Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2004 09:16:01 -0800 From: Tosh <tosh3@earthlink.net>
I have read the book - and it is Morley riffing on pop music culture. Enjoyable in parts, tedious in certain areas - the book is closer in theme of sorts to David Toop's writings. But Toop I think is a much more interesting writer - Morley I think is fascinated by the sheen and the plastic aspects of pop music.
Definitely agree here. Simon Reynolds had recommended this so I thought it was worth seeing at least. In the beginning, Morley tries to tie Alvin Lucier's "I Am Sitting In A Room" with a Kylie Minogue hit. He gets a hernia trying to do this though and the connections he makes could be applied to any piece of music out there (which means that it's not much of an insight). I'd recommend that anyone read Simon Frith instead if they want some kind of brainy analysis of pop culture. Best, Jason Perfect Sound Forever online music magazine http://www.perfectsoundforever.com