Bring The Noise ::: Simon Reynolds ::: Faber and Faber

Reviews of Husker Du, The Smiths, Public Enemy, Dinosaur Jr, The Pixies, post-rock and Pavement, Blur vs Oasis, Radiohead, 2-step and UK garage, electronica, Mike Skinner, grime, Dizzee Rascal and so on, all holding the mans customary depth and astuteness, displayed in the contextual and psychological analysis of the music and the musicians. I thought that this man should have been a psychiatrist after reading his piece on Morrissey in ‘Blissed Out’: he is a strong philosopher of contemporary culture who is in danger of being overlooked by the wider world. Reynolds lives mostly in NYC nowdays and writes for a number of publications both here and there, such as The Wire and the Village Voice.

For example, in the piece on Public Enemy, Reynolds manages to provoke analysis regarding whether PE represent ‘rock’ music or else: they happen to define themselves as hip hop as opposed to rock, although he feels vindicated by them teaming up with Anthrax a year or so later, a bit like Run DMC and another rock band, i.e. ‘Walk This Way’. This is perhaps less relevant than the fact that his provocative, thoughtful analysis makes the musicians think and talk about what they are, which is a very interesting subject for a book on music, given that ultimately it’s something we identify with (or not) in an almost primal way. His analysis of more recent soundwaves, such as Grime and Dizzee Rascal take this forward also. He studiously avoids the pitfall that lots of books on music are really just checklists of facts, which is boring: his defence of his interest on page 357 really does rack it up; his honesty is admirable and pays him dividends. Given the racial dynamics which Reynolds negotiates with great skill and care – he is somewhat reminiscent of Studs Terkel – this book furthermore stands out for me, a bit like Terkel’s ‘Race’, modulated through the medium of music.

http://bringthenoisesimonreynolds.blogspot.com

http://socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=11733

http://blissout.blogspot.com/