Scourge of Rockism Part II: The Mojo 1000

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Lord Custos must be in heaven. 1000 albums "to enhance every collection" in a hip-pocket size volume AND neatly pigeon-holed to boot. Jazz, Blues, Soul, Country, Rock, Pop, zzzz ("Blur" by Blur = 'rock', Blur singles collection = 'pop', in case you were wondering). The editor stresses this is not a 'best evah' list, just things the writers suggest you might want to have. Indeed, a quick flip through suggests some attempt at least at anti-canon selections. As usual, it seems to be electronica that is the big loser, but I may have missed a section - I just flipped through the book in the shop.

My question is - do you own books like this, and would you want to buy this one?

― Jeff W, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i don't own any books like this no. there is nothing wrong with them, of course, and perhaps they introduce new music to people, but on a basic level i feel alienated by books like this. i cannot relate

― gareth, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh BTW, in the Mojo case the choices are limited to what's currently available on CD. Virgin stores are apparently doing a 2 for 22 quid promo to go with the book's publication.

― Jeff W, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

worra horra. I would have loved this book when I was 16, though. Maybe that's who Mojo are marketing themselves at now.

― Nick, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Aw, they're just suggestions; they even admit they're not the best records of all time. I do own several record review books (including every Robert Christgau) and think they're good resources. Mojo's writers are usually very good as well; methinks it's a fine music magazine.

― Sean, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I have a few review books and encyclopaedias. I think they're fun bathroom reading, good to disagree with. They might be the physical embodiment of the canon but nobody actually ever really cites them much.

― Tom, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Spin Guide to Alt Music. (hahah) I have about 90 of the records mentioned in their top 100.
I saw the book in a few shops today. Do I want to buy this one? Maybe. I havent paged through it though.

― helen fordsdale, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh yeah that MOJO (?) book that was released last year as well. Was a bit let down by the omissions of a few records so the book's gathering dust up in the attic, me thinks.

― helen fordsdale, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

As I said in a discussion about reggae box sets, I'm not the biggest fan of canonizing anything. Rockism is basically "canonism"--the desire to catagorize what music is more significant, better, important, etc. etc. to the exclusion of potentially just as important music in other non-rock genres.

Stuff like the Mojo 1000 or Rough Guides's 100 Essential CD books are, for me, pure conversation starters. They are made for music nerds to discuss--as we are right now.

― cybele, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Back in the day Paul Gambaccini put out his "Top 100 Albums" coffee- table book and I looked at every page with great intent. It had a double function - something to investigate for a relative music novice, something to disagree with for an excitable and contrary pop fan. Canons are OK as starters but less so as places you come back to.

― Tom, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I wouldn't buy a Mojo endorsed 'albums you must own' booklet, I suppose it's easy to guess what albums they would favour ('The Bends' over 'Kid A'/'Amnesiac' etc). Though it can't be much worse than Q magazine's 'best albums in the past 15 years' list that they did last month (Both Texas and Stereophonics, depressingly, appeared, and both placed higher than 'Loveless'). And as for NME's 'albums of 2001'... (guess who won????)

― DavidM, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I remember in 1996 when Select did "The Best Albums of the 90s So Far." Results I can recall:

3. That Oasis debut--the name escapes me 2. Nirvana-Nervermind 1. Satisfyingly: Primal Scream-Screamadelica

Obviously before the Radiohead juggernaut.

― cybele, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm not going to buy it.

― Norman Phay, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

NME poll:

*clap of thunder* Christ, not the Strokes, was it?

― Robin Carmody, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 5 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Would it make any difference to your answer if I said that one of the Mojo 1000 is a Momus record? ;-)

― Jeff W, Thursday, 6 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

No it wouldn't, but that'd be Dave DiMartino's influence, I take it?

― Robin Carmody, Thursday, 6 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

Personally, I eat this stuff up usually, in the magazines, in paperback collections, and recompiled yet again on the web at places such as http://www.rocklist.net/list4.html.

And Yes I have it. Mojo is a great magazine, and has floated several best selling issues with such lists, and has recently expanded these into huge coffee table sized paperbacks. But I am glad this was not the fodder for a regular issue of the magazine, it was best for all it was separated out. it seems their most uneven and overreaching effort yet, and a bit frustrating to some on the wrong side of the puddle for certain releases.

Also, I would place money on some of these NOT being currently in print available on CD, US or UK. The Current Label/ original date of release introduces a bit of cognitive dissonance at times that makes the reader feel the contributing editors may have merely gone through their vinyl collection forsaking the criteria that it is a list of CDs, not recordings in general.

― Octo Cadabra, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Actually, Somebody gave me a copy for Christmas. It's not very useful.
It's aimed at obscuranists and cranks. Since when is Beastie Boys Pauls Boutique a Soul Album? I mean, WTF?

― Lord Custos, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

As a Mojo magazine admirer, and an eclectic music consumer, I looked forward to receiving my copy of Mojo 1000. I found it to be both absorbing and frustrating. Some of the selections I am familiar with and wouldn't give you tuppence for, some I had overlooked and their inclusion was useful to me, some prompted me to re-listen to CDs that I had put aside, but what floored me -- even taking into account the "this is not a best-of caveat" -- there was no Billie Holiday album, no Clash album, no Toots and the Maytals album, and no Julie London album. It is therefore incomplete on its face. However, the reviews are well written.

― Neil Bostock, Saturday, 2 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

one year passes...

Tom's spot on - it's perfect for reading on the loo.

I certainly haven't worried about omissions - if you just take it as offering up suggestions for stuff to listen to it's quite useful. There are some CDs suggested there that are still on my wish-list, and it does stray pretty far from 'the canon' on occasion.

― James Ball (James Ball), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 15:49 (twenty-two years ago)

(For some reason this hasn't popped up on New Answers. Let's see if it does now.)

― James Ball (James Ball), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 16:26 (twenty-two years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.