So now, ladies andX, this is sound opinions. I'm Greg Cott.

And I'm Jim Deregadis. This week we'll take a look at a topic near and dear to our hearts.

Rock Criticism. We'll talk to author Jonathan Leitham

to make the case for rock journalism as great American writing. Along the way, we'll discuss

the work of some of the very best critics in our field.

Plus, we'll review new music from Bjork and Mavis Staples. about it. I can count on you to the end.

That's all coming up on sound opinions.

You're listening to sound opinions and later in the show will review new records from two incredible women artists,

Mavis Staples and Bjork. But first we're going to talk about the art of rock criticism.

We'll start with the history, and then we'll focus in on my hero,

Lester Bangs.

Now, of course, Jim, we know that criticism's been around for centuries in many cases.

Art criticism criticism literary criticism

theater criticism for example but rock criticism is a much newer discipline

it absolutely is Greg it really didn't come into its own until the mid-60s.

Not unlike rock music itself.

It's taken a while for it to be taken as serious work,

as high culture, opposed to strictly pop culture, if you will. That's why when a new

anthology was released called Shake It Up Great American Writing on Rock and Pop from

Elvis to Jay-Z the Great American Writing Part of it, caught our attention.

Jonathan Letham's an award-winning novelist and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, and he

edited Shake It Up along with Kevin Detmar.

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