike Eagle, Fox Green, Group Doueh & Cheveu, Guiss Guiss Bou Bess, McCarthy Trenching, Munson-Hicks Party Supplies, Sault, 75 Dollar Bill Little Big Band, Songhoy Blues, Taylor Swift, Toots and the Maytals, and Viktor Vaughn. This is part of his subscription newsletter, And It Don't Stop.
PS: We did a fairly major website update today, meant to fix a lot of problems introduced by the transition to PHP 7. If you notice anything broken, please alert webmaster at this domain name. Please be specific about the URL and any error messages.
[posted by Webmaster on 2021-01-13]