Cult Musicians: 50 Progressive Performers You Need to Know

by Robert Dimery, Kristelle Rodeia (Illustrations)

WHAT MAKES A CULT MUSICIAN? 

Whether pioneering in their craft, fiercely and undeniably unique or critically divisive, cult musicians come in all shapes and guises. Some gain instant fame, others instant notoriety, and more still remain anonymous until a chance change in fashion sees their work propelled into the limelight.

Cult Musicians introduces 50 musicians deserving of a cult status. The book charts a plethora of genres and boundary-breakers – from afrobeat and art pop to glam rock and proto punk; Bjork and PJ Harvey to Aphex Twin and Wiley. Discover little knowns with small, devout followings and superstars gracing the covers of magazines – each musician is special in their individuality and their ability to inspire, antagonise and delight. 

Cult Musicians is an essential addition to any music lover's library, as well as an entertaining introduction to our weird and wonderful world of music.
 
Also in the series: Cult Artists, Cult Filmmakers + Cult Writers

The musicians: 
Alex Chilton, Alice Coltrane, Aphex Twin, Arthur Lee, Arthur Russell, Betty Davis, Bjork, Bobbie Gentry, Brian Eno, Brigitte Fontaine, Captain Beefheart, Delia Derbyshire, Edith Piaf, Fela Kuti, Frank Zappa, Gil Scott-Heron, Iggy Pop, J Dilla, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Kat Bjelland, Kool Keith, Laurie Anderson, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Lili Boulanger, Lydia Lunch, Manu Chao, Marianne Faithfull, Mark E. Smith, Mark Hollis, Moondog, Nick Cave, Nick Drake, Nico, Patti Smith, Peaches, PJ Harvey, Robert Wyatt, Roky Erickson, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sandy Denny, Scott Walker, Serge Gainsbourg, Sixto Rodriguez, Sun Ra, Syd Barrett, The Slits, Tom Waits, Wiley, Yoko Ono.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

Published June 9, 2020

Reviews

[Ula · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 out of 5 🌟 A great guide to finding new sounds

White Lion Publishing created another book of 'Cult' makers - musicians. The series includes also filmmakers, artists, and writers. Each volume presents 50 personas that are considered cult-ish in their field. Who can be considered a cult artist?
'Cult Musicians' describing them as a wide spectrum of makers who left their mark on the music and their legacy is still inspiring people today. Worth mentioning that all the books from the series present authors from every part of the world (which is rare in our English-oriented society). Each description includes an informative biography with mentions about the most famous works and what was the inspiration for them.

I didn't know many of the portraited artists, hence this title certainly expanded my horizons of musical knowledge. With special appreciation, I read about female artists who lived (or still live) in their better-known husbands shadow, therefore they were stripped from their own identity as artists. Illustrations, like in the rest of the series, are made by Kristelle Rodeia and they're perfectly presenting all characteristics and quirks of each creator.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and feelings are my own.

[Kerry Pickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a part of a series on cult artists that is published by White Lion Publishing. It was interesting to see which musicians were chosen for the book, and I was wondering how some musicians made the cut. Bobby Gentry, for example, I would consider pretty mainstream country. It was nice to see Roky Erikson from Austin, Texas included. I was pleased to see some of my favorite artists like Nick Cave and Gil Scott Heron included but why not include Jack White or Billie Eilish?

[Etienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good small repertoire of artist with an illustration representing them, a small biography and major work of their career. Their are well divide in different genre/style so whatever you like some of them should interest you. An interesting book to discover new artist, or rediscover some, and add to your cultural reference/knowledge. Good job!

[Diane Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Cult Musician is someone that has an eclectic artist point-of-view or who likes to perform in new or multiple genres of music. The fifty musicians explored go from Yoko Ono to Bobbie Gentry to Sun Ra. The one thing they have in common is great, sometimes greatly overlooked, musicality.

If you have a music streaming service, ask it to play some of pieces described in this book. It's great fun and you might find a new favorite. Each artist's blurb includes a couple of pages of text and an illustration of the artist or band. It's the perfect length to listen to one of the artist's song while reading.

Cult Musicians would make the perfect gift for the music fan in your life. 4 stars!

Thanks to White Horse Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this one as it features Mark Hollis. I noted he mentioned re; Laughing Stock, opener After The Flood but it is not. Its the 3rd track. And the discography in the back has omitted Talk Talk's first two albums. But apart from that it is nicely written and illustrated and I enjoyed the other artists also.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I love music (and I do LOVE music), it's always weird to read about musicians and/or songs you've not actually listened to before - rare is the writer who can translate sound into words - so this book was a bit hard to get into. I liked the artwork, and the list of albums at the back gave me a good list of things to check out.

[J Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cult Musicians: 50 Progressive Performers You Need to Know by Robert Dimery is a collection of short write-ups about, you guessed it, 50 musicians. While overall the book is very good I do have a bone to pick.

With both Cult Filmmakers and Cult Writers the author made an attempt to actually define how he was using the term "cult." When you are using a term that means something different to different people, having a working definition makes sense for both the writer and the reader. For the writer it helps in deciding who to include and who to exclude. For the reader it serves to provide some context for the inevitable debate about who was shunned and who the reader thinks doesn't belong. Those debates, or complaining as some people do it, is a big part of the fun. Dimery, however, does not actually define the term either in an attempt to clarify what he views a "cult" musician as or to give the reader some idea what makes a musician a cult musician. Instead he mentions different aspects of many of the artists, but none that carry throughout the list. It is the equivalent of the "I can't define it but I know it when I see it" rationale. In other words it is a cop out. He should have just said these are 50 musicians I think you should either know about or know more about (since the majority will be known to at least some degree to most music followers but maybe not "the rest of the story"). Dimery is the master of overblown hyperbole, just look at some of his other titles. You need or you have to do what he says you must in order to qualify for the club, in case anyone wants to be in a club he would be in.

Now that I have discussed what irked me, I can talk about all that is right with the book. If you just look at it as a list of 50 musicians with interesting stories, you will be very satisfied with the book. Each entry goes into enough detail to give a very good idea of what makes the artist's story a compelling one. But the entries are also brief so you can decide whether you might want to move on to the next entry or do some online research and listen to some of their work. I found myself looking up most of the artists and many of the songs mentioned, even if I was familiar with it. Coming back to a song, or any artwork, from a different perspective is rarely disappointing.

While I made the lack of clarity about how Dimery understands the word "cult" it is really a minor bump in the overall trip through the book. There likely wasn't an honest attempt at a definition because it didn't really matter to him, he knew who he wanted to include and working with a definition would have meant making them fit or eliminating them. It is a little disingenuous but the book as a whole is well worth reading and you may just find some new artists or new songs from old artists.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Colleen Foley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great little read. It features musicians of all genres, races, and genders. The biographies and contributions are short enough, but packed with information, for an every day reader. The cover and art inside of the book are eye catching, and if I were wandering through Barnes and Noble I would definitely pick this book up. Most book lists of musicians only highlight the most popular musicians of all time in their genres, and more often than not only focus on a certain genre (or on men...). This book is different because it highlights many artists that people may not have heard of, or are only popular in their own genre.
My favorite part of it was it's little biography on Yoko Ono, because the subtitle of it is "More than Mrs Lennon." It participates in trying to debunk the myth of Yoko, and trying to separate her from John Lennon in The Beatles. She was a musician in her own right, even before she met John Lennon, and this book makes sure to point that out. It's also equally important to separate a woman from her husband. I loved the message here, especially.
For any music lover, or any person who is interested in learning more of the history of music, this book is for you. Read and enlighten yourself!

[Shant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect from this book, given that Patti Smith was on the cover and she's way too big to be a cult musician, but the loose criteria really worked well for the book (Either people whose albums were discovered way later and got cult fandoms, elusive musicians with tragic biographies, or musicians who have sections on Wikipedia devoted to performing/recording their music in unusual/experimental ways). I liked how it explained musicians who I never really give the time of day because of hype better than other books/online sources would/ explain how their eccentricities mattered.

Obviously, there were some musicians who I don't think met the criteria enough (Mainly Marianne Faithfull- case in point, she's one of the musicians I know more), but that's not really an issue.

If I had to nominate artists for this, I would say Jeff Buckley/ Elliott Smith/ Eels (Tragic biographies), Linda Perhacs/Annette Peacock/Margo Guryan (People discovered later), and Sonic Youth/Grimes (People whose performance/recording process is different enough to be noted).

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a lot in common with its sister volume regarding Cult Authors – the same illustrator, feel and wide range – but to me it didn't seem as convincing. I lay the blame for that on me knowing a heck of a lot of this would not be to my taste, and I'd barely countenance a dozen of these 50 people on my CD racks. Don't get me wrong, I might not actually like that many of the authors in their volume were I to actually indulge, but I know from limited experience that a lot of this is not my thing. Still, the concision with which this series can cover life story, style, influence and import and so much else about each entrant in such a short chapter, is certainly to be lauded, and whatever my tastes these books do still have a lack of subjectivity that makes then stand above any similar rivals. Three and a half stars.

[April Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting book. I didn't take it as the author telling us these are the best cult musicians, just his favorites. It's the sort of book that you'll feel leaves out some artists (it does) and you're not sure if some of them are really "cult" (who knows? it seems subjective on some of them), but it's an interesting read none the less. Some musicians I was familiar with, some I know by name only, some were entirely new to me. I've been sampling a few each day, and finding some new favorites (Moondog, where have you been all my life?). There's a lot of information packed into each brief bio, and the list of recommended works at the end is helpful. A great addition to any music lover's library.

#CultMusicians #NetGalley

[Jay Gabler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even the most avid music fan will make some new discoveries in these pages; as the author of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Dimery has knowledge that goes deep. Artists I apparently need to know, but didn't, include funk rocker Betty Davis, Love leader Arthur Lee, and the Walker Brothers' breakout eccentric Scott Walker.

I reviewed Cult Musicians for The Current.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice primer to many of these artists, but this is mostly just a small, brief coffee table book. That's not to say it didn't teach me about artists I didn't know, which I appreciated greatly. However, they coulda 1) added at least 50 more artists, 2) shone more light on hip hop and classical artists, and 3) brought more focus to the works that really made these artists unique, rather than just giving you a rundown of their careers. Despite all that, it was fun blowing through this in two sittings, and now I can look pretentious AF with this book on my shelf.

[Nicole Ambrosino · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun book! Learned a lot about many different musicians who were the first to try new methods and different things.

[Wolfgang K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid selection of artists all around with decent descriptions.

[Jason Ware · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting brief accounts of significant musicians. A very easy read. Could be s bit more detailed

[Nav · Rating 3 out of 5]

The right level of detail to get you interested but not overloaded.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting enough short read, but I can think of more than a few glaring omissions. Biggest by far is Jerry Garcia, arguably the most influential of "cult" performers out there.