Sundry Notes of Music:
an Almost Memoir
by Ian Shane
DETAILS: Publisher: 45rpm Media Publication Date: December 26, 2023 Format: eARC Length: 248 pg. Read Date: October 27-30, 2023
What’s Sundry Notes of Music About?
Ian Shane takes a break from fiction to bring us a memoir that’s unlike most you’ve read. These began as a series of blog posts looking at his life through songs. Forty-six songs connected to forty-six stories from various parts of his life—an almost-memoir, as he puts it.
Some of the essays are tied to a particular version of a song, how a particular copy became part of his collection (or how he hunted for it), and others are because a particular episode or person became entwined with a song.
Almost everyone can relate to this book—everyone has those songs that when you hear them make you think of a particular place, person, time of life—or an old cassette tape, CD, or beat-up vinyl (maybe I should add pirate site or streaming service, too). It doesn’t take much for anyone to start listening to music and start reminiscing. Shane’s just been a bit more formal about the process than most of us and has written them down in these essays.
The Songs
I hesitate to admit this because I’m afraid I’m going to lose a lot of credibility with Shane. But I know less than a quarter of the songs from this book (at least the ones he devotes a chapter to—I know some of the others referenced).* Even worse, I disagree with him about the quality of more than one of those.
* I may know a few others if covered by another artist, or by hearing them on the radio or in the background somewhere without knowing the artist/title.
Does this matter? Not really, no. What matters is the connection and how Shane expresses it. What he says about his life and the song. This is why books like High Fidelity, Eddie and the Cruisers, Juliet, Naked, Thank You, Goodnight, The Rome of Fall, etc., etc., etc. work—because we can connect to music and music makers even when they’re fictional. We all know how it feels when we click with a song, how it can reflect and shape memories, how it can make you feel on several levels at once.
Sure, those handful of chapters involving songs (or artists) that I’m familiar with hit on another level or two. But not in a way that made things significantly different.
Also, it must be remembered—this is not a book of music criticism, as often as it may feel like it. It’s a memoir—it’s about how a song is connected to a time or event in the life of Ian Shane. So even if he made up “Supertheory of Supereverything” by Gogol Bordello (and come on…how hard would it be to believe that?), that wouldn’t particularly impact the way that chapter worked for the reader.*
* Aside from the fact that in a memoir things should be as close to true as possible while protecting privacy and allowing for fuzzy memory.
So, what did I think about Sundry Notes of Music?
I love the concept for this book—and wish I could read more like this. I think people exchanging track listings for their version (to be expanded upon by request) would make becoming friends much easier.
I also think this helps me understand shades of Shane’s novels (not just the parts that he points to in this book, either). As he’s one of those authors at the top of my list from the last few years, I particularly appreciated that—but since not enough of the world has heeded my calls to buy and read his work, I won’t expect many to see a similar appeal in this book. And as I’ve learned these last few years, you really don’t need to know much about the life or work of someone to be able to really enjoy a memoir, if the memoir is good enough. This one is.
Sure, I’d have liked another few chapters about the Tom Petty show. Do I think his estimation of The Beatles is lacking (however apt calling them the equivalent of a boy band may be)? Yes. Do I wish (primarily for his sake) that some of these chapters had ended on a “happier” note (particularly the chapters “talk tonight – oasis” and “life fades away – roy orbison”)? Sure, but’s not a comment on Shane’s writing, it’s reality rearing its head.
You can see traces of Hornby’s Songbook/31 Songs in these pages. Possibly Al Young’s Drowning in the Sea of Love (I don’t know, I hadn’t heard of it until Shane mentioned its influence). But this struck me as something more like Rob Sheffield’s Love Is a Mix Tape and Talking to Girls About Duran Duran—just involving a longer period of time. I may have grinned and chuckled more at Shane than Sheffield (those who’ve read the former will roll their eyes at me there, of course).
There are parts of this book that are very funny—some bittersweet, some tragic, some simply thoughtful. Multiple essays will hit all of those points and more. They’re all engaging in various ways. Not one track on this playlist is going to leave you looking for the skip button.
Readers of Hornby, Young, or Sheffield should appreciate this approach to memoir. Those who find this approach intriguing likely will, too. Readers of Shane’s novels will definitely find something to enjoy here. People who simply appreciate well-written memoirs/personal essays should give this a look, as well. Really, anyone who finds good writing appealing should give this a glance. Yes, I’m casting the net wide on that last sentence—that’s my point.
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