Playlisted

What went wrong with Silverchair? Why do we love Missy Higgins? How did the Veronicas break our domestic pop hoodoo? What's the secret behind the genius of The Drones? ""Playlisted"" takes the pulse of Australian rock & roll with a series of short and very sharp chapters from leading music journalist Craig Mathieson. Smart, opinionated and often controversial, each chapter launches from a single significant track on an illuminating musical journey - into an underrated album, or an overrated career. Crucial topics are covered: the growth of downloading; the death of the major label, and the industry's perennial sexism, via an eclectic array of rock stars, pop princesses, artists and frauds. To be read like an iPod on shuffle, readers might be upset with one piece, and surprised or delighted by another. There is no stolid summing up, just a rip and run through the past, present and possible future.