Gillian G. Gaar

In the Groove: The Vinyl Record and Turntable Revolution, penned by several writers with overlapping areas of expertise, is an informative history and great source of nostalgia for many readers.

Like many people my age (I was born in 1958) I grew up listening to and buying vinyl of one form or another. I had parents who had a decent size collection of 78s and 33s, mostly jazz, swing, and pop standards as well as older (11 and 12 years older) siblings who were part of the big initial wave of teenagers affecting the marketplace well beyond music. I ended up getting my parent's collection and quite a few of my sibling's records as well, plus the ones I bought or had given to me. I was particularly fortunate in living near some older couples who liked a kid listening to their music who also gave me numerous records. By graduation I had a modest collection, about 1000 albums and maybe 200 singles. When I joined the Navy, I hit the motherlode! I knew a few guys who bought albums and had great sound systems (an advantage at the time of being in the military, quality equipment at reasonable prices). They chose to record their albums on cassette, usually two copies, then get rid of the albums for pennies. I bought these in groups of anywhere from 10 to 150 and my collection ballooned. It never became particularly large by some standards, but by the time I got out of the Navy I had just over 4000 albums and probably the same number of 45s I started with. All of this is to say that this book brought back so many wonderful memories and the joy I used to experience collecting, organizing, and listening to the albums. I remember a housemate and I arranging two chairs and my speakers, two of which were the old reliable Klipsch corner-horns, so we could enjoy music in our listening room, which was actually our living room, but music was living back then.

Whatever your personal history is with vinyl, from long ago or as a more recent collector, this book will be an enjoyable read. The history is fascinating, from the discs themselves through the technology and the many changes in listening preferences. Even if you have no desire to collect records you will gain a better appreciation for how listening to music has evolved over the last century, as well as buying music.

Highly recommended for both the information (with many sidebars highlighting labels, albums, record stores, etc) and the photographs (people, albums, equipment). I'd also suggest looking up some of the music itself, even if you aren't listening to it on vinyl. You can find different quality recordings if you search not only YouTube and other usual places but also the Internet Archives and Library of Congress websites. Beware, you will likely go off on many tangents, all of which will be fun and educational.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (meer)

This has never been my favourite Nirvana album, but it's an interesting look into the lead up to and actual recording of the album.

It's tough for us mere mortals to understand exactly what happens when a band explodes and suddenly find themselves the It band. Nevermind was so huge and so were the expectations for this band that brought grunge into the mainstream, that it's tough to wrap your head around exactly what they were feeling and experiencing, both from the pressure they put on themselves to create something as vital and viable, as well as the pressure from all the outside forces that have a stake in their success or downfall.

This book gives a fair and balanced view of that time, from producer Steve Albini's initial reluctance to ultimate acceptance and pride for what he got down on tape...that is, a band that wanted an aggressive, in-your-face punk album, and his ultimate judgement of what happened afterward, which was that other hands got on the album and "fucked it up."

And through it all, there's the band members themselves.

An enjoyable and illuminating glimpse into the world of Nirvana, as they spun down to their end.… (meer)

This is a treatise on my favourite Nirvana album, which is also their last one. It shows Cobain as a considerate and very thoughtful person, who handled almost every aspect of Nirvana, from writing the songs to constructing the videos and dealing with marketing.

This is not a tell-tale tattler tome, but a sincere delving into the material. Steve Albini, Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl, Courtney Love and others are interviewed about aspects that concern the album. Gaar has a lot of insight into the band, having helped out with collating "With The Lights Out" - the big box with Nirvana material that popped up circa the time of the black compilation album - and among other things shows the evolution of songs from the lyrics to how they were recorded and re-recorded, and, for example, how Cobain rescued a track from a very weird and bad guitar solo, having taken in feedback. He doesn't seem to have been a diva, rather a great punk feminist.

All in all: a very worthwhile dive into the world of Nirvana during the early 1990s up till Cobain's suicide. If you're into music and details around this recording, this is a clear, small 4/5-grade book.… (meer)

Hendrix: The Illustrated Story from Gillian G. Gaar is an excellent book for what it is, which is an informative book about Hendrix' life heavily supplemented by a lot of wonderful photographs and memorabilia. This is not intended to be the definitive biography so to judge it against that standard makes no sense. This is an oversize coffee table book which happens to also be a very good read.

While this includes some photos you don't find everywhere, which makes it interesting to a student of music history this is primarily aimed at the fan. I think the writing will satisfy both the fan who remembers Hendrix (that would be old folks like me) as well as the younger fan who knows only a few of the myths about his life.

I would recommend this to anyone who is either a fan or a student of Hendrix and the early/early-mid period of the rock era. The pictures will enthrall and the writing will either inform or remind. The nostalgia is strong with this one.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss.… (meer)