Posts Tagged Biography
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June 29, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
In Praise of Tom Stoppard
A brand new biography of Tom Stoppard has just hit the shelves in America (it was released late last year in the UK). So I read this piece in the New Yorker and wondered if that is actually as close as I might get to reading the book. It’s most likely I will buy it. […]Archive
March 22, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Amanda Sewell: Wendy Carlos – A Biography
Wendy Carlos: A Biography Amanda Sewell Oxford University Press Wendy Carlos is one of the great pioneers of electronic music, champion of the Moog, creator of mesmerising soundtracks (A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, TRON) and as well as recontextualising classical music to make one of the genre’s all-time best sellers, it is likely she also […]Archive
March 16, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Michael Allred w/ Steve Horton and Laura Allred: BOWIE: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams
BOWIE: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams Michael Allred w/ Steve Horton and Laura Allred Insight Comics There are some extraordinary graphic memoirs and bios – the vision, the way the colourist and artist combine with the writer to tell a story. A shining example of this (still relatively new) form is this tribute to David […]Archive
February 22, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Sara Dallin & Keren Woodward: Really Saying Something (Sara & Keren) – Our Bananarama Story
Really Saying Something: Sara & Keren – Our Bananarama Story Sara Dallin & Keren Woodward Cornerstone / Penguin This cool summer I got hooked on the song Cruel Summer – and hooked again on Bananarama for the first time in absolutely years. So giddy with the rush of nostalgia I wrote a goddamn poem about […]Archive
February 9, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
RNZ Reviews: February 2021
Once a month or so I have a chat on RNZ on their Afternoons show with Jesse Mulligan. I’ve been doing it for about five years now. Most months. This was my first time in for 2021. I didn’t review a whole lot of music over summer – but I did get hooked on some things, especially things […]Archive
December 18, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Books That Blew My Mind # 1: “Is That It?” by Bob Geldof
Is That It?, by Bob Geldof I’m often asked what my favourite music bio is – or favourite “music book” – and the answer I usually want to give is this, Bob Geldof’s autobiography. Except it isn’t really about music – and it wasn’t really the book that lit the fuse for me. It was […]Archive
December 20, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Parker Posey: You’re On An Airplane
You’re On An Airplane: A Self-Mythologizing Memoir Parker Posey Blue Rider Press In the 1990s Parker Posey started appearing in movies; quirky films, funny films. She was savage or sexy or cheeky or some combination of those things – she was weird and wonderful, a little odd and a lot of wonderful. She was a […]Archive
December 9, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Michael Diamond/Adam Horovitz: Beastie Boys Book
Beastie Boys Book Michael Diamond/Adam Horovitz Spiegel & Grau It finally arrived – after so much talk and plenty of hype, the memoir of The Beastie Boys written by its two surviving members. When Adam Yauch (MCA) died from cancer in 2012 that was the end of the group. Respectfully and realistically Michael Diamond (Mike […]Archive
April 9, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
I Wrote The Liner Notes For Darren Watson’s New Album – Too Many Millionaires
I’ve been asked a few times to write testimonials – mostly for funding applications, for an artist seeking a residency or some such. Once or twice I’ve been asked to writer liner notes. Most recently Darren Watson asked me if I’d contribute some words to his brand new, upcoming album, Too Many Millionaires. I was […]Archive
September 19, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Mick Wall: Prince – Purple Reign
Prince: Purple Reign Mick Wall Trapeze Three months after the shock death of Prince Mick Wall releases this biography, well it purports to be a biography – there’s nothing new here and nothing for any Prince fan to learn. The book begins with the 911 call which seems particularly cold. But this is Mick Wall […]Archive
July 29, 2016 by Simon Sweetman