The Lost Tribes of Pop: Goths, Folkies, iPod Twits & Other Musical Stereotypes

by Tom Cox

Few things tell us more about ourselves than the music we listen to, a fact that Tom Cox has demonstrated brilliantly in his acclaimed Observer column, The Lost Tribes of Pop. Extended from that column, Cox's beautifully illustrated book presents a unique and hilarious vision of the current pop climate, via the people who really make it what it the fans. From Dave the Old School Goth and Charlie the iPod Twit, to Nancy the Rave Mom and Margot the First-time Gigger, Lost Tribes is an endlessly entertaining and curious mix of social stereotypes, in all their flawed, obsessive, identity-searching glory. Some are idiotic. There are plenty of books about people behind the music. This book is it's a book about the people in front of it. The work of a major writing talent, it's a must-have for any music fan.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 2006

Reviews

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tom Coxin "The Lost Tribes of Pop: Goths, Folkies, iPod Twits & Other Musical Stereotypes" (Portrait, 2006) esittelee parisenkymmentä erilaista ihmistyyppiä - tai oikeammin stereotypiaa, kuten kirjan alaotsikkokin mainitsee - jotka harrastavat tavalla tai toisella musiikkia. Autostereoillaan maailmaa piinaava nuorukainen, anaalinen audiofiili, läpimurtoa ikuisesti odotteleva pikkubändin jäsen ja monet muut tulevat esitellyiksi pienten fiktiivisten henkilökuvien kautta. Lempeän humoristinen irviminen hymyilyttää hetkittäin, osa hahmoista ovat kieltämättä tunnistettavia ja kuvitus on ihan kiva. Tekstit alkavat kuitenkin toistaa itseään aika nopeasti, eivätkä ole kuitenkaan niin oivaltavia, että viitsisin kirjaa omassa hyllyssäni pitempään säilyttää.

[Luana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fluffy little collection of vignettes depicting music fan stereotypes ca. 2006, which makes it more a historical document than a witty set of sociological observations. Which I... suppose is the fate of all sociological observations eventually!

Anyway it's cute bedside reading.

[NN · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I enjoyed many a happy moment with the Tom Cox's later books, this book compare as a relic from an earlier life left behind. I'm going to stick to the books from 21st Century Yokel onwards. What putting on your hiking boots can do to a writer.

[Ray Smillie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly amusing with a few stereotypes I know or used to know however, I skim read the last few tribe members as I was bored of this. Ideal reading for sitting on the bog.

[Jamie Monahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A damn fine examinations of the various profiles and personalities that crop up within the pursuit of music. It taught me a lot oabout the different ways people appreciate and live on music, both as an identity and as a profession. Quirky, but in a good way

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This grew pretty tiresome very swiftly, but all the cliches and characters/caricatures are here. For better and - mostly - worse. Well intentioned attempt at humour, but.