Harvard University Press

Smith argues that [Motown's] immensely successful black-owned, Detroit-based corporation had an ambivalent attitude towards the changes brought about by Civil Rights campaigners in the 1960s:... — Financial Times More…

This is rock criticism on the high slopes, brave, rigorous and endlessly well-read. The book's grand themes are sustained throughout and the authors are endlessly interesting, even about the... — MOJO More…

Rattling hatchback trunks and terrifying suburban parents, gangsta rap went harder and further than everything that preceded it. Suddenly, everyone was listening and the media wagons began to... — The Wire More…

As Jack Hamilton makes clear in this exceptionally perceptive work, the most common way to talk about race in rock music is to not talk about it at all...Hamilton's text is bold, sophisticated,... — Popmatters More…

Stephens wants us to think of rock and Christianity not as enemies but as siblings engaged in a family dispute — The New Yorker More…

Nagahara provides a well-documented study of how modern Japanese pop media developed a foundation in the masses that neither the government nor critics could control...Tokyo Boogie-Woogie stands... — Popmatters More…

There isn't a bland sentence or obligatory opinion in this book. Brittle, lyrical, funny, outraged and for all the untouched bases, remarkably whole, [In the Fascist Bathroom] has the feel of... — Rolling Stone More…

Christgau is no toady, trusting in the strength of his own perceptions rather than in recycling quotations from the artist. True criticism is invariably contentious, and Christgau's aim is certainly... — MOJO More…

If you're fascinated by how the electric guitar became what it is, and by what it's told us at each stage in its development, then Waksman is as cool, erudite, provocative and non-geeky a guide... — MOJO More…

Just about anyone interested in understanding pop music will find something here. -- R. D. Cohen — Choice More…