The holiday season is right around the corner. Before you rush off to pick up some presents, make sure to check out Exclaim!'s 2018 Holiday Gift Guide, which we've been rolling out over the past few weeks. Today, we're showcasing some of the best new music books, perfect for sticking your nose into.
Split Tooth
By Tanya Tagaq
Blurring the lines between fiction and memoir, Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq recalls life growing up in 1970s Nunavut. Any thoughts of dilettantism should be swayed by the book's recent longlisting for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Order it here
Beastie Boys Book
By Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, Michael "Mike D" Diamond
How did three white punks become one of hip-hop's most iconic groups? Written by surviving Beasties Ad-Rock and Mike D, along with friends like Spike Jonze, the appropriately titled Beastie Boys Book tells the group's story in predicably atypical fashion, tossing in photos, a graphic novel and even a cookbook for good measure.
Order it here
Parental Discretion Is Advised: The Rise of NWA and the Dawn of Gangsta Rap
By Gerrick D. Kennedy
Their story hit the mainstream with 2015's Straight Outta Compton, but this book from Los Angeles Times music critic Gerrick D. Kennedy puts the West coast hip-hop pioneers in a larger context, chronicling the emergence of one of the '90s most potent cultural forces.
Order it here
My Thoughts Exactly
By Lily Allen
Hot on the heels of her comeback album, No Shame, British pop singer Lily Allen's autobiography puts sexism in the music industry under the microscope, as Allen chronicles her rise from early MySpace star to international pop phenom.
Order it here
Beyoncé in Formation: Remixing Black Feminism
By Omise'eke Natasha Tinsley
With all the headlines it generated upon its release, it's hard to believe there's anything left to say about Beyoncé's Lemonade. Yet, Omise'eke Natasha Tinsley, the University of Texas professor who teaches a course on Bey, manages to find new meaning in this cultural analysis of the already iconic record.
Order it here
The Story of Trojan Records
By Laurence Cane-Honeysett
Instrumental in introducing reggae to the world, Trojan Records licensed records by the likes of Lee "Scratch" Perry, Jimmy Cliff and the Maytals. Music journalist and Trojan's own historian Laurence Cane-Honeysett assembled this coffee table book to celebrate the influential label's 50th anniversary.
Order it here
My Years with Townes Van Zandt: Music, Genius, and Rage
By Harold Eggers & L. E. McCullough
Harold Eggers spent 20 years working as Townes Van Zandt's road manager and de facto caretaker, making him one of the few people as qualified to pen a book about the influential though notoriously unreliable singer's life.
Order it here
Soul. R&B. Funk. Photographs 1972–1982
By Bruce W. Talamon
Seventies funk, soul and R&B musicians were as identifiable for a keen sense of fashion as their grooves, and this new book, featuring a decade's worth of photos from Talamon captures the era's biggest stars, like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Donna Summer, in all their glamorous glory.
Order it here
Split Tooth
By Tanya Tagaq
Blurring the lines between fiction and memoir, Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq recalls life growing up in 1970s Nunavut. Any thoughts of dilettantism should be swayed by the book's recent longlisting for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.Order it here
Beastie Boys Book
By Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, Michael "Mike D" Diamond
How did three white punks become one of hip-hop's most iconic groups? Written by surviving Beasties Ad-Rock and Mike D, along with friends like Spike Jonze, the appropriately titled Beastie Boys Book tells the group's story in predicably atypical fashion, tossing in photos, a graphic novel and even a cookbook for good measure.Order it here
Parental Discretion Is Advised: The Rise of NWA and the Dawn of Gangsta Rap
By Gerrick D. Kennedy
Their story hit the mainstream with 2015's Straight Outta Compton, but this book from Los Angeles Times music critic Gerrick D. Kennedy puts the West coast hip-hop pioneers in a larger context, chronicling the emergence of one of the '90s most potent cultural forces.Order it here
My Thoughts Exactly
By Lily Allen
Hot on the heels of her comeback album, No Shame, British pop singer Lily Allen's autobiography puts sexism in the music industry under the microscope, as Allen chronicles her rise from early MySpace star to international pop phenom.Order it here
Beyoncé in Formation: Remixing Black Feminism
By Omise'eke Natasha Tinsley
With all the headlines it generated upon its release, it's hard to believe there's anything left to say about Beyoncé's Lemonade. Yet, Omise'eke Natasha Tinsley, the University of Texas professor who teaches a course on Bey, manages to find new meaning in this cultural analysis of the already iconic record.Order it here
The Story of Trojan Records
By Laurence Cane-Honeysett
Instrumental in introducing reggae to the world, Trojan Records licensed records by the likes of Lee "Scratch" Perry, Jimmy Cliff and the Maytals. Music journalist and Trojan's own historian Laurence Cane-Honeysett assembled this coffee table book to celebrate the influential label's 50th anniversary.Order it here
My Years with Townes Van Zandt: Music, Genius, and Rage
By Harold Eggers & L. E. McCullough
Harold Eggers spent 20 years working as Townes Van Zandt's road manager and de facto caretaker, making him one of the few people as qualified to pen a book about the influential though notoriously unreliable singer's life.Order it here
Soul. R&B. Funk. Photographs 1972–1982
By Bruce W. Talamon
Seventies funk, soul and R&B musicians were as identifiable for a keen sense of fashion as their grooves, and this new book, featuring a decade's worth of photos from Talamon captures the era's biggest stars, like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Donna Summer, in all their glamorous glory. Order it here