Invisible Jukebox

by Tony Herrington (Editor)

Anthologized here are over 30 of the best Invisible Jukeboxes, the most popular feature in Britain's most challenging music magazine, The Wire. Each month a star guest is played an eclectic and provoking series of records which they are asked to identify and comment on, with no prior knowledge of what it is they will hear. The conversations that ensue are often controversial and always entertaining.

Included are Invisible Jukeboxes with: Barry Adamson, Steve Albini, Jack Bruce, Gavin Bryars, Harold Budd, John Cale, Neneh Cherry, Coldcut, Elvis Costello, Holger Czukay, Anne Dudley, Future Sound of London (FSOL), Diamanda Galas, Bruce Gilbert, Philip Glass, Goldie, Peter Hamill, Ice-T, Lydia Lunch, James MacMillan, Graham Massey, Mixmaster Morris, Alex Paterson, John Peel, Courtney Pine, Henry Rollins, Mark E. Smith, Sonic Youth, Ali Farka Toure, Paul Weller, Jah Wobble, and Robert Wyatt.

Genres: Music

250 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 1999

Reviews

[Chris Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

God, do you remember when The Wire was actually good? When it was intelligent and thoughtful and witty but also not prone to elitism and gatekeeping? Essentially the time before David Keenan turned up? Well this book is a celebration of that. It’s at turns maddening, joyous, fascinating, inspiring and deeply annoying (mostly that bloke from Future Sound of London - of course he comes from Bedford). I still enjoy this section of the magazine, when I read it, but it does seem a little like musicians and journalists mutually showing off a bit, which isn’t what this is at all. This furthers my appreciation of both the musicians being interviewed and the records being played. I’ve already bought two records discussed in it this week and inevitably buy many more. A joy

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interviews with some famous and not so famous musicians. Very good ones. They all have to recognize obscure titles. And they do very well, indeed. With Peel. 7/10