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American Music Series
You're with Stupid: kranky, Chicago, and the Reinvention of Indie Music
In the 1990s, Chicago was at the center of indie rock, propelling bands like the Smashing Pumpkins and Liz Phair to the national stage. The musical ecosystem from which these bands emerged, though, was expansive and diverse. Grunge players comingled with the electronic, jazz, psychedelic, and ambient music communities, and an inventive, collaborative group of local labels—kranky, Drag City, and Thrill Jockey, among others—embraced the new, evolving sound of indie “rock.” Bruce Adams, co-founder of kranky records, was there to bear witness. In You’re with Stupid , Adams offers an insider’s look at the role Chicago’s underground music industry played in the transformation of indie rock. Chicago labels, as Adams explains, used the attention brought by national acts to launch bands that drew on influences outside the Nirvana-inspired sound then dominating pop. The bands themselves—Labradford, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Low—were not necessarily based in Chicago, but it was Chicago labels like kranky that had the ears and the infrastructure to do something with this new music. In this way, Chicago-shaped sounds reached the wider world, presaging the genre-blending music of the twenty-first century. From an author who helped create the scene and launched some of its best music, You’re with Stupid is a fascinating and entertaining read.
- GenresMusicNonfictionHistory
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2022
27 people are currently reading
536 people want to read
About the author
Bruce Adams
2 books5 followersBruce Adams has worked at college radio (WCBN, Ann Arbor) record stores (Schoolkids’ Records in Ann Arbor, MI and Tower Records in Chicago, IL), and distributors (Kaleidoscope, Des Plaines IL, and Cargo Distribution, Chicago).
Adams has interviewed Tar, U.S. Maple, Walking Seeds, Ken Vandermark, and Blind Idiot God among others, and written reviews for Your Flesh, Motorbooty, and Butt Rag. His drawings have been featured in record releases by Silverfish and Brise Glace.
Adams was a music publicist at the seminal independent record label Touch & Go Records and Quarterstick Records from 1988 to 1991, where he promoted releases from The Jesus Lizard, Slint, Laughing Hyenas, Die Kreuzen, Didjits, Killdozer, Urge Overkill, and others.
In 1993, Adams co-founded the kranky label with Joel Leoschke. Alongside Leoschke he was responsible for the label roster and artist relations. Adams promoted 92 separate kranky releases to press, radio and retail. Adams wrote band biographies, one-sheets, press releases, and website content and designed advertising for kranky until 2005 when he sold his share of the label to Leoschke.
From 2008 to 2013 Adams operated a boutique independent label called FSS (Flingco Sound System) that released double LPs, LPs, 10” EPs, 7” singles, cassettes, and a soundbox by Wrnlrd, Haptic, Locrian, Jason Kahn and Jon Mueller and others. He also participates in Open Music Labs, a Cambridge, MA-based company that creates open-source analog synthesizer components.
Adams lives and works in Urbana, IL with his wife, the multimedia artist and creative placemaker, Annie F. Adams.
Bruce self-published The Continuing Case of Manny Tippitoes in 2011.
Adams has interviewed Tar, U.S. Maple, Walking Seeds, Ken Vandermark, and Blind Idiot God among others, and written reviews for Your Flesh, Motorbooty, and Butt Rag. His drawings have been featured in record releases by Silverfish and Brise Glace.
Adams was a music publicist at the seminal independent record label Touch & Go Records and Quarterstick Records from 1988 to 1991, where he promoted releases from The Jesus Lizard, Slint, Laughing Hyenas, Die Kreuzen, Didjits, Killdozer, Urge Overkill, and others.
In 1993, Adams co-founded the kranky label with Joel Leoschke. Alongside Leoschke he was responsible for the label roster and artist relations. Adams promoted 92 separate kranky releases to press, radio and retail. Adams wrote band biographies, one-sheets, press releases, and website content and designed advertising for kranky until 2005 when he sold his share of the label to Leoschke.
From 2008 to 2013 Adams operated a boutique independent label called FSS (Flingco Sound System) that released double LPs, LPs, 10” EPs, 7” singles, cassettes, and a soundbox by Wrnlrd, Haptic, Locrian, Jason Kahn and Jon Mueller and others. He also participates in Open Music Labs, a Cambridge, MA-based company that creates open-source analog synthesizer components.
Adams lives and works in Urbana, IL with his wife, the multimedia artist and creative placemaker, Annie F. Adams.
Bruce self-published The Continuing Case of Manny Tippitoes in 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
February 16, 2023
I could not get over Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot being referred to three times as Yankee Foxtrot Motel. So much for copy editors & fact checkers.
March 30, 2024
Similar to the post rock tome Fearless, this one had me at hello. Being that the initial kranky statement of purpose (Labradford’s Prazision) was received by this reader when he was maybe 15 and living in NW Indiana, I pretty much followed every band/album Bruce Adams was discussing. He really does make those early to mid 90s in Chicago sound like a halcyon time for experimental music – which is really what most of this stuff was. As with anyone included in the “post rock” sub sub genre, Adams disdains the simplifying what he was putting out with a mere moniker. Labradford did not set out to make a “post rock” album – they just wanted to make something that they were not hearing in other bands that was bit of a bunch of things that didn’t exactly rock. Prazision was on the more intense side of their stuff and didn’t feel super guitar based even if it was – there were the vocal songs (sounded a bit like Spacemen 3 or some of the mellower Loop tracks – Spacemen 3 was popular in NW Indiana but when I moved to NYC in ’96 and became an Other Music devotee, they were not in the NYU wheelhouse – I still loved them though and all their offshoots, especially at that time!) then the more abstract textural pieces (a bit like Main – not really mellow enough to be ambient but not really anything else – psychedelic) and then even a bit of a meta thing where they thanked you for buying the album (“Gratitude”) that they carried over into subsequent albums with song titles for E Luxo So being the credits for the album. I know “post rock” is something annoying to be saddled with, but while this was going on, David Foster Wallace put out Infinite Jest so that mode of thought – game playing, self-referential, ironic – the postmodern postwar American writers – was in vogue. To my ears – and at that time I came from hair metal to funk metal to grunge to shoegazing to this weird stuff – I didn’t know exactly what Labradford or Main or Seefeel were doing exactly or how they were making their sounds, I just enjoyed that it provided not necessarily a blank canvas for introspection or thought but a minimal canvas – driving along the open fields delivering pizzas while listening to Prazision you’d definitely make a wrong turn or two.
So yeah, hearing about the Tortoise/Jim O’Rourke/Stereolab world and its intersection with the kranky world was a welcome time capsule/chronicle of what to me felt like the apex of indie rock in America. I did just finish the SST book and that felt like a very different though related journey through a ton of records – still the aftershocks of punk (which includes post punk that would be where the weird set in) but the attitude of you don’t need money or connections to make music and in fact, we disdain that shit because it makes it you know, insincere or lame – is part of kranky’s ethos. There was a lot of interesting music in the aether and Adams and his conspirators found a way to harness that and to put out what they liked – and the label had meaning. Everything didn’t sound exactly like Labradford, but as a statement of purpose, to connect Labardford to (among my faves), Bowery Electric’s Beat (picked up at Kim’s Underground where it was being played) to Loscil’s Submers, or Grouper’s Ruins, or the Plotkin/Spybey A Peripheral Blur (which I had no idea was made manipulating the sound of toys, though I had read somewhere it was played for mental patients which seemed appropriate while a little bit concerning) – that connective tissue amongst these musicians was kranky. Music journalists of course had to find a title to sum up things that would be tricky to put into words.
Kranky did have some success in my eyes – I mean, it does sound like running an indie label is not a way to make the big bucks, but amongst this subgenre to have both Stars of the Lid and Godspeed You Black Emperor as part of your stable – both among the most identifiable with that sound and arguably the most successful of the whole post-rock grouping (Tortoise’s Millions Now Living… and Stereolab’s Dots and Loops up there as well – Mogwai was really big for me in college, really see the first Tortoise record and the Denison/Kimball Trio’s Walls and the City score as big touchpoints for this burgeoning scene) – everything percolates, builds, crests, and then collapses. Probably Radiohead putting out Kid A and Sigur Ros – those felt like this type of “weird shit” on the biggest canvas and audience of the time. After that, the indie kids discovered the Beach Boys, NYC brought careerism back to the forefront of the cool kids (whereas bands and musicians who had similar aspirations in Chicago – Smashing Pumpkins, Urge Overkill, Liz Phair, Veruca Salt – are pretty smeared for those inclinations. You make music because you love music, not to be a rockstar – Adams isn’t quite as harsh as Steve Albini, but critical nonetheless – Wilco & Jeff Tweedy kinda have their cake and eat it too in this regard – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot comparable to Kid A – though I did notice the typo on that album title and a similar one for the actor John Cusack – are those honest mistakes or slights?) – so LCD Soundsystem, Grizzly Bear, The Strokes – all those bands took the focus off the guys who wanted to sit down and hide from the spotlight, not seek it out. The quest for commercialism when it descended upon Chicago did some harm to a city who does not reward blatant commercialism – go to New York or LA for that. Adams somewhat sad chronicle of the dissolution of Labradford was welcome – I listened to so many of these somewhat anonymous bands and then they just stopped putting out albums – I’d wondered how a band like that ends, not realizing they did the last one with Steve Albini and then that was it.
Books like this I could read for 600 pages, so of course when it was over, I was a bit wanting more. My two things would be 1) a list of every kranky release at the end of the book. That is the legacy of the label as a trademark of quality and a journey through its history. I mean, the book is another version of that story but I thought would have been a solid coda. 2) Maybe one more little chapter about indie labels now. I mean, I feel they definitely don’t have the impact that they once did in the days of SST, Restless, Slash, Earache, Sub Pop, Creation, through of course kranky, Thrill Jockey, Warp, Southern Lord, etc – and a lot of them are coterie labels for artists – they put something out on their label or start a label to put stuff out – but there are literally now thousands of labels out there who have their music on bandcamp or spotify or apple music or youtube – like the labels are aesthetic signifiers – and even musicians can release so much stuff now – look at the Kevin Drumm bandcamp, or even Echospace or Moon Wiring Club – the labels as Adams knew them when he decided to start kranky have changed significantly – my musician friends of course feel the possibility of making a living making their own music is just doom these days. But indie labels even in the 90s – Labradford wasn’t making music that was going to make them millions, right? Was Tortoise? I mean, being a working band where Labradford could have only devoted their time to writing, recording, touring, spin, repeat, I’m sure that would have been desirable? But what bands can really do that who don’t already come from money? Like they don’t have to worry about it initially so they still don’t. But again, money was never the focus of kranky or most of the bands on kranky – sure Godspeed YBE did well, but they had 9 people in their band – it’s like trying to divide a grape amongst nine people. I don’t have the answers for that, but a bit of Adams thoughts would have been appreciated. When you’re loving the reading, I’d take even more. And yes, I put on Labradford’s Prazision LP. I think I bought it because it had a featured review in Alternative Press (how I also discovered and still listen to Techno Animal’s Re-Entry). Times were strange, thank god.
So yeah, hearing about the Tortoise/Jim O’Rourke/Stereolab world and its intersection with the kranky world was a welcome time capsule/chronicle of what to me felt like the apex of indie rock in America. I did just finish the SST book and that felt like a very different though related journey through a ton of records – still the aftershocks of punk (which includes post punk that would be where the weird set in) but the attitude of you don’t need money or connections to make music and in fact, we disdain that shit because it makes it you know, insincere or lame – is part of kranky’s ethos. There was a lot of interesting music in the aether and Adams and his conspirators found a way to harness that and to put out what they liked – and the label had meaning. Everything didn’t sound exactly like Labradford, but as a statement of purpose, to connect Labardford to (among my faves), Bowery Electric’s Beat (picked up at Kim’s Underground where it was being played) to Loscil’s Submers, or Grouper’s Ruins, or the Plotkin/Spybey A Peripheral Blur (which I had no idea was made manipulating the sound of toys, though I had read somewhere it was played for mental patients which seemed appropriate while a little bit concerning) – that connective tissue amongst these musicians was kranky. Music journalists of course had to find a title to sum up things that would be tricky to put into words.
Kranky did have some success in my eyes – I mean, it does sound like running an indie label is not a way to make the big bucks, but amongst this subgenre to have both Stars of the Lid and Godspeed You Black Emperor as part of your stable – both among the most identifiable with that sound and arguably the most successful of the whole post-rock grouping (Tortoise’s Millions Now Living… and Stereolab’s Dots and Loops up there as well – Mogwai was really big for me in college, really see the first Tortoise record and the Denison/Kimball Trio’s Walls and the City score as big touchpoints for this burgeoning scene) – everything percolates, builds, crests, and then collapses. Probably Radiohead putting out Kid A and Sigur Ros – those felt like this type of “weird shit” on the biggest canvas and audience of the time. After that, the indie kids discovered the Beach Boys, NYC brought careerism back to the forefront of the cool kids (whereas bands and musicians who had similar aspirations in Chicago – Smashing Pumpkins, Urge Overkill, Liz Phair, Veruca Salt – are pretty smeared for those inclinations. You make music because you love music, not to be a rockstar – Adams isn’t quite as harsh as Steve Albini, but critical nonetheless – Wilco & Jeff Tweedy kinda have their cake and eat it too in this regard – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot comparable to Kid A – though I did notice the typo on that album title and a similar one for the actor John Cusack – are those honest mistakes or slights?) – so LCD Soundsystem, Grizzly Bear, The Strokes – all those bands took the focus off the guys who wanted to sit down and hide from the spotlight, not seek it out. The quest for commercialism when it descended upon Chicago did some harm to a city who does not reward blatant commercialism – go to New York or LA for that. Adams somewhat sad chronicle of the dissolution of Labradford was welcome – I listened to so many of these somewhat anonymous bands and then they just stopped putting out albums – I’d wondered how a band like that ends, not realizing they did the last one with Steve Albini and then that was it.
Books like this I could read for 600 pages, so of course when it was over, I was a bit wanting more. My two things would be 1) a list of every kranky release at the end of the book. That is the legacy of the label as a trademark of quality and a journey through its history. I mean, the book is another version of that story but I thought would have been a solid coda. 2) Maybe one more little chapter about indie labels now. I mean, I feel they definitely don’t have the impact that they once did in the days of SST, Restless, Slash, Earache, Sub Pop, Creation, through of course kranky, Thrill Jockey, Warp, Southern Lord, etc – and a lot of them are coterie labels for artists – they put something out on their label or start a label to put stuff out – but there are literally now thousands of labels out there who have their music on bandcamp or spotify or apple music or youtube – like the labels are aesthetic signifiers – and even musicians can release so much stuff now – look at the Kevin Drumm bandcamp, or even Echospace or Moon Wiring Club – the labels as Adams knew them when he decided to start kranky have changed significantly – my musician friends of course feel the possibility of making a living making their own music is just doom these days. But indie labels even in the 90s – Labradford wasn’t making music that was going to make them millions, right? Was Tortoise? I mean, being a working band where Labradford could have only devoted their time to writing, recording, touring, spin, repeat, I’m sure that would have been desirable? But what bands can really do that who don’t already come from money? Like they don’t have to worry about it initially so they still don’t. But again, money was never the focus of kranky or most of the bands on kranky – sure Godspeed YBE did well, but they had 9 people in their band – it’s like trying to divide a grape amongst nine people. I don’t have the answers for that, but a bit of Adams thoughts would have been appreciated. When you’re loving the reading, I’d take even more. And yes, I put on Labradford’s Prazision LP. I think I bought it because it had a featured review in Alternative Press (how I also discovered and still listen to Techno Animal’s Re-Entry). Times were strange, thank god.
August 21, 2023
This book was very insightful and detailed, documenting the history of the 90's Chicago indie music scene from the perspective of co-owner of indie label kranky Bruce Adams. It's interesting to read about the ins and outs of the record business back then and how things have changed, along with the ever changing culture of Chicago's vibrant music scene. There were artists that I already knew and enjoyed from the scene like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Sea and Cake (along with the many side projects from band members like Shrimp Boat and The Coctails), and Tortoise and loved reading about them. I also am looking forward to checking out more artists from the scene like Stars of the Lid, Labradford, and Jessamine. Although cool and insightful, it was a dry and repetitive read like a textbook and I wished there was more personality or a change in structure but I understand the straightforwardness of a book when telling an oral history on something. Also Bruce, I can't help but mention that you misspelled Wilco's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" as "Yankee Foxtrot Motel" several times in the book. Bro, it's one of Chicago's most celebrated and acclaimed indie releases ever!!! How did this slip lmao
November 18, 2022
While this book is decidedly not for everybody (just like the label kranky) it's most definitely for me. I felt a deep sense of nostalgia for the music world described in the 90's (particularly in Chicago) and enjoyed hearing about a lot of my favorite artists and releases from many of the people involved.
Reading it has also given me an excellent excuse to go back and listen to many of the early kranky (and other Chicago-label releases) that I love but hadn't thought about in ages.
Recommended if you're a fan of 90's Chicago independent and experimental music.
Reading it has also given me an excellent excuse to go back and listen to many of the early kranky (and other Chicago-label releases) that I love but hadn't thought about in ages.
Recommended if you're a fan of 90's Chicago independent and experimental music.
January 14, 2025
Fun read about one of the most interesting movements/scenes in modern music! I was looking forward to checking this out because I love many of the artists on the label and from that era of Chicago, and it did not disappoint. The chronological way of telling the story and the musicians that we follow throughout the book are great examples and choices as benchmarks of where the label was at a specific point in time. Also loved hearing about the ins and outs of independent music at the time. Wish there was a little bit more personality in the storytelling, but I read it for the history and I definitely got that!
Also, you could mine this book for recommendations forever (which I am going to do)
Also, you could mine this book for recommendations forever (which I am going to do)
February 2, 2024
Whereas my recent experience of reading Nature's Metropolis was neatly contained within the book itself, with the book itself providing all I could need to know about "that" era of Chicago (no shots to its 100 pages of footnotes), many of the best takeaways from reading You're with Stupid (about a much more modern Chicago era) were those moments I put down the book to bring up an album mentioned, look up information about a closed venue online, revisit an old favorite band or one I had never looked into, etc. Reading this made for a really good experience. It's important to note this book is very much inside baseball, and incidentally also perfectly aligned with my interests.
You're with Stupid provides a pretty detailed chronology and lots of context for what, when I came of age, was already a fixed entity: Cool Bands From Before The Strokes. At the time, it didn't make much of a difference to me what order Tortoise, Stars of the Lid, Godspeed, etc developed, and which 50 other bands and individuals filled out the rest of the scenes around them. They were just on the stock list of bands a young precocious listener should become familiar with when branching out. To me, the 'best case' utility of this book is informing a reader who is already a fan of at least some of these bands about the rest of them, and providing context about what things were like in record distribution, the broader music Business, and Chicago during the Wicker Park 90s.
You're with Stupid provides a pretty detailed chronology and lots of context for what, when I came of age, was already a fixed entity: Cool Bands From Before The Strokes. At the time, it didn't make much of a difference to me what order Tortoise, Stars of the Lid, Godspeed, etc developed, and which 50 other bands and individuals filled out the rest of the scenes around them. They were just on the stock list of bands a young precocious listener should become familiar with when branching out. To me, the 'best case' utility of this book is informing a reader who is already a fan of at least some of these bands about the rest of them, and providing context about what things were like in record distribution, the broader music Business, and Chicago during the Wicker Park 90s.
January 6, 2023
Wow. Just...wow. What a fantastic drink of '90s nostalgia for myself who was in the area and and a music fan at the time. Lots of great memories in this book.
October 14, 2025
One thing I love more than books is music. Any time I get a chance to dive into books about music, it feels like a special treat. The disconnect for me comes from a tragic feature about me: i don’t know shit about how to Play music, how to Perform music. I don’t really even have a clue how to Listen to music. I hear the emotions of songs, the expression of artists, the intent of albums. But if you ask me to tell you about my favorite songs in a minor key, or why some songs that are in waltz timing feel better to one of my best friends than other songs, I have zero idea what we’re even talking about anymore. That’s why when I read the 33⅓ book about Radiohead’s OK Computer, I was not only disappointed, but borderline offended that someone took a perspective on the book that absolutely disconnected the human element of it.
Here lies the beauty of You’re With Stupid, a book which feels like a memoir written by someone who was right up against the evolution of music in the Chicago scene and the art which it influenced along the way, the people who lifted it up and the bands and records that defined it. All along the way, Bruce Adams does a spectacular job of talking about these albums in a way that uplift the experience, but also make it feel like you could genuinely hear and understand the recorded music while sitting in complete silence. The way he describes the nuance, the innovation, the live performances, it all feels like you were standing at the venues, like you were shopping at the record stores. This is something I can relate to. Adams uses a clear writing form, a conversational style, and a bemused level of excitement without ever leaning into “you had to be there” dismissiveness that not only respects the reader’s interest in the subject matter, but also leaves us wanting more.
If you’ve ever been connected to a local music scene, or even a local art scene, this is a book that I would love for you to get your hands on. There are very few things that accurately represent the excitement of a thriving underground scene outside of being inside of it, but somehow this book captures it without missing a beat. Watching social and creative circles bend and blend and grow and shrink and meld is one of the most exciting things to be around. It sounds like the Chicago scene was deeply collaborative and while I’m sure there were a lot of bands and artists that treated the scene like a competitive pool of bloodthirsty waters, the highlight of this book is seeing how many members of different bands would jump in and out of live performances for other acts, and how former members of some bands would go on to produce some of the best records made by newer ones. It was really inspiring to read about how this era and it threw me back to a time when I was at the core of one of the most exciting and flourishing young music scenes.
While reading this book, I tried to take as many notes as I could around bands that I hadn’t heard much about or had only really heard of band names and never took a deep dive into, and hope/plan to take a week or two and listen to these and hope to bring them forward with me. Here’s what I’ve got!
- Mudhoney
- The Jesus Lizard
- Slint
- Rites of Spring (what a great band name)
- Rocket From the Crypt (another incredible band name)
- The Replacements
- Eleventh Dream Day
- Dinosaur Jr
- Seaweed
- Sea and Cake
- Veruca Salt
- Urge Override
- Shellac (Steve Albini)
- Spacemen 3
- Duster
- The album ‘Prazision’
- Suede
- Codeine
- Cowboy Junkies
- Tortoise (Millions)
- Jessamine
- Labradford (A Stable Reference, but also this book makes it sound like these guys changed the game for everyone forever)
- Guided By Voices
- Talk Talk (Laughing Stock)
- Miles Davis (70s recordings?)
- Magnog (maybe Temple IV?)
- Charlemagne Palestine
- Designer (Jungle indie remix scene; Casey Rice)
- 1998 album Through the Trees
- James Plotkin - Mosquito Dream
- Ocean Songs
- Joy Shapes
I definitely recommend this book if you’re into local art scenes of ANY kind, but especially if you’re an aging music ‘aficionado’ like so many of us, and just want to experience another hit of what it feels like to be part of an exciting time in young people Making Things. This book rocked. It really lit up a part of my brain that had been looking for a retrospective on this kind of experience!
Here lies the beauty of You’re With Stupid, a book which feels like a memoir written by someone who was right up against the evolution of music in the Chicago scene and the art which it influenced along the way, the people who lifted it up and the bands and records that defined it. All along the way, Bruce Adams does a spectacular job of talking about these albums in a way that uplift the experience, but also make it feel like you could genuinely hear and understand the recorded music while sitting in complete silence. The way he describes the nuance, the innovation, the live performances, it all feels like you were standing at the venues, like you were shopping at the record stores. This is something I can relate to. Adams uses a clear writing form, a conversational style, and a bemused level of excitement without ever leaning into “you had to be there” dismissiveness that not only respects the reader’s interest in the subject matter, but also leaves us wanting more.
If you’ve ever been connected to a local music scene, or even a local art scene, this is a book that I would love for you to get your hands on. There are very few things that accurately represent the excitement of a thriving underground scene outside of being inside of it, but somehow this book captures it without missing a beat. Watching social and creative circles bend and blend and grow and shrink and meld is one of the most exciting things to be around. It sounds like the Chicago scene was deeply collaborative and while I’m sure there were a lot of bands and artists that treated the scene like a competitive pool of bloodthirsty waters, the highlight of this book is seeing how many members of different bands would jump in and out of live performances for other acts, and how former members of some bands would go on to produce some of the best records made by newer ones. It was really inspiring to read about how this era and it threw me back to a time when I was at the core of one of the most exciting and flourishing young music scenes.
While reading this book, I tried to take as many notes as I could around bands that I hadn’t heard much about or had only really heard of band names and never took a deep dive into, and hope/plan to take a week or two and listen to these and hope to bring them forward with me. Here’s what I’ve got!
- Mudhoney
- The Jesus Lizard
- Slint
- Rites of Spring (what a great band name)
- Rocket From the Crypt (another incredible band name)
- The Replacements
- Eleventh Dream Day
- Dinosaur Jr
- Seaweed
- Sea and Cake
- Veruca Salt
- Urge Override
- Shellac (Steve Albini)
- Spacemen 3
- Duster
- The album ‘Prazision’
- Suede
- Codeine
- Cowboy Junkies
- Tortoise (Millions)
- Jessamine
- Labradford (A Stable Reference, but also this book makes it sound like these guys changed the game for everyone forever)
- Guided By Voices
- Talk Talk (Laughing Stock)
- Miles Davis (70s recordings?)
- Magnog (maybe Temple IV?)
- Charlemagne Palestine
- Designer (Jungle indie remix scene; Casey Rice)
- 1998 album Through the Trees
- James Plotkin - Mosquito Dream
- Ocean Songs
- Joy Shapes
I definitely recommend this book if you’re into local art scenes of ANY kind, but especially if you’re an aging music ‘aficionado’ like so many of us, and just want to experience another hit of what it feels like to be part of an exciting time in young people Making Things. This book rocked. It really lit up a part of my brain that had been looking for a retrospective on this kind of experience!
November 20, 2024
Scoring You're with Stupid as Music Book
- Self-insertion: A. This marks the first music book where I think the author doesn't self-insert quite as much as I could've liked, though I should say at the same time that it's quite memoirish. Our author is of course half of the reclusive label who helped shape indie music in the 90s just a bit, and ambient music in the 2000s quite a lot; I think one question I'm a little underserved on is Bruce's own engagement with the music-- I'm sure it's all in there but not in florid terms. This is mature, of course, as this book I think might last for a while as the most substantial expression of the work and legacy of a number of the kranky artists, and Bruce navigates preference politics (but for Labradford).
- Rigor, Sociology, Scoping: B, on every count. I'll lump these together. The defining limitations of this book are that all topics will be Chicago, kranky and its bands, and indie in the anglophone world, pretty gridlocked to a period around 1993-2002 (unless the discussion of the Amerindie indie-major boom of the late 80s requires stepping a little out); beside this, I'd say the main topics are Labradford, each kranky release, the music industry in general, and Chicago as a music city. I feel wonderfully served on each topic, now, honestly. You end up hearing a whole hell of a lot about Labradford and Tortoise; good. The information he can provide about the inspirations and processes in each kranky artist's work are sometimes limited to what one could've guessed, found in another interview, or already understood about the industry and working habits of rock musicians; key exceptions in my reading were Labradford again, Jessamine, Bowery Electric, and Stars of the Lid; in my position as StotL lover I will say I basically already knew what's told here, unfortunately (I would read a book by either of Brian or Adam W.). Something that comes across really wonderfully are kranky's engagements with godspeed you. I know it was written on the tin, but I'm still sad this book doesn't get as far as kranky's engagements with Tim Hecker, Grouper, or Stars of the Lid in their making of Their Refinement of the Decline.
- Captured Character / Premodernism: Let's call it a D. Well, this is what suffers. The book is a very plain, mature, material treatment of its matter, and I think it can be somewhat dispelling of the spells it's written about, like the wonderful kranky merch website - when that existed - replete with little gray-on-black statements of backhanded wisdom / dour optimism. But capturing character and premodernism is, well, not [i]good[/i] in any ethical sense I subscribe to, it's only interesting; You're with Stupid, was, instead, true, and it truly covered someone who had two jobs throughout the period covered.
I love this label and the sound of tape delay rigs feedbacking. Consider the book to be footnotes to these things; reading helped me know where and why I'm standing.
To the side of whatever points I can be considered to have made: his one mention of emo is pretty quaint. "Cap'n Jazz was a popular band pointed to as originators of the 'emo' genre of tuneful punk." I don't know what kind of madperson has called Cap'n Jazz one of the origins of emo, but 'tuneful punk' is pretty good (better than 'jazzy post-hardcore' I've seen elsewhere), and he does better than the music journalists of the late-90's in immediately clarifying that Joan of Arc 'move past that genre'.
- Self-insertion: A. This marks the first music book where I think the author doesn't self-insert quite as much as I could've liked, though I should say at the same time that it's quite memoirish. Our author is of course half of the reclusive label who helped shape indie music in the 90s just a bit, and ambient music in the 2000s quite a lot; I think one question I'm a little underserved on is Bruce's own engagement with the music-- I'm sure it's all in there but not in florid terms. This is mature, of course, as this book I think might last for a while as the most substantial expression of the work and legacy of a number of the kranky artists, and Bruce navigates preference politics (but for Labradford).
- Rigor, Sociology, Scoping: B, on every count. I'll lump these together. The defining limitations of this book are that all topics will be Chicago, kranky and its bands, and indie in the anglophone world, pretty gridlocked to a period around 1993-2002 (unless the discussion of the Amerindie indie-major boom of the late 80s requires stepping a little out); beside this, I'd say the main topics are Labradford, each kranky release, the music industry in general, and Chicago as a music city. I feel wonderfully served on each topic, now, honestly. You end up hearing a whole hell of a lot about Labradford and Tortoise; good. The information he can provide about the inspirations and processes in each kranky artist's work are sometimes limited to what one could've guessed, found in another interview, or already understood about the industry and working habits of rock musicians; key exceptions in my reading were Labradford again, Jessamine, Bowery Electric, and Stars of the Lid; in my position as StotL lover I will say I basically already knew what's told here, unfortunately (I would read a book by either of Brian or Adam W.). Something that comes across really wonderfully are kranky's engagements with godspeed you. I know it was written on the tin, but I'm still sad this book doesn't get as far as kranky's engagements with Tim Hecker, Grouper, or Stars of the Lid in their making of Their Refinement of the Decline.
- Captured Character / Premodernism: Let's call it a D. Well, this is what suffers. The book is a very plain, mature, material treatment of its matter, and I think it can be somewhat dispelling of the spells it's written about, like the wonderful kranky merch website - when that existed - replete with little gray-on-black statements of backhanded wisdom / dour optimism. But capturing character and premodernism is, well, not [i]good[/i] in any ethical sense I subscribe to, it's only interesting; You're with Stupid, was, instead, true, and it truly covered someone who had two jobs throughout the period covered.
I love this label and the sound of tape delay rigs feedbacking. Consider the book to be footnotes to these things; reading helped me know where and why I'm standing.
To the side of whatever points I can be considered to have made: his one mention of emo is pretty quaint. "Cap'n Jazz was a popular band pointed to as originators of the 'emo' genre of tuneful punk." I don't know what kind of madperson has called Cap'n Jazz one of the origins of emo, but 'tuneful punk' is pretty good (better than 'jazzy post-hardcore' I've seen elsewhere), and he does better than the music journalists of the late-90's in immediately clarifying that Joan of Arc 'move past that genre'.
October 31, 2022
A terse (in a good way), yet fascinating read dealing with ‘90s-era Chicago and the music scene therein. Was interesting to read about the inner workings of labels during that period, especially as someone who was was just as likely to buy something based on the label name as they were the band. Recommended.
January 18, 2023
Adams captures both a moment in time and a city scene's emergence on two distinctly different fronts without irony, sarcasm, or snobbery. Adam's kranky is framed within the whole of the Chicago in which it was founded and nourished, and how it both embraced its city and also sheirked it.
What's truly engaging is how Adams tells these stories in parallel, speaking to the rise of Chicago during the alternative heyday via short tales of Urge Overkill, Liz Phair, Smashing Pumpkins, and others, while also speaking to Chicago indie stalwarts such as Touch & Go, Thrill Jockey, and Drag City. This is all presented as a way to differentiate kranky without doing an apples to apples comparison, but rather to establish why Bruce and Joel made their musical and aesthetical choices. It's buoyed by what we now know were the earliest signs of a recording and touring industry beginning to tear itself apart as major labels chased the last big fad cash-in and how indie labels were wise to stay their course, even if it meant higher hurdles and smaller returns in the short term.
I joked via social media that University of Texas press should have asked Adams to include a disclaimer at the beginning of the book about the amount of time and (potentially) money one might spend when reading You're with Stupid because Adams does a keen job of interweaving specific releases, labels, and bands that coincide with the first wave of kranky artists that firmly established the label (right now I am awaiting a copy of Harmony of the Spheres and have a few other releases I'm keeping an eye on from that era). But the reason is not to revisit the past, but view the signposts & historical markers of where the music industry is at and where it came from to get to this point. kranky never intentionally positioned itself as the end-all-be-all guidance of how to sustain, reinvent, and entertain over the course of changing tastes and tides, but You're with Stupid subconsciously demonstrates that's exactly what happened.
What's truly engaging is how Adams tells these stories in parallel, speaking to the rise of Chicago during the alternative heyday via short tales of Urge Overkill, Liz Phair, Smashing Pumpkins, and others, while also speaking to Chicago indie stalwarts such as Touch & Go, Thrill Jockey, and Drag City. This is all presented as a way to differentiate kranky without doing an apples to apples comparison, but rather to establish why Bruce and Joel made their musical and aesthetical choices. It's buoyed by what we now know were the earliest signs of a recording and touring industry beginning to tear itself apart as major labels chased the last big fad cash-in and how indie labels were wise to stay their course, even if it meant higher hurdles and smaller returns in the short term.
I joked via social media that University of Texas press should have asked Adams to include a disclaimer at the beginning of the book about the amount of time and (potentially) money one might spend when reading You're with Stupid because Adams does a keen job of interweaving specific releases, labels, and bands that coincide with the first wave of kranky artists that firmly established the label (right now I am awaiting a copy of Harmony of the Spheres and have a few other releases I'm keeping an eye on from that era). But the reason is not to revisit the past, but view the signposts & historical markers of where the music industry is at and where it came from to get to this point. kranky never intentionally positioned itself as the end-all-be-all guidance of how to sustain, reinvent, and entertain over the course of changing tastes and tides, but You're with Stupid subconsciously demonstrates that's exactly what happened.
January 18, 2024
40% was great for someone with Chicago ties to learn about the historical music scene, what the industry looks like more broadly, and learn about some new acts. The other 60%….sir we do not need a list of every single individual you’ve worked with over the last four decades
February 4, 2024
It's been a long time since I've written a Goodreads review. This book, however, motivated me not because it was lovely and/or horrible, but because, as a Chicago native, I found the (mostly) memoir weird and interesting.
Also, the editor needs remedial training. The paragraphs swerve from one subject to another. Perhaps the author connects the swerves from one artist/label/distributor to another intuitively, but I doubt many readers link the subjects into any flow.
Also, there are some borderline hilarious mistakes. Yankee Foxtrot Motel? Really? Inside joke? How did that happen?
On page one (!) the author writes "Joel took us on a short drive to Irving Park Road by Lincoln Park High School." Huh? Lincoln Park High School is miles away from Irving Park Road. Do you mean Lake View High School at Ashland and Irving? I know you're not originally from Chicago (meow) but...page one? I take no joy in pointing out these geographic/musical errors, but hey, if you're claiming deep knowledge of a city, at least, you know, make sure you've tightened your shit.
(I realize I am leaving myself open to criticism if I make even a minor typo in this review....yolo, as the kids used to say.)
I moved to Wisconsin in 1997 so I missed most of the scene Mr. Adams describes. I'm like a friend of a friend of that era. I'm sad I missed it. I didn't connect Labradford and Stars of the Lid to Chicago, other than kranky, until I read this book. I remember the Nervous Center (the Syskas were WZRD djs, as I was, but primarily before their arrival in the basement), the intimidating Ken Vandermark (man, did the ladies love Mr. Vandermark), etc., but parking in Wicker Park was prohibitive to hanging out other than the occasional Dreamerz gig, and I was getting too old to stay out until 3AM before teaching middle school. So I'm grateful Mr. Adams illuminates, with an almost OCD-ish dedication, the scene's nuances. He's especially strong when he's outlining the intersections between the labels, artists, and other entities inherent in the music business. I don't know shit about record distribution, and the back office of rock and roll, if you will, doesn't often show up in books. So that was cool. He missteps when he loosely claims the scene might have inspired the reality show The Deadliest Catch. Dude, you make an excellent case as to why the scene was so important to experimental/ambient/whatever music. You don't have to go that hard with its influence.
Am I quibbling? Yeah. Maybe the book's not substantial enough for 260 pages, but I liked it anyway, and I'm glad the book exists. Thanks, Mr. Adams. No really. I liked your book. And as a Chicago native who just missed this era, I'm sure you understand why the little things frustrated me. They're like the one bad track on an album Pitchfork gave a 7.5. So...good job, sir. You are not damned by faint praise; let my praise shine clear as day.
Also, the editor needs remedial training. The paragraphs swerve from one subject to another. Perhaps the author connects the swerves from one artist/label/distributor to another intuitively, but I doubt many readers link the subjects into any flow.
Also, there are some borderline hilarious mistakes. Yankee Foxtrot Motel? Really? Inside joke? How did that happen?
On page one (!) the author writes "Joel took us on a short drive to Irving Park Road by Lincoln Park High School." Huh? Lincoln Park High School is miles away from Irving Park Road. Do you mean Lake View High School at Ashland and Irving? I know you're not originally from Chicago (meow) but...page one? I take no joy in pointing out these geographic/musical errors, but hey, if you're claiming deep knowledge of a city, at least, you know, make sure you've tightened your shit.
(I realize I am leaving myself open to criticism if I make even a minor typo in this review....yolo, as the kids used to say.)
I moved to Wisconsin in 1997 so I missed most of the scene Mr. Adams describes. I'm like a friend of a friend of that era. I'm sad I missed it. I didn't connect Labradford and Stars of the Lid to Chicago, other than kranky, until I read this book. I remember the Nervous Center (the Syskas were WZRD djs, as I was, but primarily before their arrival in the basement), the intimidating Ken Vandermark (man, did the ladies love Mr. Vandermark), etc., but parking in Wicker Park was prohibitive to hanging out other than the occasional Dreamerz gig, and I was getting too old to stay out until 3AM before teaching middle school. So I'm grateful Mr. Adams illuminates, with an almost OCD-ish dedication, the scene's nuances. He's especially strong when he's outlining the intersections between the labels, artists, and other entities inherent in the music business. I don't know shit about record distribution, and the back office of rock and roll, if you will, doesn't often show up in books. So that was cool. He missteps when he loosely claims the scene might have inspired the reality show The Deadliest Catch. Dude, you make an excellent case as to why the scene was so important to experimental/ambient/whatever music. You don't have to go that hard with its influence.
Am I quibbling? Yeah. Maybe the book's not substantial enough for 260 pages, but I liked it anyway, and I'm glad the book exists. Thanks, Mr. Adams. No really. I liked your book. And as a Chicago native who just missed this era, I'm sure you understand why the little things frustrated me. They're like the one bad track on an album Pitchfork gave a 7.5. So...good job, sir. You are not damned by faint praise; let my praise shine clear as day.
June 12, 2023
Indie rock boomed in Chicago, because it had something Seatle and Minneapolis didn't, distribution and infrastructuer to support the burgeoning scene (p.12). Adams documents the gilded age of that indie scene, starting as a Touch and Go employee and then distributing some of heralded 90s arts Low, Godspeeed You Black Emperor, and Labraford through the company "Kranky". On streetcorners I know all to well, Adams describes a scene of cross-pollination between labels (thrill jockey, atavastic, touch and go), and creative collaborations that happened organicaly between the file-sharing era.
As a Chicagoan, I grealty appreciated the look at how our city planned a role in the indie art scene of the 90s. The venues, many long gone, such as the Lounge Ax or The Exit, are given due providing scaffolding to the scene. Radical fusions of rock, jazz and ambient took with artists like Tortoise, Ken Vandermark and Stereolab (a French act with Chicago ties). Attention is given to the mainstream crossover chicago acts such as Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair, Urge Overkill and Wilco, but they never account for the whole story .
When you look at Adams story of catching buses on Western to the Empty Bottle, or DJing on a weeknight, you can feel the pulsing joy of someone living life in their prime. Celebrating the creative life of consuming and contributing toward music, I found myself swept up with with the romantic notions of art and community. For anyone who has ever found an obession with music or a special pocket of interest, you'll absolutely understand that feeling of trying to catch the sonic trails of an artist.
At times Adams highlights moments outside the scene, and provided a window instead of a mirror. Chicago remains stratified by race and economic class. Southside's hip-hop and house scene remained largly unintegrated. My hope is that some of the larger music festivals such as the annual pitchfork fest have helped to introduce artists to the Southside artists like RP Boo, Chance the Rapper, BJ the Chicago Kid. Additionally, the file-sharing and ipods shuffled and reconstructed our playlists. It's telling this creative story fades out around 2002/2003. I would suspect the regioanlity of music would fade out here too, but am curious how this wider influx of influences impacted our city.
Great book. Highly recommend for the Chicago music goer, the first generation Pitchfork reader or anyone interested in creative communties.
As a Chicagoan, I grealty appreciated the look at how our city planned a role in the indie art scene of the 90s. The venues, many long gone, such as the Lounge Ax or The Exit, are given due providing scaffolding to the scene. Radical fusions of rock, jazz and ambient took with artists like Tortoise, Ken Vandermark and Stereolab (a French act with Chicago ties). Attention is given to the mainstream crossover chicago acts such as Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair, Urge Overkill and Wilco, but they never account for the whole story .
When you look at Adams story of catching buses on Western to the Empty Bottle, or DJing on a weeknight, you can feel the pulsing joy of someone living life in their prime. Celebrating the creative life of consuming and contributing toward music, I found myself swept up with with the romantic notions of art and community. For anyone who has ever found an obession with music or a special pocket of interest, you'll absolutely understand that feeling of trying to catch the sonic trails of an artist.
At times Adams highlights moments outside the scene, and provided a window instead of a mirror. Chicago remains stratified by race and economic class. Southside's hip-hop and house scene remained largly unintegrated. My hope is that some of the larger music festivals such as the annual pitchfork fest have helped to introduce artists to the Southside artists like RP Boo, Chance the Rapper, BJ the Chicago Kid. Additionally, the file-sharing and ipods shuffled and reconstructed our playlists. It's telling this creative story fades out around 2002/2003. I would suspect the regioanlity of music would fade out here too, but am curious how this wider influx of influences impacted our city.
Great book. Highly recommend for the Chicago music goer, the first generation Pitchfork reader or anyone interested in creative communties.
May 4, 2024
This book shows how special the experimental music scene in Chicago was in the 90s and 00’s (it still is). Independent rock flourished everywhere in the 90s, but Chicago was largely defined by the blending of influences and players from non-rock traditions, especially free jazz, avant-garde classical, and ambient music, producing the widely-disliked and awkward term, “post-rock.”
Adams provides insight into some of the many ingredients that contributed to this special midwestern brew. A lack of careerism among artists, a freedom gained by distance from the music industry centers of NYC and LA, proximity to the biggest international airport facilitating importing and exporting of records, relatively inexpensive housing for underground musicians…the list goes on.
You didn’t have to be there to enjoy this read (I was there for the tail end). Objectively, this book isn’t the best-written. It isn’t particularly well-organized, and most chapters feature the author sharing random bits of information about the scene: neighborhoods, labels, venues, relationships…The lack of organization didn’t bother me, as I was happy to revel in the details, no matter what their order. The book should give us locals pride for what we’ve collectively contributed to, even if you’re like me, having contributed only modestly, as a fanatic show-goer, record-buyer, and band-sharer.
Adams provides insight into some of the many ingredients that contributed to this special midwestern brew. A lack of careerism among artists, a freedom gained by distance from the music industry centers of NYC and LA, proximity to the biggest international airport facilitating importing and exporting of records, relatively inexpensive housing for underground musicians…the list goes on.
You didn’t have to be there to enjoy this read (I was there for the tail end). Objectively, this book isn’t the best-written. It isn’t particularly well-organized, and most chapters feature the author sharing random bits of information about the scene: neighborhoods, labels, venues, relationships…The lack of organization didn’t bother me, as I was happy to revel in the details, no matter what their order. The book should give us locals pride for what we’ve collectively contributed to, even if you’re like me, having contributed only modestly, as a fanatic show-goer, record-buyer, and band-sharer.
December 10, 2022
La storia di kranky records raccontata dal suo co-fondatore, ma anche la storia di come kranky ha cambiato e rivoluzionata molta musica indipendente, e di come l’ha fatto nell’unica città in cui poteva farlo, la Chicago degli anni ‘90 che dialogava con il meglio di quanto la musica indipendente aveva da offrire, da FSA agli Stereolab. Un libro fondamentale per capire come gli anni ‘90 siano stati il periodo in cui si sono consumate le rivoluzioni musicali più importanti.
January 1, 2024
For fans of the label/ genre/ city of Chicago only. It reads like a grocery store shopping list, names flying past in a blur. If you’re one of the fans of the above, those names will produce smiles and exclamation points (or in godspeed’s case, you can even watch the exclamation point literally move in the text). If you’re not a fan, this is not a good starting point. It preaches to the converted but is a good, detailed roadmap of a really interesting period and place in music history.
May 12, 2024
I’m not exactly sure WHO this book is for. It should be me - I was a college/community radio station dj in the 90s and then a zine maker and alt/weekly writer. So I know a lot of these bands. But basically it’s just a list of the bands who were big and small in Chicago in the 90s. Not a lot about how Kranky Records made its way.
I read maybe a third and then skimmed the rest and it was kind of a nice walk down memory lane and kinda a waste of time.
I read maybe a third and then skimmed the rest and it was kind of a nice walk down memory lane and kinda a waste of time.
March 12, 2023
The level of jealousy I felt reading this account of the fertile, mostly pre-internet independent music industry of the 1990s in and around Chicago turned me into one of those YouTube commenters who post on like, Led Zeppelin songs “I’m 12 years old and was born in the wrong generation, this is real music”
June 27, 2023
Strangely unfocused (even within a paragraph) for a book with such a specific subject. Also “Yankee Foxtrot Motel”??? Come on. Weak weak book on some great music
March 31, 2024
wish i liked this more than i did, but there were two major factors that lead to me be like "whatever" about this:
a) while the book is structured by year, it feels like he threw a bunch of random write-ups together and it jumps all over the place. there are some releases he brings up early on, won't mention again for a few sections and expects you to remember everything that was said previously
b) this could had benefited greatly if a copy editor had gone over this
glad that i read it, as i am fan of the kranky label and the releases that have come from it, but doubt i ever will again (at least the cover design for it kicks ass)
a) while the book is structured by year, it feels like he threw a bunch of random write-ups together and it jumps all over the place. there are some releases he brings up early on, won't mention again for a few sections and expects you to remember everything that was said previously
b) this could had benefited greatly if a copy editor had gone over this
glad that i read it, as i am fan of the kranky label and the releases that have come from it, but doubt i ever will again (at least the cover design for it kicks ass)
April 25, 2024
Really focused around Labradford, a little dry at parts but ultimately provided some really interesting first-hand accounts of the scene.
June 15, 2025
inshallah i am reincarnated as a chicago resident circa 1994
May 6, 2023
A great read for fans of post/space/outsider-rock, particularly fans of 90's independent music culture, the Chicago scene or involved with the music industry.
The writing can be a bit haphazard with consecutive paragraphs having no content or thread in common, but it's all of interest to those who are interested in this music or scene.
It's not a particularly personal memoir, so I imagine 98% is of the population would have no idea why this book should exist, but I'm very glad it does.
The writing can be a bit haphazard with consecutive paragraphs having no content or thread in common, but it's all of interest to those who are interested in this music or scene.
It's not a particularly personal memoir, so I imagine 98% is of the population would have no idea why this book should exist, but I'm very glad it does.
March 7, 2025
I wanted so badly to like this book. I love kranky and I love so many of the artists mentioned here, but ultimately You're With Stupid doesn't tell you much you wouldn't pick up reading a few interviews online and checking out Discogs. Rather than being the ethnography of a scene or a dive into kranky's output, the book is a leaden trudge of name dropping, mixed in with an incredibly dry and tedious breakdown of international music distributorship.
Making independent music has never sounded like less fun.
Making independent music has never sounded like less fun.
December 24, 2024
Mr. Adams is a terrible writer, but I am so, so, so glad that this story has been told!
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