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themorsecode's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this, easy to dip in and out of due to the short essays. Covering a huge breadth of music genres, I've discovered some great music through these pieces. Surprisingly for a book which features some of my favourite albums (John Cale's Paris 1919, Sleep's Dopesmoker, Stars of the Lid's And Their Refinement...), I found the essays on albums I'd never heard of before more compelling (Christina Aguilera's Spanish-language album!). Enjoyed how the book is split into types of response to the music rather than by genre or age (the first section on "Juvenilia" being the strongest), ensuring a rich mix of styles and interests together.
I've made a playlist of all the albums on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2ETjZiJ66ciS0MmjIUylNu?si=xtDsd4wrSOqPXZIOvTQAyw - found it really added to the book listening along where possible. If you're a curious music fan there's treasure to be found.
I've made a playlist of all the albums on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2ETjZiJ66ciS0MmjIUylNu?si=xtDsd4wrSOqPXZIOvTQAyw - found it really added to the book listening along where possible. If you're a curious music fan there's treasure to be found.
kojobaffoe's review against another edition
3.0
I have been wanting to read a 33 1/3 book for ages and thought this one would be a good place to start but it wasn’t. This is not because of the quality of the writing. That was fine. I realised that, when reading books on music and/or musicians (which I enjoy doing regularly), I like to submerge myself in the music while reading. Because B-Sides is a collection of essays about a bunch of artists and their albums considered B-Sides by the writer, I couldn’t really do this. Plus, I actually don’t know the majority of bands/musicians covered or their music. I am going to try going back over it to listen to some of the albums.
annarella's review against another edition
5.0
An interesting and well written book. It was an entertaining and engrossing excursus on music and it helped to discovered some underrated records.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
ekeknat's review against another edition
4.0
the essay collage style of this book works much better than the usual 33 1/3 formula of 80 pages of backstory followed by 15 pages of tepid technical analysis and a swift conclusion. very nice airport read
burgleschmidt's review
4.0
the essay collage style of this book works much better than the usual 33 1/3 formula of 80 pages of backstory followed by 15 pages of tepid technical analysis and a swift conclusion. very nice airport read
annarella's review
5.0
An interesting and well written book. It was an entertaining and engrossing excursus on music and it helped to discovered some underrated records.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
victoriac's review
1.0
I had such high hopes for this based on the title and summary. I’m a music lover and there’s nothing I enjoy more than finding recommendations for some obscure music to explore. But while this book might have eventually done that, I couldn’t sustain interest long enough to find out. I only read the first 2 chapters before giving up. It was very boring to me and seemed super circuitous to get to the point of each chapter/title, if there really was one. I don’t recommend this. Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sharing the ARC.
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