Rob Harvilla is the host of the podcast 60 Songs That Explain the '90s and a senior staff writer at The Ringer; he's been a professional rock critic for 20-plus years with stops at the Village Voice, SPIN, Deadspin, and various other alt-weeklies that generally no longer exist. (Not his fault.) He lives with his family in Columbus, Ohio, by choice.
"[T]he threads woven between these seemingly disparate songs is one
of the book's strengths, mirroring the experience of music
discovery in those pivotal teenage years, where one song can lead
to another which can then unlock an entirely new potential
universe. . . [60 Songs That Explain the '90s] makes the reader
consider their own connection with music and invites the kind of
sharing that has helped build a community around the
production."--Matter News
"Since Rob writes every episode [of the podcast], the transition
from podcast to book is clean. But the book isn't Rob's podcast
episodes written out. Instead, he uses basic themes of the '90s --
things like the idea of selling out -- and uses them to make
unexpected connections. Rob's been one of my favorite music writers
for many years, and it's a treat to read him going full
widescreen."--Stereogum
"[I]nstructive and often poignant."--Kirkus Reviews
"A solid introduction to the music of the 1990s that will be useful
both to readers unfamiliar with the era's pop culture and to those
seeking to immerse themselves in old favorites."--Booklist
Reviews
"Harvilla debuts with a fun and freewheeling look back at the music
of the 1990s... a funny and poignant love letter to a
decade."--Publisher's Weekly
"An epic quest into the sick heart of the Nineties, the most
gloriously chaotic music era ever. In this brilliant book, Rob
Harvilla breaks down the decade's hits--grunge, rap, pop, ska, the
swing revival. But his unstoppable madman enthusiasm and cerebral
insight makes this book impossible to put down. (Even the part
about the swing revival.)"--Rob Sheffield, journalist
"Rob Harvilla is the only man whose opinions and nostalgia on the
music of the 90's I eagerly seek out. I was a teen girl in the
nineties and hit the Gladwellian 10,000 hour rule of dude's
sermonizing on Dinosaur Jr lore by the 11th grade. So that's really
saying something.
As big algorithm has flattened our collective idea of the nineties,
here Harvilla examines and revivifies all the culture shifting, the
weirdness, the glorious anthems, and what it meant to be alive and
driving around exurban Ohio in your best friends beater car taking
in the potent eroticism of Nine Inch Nails with literal virgin
ears. Rob's experiences are specific but so universal on what it
means to discover music that is YOUR OWN and fall in love with it.
He brings us into the wow and the power of music to transform us,
and break open our little worlds and connect us. This book is
phenomenally funny, and really scrapes the bowl of nineties music
nerdom. A goddamn delight from one of the most insightful critics
we've got".--Jessica Hopper, author of The First Collection of
Criticism By A Living Female Rock Critic
"As a guy who grew up in the 90s, this book is like the liner notes
to the soundtrack of my whole life. It turns out I didn't know shit
about these songs. God. I wish I thought about anything as much as
Rob Harvilla thinks about music. Rob has genuinely made me listen
to music differently. He has an ear for the tiniest little moments
that I've never even clocked. Little guitar squeaks. Little vocal
'oohs' and grunts. Tiny textures that flew past me for years, but
now give me more to listen for in songs I've already listened to
for decades. His podcast is my favorite podcast -- not just about
music, but about anything -- and this book complements and honors
it perfectly. "--Rich Sommer, actor
"Rob Harvilla has been one of the most creative and influential pop
culture writers of the past decade. And I am so happy to report
that his first book, 60 SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THE '90s, is exactly as
effervescent and weird and unpredictable as Harvilla fans were
hoping it would be. He turns ideas into excavations and sentences
into roller coaster rides. Buy this book. Don't be an idiot."
--Shea Serrano, New York Times bestselling author of The Rap Year
Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979,
Discussed, Debated, and Deconstructed
"Rob Harvilla is my kind of writer: Smart, funny, infectiously
joyous, and full of heart. Let me emphasize the 'writer' part -- if
you only know Rob from his delightful podcast, you are about to
learn that his mix of critical analysis, cultural journalism and
self-effacing Midwestern dad humor is just as entertaining on the
page as it is on 60 SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THE '90s. This book is like
that friend from high school that you don't see much anymore, but
when you do hang out it instantly feels like old times."--Steven
Hyden, author of Twilight Of The Gods
"Thankfully, Rob doesn't aim for some grand unified theory of 90s
music. Instead, his chapters blend history, personal experience,
and cultural criticism into funny, insightful riffs. What a
sellout."--Rider Strong, actor, writer, and director
"They say all biography is autobiography, and as 60 SONGS THAT
EXPLAIN THE '90s so amply demonstrates, both Rob Harvilla and '90s
popular music are provocative, poignant, self-conscious, jubilant,
rueful and, very often, funny. Straight outta the bravura school of
rock criticism, 60 SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THE '90s is partly nostalgia,
sure -- but, redeemed by encyclopedic breadth, uncanny depth and
unflinching reconsideration, it's as much about this time as it is
about that time."
--Michael Azerrad, author of The Amplified Come as You Are
"60 SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THE '90s is an increasingly rare thing: A
book about pop music that's legitimately funny. Whether or not
these songs actually 'explain' the 1990s is irrelevant, because
they inadvertently explain something far more interesting -- they
explain how songs feel to a person who can't think about life in
any other way, and who ultimately understands who they are now
through the prism of who they used to be and what they used to
like."
--Chuck Klosterman, New York Times bestselling author of The
Nineties
"Gratitude for this book, which doesn't only allow a reader to sink
into a kind of empty nostalgia, but adds a real generous weight and
context to songs, and the world they existed in. I found myself
building playlists while I read. This is an interactive, immersive
delight."--Hanif Abdurraqib, author of A Little Devil in America:
Notes in Praise of Black Performance
"I love the 90s. I grew up in the 90s. I'm protective of the 90s.
And the right person has stepped forward to lead us back into the
90s! This book is awesome. Robs podcast, and now his book, is my
new best 90s companion. A+ all the way. Must read. "--Bobby Bones,
host of The Bobby Bones Show
"Rob Harvilla understands how channel-surfing products of the 90s
want their info. Quick, punchy, fun, moving on to the next thing
before they even have time to think ab--. This book covers an
entire decade of pop culture through a lightning-fast journey of
deeply researched histories, funny personal asides, and often
forgotten juicy gossip. You'd never expect a chapter that opens on
Salt-N-Pepa to end on blink-182 (while touching on Bonnie Raitt,
Nine Inch Nails, and Liz Phair along the way), but somehow, it
does."--Dan Ozzi, author of SELLOUT: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy
That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994-2007)
"Somehow, Rob Harvilla brings new light to the songs and artists
that we grew up with and thought we already fully understood. Turns
out, there's so much more depth, nuance, tragedy, and humor to be
discovered. This book made me tear up about party anthems, marvel
at discarded one-hit wonders, and laugh out loud at deadly-serious
ballads. This is more than a tribute to the music that scored our
childhoods; it's an exploration of how the songs somehow mean even
more to us now. (Also: Rob's mom is right about U2)."--Elie Honig,
CNN Senior Legal Analyst and bestselling author
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