Best Music Writing anthology: Down to the wire for Kickstarter

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Over the past decade plus, the anthology Best Music Writing has collected some of year’s most engaging music criticism, feature writing and hard journalism, an annual compendium that treats the many kinds of music writing with equanimity, drawing from print and online sources, from tweets to posts to expanded essays, to offer a freewheeling, wide-ranging selection.

In past years series editor Daphne Carr and editors at De Capo Press have commissioned guests such as Matt Groening, Greil Marcus, Nelson George, former Times pop music critic Ann Powers, Mickey Hart, and the 2011 curator, New Yorker magazine critic Alex Ross, to curate a book’s worth of quality music writing from, among others, Times critic Mark Swed, Mary Gaitskill, Carrie Brownstein, David Remnick, Josh Kun, Jeff Weiss and others. (Disclosure: My piece on Ozomatli in Myanmar was in last year’s edition.)

For the 2012 version, which will publish in the fall, Carr and company are going the independent route and are in the final weekend of a Kickstarter campaign to finance it.

Writes Carr, who’s the author of the book ‘Pretty Hate Machine,’ a look at the making and impact of the Nine Inch Nails’ early classic album, on the Kickstarter page: ‘We promise to maintain the high level of attention to quality writing and depth of coverage to as many forms of music and music culture that the book has offered in the past, while reaching out to a global network of writers and publishers, embracing new formats, and serving 21st century readers and writers.’

The drive to finance the book ends on Jan. 31, and the Kickstarter page has more detailed information -- including instructions on nominating your favorite music writing for inclusion.

Updated Jan. 30, 7:30 a.m: The Best Music Writing campaign to take the publication independent has met its goal, and will be funded.

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-- Randall Roberts