Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Afro-Beat But Were Afraid To Ask

Music Lust
By Nic Harcourt
Sasquatch Books

If you're like me, and enjoy getting a music recommendation as much as giving one, then you're going to like Nic Harcourt's new book, "Music Lust."

Many of you already are familiar with Harcourt, who has become a nationwide tastemaker as the music director and host of "Morning Becomes Eclectic" at public radio station KCRW in Santa Monica, Calif. He's also a regular contributor to Paste magazine's "Ears We Trust," a feature in which prominent radio personalities recommend new music. Harcourt has earned his consultant stripes, having helped propel the careers of David Gray, Norah Jones, Damien Rice and Coldplay, to name but a few, through exposure on his show.

Pretty sweet gig, huh? That's basically the premise of "Music Lust": Harcourt recommends discs, songs and bands in a number of different styles and categories. Good work if you can get it.

The book bills itself as "recommended listening for every mood, moment, and reason," and that's pretty much the case. Some of the entries are straightforward, such as "One Hundred Essential Albums From the Last Half of the Twentieth Century." Some take more of a roundabout path, like "It's Raining Cats and Dogs," which recommends artists whose names are related to our four-legged friends (Cat Stevens, Three Dog Night, etc.).

Maybe it's because I like to hear an impassioned recommendation, or maybe it's because I want to stack my taste up against that of a professional trendsetter, but I breezed through this book in two days. There's only 248 pages of text, so that's not a real stretch, but Harcourt still kept me engaged the whole time. Knowing his reputation, I was eager to get into the chapters titled "Desert Island Discs," "Ten Albums You Missed," "Twenty Best Double Albums" and "Twenty Best Albums of the Twenty-First Century (So Far)."

That doesn't necessarily mean that I'm giving a blanket recommendation. Some Americana fans might not get much out of "Music Lust." There are only three chapters that touch on country music, and none that cover bluegrass. Harcourt admits that he wasn't much of a country fan before seeing The Highwaymen perform in 1992, so a lot of you have a leg up on him in this area. You certainly don't need a book to tell you how great Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash are. If you're interested in more than a few styles of music, though, or are looking to expand your horizons, "Music Lust" contains a wealth of information.

For starters, there are chapters that likely will be of interest to the average Americana fan, such as "Bob Dylan: Icon," "Joni Mitchell: Icon," and "This Land is Your Land: Protest Singers/Protest Songs."

The book is particularly helpful if you're trying to explore an unfamiliar genre. Sure, you could go to All Music Guide and dig around on your own, but Harcourt built his reputation through years of helping people discover new music. So if you don't know much about world music and read the chapter titled "Xenophilia: Music Without Borders," you can safely conclude that Afro Celt Sound System is worth checking out. They might not be your cup of tea, but hearing for yourself has always been the only true test anyway. Harcourt can guide you in the right direction to discovery of your own. The chapters on Britpop, hip-hop, reggae, blues and jazz could be particularly useful to those who rarely venture outside of alt-country and bluegrass.

Harcourt's book also can help you form or reinforce your own opinions. Such was the case when I read the chapter titled "Living in Perfect Harmony." If you enjoy harmony singing, you couldn't go wrong with the acts recommended here: The Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, The Mamas and the Papas, The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young). As a dedicated Jayhawks fan, I was a little distraught to find they weren't included. As an amateur music historian, I was scratching my head over why the Everly Brothers were left out. As someone who enjoys harmony singing, I found it beyond belief that Emmylou Harris wasn't mentioned. As far as I'm concerned, any discussion of the topic must include her.

That's one small knock on a book that for the better part of 48 hours kept me thinking about expanding my music library in fiscally irresponsible ways. Maybe Emmylou will be mentioned if there's a Music Lust, Volume Two. I'd snatch it up just to find out. In the meantime, I'm thinking about checking out some Ryuichi Sakamoto and Afrika Bambaataa.