10. Simon Reynolds, Rip It Up And Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984
Second-wave post-punk sounds have been so omnipresent since the turn of the millennium that it's felt as if the post-punk era never ended. Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up traces the boundaries of a genre that defined itself as without definition, from the DIY toy-soldier fantasies of Swell Maps to the straight-out-of-the-Marxist-squats polished pop of Scritti Politti. Nearly every band Reynolds covers has its own peculiar story, and the boo is inspiring, even though most of those stories end in compromises, thwarted dreams, and hard feelings.
11. Jeff Chang, Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History Of The Hip-Hop Generation
The basic facts of hip-hop's origins aren't hard to find, but facts only go so far. Chang's probing work of journalism recreates the circumstances leading to hip-hop's ascent by talking to those who were there and putting it in the context of the city's "benign neglect" of whole neighborhoods, plus the gang wars that rocked the Bronx in the late '60s and early '70s. Chang's coverage (which stretches from those years through the early-'80s flowering of rap, breakdancing, and graffiti) is so vivid that the book's second half feels rushed, but only by comparison. It's a cornerstone work for a genre short on definitive texts.
12. Michael Azerrad, Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes From The American Indie Underground, 1981-1991
Music writer Michael Azerrad paints a macro portrait of the beginning of the American indie-rock and punk scenes by devoting chapters to some of its pioneer bands. And what a collection it is: Black Flag, The Minutemen (whose lyrics for "History Lesson Part 2" gave the book its title), Mission Of Burma, Minor Threat, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers, Big Black, Dinosaur Jr., Fugazi, Mudhoney, and, um, Beat Happening. Each chapter follows a band from the beginning until it either breaks up or signs to a major label—i.e., until it stopped making music or stopped making good music, in Azerrad's opinion. It's an interesting idea, but ending the chapters on Hüsker Dü or The Replacements when they moved to the big leagues definitely misses a lot of the story. Still, Our Band is an enormously entertaining read—in spite of that Beat Happening chapter.
13. Mötley Crüe and Neil Strauss, The Dirt: Confessions Of The World's Most Notorious Rock Band
Don't expect the members of Mötley Crüe to have any shame: They reveal more dirt in their well-titled autobiography than any fan (or non-fan!) could've hoped for. Which makes this thick tome perfect for any celeb-gossip fan, even those who don't know Dr. Feelgood from Dr. Pepper. These man-children play practical jokes on each other, stab each other in the back, abuse whatever substances are around, fuck anything that walks, and wear a bunch of makeup. Sample line from Tommy Lee: "After we fucked, the relationship flew to a whole new level."
14. Ira A. Robbins, etc., The Trouser Press Record Guide; The Trouser Press Guide To '90s Rock
Trouser Press was a fine magazine during its brief run on select newsstands, but Ira Robbins' greatest contribution to popular culture has been the record guides that outlived their namesake. Long after Trouser Press folded, Robbins and his writing team continued to file regular dispatches on underground and alternative rock, via revised editions of the original guide. When that book got too unwieldy, Robbins started a new volume, focused on the explosion of indie-rock, hip-hop, and electronica that flooded the market in the '90s—the kind of music rarely covered by the likes of Rolling Stone and Spin. The '90s Trouser Press guide came out at exactly the right time, just as online commerce was gearing up, when readers could track down TP favorites like Zumpano and Mysteries Of Life on the infinite storeroom of the Internet.
15. Nick Hornby, High Fidelity
Music-loving nerds everywhere can't help but identify with—and even envy—the hero of Nick Hornby's cult novel High Fidelity. He owns and operates an independent record store, compulsively makes lists of his favorite songs, albums, and TV shows, and can't hold onto a girlfriend because his obsession has outstripped his ambition. High Fidelity's love story follows a fairly predictable "boy loses girl, boy finds other girls, boy loses those girls, boy gets first girl back" plot, but Hornby's observations on what it's like to be a young hipster are painfully accurate—as are his lists of the best songs about death.
16. Chuck Klosterman, Sex, Drugs, And Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
Because we live in an age of insta-punditry and blog envy, Chuck Klosterman has become an unusually divisive figure, hailed by people who share his cockeyed, inclusive vision of popular culture, and skewered by those who can't see past the fact that he spends so much time championing hair metal and Billy Joel. In Sex, Drugs, And Cocoa Puffs, his most essential essay collection, Klosterman delivers his dissent from the critical hegemony in a voice simultaneously witty and honest, full of clever lines and an awareness that mere cleverness won't always cut it when it comes to explaining the schlock that makes our days on Earth tolerable.
17. Roddy Doyle, The Commitments
The story of how one committed soul fan from the darkest corner of Dublin attempted to spread the gospel by forming his own band, Roddy Doyle's first novel is so raucously funny that it's easy to overlook how smart it is about music. But in chronicling his protagonist's seemingly quixotic quest, Doyle captures the way great music can save souls, and the fragile, almost miraculous alignment of circumstances needed to create it.
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