Major Labels: A History Of Popular Music In Seven Genres

★★★★ Kelefa Sanneh CANONGATE. £20

Entertaining, diligent survey by the New Yorker journalist.

Much is made of musicians transcending genres, but Sanneh is more interested in the strength and identity of these musical labels, and investigates how they have been formed by musicians, fans and critics. His observations are always fresh and thought-provoking, and presented with clarity and wit. A biracial son of African academics, Sanneh was drawn to punk as a teenager in the ’90s precisely because it was an alien form that he might not be expected to like, and initially thought hip-hop was too “mainstream”, although his writings on its development are enlightening. Sanneh acknowledges the essential “immaturity” of some music fans, himself included, and in the section on metal – one of his first loves – he revels in its absurdity. He also has a fascination with the misfits and outlaws of country music and delivers a particularly perceptive account of how the genre has been reviled, but adapted to changing tastes and ultimately endured. Mike Barnes