A lot of music writing is published every year. There's a lot about Led Zeppelin alone published every year. Like most genres, you have to weed through a lot to find the good stuff. The best music writing not only deepens and expands the way we listen to music—it reveals the world the music is grounded in. A large segment of Flagpole readers are obsessive fans of a wide array of music who are also interested in pop culture, politics, the arts, human rights, the environment and more. Hopefully, this will bring to their attention a few of the more deserving music books, starting with a look at those published this October through November.

Tim Lawrence was supposed to be writing a follow-up to Loves Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979 (Duke University Press, 2004), his authoritative and infectious history of disco, but his research sparked a fascination with composer and musician Arthur Russell and led to Hold on to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, 1973-1992 (Duke University Press, 2009).

Russell was a unique talent who moved freely among the downtown New York experimental scene dominated by the Kitchen, neighboring punk and new wave clubs, the fading folk scene of the Village, uptown classical music circles and gay discos. Today it’s not uncommon for musicians to experiment in different genres, but Lawrence argues that Russell was a pioneer in that regard. His extremely varied music included compositional work such as “Instrumentals,” underground disco hits like “Is It All over My Face?” and "Go Bang!," and beautifully quirky alt-country ballads. Russell not only spanned many styles, his music pushed the envelope of each style he worked in.

Russell has always had a small and devoted following, despite the fact that he died at age 40 in relative obscurity, a victim of AIDS. Reissue CDs and the recent documentary Wild Combination have helped his music find a larger audience. For those who have seen the documentary, Lawrence's book offers a more in-depth and coherent look at Russell's music and career. More importantly, Lawrence uses Russell to navigate New York’s music scenes, revealing surprisingly rigid boundaries between them. Lawrence points out that Russell upset a large contingency of the Kitchen regulars when he curated a rock show featuring the Modern Lovers that was intended to explore the possibilities of rock as high art. And Russell had such well-connected supporters as Philip Glass and Ernie Brooks who just didn't know what to make of his forays into disco and other dance music.

Lawrence, who heads the Music Culture: Theory and Production program at the University of East London, is a wonderful writer, able to ruminate on music in a way that is deeply knowledgeable without ever losing the groove and the beat. He’s also a member of Lucky Cloud System, which regularly hosts dance parties with disco guru David Mancuso. Check out Lawrence’s blog at www.timlawrence.info/index.php.

Geeta Dayal joins the 33 1/3 series with Brian Eno’s Another Green World (Continuum, 2009). Dayal positions the 1975 album as a transition from the pop of Eno's first solo effort, Here Come the Warm Jets, to his groundbreaking ambient work in Music for Airports. Rather than focus on studio gadgetry and track-by-track analyses, Dayal concerns herself with Eno's creative process, tracing his relentless experimentation back to his days at Ipswich Art College, where he was influenced by the likes of La Monte Young, members of the Fluxus movement and, most importantly, John Cage. Dayal explores Eno's use of cybernetics, the Oblique Strategy cards he invented and implemented in his work, and some of the many odd experiments he used to push himself and those around him in unexpected directions. Dayal's unique and fresh take, which also delves into Discreet Music, is a must read for Eno fans and makes a great primer for the uninitiated. Visit Dayal’s blog at www.theoriginalsoundtrack.com and read more about the 33 1/3 series at www.33third.blogspot.com.

In A Heartbeat and a Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears (Nation Books, 2009), Antonino D’Ambrosio does more than reveal the making of a single album—he explores how the developing counterculture influenced one of America’s great musicians. Cash was already a successful artist when he encountered Bob Dylan, Peter LaFarge and other young folk musicians who were starting to confront tough political and social issues in their work. D’Ambrosio shows how these artists inspired Cash and gave him direction at a point in his life when he was struggling with drugs and alcohol. Cash already identified with the disempowered, so it wasn’t a big jump for him to embrace the plight of Native Americans. “The Ballad of Ira Hayes,” written and originally recorded by LaFarge, is the best-known song on Bitter Tears, and D’Ambrosio provides in-depth background into Hayes’ and LaFarge’s stories. He also examines the fallout in the record industry and the outspoken stand Cash made for the controversial album.

Other notable books arriving in stores some time this fall: The new installment of Best New Music Writing 2009 (Da Capo), guest edited by Greil Marcus, marks the 10th year of the annual volume. Celebrate Johnny Mercer’s 100th birthday on Nov. 18 with The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer (Random House). David Kirby included numerous interviews with the locals in Macon for Little Richard: The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll (Continuum). David Lehman looks at the American songbook and explores why so many of its songs were written by Jewish composers in A Fine Romance: Jewish Songwriters, American Songs (Random House). In Cracked Media: The Sound of Malfunction (MIT Press), Caleb Kelly examines the history of musicians who have damaged and broken audio equipment to produce new sounds in their work. The great alt-country magazine lives on as a semi-annual bookazine in No Depression #78 (University of Texas Press). And Party Every Day: The Inside Story of Casablanca Records (Hal Leonard/Backbeat) takes a look at the label that brought you KISS, Donna Summer and Parliament, while King of the Queen City: The Story of King Records (University of Illinois Press) does the same for the label of James Brown and Ike Turner. In Heroes and Villains: Essays on Movies, Music, Comics and Culture (Da Capo Press), David Hajdu offers essays on Beyoncé, Leonard Cohen, John Zorn, Billy Eckstine, Kanye West and more. Jazz writing giant Gary Giddins joins forces with Scott DeVeaux in Jazz (W.W. Norton), a sweeping history of the form. Man of Constant Sorrow: My Life and Times by Ralph Stanley with Eddie Dean tells the story of the bluegrass legend's hardscrabble life and late career success, thanks to his work on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack (Gotham, 2009). Dave Thompson examines rock's holy trinity in Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell: The Dangerous Glitter of David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed (Hal Leonard/Backbeat). Other new titles in the 33 1/3 series: Lucinda Williams by Anders Smith Lindall, Flaming Lips’ Zaireeka by Mark Richardson, Israel Kamakawiwole’s Facing Future by Dan Kois, and Van Dyke Parks’ Song Cycle by Richard Henderson (Continuum). Finally, Nick Cave recently revealed that his violent, strange and sex-filled second novel, The Death of Bunny Munroe (Faber & Faber), was partly inspired by a Kylie Minogue video.

John McLeod