BOOK REVIEW: LOVE IS A MIX TAPE BY ROB SHEFFIELD

SPOILER FREE! (I think)

This is something a little bit different. I am aware that this is a music blog and I am aware that the thing I am reviewing is a book. However, the book is written by music journalist Rob Sheffield and it's written in a way where music features unbelievably heavily. So, I thought it might be interesting to give it a read and talk about 'Love Is A Mix Tape: A Memoir'

I haven't been particularly interested in reading ever since I started my degree (which is unfortunate because half of my degree, is in fact, English literature) and now it's coming to an end I really wanted to get into it, so I decided I was going to read a book that was to do with music as that was something I'm still passionate about. Love Is A Mix Tape was a perfect choice.

At the beginning of every chapter, there is a mix-tape of songs that remind Sheffield of the time of his life he's describing in this chapter. I can only assume that these mix-tapes are genuine playlists made at the time because some of the songs on there are pretty terrible, but that's almost what makes it. Sometimes even the most basic of songs remind you of a time in your life, and denying that you have any association with it is just kidding yourself.
All of us have different songs that we associate with times of our lives, and for Sheffield to use this as a way of splitting up moments of his life was ingenious. I made a playlist of all the songs on the mix-tapes in the novel and being able to listen to this and really get into the soundtrack of the story being told was something that really let me get into the novel, which is something I struggle to do.

The 'story' is set in the 90s, which is a decade people (I) tend to forget when it comes to music, so it was really interesting seeing the music that told the story as a lot of it was stuff I'd never heard of. I claim to be a 90s child but the reality is that I was  I know the hip-hop of the 90s, but not really any of the pre-Nirvana rock so the book has actually introduced me to bands that I never even knew existed. (Obviously, Nirvana comes into it later, you can't have a memoir about the 90s music scene without a discussion of Nirvana and Cobain's death considering it surrounded so much of the era).

The memoir itself is actually quite sad, but the way Sheffield tells the story makes it heartwarming and happy. He doesn't dwell on the sad times, but rather revels in the good times. It's a nice story about love and the way music can bring people together in a stronger way than a lot of other things. He tells a tragic love story but somehow without too much of the tragic and a hell of a lot of the love.

As an English student, a lot of the books I have to read are horrifically sad or complicated and often both, so it was nice to be able to start reading for fun with a book that was neither of those things, and being able to listen to music while reading along actually made it a lot of fun.

Sheffield has reminisced over some of the rawest moments of his life, used the music from those times to describe how it felt, and in general made a really lovely book to read. I'm really excited to read more of his informative books in the future, as he's written about the Beatles and Bowie too. He's not an author trying to make a sob story out of his hardships, he's told a heartwarming story about his life and the music that helped shaped those years. I want to thank Rob Sheffield for writing this, not just because it's so life-affirming and nice, but because it's finally got me into reading again which is an exciting premise.

It begs the question of why don't more authors do this? Music and literature are certainly not disciplines that are completely separate; the forms overlap quite distinctly. In my opinion, more authors should make soundtracks, just like movies do, to go with their novels. There's something very special about reading a book and listening to the music that goes with that era of the novel, as it allows you to be well and truly all encompassed within the book. Maybe I'll start making soundtracks for the novels I read...actually, that's not too bad of an idea.

I want to get into reading memoirs by music journalists because somehow I find them more interesting than biographies by artists themselves. I don't really want to know the story behind my favourite artists because quite frankly, their best stories are told in the music they produce and I don't really need any back story to enjoy that. However, music writers have these great stories to tell and because they are writers, they tell the story really well. They have stories about musicians that don't delve too deep in their psychie but are interesting enough to, well, be interesting. 

I've bought Sticky Fingers by Joe Hagan which is about the life of Jan Wenner (another iconic Rolling Stone writer) but if you have any more recommendations of books by music writers, let me know!

Back to Love Is A Mix-Tape: I'd highly recommend it. Even if you're only in to music and not into reading at all, it's a super easy book and if nothing else it'll make you want to document more of your life in mix-tapes (or playlists on Spotify) so you're able to relive different parts of your life by simply pressing play. Overall, it was a damn good book and I'm glad I took the time to read it.

Buy Love Is A Mix-Tape HERE

Also, Rob Sheffield still writes for Rolling Stone so check out his stuff HERE

PS: I made a playlist of all the songs featured (that I could find on Spotify). Check it out HERE.

Written by Ruby Crowhurst