And now, our final presentation of the Honorable Mention essays from the back of the forthcoming Da Capo anthology Best Music Writing 2008. I was surprised not to find anything about the Gene Weingarten piece on Joshua Bell busking in the D.C. Metro in the Idolator archives–maybe it was just too over-commented-upon in its moment for commentary here to feel unnecessary. Nevertheless, it’s still an interesting piece, though not because it “proves” much beyond commuters are busy, but than Weingarten is one of the best profile writers around. Anyway, enjoy it and several others that join it in the “bonus tracks” circle.
PART FOUR: S-Z
Sukhdev Sandhu, “Mingering Mike Superstar,” Winter 2008, Bidoun [here]
Kelefa Sanneh, “How Don Imus’s Problem Became a Referendum on Rap,” April 25, 2007, New York Times [here]
Makkada B. Selah, “The Motormouth of the South,” June 12, 2007, Village Voice [here]
Peter S. Scholtes & Kevin Cannon, “The Twin Cities Rock Atlas,” December 19, 2007, City Pages [here]
Patti Smith, “Ain’t It Strange?” March 12, 2007, New York Times [here]
Ian Svenonius, “Rock ‘n’ Roll as Real Estate,” February 2007 [Issue 12], Dot Dot Dot [an earlier version, dated July 14, 2005, appears here]
Michael C. Vazquez, “Disorientalism,” Spring 2007, Bidoun [here]
Gene Weingarten, “Pearls Before Breakfast,” April 8, 2007, Washington Post [here]
Daniel Wolff, “Patti Scialfa’s Passionate Gamble,” October 20/21, 2007, Counterpunch [here]
Annie Zaleski, “Radiohead’s OK Computer Turns Ten,” July 12, 2007, Riverfront Times [here]
I think its funny that Weingarten won a Pulitzer for that piece, but its not good enough to qualify for a collection of the year’s best music writing. I don’t know what that really means, other than, I guess, that different judges like different things.
/his weekly chats at washingtonpost.com are hilarious
@How do I say this … THROWDINI!: I will check out the weekly chats–thanks for the tip. (Weingarten’s piece from a couple years back on the children’s entertainer the Great Zucchini is still one of the best pieces of journalism I’ve ever read.)
Couldn’t it still be in the main book?
It’s not in the main book.
Um, wow. The stuff in the main book’d better be bloody incredible then, considering some of the things (i.e. Weingarten’s piece) that didn’t make the cut.
Viva Minneapolis/St. Paul. Yay City Pages. Yay Kevin Cannon.
I didn’t make it in, so the stuff in the main book had better be at the Shakespeare-or-above level.