Fantastic, compact set of musical-criticism essays from this Australian writer who I'm certainly keeping tabs on now. What a great holiday gift this was from a friend who I've nabbed some Record Store Day finds for when he couldn't get to a local shop for the goods. Leslie Chow makes me think about music in different ways, the layers of production, melody, instrumentation, etc. Color me gladd.

The pieces on these artists changed or enhanced my own takes on them: Janet Jackson, Kate Bush, TLC, Sade, Nicki Minaj and Azealia Banks. The essay on Chaka Khan got me in a vibe, in a mood for her stuff for the better part of two days. "Ain't nobody!"

So yes, the chosen ones lean the R&B/hip-hop route in general. Honestly, least resonant/memorable for me was the Taylor Swift chapter, which I recall now about as well as the installments on those I knew a lot less about (Chinawoman, Neneh Cherry).

No slight against Chow as that goes; I just need and want to become more versed in their stuff. And lo and behold: Fellow Swede Robyn just covered Cherry in a new remix.

Come for the extraordinary write-ups. Stay for the appendix-as-listicle: a rundown of the greatest "ooh"s in modern music. Rock on, y'all.