Wikipedia:WikiProject Alternative music/Sources
This page is designed to help project members find others who have access to a written resource, such as a book or magazine article. If you own one of these sources, feel free to add your name. If a source you own is not on the list, add it to the appropriate section.
General
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die | 2005 | Dimery, Robert | ISBN 13:9781844033928 | The book boasts that it was selected & written by "90 leading international critics". A bit of a coffee-table book, but there are many relevant albums covered in here, so just ask for a specific album if you could use an extra source. | User:CloudNine User:JD554 |
| Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991 | 2001 | Azerrad, Michael | ISBN 0-316-78753-1 | Hardcover edition, first edition | User:WesleyDodds User:Ceoil User:Chyel User:CloudNine (paperback) |
| CD International: CD World Reference Guide, Popular Music Edition, 1998 Edition | 1997 | CDI International | ISBN 1-879829-10-X | "165,212 CD titles on 302,179 discs from the USA, Germany, Great Britain, & Japan." Phonebook style listings; includes catalog numbers. Can be useful for checking release information. | User:hcethatsme |
| Rock Music Styles: A History | 2003 | Charlton, Katherine | The "Major Trends of the Eighties and Nineties" chapter (ostensibly the alternative rock chapter) is one of the less informative chapters in this rock music textbook (the gothic rock section in the chapter is pretty decent, though), but the book provides brief yet highly useful musical studies of the structure, instrumentation, and lyrics of select songs. The alt-rock songs dissected in this chapter are: "Radio Free Europe" by R.E.M., "Everyday Is Like Sunday" by Morrissey, "Wasteland" by The Mission, "Could You Be the One?" by Hüsker Dü, "Stigmata" by Ministry, and "Doll Parts" by Hole. | User:WesleyDodds | |
| Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's | 2004 | DeRogatis, Jim | ISBN 0-306-81271-1 | Reprint collection of articles by DeRogatis on bands from the alternative era, with chapters devoted to Nirvana, Hole, Pearl Jam, The Smashing Pumpkins, and British alternative rock | User:WesleyDodds User:Brandt Luke Zorn |
| Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock | 2003 | DeRogatis, Jim | ISBN 0634055488 | Nominally about psychedelic rock, but includes some stuff about some alternative artists, including My Bloody Valentine, Wilco, Radiohead, Queens of the Stone Age, some of the Elephant 6 guys, etc, etc. | User:Brandt Luke Zorn |
| International Discography of the New Wave: Volume 1982-1983 | 1982 | George, B. & DeFoe, Martha, editors | ISBN 0-7119-0050-7 | Discographies and sometimes lineups. | User:hcethatsme |
| musicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | 1999 | Graff, Gary & Durchholz, Daniel, editors | ISBN 1-57859-061-2 | Brief articles, lineups, discographies | User:hcethatsme |
| Britpop!: Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock | 2004 | Harris, John | ISBN 0-306-81367-X | Originally published in the UK as The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock | User:WesleyDodds User:Ceoil |
| The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music | 1992 | Larkin, Colin | ISBN 0-85112-579-4 | User:Michig | |
| The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time | 2005 | Levy, Joe | ISBN 1932958614 | Only during the summer (when I'm not at school) | User:Teemu08 |
| Please Kill Me:The Uncensored Oral History of Punk | 1996 | McNeil,Legs McCain, Gillian |
ISBN 0-8021-4264-8 | Focused on punk, but might be handy. Includes a good bit on The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, MC5, and The New York Dolls. | User:Maxcap |
| Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984 | 2005 | Reynolds, Simon | ISBN 978-0571215690 | Available in paperback. The US version is abridged. | User:Folkor |
| Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984 | 2006 | Reynolds, Simon | ISBN 0-14-303672-6 | US paperback version. Shorter by over a hundred pages, and obviously focuses on post-punk, but includes a highly useful Afterword that discusses the emergence of alternative rock and compares it with post-punk. | User:WesleyDodds User:Maxcap |
| Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984 | 2005 | Reynolds, Simon | ISBN 978-0-571-21570-6 | Available in paperback. UK version. | User:Michig User:JD554 |
| The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock [fifth edition] | 1997 | Robbins, Ira A. | ISBN 0-684-81437-4 | User:hcethatsme | |
| The Trouser Press Record Guide: fourth edition | 1991 | Robbins, Ira A. | ISBN 0-02-036361-3 | User:hcethatsme | |
| We Owe You Nothing, Punk Planet : The Collected Interviews | 2001 | Sinker, Daniel | ISBN 1888451149 | User:Sven_loreburg | |
| The Great Alternative and Indie Discography | 1999 | Strong, Martin C. | ISBN 0 86241 913 1 | The best source for discographies. Also potted biographies. Far more reliable than similar works. | User:Michig |
| The Great Rock Discography 6th edn. | 2002 | Strong, Martin C. | ISBN 1 84195 312 1 | User:Michig | |
| Guitar World Presents: Alternative Rock | 1999 | Various | Reprint collection of Guitar World articles on alternative and punk rock. Features sections devoted to grunge and industrial (as well as punk and hardcore) and is filled assorted interviews and profiles. | User:WesleyDodds | |
| Spin: 20 Years of Alternative Music | 2005 | Various | Articles by various writers on major artists and movements in music from 1985 to 2005, accompanied by excerpts from old Spin articles. Title's a bit of a misnomer since the book also covers hip-hop, heavy metal, electronic music, and pop, but there's still a chapter for almost every major alternative rock artist from that timeframe. | User:WesleyDodds | |
| British Hit Singles & Albums | 2006 | David Roberts (ed.) | ISBN 1-904994-10-5 | All UK chart positions for the Top 75 singles and albums from 1952 to 2005 inclusive | User:JD554 |
Bands
Bauhaus
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Entries: Bauhaus and Beyond | 1994 | Shirley, Ian | Also covers solo careers and side projects (Love and Rockets, Tones on Tail, etc.) | User:WesleyDodds |
Belle and Sebastian
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belle & Sebastian: Just a Modern Rock Story | 2005 | ISBN 0312341377 | Whitelaw, Paul | User:Brandt Luke Zorn |
The Cure
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Never Enough: The Story of The Cure | 2005 | Apter, Jeff | ISBN 1-8444-9827-1 | User:WesleyDodds |
Echo & the Bunnymen
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turquoise Days: The Weird World of Echo & the Bunnymen | 2002 | Adams, Chris | ISBN 1-887128-89-1 | Background of the band and all their releases up to and including 2001's Flowers. | User:JD554 |
The Fall
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A user's guide to The Fall | 2003 | Dave Thompson | ISBN 1-9909-2457-9 | User:Ceoil | |
| Paintwork: A Portrait of The Fall | 1989 | Brian Edge | ISBN 0-7119-1740-X | User:Ceoil |
Flaming Lips
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staring at Sound:The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips | 2006 | DeRogatis, Jim | ISBN 0-7679-2140-2 | User:Maxcap User:Brandt Luke Zorn |
Green Day
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nobody Likes You: Inside the Turbulent Life, Times, and Music of Green Day | 2006 | Spitz, Marc | ISBN 1-4013-0274-2 | User:WesleyDodds |
Guided by Voices
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bee Thousand 33⅓ | 2006 | Woodworth, Marc | ISBN 978-0-8264-1748-0 | User:Brandt Luke Zorn | |
| Guided by Voices: Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock and Roll | 2005 | Greer, James | ISBN 0-8021-7013-7 | User:Brandt Luke Zorn |
Jane's Addiction
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whores: An Oral Biography of Perry Farrell and Jane's Addiction | 2005 | Mullen, Brendan | ISBN 0-306-81347-5 | User:CloudNine User:WesleyDodds |
Joy Division
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Touching from a Distance | 2005 | Curtis, Deborah | ISBN 0571224814 | Ian Curtis biography by his wife. | User:JD554 |
Minutemen
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Double Nickels on the Dime 33⅓ | 2007 | Fournier, Michael T. | ISBN 978-0-8264-2787-8 | User:CloudNine |
My Bloody Valentine
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loveless 33⅓ | 2007 | McGonigal, Mike | ISBN 978-0-8264-1548-6 | User:WesleyDodds |
Neutral Milk Hotel
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In the Aeroplane Over the Sea 33⅓ | 2005 | Cooper, Kim | ISBN 0-8264-1690-X | User:Surachit User:Brandt Luke Zorn |
Nirvana
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana | 1993 | Azerrad, Michael | ISBN 0-385-47199-8 | Rerelease version with bonus chapter dealing with Cobain's death. | User:WesleyDodds |
| Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song | 1996 | Crisafulli, Chuck | ISBN 0-684-83356-5 | User:WesleyDodds | |
| Heavier Than Heaven | 2001 | Cross, Charles R. | ISBN 0-7868-6505-9 | User:Brandt Luke Zorn | |
| In Utero 33⅓ | 2006 | Gaar, Gillian G. | ISBN 978-0-8264-1776-3 | User:Brandt Luke Zorn | |
| Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! | 1994 | Kerslake, Kevin | (DVD) | User:Brandt Luke Zorn User:WesleyDodds | |
| Nirvana: MTV Unplugged in New York | 2007 | McCarthy, Beth | (DVD) | User:WesleyDodds | |
| Kurt Cobain | 1996 | Sandford, Christopher | ISBN 0-786-70394-6 | ||
| Classic Albums—Nirvana: Nevermind | 2004 | (DVD) | User:WesleyDodds |
Oasis
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don't Look Back in Anger | 1998 | Hutton, Chris | ISBN 0-6710-1567-2 | User:Surachit | |
| Definitely Maybe | 2004 | (DVD) | Tenth anniversary CD/DVD combo release, with documentary about the making of the album | User:WesleyDodds |
Pavement
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect Sound Forever | 2003 | Jovanovic, Rob | ISBN 1-932112-07-3 | User:Brandt Luke Zorn | |
| Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition | 2006 | Contains a 64-page booklet with essays from people involved with the album's recording. | User:Brandt Luke Zorn |
Pixies
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doolittle 33⅓ | 2006 | Sisario, Ben | ISBN 0-8264-1774-4 | User:CloudNine | |
| Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies | 2005 | Frank, Josh; Ganz, Caryn | ISBN 0-7535-1023-5 | User:CloudNine |
Radiohead
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exit Music: The Radiohead Story | 2000 | Randall, Mac | ISBN 0-385-33393-5 | ||
| OK Computer 33⅓ | 2004 | Griffiths, Dai | ISBN 0826416632 | User:Folkor |
Red Hot Chili Peppers
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scar Tissue | 2004 | Kiedis, Anthony and Sloman, Larry | ISBN 1-4013-0101-0 | Kiedis' autobiography | User:NSR77 User:T. Moitie |
R.E.M.
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R.E.M.: Fiction: An Alternative Biography | 2003 | Buckley, David | Closest thing to an official biography. Features extensive interviews with Peter Buck and Mike Mills. | User:WesleyDodds | |
| It Crawled From the South: An R.E.M. Companion | 1997 | Gray, Marcus | Second edition | User:WesleyDodds | |
| Murmur 33⅓ | Niimi, J | User:WesleyDodds | |||
| The R.E.M. Companion: Two Decades of Commentary | 1998 | Platt, John | Collection of news articles and interviews. | User:WesleyDodds |
Siouxsie & the Banshees
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Siouxsie & the Banshees: The Authorised Biography | 2003 | Paytress, Mark | User:WesleyDodds |
Supergrass
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supergrass: The Illustrated Story | 1996 | Everett, True | ISBN 0-600-589-773 | User:TwentiethApril1986 | |
| "Supergrass" | 1996 | Holorny, Linda | ISBN 0-7119-5497-6 | " | |
| The Night Shines Like Fireflies: A Portrait of "Supergrass" in Berlin | 2007 | Allum, Greg | ISBN 0-954-670-922 | " |
The Replacements
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting | 2007 | Walsh, Jim | ISBN 978-0-7603-3062-3 | User:CloudNine |
The Stone Roses
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Stone Roses 33⅓ | Green, Alex | User:WesleyDodds | |||
| Stone Roses--"Talking": Stone Roses in Their Own Words | 2003 | Chapman, Brian | User:WesleyDodds |
Wilco
| Title | Year | Author | ISBN | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco | 2002 | Jones, Sam | (DVD) | User:Teemu08 | |
| Wilco: Learning How to Die | 2005 | Kot, Greg | ISBN 0767915585 | Also extensively covers Uncle Tupelo | User:Teemu08 |
Magazines
Alternative Press
| Issue | Year | Month | Features | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #224 | 2007 | March | Taste of Chaos | Interviews with The Used, 30 Seconds to Mars, Senses Fail, Bayside, and Saosin. | User:CattleGirl |
Billboard
| Issue | Year | Month | Features | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | Billboard | I have access to all of the Billboard album, singles, and video charts online from approx 1984 through 2007. | User:Teemu08 |
Mojo
| Issue | Year | Month | Features | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #102 | 2002 | May | The Stone Roses, Wilco, Bright Eyes and Desaparecidos | Cover feature is a comprehensive oral history of The Stone Roses by all four band members. | User:WesleyDodds |
| #116 | 2003 | July | R.E.M., Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Richard Hawley | Cover feature is about the recording of R.E.M.'s Around the Sun before it was even named; for some reason the interview segues into a retrospective of Fables of the Reconstruction halfway through. Also features a brief overview of every R.E.M. album with comments from the band. | User:WesleyDodds |
| Vol. 1, #13 | 2006 | Mojo Classic: Morrissey & The Story of Manchester | Special edition. Covers the Manchester rock scene from punk to now. Relevant alt-rock topics include The Smiths and Morrissey, New Order, the Madchester scene, and Oasis. | User:WesleyDodds | |
| #168 | 2007 | November | Liam Gallagher, The Coral | User:WesleyDodds | |
| #177 | 2008 | August | Twentieth anniversary of Sub Pop, Mudhoney, Sigur Rós | User:WesleyDodds |
NME
| Issue | Year | Month | Features | Comments] | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vol. 1, #17 | 2004 | NME Originals: Goth | Reprint collection of articles, interviews, and reviews about gothic rock from the late 1970s to 1992, focusing on The Cure, Siouxsie & the Banshees, and The Sisters of Mercy. | User:WesleyDodds User:JD554 | |
| Vol. 2, #4 | 2005 | NME Originals: Britpop | Reprint collection of articles, interviews, and reviews about Britpop from 1991 to 1998, focusing on Oasis, Blur, and Pulp. | User:WesleyDodds |
Q
| Issue | Year | Month | Features | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #085 | 1993 | October | Heroin, paranoia, hatred, death... Things are looking up for Nirvana (exclusive interview) | It is a regular issue featuring Nirvana on the cover (and a lot of interesting stuff). | User:Dr. Who |
| # | 2004 | May | The Inside Story: The Smiths and Morrissey | Special edition. Collected interviews, reviews and musings, 1983-2004. | User:Ceoil |
| # | 2005 | December | The Story of Grunge | Special edition. Covers the Seattle grunge scene, focusing on Nirvana | User:CloudNine |
| #250 | 2007 | May | Amy Winehouse | Large "reveal all" article about Amy Winehouse. Interview with Johnny Borrell. Story of The Smiths demise. | User:T. Moitie |
| #251 | 2007 | June | Be Here Now | Feature article on the tenth anniversary of the release of Be Here Now. Interview with Tom Chaplin of Keane. Kaiser Chiefs article. | User:WesleyDodds |
| #261 | 2008 | April | R.E.M. | Feature article to coincide with the release of R.E.M.'s Accelerate. Interview with Gogol Bordello. "The Complete Radiohead" feature covering the band's entire discography. | User:WesleyDodds |
| #263 | 2008 | June | Summer tour guide | Several Q&As with the likes of Foo Fighters, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, and Billy Bragg. History of Madchester feature. Interview with Nick Cave. | User:WesleyDodds |
Rolling Stone
| Issue | Year | Month | Features | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1041 | 2007 | December | Feist, The Hives | User:Brandt Luke Zorn | |
| 1042/1043 | 2008 | January | Year end double issue, with lists of RS's favorite songs and albums from the year. | User:Brandt Luke Zorn | |
| 1045 | 2008 | February | The front reads: "THE FUTURE BELONGS TO RADIOHEAD". Also a Cat Power interview | User:Brandt Luke Zorn | |
| 1046 | 2008 | February | Stephen Malkmus, Beck on Odelay, and some information on the Juno soundtrack. | User:Brandt Luke Zorn |
Spin
| Issue | Year | Month | Features | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | November | Green Day, The Killers, freak folk | User:WesleyDodds | ||
| 2004 | December | U2, Gwen Stefani, noise rock, Elliott Smith | User:WesleyDodds | ||
| 2005 | January | The Year in Music 2004 | User:WesleyDodds | ||
| 2005 | February | The Killers, Bright Eyes | User:WesleyDodds | ||
| 2005 | March | 20 Years of Classic Photos, Reader's Poll | User:WesleyDodds | ||
| 2005 | April | Interpol, Guided by Voices | User:WesleyDodds | ||
| 2005 | May | Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age | User:WesleyDodds | ||
| 2005 | July | 100 Greatest Albums of the Past 20 Years | Complete list of albums can be found here. Each album has a paragraph or more written about it; albums in the top ten have often have four or more. | User:WesleyDodds | |
| 2005 | August | Foo Fighters, Billy Corgan | User:WesleyDodds | ||
| 2005 | September | Death Cab for Cutie, Franz Ferdinand, My Chemical Romance tour diary | User:WesleyDodds | ||
| 2005 | November | 20th Anniversary Interviews (Part 2) | Interview profiles with Franz Ferdinand, Robert Smith of The Cure, Gwen Stefani, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Fiona Apple, Perry Farrell, and Michael Stipe of R.E.M. | User:WesleyDodds | |
| 2005 | December | The Fiery Furnaces | User:WesleyDodds | ||
| 2008 | April | R.E.M., Kim Deal, Bradford Cox of Deerhunter | User:WesleyDodds |
Total Guitar
| Issue | Year | Month | Features | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #134 | 2005 | April | Green Day | All interviews | User:CloudNine |
| #140 | 2005 | September | Foo Fighters, Frank Black | All interviews | User:CloudNine |
| #155 | 2006 | November | My Chemical Romance, AFI, Dave Navarro, The Fratellis | Interviews with Ray Toro and Frank Iero about The Black Parade, Jade Puget of AFI, Jet, Zakk Wylde, The Fratellis and gear discussion with Padge of Bullet For My Valentine. | User:CattleGirl |
Subscription websites
Rock's Backpages
| Website | Features | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rock's Backpages | Various artists | Subscription website with archive interviews, reviews and articles from many magazines. There are gaps in the archive. | User:JD554 |