{"id":6922,"date":"2014-12-23T05:30:30","date_gmt":"2014-12-23T10:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=6922"},"modified":"2014-12-23T05:30:30","modified_gmt":"2014-12-23T10:30:30","slug":"best-of-2014-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2014\/12\/23\/best-of-2014-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of 2014: Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/center>Musoscribe<\/em> isn’t strictly a music features, interviews and reviews blogzine; because I am constantly reading at least one book \u2013 and because as often as not, it’s a music-related book \u2013 I review several books each year. 2014 has been no exception (and there are three more on my desk right now for future review). These four are my favorite new music-related books of this year.<\/p>\n

Who Killed Mister Moonlight?<\/strong><\/em> by David J. (Haskins)<\/strong><\/a>
\nThe story of goth-rockers Bauhaus<\/strong> could have no better chronicler than the witty and deeply thoughtful David J<\/strong>. The bassist for that band (and then Love and Rockets<\/strong>, and then a reanimated Bauhaus) tells that story, but in some ways it’s merely the backdrop for Haskins’ larger story. Readers will come away with a better understanding of what Bauhaus was all about, and \u2013 perhaps more importantly \u2013 an appreciation for the role each member played in bringing it all together. Haskins’ unnerving forays into the occult make uncomfortable reading, but you’ll likely not be able to put the book down until you’re finished.<\/p>\n

One Way Out<\/strong><\/em> by Alan Paul<\/strong><\/a>
\nThere are many ways to tell a tale. Alan Paul<\/strong>‘s approach is perhaps not unique, but it is certainly well-suited to his subject matter. When one is dealing with a story as sprawling as that of The Allman Brothers Band<\/strong>, it’s inevitable that there will be at least as many perspectives as there are characters in the story. It’s a mark of Paul’s skill that he weaves those disparate (and sometimes polar opposite) perspectives together into a cohesive narrative. One Way Out<\/em> might not make all camps happy (Gregg Allman<\/strong> wrote his own book, for example) but the author seems not to have an ax to grind; he stays out of the way and lets the key figures tell the story.<\/p>\n

Joe Meek’s Bold Techniques<\/strong><\/em> by Barry Cleveland<\/strong><\/a>
\nBarry Cleveland<\/strong> is an innovative musician in his own right; coupling that background with his well-established writing\/editing skills, his knack for research, and his insatiable curiosity, this book explores the work of Joe Meek<\/strong>. Pointedly not focusing on Meek’s personal problems and the more sensational and lurid aspects of his story, Cleveland instead points the reader in the direction of Meek’s undeniably forward-thinking work in the recording studio. That Meek succeeded at all seems against all odds, but the author helps the reader understand not only why<\/em> he did, but how<\/em>. A fascinating read.<\/p>\n

The Evolution of Mann<\/strong><\/em> by Cary Ginell<\/strong><\/a>
\nPart of author Cary Ginell<\/strong>‘s literary mission in life seem to be to rehabilitate certain jazz figures, ones who \u2013 for one reason or another \u2013 fall more into the \u201cpopular\u201d category. As such, his biography of flautist Herbie Mann <\/strong>is right in line wit those goals. Mann is often thought of as a genre-jumping opportunist, but as Ginell illustrates, Mann was an early exponent of what we now know as world music. And he was no dilettante: his forays into other genres were fueled by genuine interest. An excellent guide into the flautist’s work and deep catalog.<\/p>\n

More best-ofs coming tomorrow.<\/p>\n

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\nwhen new features, reviews and essays are published.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Musoscribe isn’t strictly a music features, interviews and reviews blogzine; because I am constantly reading at least one book \u2013 and because as often as not, it’s a music-related book […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,10,42,49,53,62,65,76],"tags":[171,265,271,475,638,992,1167],"class_list":["post-6922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-of-list","category-book","category-jazz","category-new-release","category-post-punk","category-rawk","category-review","category-world","tag-allman-brothers-band","tag-barry-cleveland","tag-bauhaus","tag-cary-ginell","tag-david-j","tag-herbie-mann","tag-joe-meek","cat-8-id","cat-10-id","cat-42-id","cat-49-id","cat-53-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","cat-76-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6922\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}