books
Holiday gift-giving…7 memoirs for music-lovers
Patti Smith's 'M Train'. – AFP pic, November 16, 2015.This year has seen a wave of autobiographies from top musicians. If albums are no longer a practical purchase for the music-lover in your life, consider these seven books, stretching across several genres and eras.
Carrie Brownstein: "Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl"
In her memoir, the Sleater-Kinney guitarist covers her turbulent family life in the Pacific Northwest, the rise of Sleater-Kinney in the feminist punk-rock movement of the 1990s, and how her experiences in that subculture inspired some of the satire behind "Portlandia," the TV series she co-created.
Patti Smith: "M Train"
After her highly successful book, "Just Kids," the singer-songwriter's "M Train" is a trip through 18 "stations" starting in a Greenwich Village café. This journey into the mind of the artist goes to Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul in Mexico, the graves of Plath and Rimbaud and other spots that have inspired her.
John Fogerty: "Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music"
The Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman covers his Northern California roots, the success of Creedence and his revival as a solo artist in "Fortunate Son," named for the classic track by the 1960s band.
Elvis Costello's 'Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink'. – AFP pic, November 16, 2015.Elvis Costello: "Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink"
The multi-faceted British musician – born Declan Patrick MacManus – discusses his successful four-decade career, still going strong thanks to a "combination of dumb luck and animal cunning," writes publisher Penguin.
Kim Gordon: "Girl in a Band"
The Sonic Youth founding member tells the story of her 1960s and '70s California upcoming, her visual art career, her move to New York City and much more in this memoir. Fans of punk or alternative music will enjoy the trip to 1980s and '90s New York as chronicled by Gordon.
Philip Glass: "Words Without Music"
Glass has helped shape late-20th-century music through his symphonies, operas and film scores. His new memoir covers his post-WWII childhood, his student days, a life-changing trip to India, his time patching together a living in New York and his first big success, 1976's "Einstein on the Beach."
Nick Cave: "The Sick Bag Song"
Not a full-out memoir but autobiographical all the same, this unusual book by the Australian musician features an epic poem chronicling his 2014 22-city tour of North America with The Bad Seeds and originally scribbled on a series of airline sick bags. – AFP, November 16, 2015.
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