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Read: Emo is still a thing in 2016, but not like you think

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The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, a key band of emo revival
Emo, as a genre, is most strongly associated with the music and social phenomenon in the mid-2000s around key bands like My Chemical Romance, Thursday and Fall Out Boy. The word has an inherent cringe factor for most, an aftertaste of a common but awkward teenage phase. That period was definitely the genre’s peak in terms of popularity and glamour, but people were playing emo long before Panic! At the Disco were invited to that beautiful wedding.

The 90’s saw the initial blooming of the genre, primarily in the Midwest US, the obvious touchstones being American Football and Mineral. Many of these key early bands experienced little to no success during their active years – they often didn’t last and only really blew up after they broke up 
(- something that has become a bit of an emo trope). A lot of these bands have been doing reunion tours in recent years, due to the renewed popularity of the 90’s emo style – going from playing in basements to few people when they were active, to selling out tours in theatres.


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Read: The Problem With Music in New Zealand and How to Fix it

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Independent music promoter and all round sweet dude Blink has an enviable track record in New Zealand music. He's put on Camp A Low Hum, toured bands around the country endlessly, ran a number of successful venues and booked a number of international tours. With experience in all these areas, he's well placed to point out where things are going wrong here, and he's written a book/collection of essays on the topic. The Problem With Music in New Zealand is pretty essential reading for independent musicians. It's alternately inspiring, depressing, or a weird combination of the two. It's available as a printed book, Kindle file, or a pay what you like PDF. Definitely check this out.

Read Rolling Stone, XXL and other music magazines for free

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Auckland Libraries has recently subscribed to a new e-resource called Zinio. The Zinio subscription allows you to read a number of magazines in electronic form for free. There's definitely a lot of titles there, but I had a squizz specifically at the music ones and here's what they've got right now:

Billboard, Guitarist, Opera Canada, Guitar Techniques, Rhythm, Total Guitar, XXL, Guitar Player, Computer Music, Electronic Musician, Future Music, Recording and Music Production, Rolling Stone.

There's some good reading there. If you'd like to know how to download these to your computer or portable device then head over to the Auckland Libraries website and read the info under Zinio.

Read: Hip Hop Family Tree #1

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Add one of the world's best comic book companies to one of the world's best stories, and you've got a great book. Hip Hop Family Tree #1 is a Fantagraphics (Ghost World etc) comic telling the origin stories of hip hop. Printed on gorgeous paper, they've recreated the nostalgic feel of cheap comic book paper on a high quality stock. The artwork and colouring are stunning.

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Read: We Are Alive - a Portrait of Bruce Springsteen

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Yup, he's alive alright. The Boss keeps on working and doesn't look like he's ever going to stop. With Bruce Springsteen coming to play Auckland this weekend, it's a good a time as any to read up on his storied career.

David Remnick, Pulitzer Prize winning writer and editor of The New Yorker, has penned what's said to be one of the most thorough profiles of Springsteen. Titled We Are Alive: a Portrait of Bruce Springsteen, it's freshly arrived on our shelves. If that takes your fancy, click here to find which libraries have it/request it be brought to your local library.

And if you're not convinced, check out Remnick's excellent New Yorker feature by the same name.

Read: When Bob Met Woody

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Just quickly, and unintentionally keeping on the folk theme of the past few posts, I came across this delightful book in the children's section the other day and thought it might interest some of you lovely music fans/library users. 

When Bob Met Woody is a beautifully illustrated picture book detailing the early days of Bob Dylan. Starting out in the wintry Minnesota port of Duluth and culminating in Dylan meeting his biggest inspiration, it could be a good way to try and introduce little ones to good music before they start listening to whatever post-LMFAO bands exist in the future (btw I'm imagining a dystopian future where the influence of their party rocking has spread far and wide. They say that not everyone who listened to LMFAO bought a ringtone, but everyone who listened to them started a sickeningly terrible band). Here's Bobby visiting Woody in the hospital below, though the book doesn't talk about him dying (so don't worry, it's pretty upbeat and hopeful). If you'd like to borrow it, you can find it in the library catalogue here.



Oral gratification

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I once sat next to a friend as he looked through a recently published history of the local rock scene. From time to time he shook his head. Eventually he sighed deeply and muttered, "The amount of times I could insert the word heroin into this thing." He had a point. There is a tendency in local publications to sanitize the reality of the local music scene.

It is not just the recreational habits of musicians that this applies to. Band politics and creative differences also receive a back seat. Too little attention is paid to personality and circumstance, the character traits that make for great performances and fantastic music, are sidelined.

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