Pod People
Music Lust: Recommended Listening for Every Mood, Moment, and ReasonBy: Nic Harcourt
Sasquatch Books $16.95
The Pocket DJ: Ultragrrrl's Guide to Building the Best Music Library
By: Sarah Lewitinn
Simon Spotlight Entertainment $12.95
As day jobs go, Nic Harcourt's gig isn't bad—as host of the influential, anything-goes Morning Becomes Eclectic on Santa Monica's KCRW, his mission is to find music he loves and champion it to the public-radio-loving masses. (Then again, he claims Dido among his discoveries, so be warned.) Harcourt follows the success of Nancy Pearl's lit-themed Book Lust with this A-to-Z book of record recommendations organized around mood (driving songs, protest songs), genre (Afro-beat, Britpop) and whimsy (sister acts, bands named after cats) that perfectly complements the free-association spirit of his program. Despite some missteps among his essential 1990s discs—Talk Talk charts as frequently as all the hip-hop acts combined—Harcourt comes off as the best kind of know-it-all: friendly, passionate and wise enough not to show off too much.
Renowned for her spunky, rock-heavy DJ sets, New York party girl Sarah Lewitinn's Pocket DJ will be useful only to those who need a book to tell them "Rico Suave" qualifies as cheesy. Where Harcourt enlivens his selections with micro-history lessons, Lewitinn opts for page after page of basics-mastering, commentary-free playlists. While Pocket DJ might be useful for helping junior populate his first iPod, Lewitinn's numbing approach forgets that good taste usually means being able to explain why you like something.
