A pile that never stops growing
Believe it or not, this list has been one of the most complicated to put together of all the internationals this year. And the reason has not been precisely that there was a lack of titles to include, but rather the opposite. That texts related to the world of music pile up on our shelves is good, there is no doubt about that, but it is also bad in the sense that it is difficult to absorb everything interesting that is coming to light translated into Spanish. . We have selected ten titles based on the votes of various collaborators of our team, but I can and do assure that there could have been ten other different titles and the list would have been just as appealing and interesting. Read our selections if the artists fit you, but know that if not there is a lot and equally recommendable that you can turn to. Proving it is as simple as remembering that they have also seen the light in our country “Journey to the center of the Cramps” by Dick Porter, “God Only Knows” by David Leaf, “Diaries 1957-1982” de Jane Birkin, “That delicious vice” de Kid Congo Powers, “The devil in a coma” by Mark Lanegan, “Don’t tell anyone the secrets I told you.” de Lucinda Williams, “Veins at the front, feasts of blood and bad taste” de Lester Bangs, “Citizen Cash” of Michael Stewart Foley, . “The Extraordinary Life of Little Richard” of Mark Ribowski, “A world in every song” the Jeff Tweedy, “Queercore. “How to punk a revolution” de Yony Leyser, “Childhood and youth. Memories” by Fito Páez or the reissue of “The Voice, why Sinatra matters” by Pete Hammill, among many others. Even, if you hurry me, we could include novels like the fantastic “Wanderer Kings” by the Irishman Joseph O’Connor or the crazy oneThe Spanish Armada” by the Mexican Antonio Ortuño. Come on, everyone, read, the pile keeps growing. —JOAN S. LUNA
1.- The Beatles marking time
Contra
It is practically impossible to ignore its history, but surely no one has told it to you like this. The overwhelming omnipresence of the Beatles – media, radio, even cassette players in our parents’ cars and vinyl in their living rooms – aroused for years the lack of appetite of entire generations who found no mystery in their lavish epic, documented by actively and by passive. In that sense, I am one of those who empathize one hundred percent with the vision that Kiko Amat conveys in the prologue. Perhaps what was missing is that someone with a devastating sense of humor, a keen insight into the most grotesque aspects of the human condition, and an overflowing capacity as a chronicler, dissected the cultural relevance of the Fab Four into one hundred and fifty little pills. That is what satirical journalist Craig Brown did with this book, originally published three years ago and now translated into Spanish by Ibon Errazkin. One hundred and fifty short chapters that add up to a good volume that, for its six hundred and fifty-four pages, generate a tremendously agile read. Totally addictive.
—CARLOS PÉREZ DE ZIRIZA
2.- BB King. Rey del Blues
Books of Culture
In addition to a very accurate setting talking about other bluesmen of the time, this approach to the protagonist is accurate and rigorous, with a sufficient amount of data but without going overboard, something that ends up making some books tedious and, what is better, always contextualizes what is happening around King. A totally essential volume that you should sleep next to. “Blues: The Music of the Mississippi Delta” by Ted Gioia. —EDUARDO IZQUIERDO
3.- A furious devotion
the books
I can think of few more interesting musicians than the one who was the leader of The Pogues. Don’t be afraid of the sometimes limiting concept of “authorized.” That does not make us ignore his addictions, his excesses with drugs and especially with alcohol, his complexes, his exacerbated shyness or his adaptation problems. There is sincerity in abundance here. Nothing is hidden. And that is appreciated, because that turns this book into life. And life is the most interesting thing we have. —EDUARDO IZQUIERDO
4.- Brian’s lives
Contra
Father and husband at nineteen, Newcastle United fan, lover of cars and working out of necessity since his early youth in the most diverse tasks, coming as he did from a very humble family, Brian Johnson is revealed here as an effective and vigorous narrator, without literary flourishes but detailed, tremendously honest and with an amazing memory, at the service of an addictive story that combines harshness and humor, like life itself. —CARLOS PÉREZ DE ZIRIZA
5.- Sold
Neo-Sounds
Ozzi signs an essential book for anyone who has enjoyed emo, hardcore or melodic punk of the last thirty years. In it, he recounts the different journeys of bands like Green Day, At The Drive-In, Jawbreaker, Jimmy Eat World, blink-182, Thursday and some more from their beginnings to their signing by a multinational. And he does so by going deeper into each case, contextualizing them and compiling statements from its protagonists. —JOAN S. LUNA
6.- The Girls in Front
Contra
The journalist and university professor Sara Marcus lived closely through the years of the Riot Grrrl movement, and the great merit of her book is to make you feel that you are right in the heart of that revolt that spread between 1991 and 1994. It is like an oral history but without its constricted format, converted into a magnetic story, which helps to understand the contradictions inherent to a movement that planted a seed whose fruits are more than visible today. —CARLOS PÉREZ DE ZIRIZA
7.- Peter Doherty A promising kid
Peter Doherty & Simon Spence
Editorial Alliance
The leader of The Libertines and Babyshambles assures that he did not hold back anything, claiming that it would not have made much sense either given the cruelty he suffered at the time from the press in his country. “A promising kid” It is, indeed, another of those stories of sex, drugs and rock & roll. No more no less. An especially juicy and believable one, narrated by one of those guys who decided to take the slogan literally. —RAÚL JULIÁN
8.- Good pop, bad pop. An inventory
Blackie Books
It’s no surprise that Jarvis Cocker’s memoir is not a memoir. The Pulp singer deploys a gamified inventory where, as if it were a Tinder of memory, the objects in his attic are discarded (good pop) or kept (bad pop). This one-way game builds a playful literature of Diogenes in which Cocker, in the role of a hilarious music-loving Proust, explores a past in which he was already very clear about what his future was going to be. —DANIEL GRANDES
9.- Oasis Supersonic
Dome Books
This book compiles those full interviews with the different protagonists (including Liam and Noel) and which, duly edited, gave rise to the final montage of “Oasis. Supersonic”. Statements that create a chronological line that allows us to follow, from within and narrated in the first person by those who were there to experience it, the trajectory of the Gallagher brothers in a juicy volume now in Spanish. —RAÚL JULIÁN
10.- Bodies Life and death in music
the books
Ian Winwood can write books about nineties punk rock (remember his “Smash!”) or about Metallica, but at the same time he is able to publish this essay. In it he delves into the least explored side – at least with these intentions – of the world of music: the addictions and mental imbalances of musicians, and all of this with connections with his own experience and with that of artists with whom he has worked. has chatted —JOAN S. LUNA