Every Song Ever: Twenty Ways to Listen in an Age of Musical Plenty

It has never been a better time to be a music consumer and Ben Ratliff's book Every Song Ever provides a fantastic listening guide, drawing connections across artists and genres. His musical selections range widely (Nick Drake, Black Sabbath, Marvin Gaye, Neil Young, Robert Johnson, The Rolling Stones, Aztec Camera, Mahler) and are intelligently organized by themes (sadness, silence, intimacy, density, virtuosity). I liked his description of heavy metal: “It’s all inverse gospel, and the code for listening to it is as complex as gospel’s.” Every chapter has a playlist so read it with Spotify or Youtube at your side.