Album of the Week: Kurt Vile shines on the sprawling ‘(watch my moves)’
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Credit: Press / Kurt Vile
A selection of Kurt Vile’s favourite music books
In direct contrast to his surname, Kurt Vile has written songs of tremendous beauty, bringing a literary gravitas to the genre that is typically quite muscular in its direction and immediate environment. Formerly the lead guitarist of the War on Drugs, Vile is also an engaging interviewee, and when he was asked to list out some of his favourite rock books, he gave a strong selection of favourites.
His first two entries are both by Nick Tosches, which explains the innate lyricism that the writer brings to his work. Vile captures the author in a style that is deeply reverent of the genre in question. First on Vile’s list is Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock ’n’ Roll, which makes sense considering his metier, and Vile’s reasoning is sound.
“Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock ’n’ Roll goes so deep, a list of obscure country people mixed with the greats,” he says. “It starts in the ’30s, ’40s, ’50s and goes up to, I don’t know, the ’70s. It’s about how rock and roll really came out of country music.”
And then he brings up another of Tosches works: Unsung Heroes of Rock ’n’ Roll. His reasoning is similarly sound. “Unsung Heroes of Rock ’n’ Roll came out later and features people like Big Joe Turner and Amos Milburn, who wrote Down The Road A Piece which The Stones covered….This Nick Tosches, he’s smart and pretty crass at times – I can’t say enough how he’s such a great writer. I’ve read so many of his books from Dino about Dean Martin to The Nick Tosches Reader.”
Third on the list is Waylon: An Autobiography, which was co-written by Lenny Kaye, hence much of its draw and staying power. The guitarist is effusive about the book: “This is Waylon’s story in his own words through the filter of Lenny Kaye. What an amazing dude. He’s one of my favourite musicians right now. I wish I could have seen him while he was alive. Incredible guitar player and singer; badass; maniac.”
Carrie Brownstein comes in fourth place, and her entry is represented by Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl. It’s an illuminating read,” as Vile comments: “Man, I love her as a person and as a badass musician and I really love her in Portlandia on the TV. She’s a totally great actress but I lovingly call her a non-actress, you know, because she acts like herself, she’s very laid back. Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl shows how great of a writer she is. So direct and smartly done”.
And then there’s the Sonic Youth bassist, whose writing is as influential as her bass playing. The name of the book, fittingly, is Girl in a Band. “I’m going for the godmother, Kim Gordon’s book, Girl in a Band. I think that’s a very cool and unique book for Kim to write about her life. Her growing up in the 50s and in the art world, that’s my favourite part. I know Kim and it’s interesting to get a deep insight of when I didn’t know her.”
But there’s no denying that Bob Dylan stands above all these musicians, both as an artist and a person, and if there was to be any winner, it had to be the writer behind ‘Like A Rolling Stone’. And Vile clearly loves the book. “My wife got it for me for Christmas,” he says. “It goes from the beginning until the 2000s, and it’s inspiring to read the many faces and voices of Bob Dylan trying to bedazzle and confuse or sometimes be completely revealing, even if he’s going to pretend he wasn’t, you know? All those kind of things.”
Kurt Vile’s favourite books:
- Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock ’n’ Roll by Nick Tosches
- Unsung Heroes of Rock ’n’ Roll by Nick Tosches
- Waylon: An Autobiography by Waylon Jennings and Lenny Kaye
- Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein
- Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon
- Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews edited by Jonathan Cott
Maybe one day Vile will write a book that will make someone’s top six, but for now, he’s got his own setlist. And God forbid that Covid-19 turns into Covid-22, then these books will make the epidemic that bit more passable and enjoyable to sit through. Such is the way of things in life, the books and the pieces of writing are among the most impressive selection of books that a rocker of any standing could offer up. Vile? Not by his choice of rock literature, that’s for sure.
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