by Robert Dimery (Music 781.64 Dim)
MusicQuake is part of a new series being published by British publisher Frances Lincoln. The overall series is called “Culture Quake,” and it looks at pivotal moments in various art forms related to popular culture that stand as signposts of change. There are books devoted to such moments in visual art, fashion, and film, appropriately named “Art Quake,” “Fashion Quake,” and “Film Quake,” and for music buffs, we have Music Quake at the Polley Music Library.
I really enjoyed the layout of this
book. On the surface, it’s more or less a modern music history book, looking at
roughly the last 100 years (the earliest period documented starts in 1913), but
the pages seem to fly by because the overarching concept is to boil our century
of evolution and near-constant change down to 50 of the most significant “music
quakes.” Great photography is prominently featured throughout the book, there
are subtle changes in background page colors between sections, and I love the
funky font used for headlines. The book proceeds chronologically, with a brief
introduction and timeline at the beginning of each section, and the sections
themselves have been carefully selected to highlight particular themes of
change most appropriate to the era in question. Instead of the usual
decade-by-decade breakdown that so many books like this follow, we have five
main sections across the century of significantly different lengths, and in
terms of the “music quake” quotient within the chosen time spans, everything
feels like it makes sense.
It’s also worth mentioning that
this isn’t a book about experimental music, although a few artists who are
still considered to be avant-garde or experimental are included. Perhaps in the
literal sense of “avant-garde,” or “front line” in French, to describe pioneers
in particular fields, a lot of the artists here could be said to be among the
first in their particular fields, but many are well-loved by the general public
as well. There are lots of genres featured, from classical to jazz to many
forms of pop music, and the concept of something that qualifies as a “music
quake” is interpreted a few ways throughout the book, from the development of
new genres to songs or artists that achieved a kind of social or political
milestone to technical changes in music or its recording or presentation. In
this sense, this is a great book for music lovers of all kinds to peruse—you
might learn about some new artists, but you’ll also read some fresh
perspectives on artists or songs you may already love.
A few quick highlights from the
different era sections of the book: our journey starts in “This is the Modern
World, 1913-1953, the longest time period among the sections in the book. The
first musical event covered is the premiere of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of
Spring” on May 29, 1913, which caused a riot in the audience, as legend has it.
As the book rightly points out, though, the piece was in fact received with
applause at this premiere performance, although it is true that critics didn’t
know what to make of it at the time, and there were moments of audiences
jeering the piece during early performances. Lots of other quake-worthy moments
happened throughout this span of 40 years, though, including 12-tone music,
truly American concert music like Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” the Jazz Age
of the 1920s, and significant improvements in recording technology, such as the
ability to overdub parts onto tape pioneered by Les Paul. The section ends with
the famous John Cage “silent piece” and a kind of bridge-entry to the next
section about musical minimalism, which really took shape in the 1960s.
The next section, “The Rise of Rock
N Roll,” covers considerably less time, 1954-66, but indeed there were many
shifts in musical culture. The book starts with the recorded debut of Elvis
Presley in 1954 and traces the early developments in rock music, like the
Beatles and the British Invasion. However, there were new ideas afoot in other
areas of music, too, including cool jazz and free jazz, electronic and early
computer-based classical music (and its commercial equivalent happening with
the BBC Radiophonic Workshop), and the beginnings of funk and Motown. Folk
music had its rise during this period, too, and Bob Dylan created another
“Music Quake” by going electric at the Newport Folk Festival in ’65.
In “Revolution from Studio to
Street, 1967-1976,” tons of the subgenres of pop music that are still with us
today spung into being: psychedelic, the beginnings of world music, disco,
metal, punk, dub, afrobeat! Now that albums had become fully entrenched as the
primary method for circulating popular music, several critical albums are
highlighted as well, such as Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” I was impressed
with the choices of international artists’ albums in this section, too,
including milestone records from Brigitte Fontaine, Os Mutantes, Serge
Gainsbourg, Kraftwerk, and Fela Kuti, assuring the book is looking for global
viewpoints. The influence of social and political events from the era, such as
the Vietnam War, are addressed as well, and a few of the well-known musical
moments of this time are included, like the Jimi Hendrix rendition of the
Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock.
The next section, “Beats and the
Beaten Generation,” essentially looks at the youth culture of Gen X and younger
Millennials, 1977-1999. By this point in the book, and in music history, so
many of the genres already generated in the previous few decades had started to
weave into one another in interesting new ways, and analog and digital
technologies continued to elevate musical possibilities. The rise of hip-hop is
the biggest “music quake” in this era, incorporating new musical mashups and
evolving technology. Other important developments covered include the
introduction of the CD format, the impact of MTV and music videos, rave
culture, new genres like thrash metal, grunge, afropop and industrial, and some
just plain interesting albums from artists like Kate Bush, Aphex Twin,
Cornelius, and many more.
The final section, “Invention and
Dissension,” brings us from the new millennium to the present. It’s a
comparatively short section considering the span of time covered, but this also
makes sense simply because it’s hard to look at musical influence until
considerable time has passed. But here you’ll find a lot of familiar
groundbreaking artists, from Radiohead to Daft Punk to Kanye West, along with
some lesser-known but influential artists like J Dilla. A few more technical
innovations are included, like Beyonce’s first “visual album” and her marketing
approach of surprise album “drops” that has become more common, and Bjork’s
first album-as-app, “Biophilia.” The influence of social movements like Black
Lives Matter and MeToo is mentioned as well.
All told, the unique idea of
looking for “disruptive moments in music” makes MusicQuake a fun and engaging read. The balance
between well-known and lesser-known artists, and the inclusion of evolving
technology and social influences on the music of different eras paints an
accurate picture of the sometimes surprising ebb and flow in creative sparks
over the decades.
(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try Freak Out: How a Musical Revolution Rocked the World in the
Sixties by Tony Wellington or Musical Revolutions: How the Sounds of the Western World
Changed by Stuart Isacoff.)
Recommended
by Scott S.
Polley Music Library
Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?
New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!
Check out this, and all the other great music resources, at the Polley Music Library, located on the 2nd floor of the Bennett Martin Public Library at 14th & "N" St. in downtown Lincoln. You'll find biographies of musicians, books about music history, instructional books, sheet music, CDs, music-related magazines, and much more. Also check out Polley Music Library Picks, the Polley Music Library's e-mail newsletter, and follow them on Facebook!
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