October has become the unofficial month to celebrate rock, pop, and rap new releases and performances. Join us as we read through a current selection of books about the people, locations, and genres that make Rocktober so special. This list was made by a librarian at the Seattle Public Library. (September 2024)
Lamestains
Attfield, an associate professor of music at the University of Birmingham, traces in this scattershot study the genesis and growth of Seattle indie music label Sub Pop Records from the 1980s to the early '90s. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View LamestainsStomp and Shout
In a tour de force, Blecha offers all music fans the definitive book about the highly significant but much neglected story of Northwestern U.S. rock. (Library Journal)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Stomp and ShoutRevolutions in American Music
Broyles, a musicology professor at Florida State University, explores in this vibrant history how race and technology drove drastic changes in American music during the 1840s, 1920s, and 1950s. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Revolutions in American MusicThe Secret History of Black Punk
Multidisciplinary artist Buchanan's trade debut presents an urgent primer on the contributions of Black artists to punk music. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View The Secret History of Black PunkFrom Punk to Monk
Cappo details his upbringing, musical journey, travels throughout India, and other life experiences that all contributed to the shaping of his ongoing spiritual transformation and detachment to the material world. (New Noise Magazine)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View From Punk to MonkPsalms of My People
Activist/media producer/scholar duncan's new book is a mix of hip-hop cultural analysis, poetry, and religious scripture. They assert that the hip-hop genre is a form of truth-telling that reports the effects of white supremacy through musical poetry and funky beats.(Library Journal)
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
View Psalms of My PeopleRise of A Killah
Rapper Ghostface Killah, a founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan and prolific solo artist whose legal name is Dennis Coles, portrays in his heartfelt memoir the "sharper than cleats" youth he drew on for his rhymes. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Rise of A KillahAddicted to Noise
Addicted to Noise collects the best interviews, profiles, and essays Michael Goldberg has written during his forty-plus years as a journalist. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Addicted to NoiseThere Was No Alternative
This book takes a look back at what happened to the bands involved with No Alternative. It includes new interviews with the musicians and others behind the record, and chronicles the downfall of an industry, the taming of a devastating illness, and the arrival of another global pandemic. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View There Was No AlternativeRebel Girl
Bikini Kill frontwoman Hanna's memoir is a raucous, rousing tale about the power of music and activism. (Library journal)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Rebel Girl