Interesting, timely book this one… Look through the pages of this magazine and you’ll see it all: 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s groups reforming; classic albums being re-pressed, repackaged, re-addressed, reinterpreted and revisited live. We now inhabit a world of ubiquitous retrospection and endless vintage. Here Simon Reynolds takes us on a rush through the last 50 years of music – the scenes, the genres, the albums, the moments and the artists that have mattered – and tries to understand why, exactly, we go backwards in order to go forward… Or not, as the case may be.
Using excerpts from interviews, notes and features that he’s penned over the last decade or so, Reynolds revisits his own thoughts and ideas in order to better understand what happens when people re-examine history; when revivals happen and we recreate a past we often had very little to do with.
Key to Reynolds’ book is his ability to crystallise an artist, scene or movement with effortless, exciting prose. He opens the doors to times you may want to investigate further, weaving in references, characters, places, events and quotes that will educate, stimulate and have you endlessly hunting around on Google and YouTube.
Retromania is fascinating, addictive, superbly written and thoroughly investigated. Part history, part theory and wholly questioning, it’s the perfect read for today – and possibly all of tomorrow’s musical futures.
