An Archaeology of Musician Magazine (Summer Reading Part 2)
The late, great American music magazine (1976 - 1999) has finally been archived online. Dig in.
This 2nd summer reading post is about top shelf music writing on the internet — sorry if you get sand in your device.
I’ll start with Substacks. These aren’t the first I’ve recommended and won’t be the last; there’s lotsa great stuff here if you know where to look.
I mentioned Neko Case’s forthcoming memoir last week. Check out Entering The Lung for a taste of her voice, wit, passions and musical taste, which may surprise you. Her latest entry (paywall dropped) is on mighty power-pop-punks Redd Kross.
Carl Wilson is one of my all-time favorite music writers, in part because his work uses music as a portal to wider truths. See his touchstone book Let’s Talk About Love, which is about personal taste and identity formation while nominally being about Céline Dion (trust me; just read it). This recent essay is about songs and crying, a connection also explored fruitfully by various writers in Brandon Stosuy’s latest, Sad Happens. Have tissues handy.
Finally, Stephen Thomas Erlewine has written volumes for the AllMusic database, plus more expansive things for Pitchfork and elsewhere. I echo Carl’s recommendation; he’s got wide-ranging taste, encyclopedic knowledge, and keeps his spotlight on the music. His latest newsletter surveys worthy new country / country-adjacent LPs and other notables.
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