June 2023 MBR The Music Shelf

The Music Shelf

Extreme Music
Michael Tau
Feral House
www.feralhouse.com
9781627311243, $29.95, PB, 480pp

https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Music-Silence-Everything-between/dp/1627311246

Synopsis: Michael Tau had spent years obsessed by the extremes of musical expression. "Extreme Music: Silence to Noise and Everything In Between" is the culmination of decades of research into the sounds (and silences) that comprise the outer limits and conceptual expressions that stretch the definition of music.

Tau defines and categorizes these recorded sounds into sections that allow fans and newcomers to explore the fascinating world of musicians who defy convention. He explores a wide range of extremes including volume, speed, and vulgarity to packaging, recording methods, unplayable media, outdated technologies, and digital pioneers. He asks and answers the questions: Are all sounds music? Is silence music? Is a plate of rotting food once cataloged, packaged and sold by a distributor qualify as music?

"Extreme Music" includes over 100 interviews with makers and musicians as Tau uses his background in psychiatry to help readers understand what motivates people to create and listen to non-mainstream music. As a fan of multiple avant-garde musical genres, Tau uncovers the pleasures (and sometimes pain and frustration) found at the outre fringes of music.

Critique: Unique, informative, insightful, comprehensive, exceptionally well organized and presented, "Extreme Music: Silence to Noise and Everything In Between" by Michael Tau is an impressive and unreservedly recommended Music Recording & Appreciation guide for curious seekers, die-hard fans, and cultural investigators. Of special note are its features of images and curated links to samples of music. While a core and valued pick for professional, community, and academic library Music History/Technology collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of music students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Extreme Music" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.72) and would well serve for supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Michael Tau (https://feralhouse.com/extreme-music) was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. As a teenager, he was introduced to bizarre and adventurous music via the after-hours CBC radio program, Brave New Waves, which he recorded onto cassette to listen to the next day. In university, he attended noise shows in lofts in Montreal's quasi-industrial districts, to the detriment of his hearing. He has since written for numerous underground music publications and has authored several music zines.

Hit Girls: Women of Punk in the USA, 1975-1983
Jen B. Larson
Feral House
www.feralhouse.com
9781627311236, $28.95, PB, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Hit-Girls-Women-Punk-1975-1983/dp/1627311238

Synopsis: Women have been kicking against the pricks of music patriarchy since Sister Rosetta Tharpe first played the guitar riffs that built rock-n-roll. The explosion of punk sent shockwaves of revolution to every girl who dreamed of being on stage. Punk godmothers Suzy Quatro, The Runaways, Patti Smith, Poison Ivy, Tina Weymouth, Debbie Harry, The Go-Gos, and Fanny's Millington sisters provided the template for thousands of girls and women throughout the United States to write and record their songs.

A combination memoir and music history, "Hit Girls: Women of Punk in the USA, 1975-1983" by Jen B. Larson is the story of local and regional bands whose legacy would be otherwise lost. Despite the modern narrative labeling women as anomalies in rock music, the truth is: women played important roles in punk and its related genres in every city, in every scene, all over the United States. The women and bands profiled by Jen B. share their experiences of sexism and racism as well as their joy and successes from their days on stage as they changed what it meant to be in a band. These pioneering women were more than novelty acts or pretty faces--they were fully contributing members and leaders of mixed-gender and all-female bands long before the call for "girls to the front".

The women of "Hit Girls" are now rightfully exalted to cult status where their collective achievement is recognized and inspiring to new generations of women rockers. Included are interviews with: Texacala Jones, Stoney Rivera, Mish Bondaj, Alice Bag, Nikki Corvette, Penelope Houston, and many more formidable and infamous women who made their voices heard over the screaming guitars.

Critique: Enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of more than 100 rare and never-before seen images, "Hit Girls: Women of Punk in the USA, 1975-1983" also features a comprehensive playlist of all the artists cited. A seminal and comprehensive history, "Hit Girls" is especially recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Punk Music History/Biography collections in general, and Rock Band Biography reading lists in particular. It should be noted for music history students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Hit Girls" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).

Editorial Note: Jen B. Larson (https://feralhouse.com/hit-girls) is a writer, musician, and public art schoolteacher living in Chicago. She holds a B.A. in English literature and creative writing as well as an M.Ed. in special education. Her bands, Swimsuit Addition, beastii, and Jen and the Dots, have performed and recorded extensively over the last decade.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no funds from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, internet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested individuals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "California Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwatch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview (dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugalmuse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publisher, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review