It's been said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture.

Well, it’s a great time to be a music fan that likes to read as the dancing has never been better. Titles related to all genres and eras seem to be flying off the presses, from great in-depth features on Jamaican dancehall culture to East Coast hardcore to classic British bands and more.

Here’s a look at some of the best ones to land on my desk in recent months, in no particular order, so step on my old size nines and I'll take you 'round ...

“The Art of Dancehall: Flyer and Poster Designs of Jamaican Dancehall Culture”
By Walshy Fire
(Rizzoli)

This beautiful hardcover traces the design of posters and flyers promoting dancehall performances and battles not only in Jamaica, but also in the U.K., the United States, Japan and Canada. In addition to being packed full of the names of the all the greats from Count Matchouki to Nicodemus to Dillinger to Bounty Killer, it features a wide variety of styles, from the hand-drawn gems of Denzil “Sassafrass” Naar that shout “Jamaica,” to the bare-bones typeset 1970s U.K. handbills to the busier explosions of photos and fonts that were the trademark influence of Irie Myrie.

I especially enjoyed seeing the early newspaper ads and clips from the 1950s and ‘60s and could spend hours perusing an entire book of those alone!

The author is a Miami-based Jamaican-American musician, DJ, MC, who is part of Major Lazer with Diplo and Ape Drums.                                        

There is some introductory text for each section and some captions with background info, but for the most part this is an art/coffee table book for lovers of Jamaican music. I love it.

“Yoko: A Biography”
By David Sheff
(Simon & Schuster)

When I saw this book I was very excited. I’m a huge Beatles fan and I had high hopes for this biography Scheff, who interviewed Ono and John Lennon many times. Their treatment of Yoko was not the Beatles’ finest hour, and the reaction of fans to her relationship with John ranged from racist and sexist to downright ridiculous. She met John when HE came to see HER gallery show, as Scheff points out. It was not Yoko that came to a Beatles gig. And while the Beatles were of their time – though surely they broke much ground during their brief lifespan as a band – Yoko was ahead of her time, a respected figure in the avant garde art world, part of the Fluxus movement and exploring conceptual art and avant garde music in ways few had before her.

This is my first biography of Ono and I enjoyed it and learned a lot about her contributions to the world of art. It feels like a great bit of research, too, in advance of the “Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind” show opening at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago on Oct. 18.

As Scheff points out – and, arguably, the footage in “Get Back” backs him up – instead of blaming Ono for the Beatles breakup, we should consider that “Let It Be” and “Abbey Road” might not exist without her, as had she not accompanied Lennon to the studio for those projects, he very likely wouldn’t have shown up at all.

“To Hell With Poverty! A Class Act: Inside the Gang of Four”
By Jon King
(Akashic)

As a version of Gang of Four hits the road – fresh off sad recent news that original bassist Dave Allen has passed away – frontman Jon King unleashes his memoir of life in the band that’s existed on and off since 1977 and was one of the absolute best post-punk bands for King’s topical lyrics, Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham’s edgy rhythms and, perhaps most of all, for the late, great Andy Gill’s angular, jagged guitar playing that was part Wilko Johnson, part spanner hurled into an Industrial Revolution textile mill loom. While I’ll pass on seeing a Gill-less version of the band on its “farewell tour,” I’m all in on this memoir, that’s smart and funny, full of nostalgia, unexpected bits and lots of insider information perfect for a Go4 fan that can still remember annoying friends by reciting lyrics from “Entertainment!” during junior high school gym class.

“The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir”
By Neko Case
(Grand Central)

A devoted fan ever since I heard the first words of “Furnace Room Lullaby,” I eagerly awaited this since it was announced last year. It is much more about Case’s coming up than about her career and it’s a story of trauma and loneliness, which has come as something of a surprise to this long-time fan. She’s always hinted at a rough early life, but I had no idea of the struggles she faced. The book is a testament to her grit and determination and her ability to forge a successful career when few, including Case herself, would seem to have predicted it. It’s a courageous book but a warning to fans hoping for tales of recording this record or that one, on-the-road vignettes and other standard music memoir fodder. There’s some, but precious little of that here. Hopefully those will form a follow-up.

Case returns to Milwaukee for the first time since 2022 this Oct. 18 for a gig at the Pabst Theater.

“3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and the Lost Empire of Cool”
By James Kaplan
(Penguin Press)

There are copious words written about these three giants of jazz and about “Kind of Blue,” the masterpiece on which they collaborated to create one of the most popular and bestselling jazz records of all time. But Kaplan – best known for his monumental biography of Frank Sinatra – takes a unique approach of writing sort of a trio of biographies – that leans especially heavily on Davis as the svengali and pivot-point – that intertwine and overlap into the story of “Kind of Blue.”

Perhaps not the most in-depth individual bio of each nor the first book on “Kind of Blue,” but an extremely engaging, readable and informative work that succeeds in finding the highs and the sadly copious woes in the lives of each of these musical geniuses.

“London Calling New York New York: Two Songs, Two Cities”
By Peter Silverton
(Trouser Press)

From Sinatra to The Clash. It might seem like a leap, but as any Milwaukee fan of either perhaps recalls, they both performed the same night in Brew City at adjoining venues on May 14, 1984 – The Clash at the Auditorium and Sinatra at the Arena – much to the amusement of local media.

This book is based on the fact that the two classic city songs were both recorded during the summer of 1979 and while they offer starkly different approaches to their subjects, Silverton – who passed away in 2023 – manages to also find commonalities in this unusual book that is as much a memoir of his experiences in the two cities as it is an exploration of the songs featured in the title. At the same time, he managed to weave in history, art, movies and more.

“All the Young Punks: A People’s History of The Clash”
By Iain Key
(Spenwood Books)

Speaking of The Clash ... many of the band’s fans still do on a regular basis, and this book is not only a result of that ongoing conversation but also offers an explanation as to why. One of a series of books lately compiling memories of fans to create a sort of oral history, “All the Young Punks” is a chronological look at the band’s gigs around the world via memories of the fans that were there.

For many of them – us – it was a life-changing experience. It was the same for Billy Bragg, who wrote in the foreword that after seeing his first gig by The Clash, “I came home with my ears ringing and my perspective changed. Suddenly, my generation were visible.”

These books sizzle with the energy of those performances nearly 50 years later. While not deeply researched or loaded with facts drawn from typical sources, “All the Young Punks” instead brims with a different kind of truth – the experience of being there. Indispensable as nostalgia for those who were there, but also as testimony for those not lucky enough to have been there.

“Solid Bond In Your Heart: A People’s History of The Jam”
By Malcolm Wyatt
(Spenwood Books)

Everything I said about about The Clash book is true here, too, except that while The Clash was a lighthouse for me, The Jam was the ship upon which I was sailing. Though lesser known here in the U.S., The Jam were huge in their native U.K., a fact which is made abundantly and expectedly clear in this book, packed to the gills will testimonials from fans who were at gigs from Aylesbury to York, feeling part of a youth explosion that encompassed their entire land.

But what’s especially encouraging for me is that despite nearly 50 years of hearing that we Americans didn’t appreciate The Jam – despite our standing outside venues all day long to be able to get into soundcheck and buying every magazine that featured the band, every new release as soon as it arrived, just like the U.K. fans – each of us, who may have thought we were either alone or part of a very small group, can now see via the testimonials of others in this book that there were a lot of like-minded travelers. Thanks Rachel Felder and Dave Wright and the rest of you for being out there, even if I didn’t know it at the time.

Coming as no surprise considering how much The Jam always vocally supported their fans, Paul Weller penned the foreword.

(Disclosure and humble brag: I got a little over a page in this book for my reminiscences.)

“Fearless Vampire Killers: The Bad Brains Photographs”
By Glen E. Friedman
(Akashic)

Although they were from D.C., of course, there was no more exciting hardcore band in New York City – nay, in the United States – at the dawn of the ‘80s than the Bad Brains, whose get-in-and-get-out quick bursts were both high-octane and skillful. Add to the fact that this rare Rasta punk band – I see you Basement 5, I said “rare,” not “only” – also played some loping, roots reggae consummated the marriage of these two cultures, engaged a few years earlier by The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers and others.

These black and white photographs by photographer and artist Glen Friedman not only capture the band onstage at venues like CBGB but also immortalize on the page the fiery spirit and infectious spark that made Bad Brains gigs so electric.

There are also some photos of bands from the scene – Reagan Youth, Kraut, Undead and others – as well, along with some color shots made on the West Coast.

“And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey Through Global Music”
By Joe Boyd
(Ze Books)

This weighty (even in paperback!) tome by music industry veteran Joe Boyd (who worked with Nick Drake, Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, R.E.M., the Incredible String Band and others) has just arrived on my doorstep to extremely positive reviews from the likes of David Byrne, Clive Davis, Ry Cooder, Brian Eno and others. Across nearly 900 pages. Boyd explores how musical revolutions in Kingston, Havana, Rio de Janeiro, Lagos and other cities around the globe have been as influential as those that ignited new sounds and styles in cities in the U.S. and England.

Though I haven’t read it yet – did I mention it’s nearly 900 pages and just arrived? – it’s sitting atop my books-to-read pile and I’m awaiting it eagerly. Surely there’s a good reason that everyone from MOJO to the Financial Times, Uncut to the Irish Times, PopMatters to Songlines included it on their books of the year list in 2024.