HEAR IT: EYE CANDY

Words about music

No wave. Post-punk. Underground. New York. 1976-1980.
By Thurston Moore and Byron Coley
Abrams Image ($24.95)

It’s hard to know where to start with No Wave. Unlike most books on the post-punk culture, this bad boy was put together by people who helped shape the scene. Sonic Youth singer/guitarist Thurston Moore and former Forced Exposure, current Wire critic Byron Coley’s collection includes interviews and never-before-seen images of the artists who made late ’70s New York a dirty little secret. From Rhys Chatham to James Chance to Richard Hell, they’re all here in glorious black and white. And if Moore and Coley don’t give the cardboard-bound edition enough street cred, Lydia Lunch’s introduction is icing on the DIY cupcake.

We Owe You Nothing: Expanded Edition: Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews
By Daniel Sinker
Akashic Books ($17.95)

Ever wonder how Miranda July went from obscure performance artist to indie goddess? What about Minor Threat’s and Fugazi’s Ian MacKaye, didn’t he help shape the movement? The interviews in We Owe You Nothing read like a who’s-who list for the do-it-yourself crowd: Kathleen Hanna, Noam Chomsky and Bob Mould open up about the trials and tribulations of being the creative elite in this question-and-answer-style collection of interviews.

The Philosophy of Punk: More Than Noise
By Craig O'Hara
AK Press ($12)

When an anarchist press puts out a book on punk music, it’s bound to be good. The Philosophy of Punk explores the misconceptions the media has perpetrated about punk, gender and sexuality within the movement and punk ties to the environment. O’Hara isn’t trying to convert the masses though; his focus is a simple and elegant look at non-conformity that goes deeper than most Sex Pistols-loving generic “rebels” usually do.

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