33 1/3 Series of books

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May have been discussed already (as M Matos prepares his own) but some of these books are out :

http://www.continuumbooks.com/series_details.cgi?sid=311

has anyone actually read one yet?

― Matt Sab (Matt Sab), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 14:39 (9 years ago) Permalink

hmm,i had heard reference to matos' sign o' the times book,but i didn't realise it was part of a series.
a few of the other books look interesting,are any of them any good?
also,are these books only published in america?

― robin (robin), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 14:57 (9 years ago) Permalink

oh,my mistake,it says on the site they'll be out in the rest of the world after april 2004

― robin (robin), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 14:58 (9 years ago) Permalink

I'm not an impartial observer, but I got the first six and they look marvelous! Like little versions of the old Penguin series--they're pocket-sized and short, perfect for reading on trips or whatever. I've polished off the ones on Village Green Preservation Society (which I still haven't heard), Harvest, and Dusty in Memphis so far; the latter is my favorite. also, I'm not the only ILxor who has one of these--I'm especially looking fwd to Douglas Wolk's book on James Brown's Live at the Apollo, and though I'm sure Chris Ott would rather not be thought of as an ILxor, he's got one on Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures also coming.

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 15:15 (9 years ago) Permalink

yeah i would be curious to read the dusty one,the mbv one,and the james brown one,as well as your own prince one

― robin (robin), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 15:47 (9 years ago) Permalink

And the ABBA one!!!

― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 15:58 (9 years ago) Permalink

I just kinda stumbled over these yesterday...picked up Joe Pernice's Meat is Murder...so far it's pretty neat....a little sappy and nostalgic.....but hey it's Meat is Murder...so it's perfect.

I like his writing...I love the album.

― ddb, Tuesday, 7 October 2003 16:03 (9 years ago) Permalink

That top link leads to a piece on the series which contains the line (A task which can be, as Elvis Costello famously observed, as tricky as dancing about architecture.)

Wasn't it Zappa who said this?

― scottjames23 (worrysome-man), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 19:07 (9 years ago) Permalink

Wasn't it Zappa who said this?

i think it's pretty well accepted that (a) both frank and elvis said this, (b) but various others (charles mingus, for example) said it way before they did, and (c) trying to figure out who exactly thought of it first is kind of like, ya know, dancing about architecture.

― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 7 October 2003 19:36 (9 years ago) Permalink

Wasn't Zappa, I think. And wasn't Laurie Anderson, either...
A multitude of musicians have gladly (or wryly) quoted it again and again, but ...Damn, I wish I remembered which ish. of Ver Vire it was exactly where I saw the original source named a coupla years ago.

Hey, when will Douglas Wolk's book be out then?

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 19:46 (9 years ago) Permalink

Um... I have to FINISH it first. But I believe I'm in the third batch.

Right now I'm writing a sequence about a bear that climbed a fence in Duluth right about the time James Brown was singing "I Don't Mind" and thereby came yay-close to starting World War III.

I can't WAIT to read Matos on Prince and Elisabeth Vincentelli on ABBA.

― Douglas (Douglas), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 20:39 (9 years ago) Permalink

Right now I'm writing a sequence about a bear that climbed a fence in Duluth right about the time James Brown was singing "I Don't Mind" and thereby came yay-close to starting World War III.

:::drool:::

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 21:20 (9 years ago) Permalink

also, you're not missing much on my end, believe me

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 21:21 (9 years ago) Permalink

Matos, are they going to revise the bio for you that's on the site? It doesn't mention your current position and says you still live in NYC.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 21:46 (9 years ago) Permalink

fuck, you're right. thanks!

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 7 October 2003 21:53 (9 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

David Barker, who edits the series, has started up a blog about it:

http://33third.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 9 April 2005 13:52 (8 years ago) Permalink

Is anyone going to write about Stevie Wonder anytime soon?

― Eric von H. (Eric H.), Saturday, 9 April 2005 14:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

has anyone read the 33 1/3 Forever Changes book? I thought it was great--an album I've listened to a million times, but the author (can't recall his name at the moment) made me hear it in an entirely new way. There were moments where I thought he might be stretching things a bit too far--like when he began a long discussion of gnosticism--but in the end he pulled it all together rather astoundingly. anyway, it's the best one of these books I've read thus far.

― tylerw, Saturday, 9 April 2005 14:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

Cool..anything which might potentially make me like that album again sounds good..

― Masked Gazza, Saturday, 9 April 2005 14:14 (8 years ago) Permalink

I bought four at once and Forever Changes is the last one I have left to read. I lost a bit of steam after reading the Village Green Preservation Society book which I thought was pretty dull. I couldn't decide whether it was the writing or just the fact that the Kinks themselves are pretty boring. I enjoyed the Piper at the Gates of Dawn book quite a bit though. I didn't think there would be anything new to say about Barrett/Floyd but he found a way to make it interesting. Anyway, thanks for reminding me that I need to pull out the Forever Changes book now.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Saturday, 9 April 2005 15:04 (8 years ago) Permalink

how many of these books talk about the music in detail and aren't just sort of glossed "making of" things?

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Saturday, 9 April 2005 15:16 (8 years ago) Permalink

ok i totally want to check out franklin bruno's book.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Saturday, 9 April 2005 15:34 (8 years ago) Permalink

I've only read Matos' book, but it certainly talks about the music in detail.

I'll probably read the Entroducing book.

― Jordan (Jordan), Saturday, 9 April 2005 16:28 (8 years ago) Permalink

None of the three I've read (Piper, Village Green, VU) go very far beyond the realm of a making-of or a band bio that's focused on a specific period. That's not to say that they weren't worthwhile or entertaining to read if you're a fan of the album in question.

I also got the feeling (primarily from the VU book) that the writers were getting their one and only chance to write about a particular passion and as a result I felt like there was this barely constrained urge to branch out beyond the scope of the single album in question. Maybe my personal expectations for this type of book were off base but I think that for example the artist's personal life should barely if at all come into play.

I might be more interested in reading one by a writer who had already done a full biography of the artist in question so that the standard gossipy stuff and most common observations would already be out of the way. Maybe then the author would be forced to focus more deeply on the music in abstract terms and not worry about some of the more mundane details. But these criticisms are all very nitpicky and I'm sure I'll be ordering another batch soon.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Sunday, 10 April 2005 00:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

ok i totally want to check out franklin bruno's book.

The Armed Forces one? That's definitely on the top of my list. I'm optimistic because it's a pretty interesting choice out of the early Costello albums so I'm guessing he'll have something unique to say. A lot of the other picks are very classic-rock-y but maybe once those are out of the way the series will get more interesting.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Sunday, 10 April 2005 00:52 (8 years ago) Permalink

Michaelangelo, I was just telling my mom your SOTT story about imitating the 'Dirty Mind' cover with your Spiderman Underoos, etc. She got a *huge* hoot out of it. (She's 65.)

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Sunday, 10 April 2005 03:07 (8 years ago) Permalink

I'm very very psyched to read Franklin's book too.

― Douglas (Douglas), Sunday, 10 April 2005 06:53 (8 years ago) Permalink

The Endtroducing one looks great. I love this:

Just out of curiosity, could you tell me what you think is the difference between turntablism and scratching?

Turntablism is the description of scratching that’s supposed to make people who don’t listen to hip-hop, sit up and go “Hmm, maybe it is real music.” Scratching, to me, is just what it is. Turntablism has this virtuosic aspect to it, and to me, that’s when things start to turn jazzy. And I’m not a huge fan of when things turn jazzy. Because when I think of jazzy, I think of Wynton Marsalis.

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 10 April 2005 08:28 (8 years ago) Permalink

i enjoyed Matos's book. Does pretty much everything: talks about each track in detail, the album in the context of the rest of Prince's discog, and relates it to his personal experiences at the time of release and thereafter. Couldn't HAVE wished for much more.

i saw Douglas's book in the shop the other day. Looked a bit dauntingly 'conceptual' on a quick flip through, what with all the headings and shit. But I'm sure it's a good read and i'll probably buy it. Anybody else read this?

― zebedee (zebedee), Sunday, 10 April 2005 13:54 (8 years ago) Permalink

Just to clarify, what I really liked is not so much the Wynton Marsalis diss. What's cool is that he actually treats "mak(ing) people who don't listen to hip-hop sit up and go 'Hmm, maybe it is real music.'" as a negative.

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 10 April 2005 16:47 (8 years ago) Permalink

Z: I did read it and it is good. A Poe short story, too: you can down it in one sitting.

I should really put together a proposal for "Return to the 36 Chambers".

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Sunday, 10 April 2005 16:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

Did anyone hear anything about the Loveless book?

― Orange, Sunday, 10 April 2005 16:56 (8 years ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

Don't know about the Loveless book, but all of these, if you were hoping, ain't happening:

Songs in the Key of Life, by Dave Hesmondhalgh
Parallel Lines, by Elisabeth Vincentelli
Three Feet High and Rising, by Brian Coleman
Tusk, by Stephin Merritt
Computer Love, by Michael Bracewell
Marquee Moon, by David Keenan
Master of Puppets, by Tom Bissell
The Basement Tapes, by Damon Krukowski

The editor/creator of the series, David Barker runs a blog about the series. Email him directly if you like:

http://33third.blogspot.com/

I finally read one of these. I think I picked a great place to start, Douglas Wolk's Live at the Apollo. It was really really good.

― Matt Sab (Matt Sab), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 15:19 (7 years ago) Permalink

Greatly enjoyed Meat Is Murder, the Joy Division one was more of a factual view but still very interesting, the Dusty one didn't work for me.

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 15:29 (7 years ago) Permalink

God, I cannot wait for the In the Aeroplane over the Sea book. The excerpt and things I've read by the author seem like she really gets it spot on.

― PB, Wednesday, 27 July 2005 15:32 (7 years ago) Permalink

why aren't those ones happening?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 15:34 (7 years ago) Permalink

i just bought the James Brown too. not started it yet.

also got the ABBA one, which i devoured in a day. twas OK, wish Ms Vincentelli had spent fewer sentences justifying (or having to justify) the book's very existence. also i'm not sure she cracked the problem of how to order the narrative, though I accept it's a toughie.

― zebedee (zebedee), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 15:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

according to the blog:

These are a few of the projects that - for various and sometimes complicated reasons - never made it to fruition. Some came very close to happening, others less so; but they all would have been fun.

― Matt Sab (Matt Sab), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 16:03 (7 years ago) Permalink

Don't know about the Loveless book, but all of these, if you were hoping, ain't happening:

Songs in the Key of Life, by Dave Hesmondhalgh

Why not?

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 16:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

For those ...

Matos' Sign O'The Times book's prince has been slashed (on Amazon at least) to $4.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0826415474/qid=1122928710/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-2999298-5726417?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

― Matt Sab (Matt Sab), Monday, 1 August 2005 19:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

5 months pass...

I'm sorry to tell you that we've chosen not to sign up your proposal for the 33 1/3 series.

This has been a difficult process: we received dozens of very strong proposals from dozens of very good writers and it's a shame to have to turn down so many of you.

If you're interested, the 33 1/3 books we eventually decided to sign up are:

"If You're Feeling Sinister" by Scott Plagenhoef

"Aja" by Don Breithaupt

"Shoot Out the Lights" by Hayden Childs

"Pretty Hate Machine" by Daphne Carr

"Use Your Illusion" by Eric Weisbard

"Horses" by Phil Shaw

"Double Nickels on the Dime" by Mike Fournier

"Pink Moon" by Amanda Petrusich

"People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm" by Shawn Taylor

"Achtung Baby" by Stephen Catanzarite

"20 Jazz Funk Greats" by Drew Daniel

"The Dreaming" by Ann Powers

"Rid of Me" by Kate Schatz

"Another Green World" by Geeta Dayal

"Songs in the Key of Life" by Zeth Lundy

"Trout Mask Replica" by Kevin Courrier

"Let's Talk About Love" by Carl Wilson

"Lucinda Williams" by Anders Smith Lindall

"69 Love Songs" by LD Beghtol

“Marquee Moon” by Peter Blauner

“Swordfishtrombones” by David Smay

― that's so taylrr (ken taylrr), Thursday, 26 January 2006 18:36 (7 years ago) Permalink

Congrats to Drew and Geeta! (Are there other ILMers on this list I don't know?)

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 26 January 2006 20:38 (7 years ago) Permalink

ann powers is actually esteban buttez

― cancer prone fat guy (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 26 January 2006 20:41 (7 years ago) Permalink

Scott P. has been around since the Greenspun days.

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 26 January 2006 20:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

i wish you could get these easily in book stores (AND NOT JUST IN THE AEROPLANE MURMUR THE SEA LIKE ROUND HERE).

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 26 January 2006 21:41 (7 years ago) Permalink

hey everybody read the frank bruno one and then try to make yrs like him cuz it is AWESOME

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 26 January 2006 21:42 (7 years ago) Permalink

i have only read 2

― cancer prone fat guy (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 26 January 2006 21:42 (7 years ago) Permalink

the franklin bruno one is not only awesome, it is superhuman. one of my fave pieces of rock criticism ever.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 26 January 2006 22:24 (7 years ago) Permalink

yeah same here

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 26 January 2006 22:26 (7 years ago) Permalink

I loved that review he wrote of that indie-boy novel, so I guess I gotta get this book.

― Redd Harvest (Ken L), Thursday, 26 January 2006 22:30 (7 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 1502 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

That's the one that intrigues me the most. Must have been a hell of a pitch.

― Bobby-fil-A (WmC), Friday, 31 August 2012 20:23 (8 months ago) Permalink

You can read the pitch for Selected Ambient Works II on Marc Weidenbaum's ambient music blog:
http://disquiet.com/2012/08/31/saw2for33third/

― MarkoP, Friday, 31 August 2012 21:33 (8 months ago) Permalink

Always thought of WK as a novelty act and hen he goes and gets a 33 1/3 volume and a Best New Reissue from P4k on the same day.

― this is the dream of avril and chad (jer.fairall), Friday, 31 August 2012 21:56 (8 months ago) Permalink

Most interesting one here is TMBG, at least in theory.

Especially by Sandifer, I'm rly excited for that one and wld like to buy and read it today

― itt: i forgot that he yells at a butt (sic), Friday, 31 August 2012 22:32 (8 months ago) Permalink

that's the 'brony bump,' you're going to be seeing a lot of that in the next few years (xpost)

― some dude, Friday, 31 August 2012 22:40 (8 months ago) Permalink

Bjork: Biophilia, by Nicola Dibben

This is gonna be a "fascinating critique of a great artist's shortcomings" type of defense, right?

― Eric H., Saturday, 1 September 2012 01:17 (8 months ago) Permalink

probably more of a "lots of non-musical/technical stuff surrounding the project to delve into" type of book

― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 01:20 (8 months ago) Permalink

would definitely feel better about them doing books about such recently released albums if there had already been 33 1/3s about earlier Bjork and Kanye records

― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 01:21 (8 months ago) Permalink

Genuinely excited about Bobbie Gentry book

― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 1 September 2012 01:25 (8 months ago) Permalink

Not sure how that Bjork album got in the list? Assuming the writer already was involved in writing about said contemporary album and was able to successfully roll it into a book.

― your native bacon (mh), Saturday, 1 September 2012 02:41 (8 months ago) Permalink

Don't know who Mike Foley is but that DKs album (and the band's whole history) definitely deserves analysis.

― 誤訳侮辱, Saturday, 1 September 2012 02:46 (8 months ago) Permalink

Not sure how that Bjork album got in the list? Assuming the writer already was involved in writing about said contemporary album and was able to successfully roll it into a book.

― your native bacon (mh), Friday, August 31, 2012 10:41 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

well people submit pretty extensive proposals, and they apparently liked that proposal

― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 10:35 (8 months ago) Permalink

i mean, given the fact that there have been some fairly lousy books about great canonical albums in the series in the past, i think offbeat picks like that are actually kind of a good sign that they're looking out for really convincing proposals that would make engaging books rather than greenlighting things because they're about canonical albums everyone loves and wants to read about

― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 10:37 (8 months ago) Permalink

I'm willing to bet the Bjork book is going to focus a ton on technology and interaction and a good deal of it will be abt the iOS app and maybe her live setup

― clijster flockhart (Stevie D(eux)), Saturday, 1 September 2012 14:58 (8 months ago) Permalink

yeah it makes sense to write about in the same way Zaireeka did

― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 15:03 (8 months ago) Permalink

offbeat picks like that are actually kind of a good sign that they're looking out for really convincing proposals that would make engaging books

It seemed like the Use Your Illusion book was only chosen because it was the non-obvious pick. It had very little of value to say about the albums, and actually talked more about Appetite for Destruction than UYI. Regardless, all these offbeat picks makes you wonder how this functions as an actual business model.

― Poliopolice, Saturday, 1 September 2012 15:46 (8 months ago) Permalink

i disagree and think UYI was one of the best books in the series so hey

― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 15:49 (8 months ago) Permalink

really? it hardly talked about the albums at all, seeking instead to talk at length about the band, their history, their fans, their disastrous concerts, their influence, and everything else except the actual albums at hand-- all which conveyed quite clearly that the author was no fan of GNR. In fact, the author states upfront that he hadn't heard the albums in 15 years, and still hadn't before writing the majority of the book. This was presented as a positive thing. When it finally got to the songs, it was presented as a fairly half-assed song-by-song analysis at the end, totaling about 10-15 pages or so.

― Poliopolice, Saturday, 1 September 2012 16:08 (8 months ago) Permalink

it hardly talked about the albums at all, seeking instead to talk at length about the band, their history, their fans, their disastrous concerts, their influence, and everything else except the actual albums at hand-- all which conveyed quite clearly that the author was no fan of GNR.

yeah this is not accurate imo

― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 16:09 (8 months ago) Permalink

Marc who is writing the Aphex one is a brilliant sound-thinker, I bet this will kick ass.

― Lewis Apparition (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 1 September 2012 16:44 (8 months ago) Permalink

yeah this is not accurate imo

oh yeah, i left out the huge personal bloglike sides that litter the book, which also have little to do with the albums. how are you gonna write a good book about an album you haven't listened to in 15 years?

― Poliopolice, Saturday, 1 September 2012 17:04 (8 months ago) Permalink

xp Use Your Illusion made sense in this series IMO because the story of their implosion is more compelling than the story of their rise and the success of Appetite.. I thought it was great.

― billstevejim, Saturday, 1 September 2012 18:54 (8 months ago) Permalink

sometimes the records that are most heralded or most popular don't always generate the best discussion... I don't think any of the album choices are "offbeat" as long as there's something worth saying about them.

― billstevejim, Saturday, 1 September 2012 19:03 (8 months ago) Permalink

Glad to see Entertainment! but what I'd really like to see - Hex Enduction Hour. Why no Fall yet?

― Silvercigarette, Sunday, 2 September 2012 18:24 (8 months ago) Permalink

Poliopolice, did you miss the part where Weisb@rd goes song by song?

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 2 September 2012 18:29 (8 months ago) Permalink

man I really feel that Rocks or Toys in the Attic (but to me Rocks is the one) ought to get one of these. Does anybody even pitch Aerosmith albums? I mean actual Aerosmith albums. We were an awesome band for about six years and we made some classic records!!

― we don't wanna miss a THING!!! (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Sunday, 2 September 2012 18:50 (8 months ago) Permalink

I wonder if those are albums that would hold up to sustained analysis, though. Sure, there'd be plenty of lurid drug stories and I-hate-your-wife-so-I-wrote-this-song-about-how-much-I-hate-your-wife psychodrama, but as far as actual detailed musical analysis, I don't know what there would be to say. The songs are killer, but they're also not particularly formally or technically innovative - they're just really good songs, played by a perfect combination of complementary musicians. Which is on the one hand all you need, but on the other hand really fucking hard to write about in a compelling way.

― 誤訳侮辱, Sunday, 2 September 2012 18:55 (8 months ago) Permalink

feel like if someone pitched an aerosmith album it'd be kind of a lol klosterpaws one about Get a Grip and have long alicia silverstone digressions, sorry to say. i'd read something that actually took 70s hard rock seriously, though.

― tylerw, Sunday, 2 September 2012 19:06 (8 months ago) Permalink

i'd read something that actually took 70s hard rock seriously, though.

Me too. Could you imagine, say, Joe Carducci doing a 33 1/3 book about Rocks?

― 誤訳侮辱, Sunday, 2 September 2012 19:10 (8 months ago) Permalink

yeah, carducci was who i was thinking of! he is really the only person i can think of who would do it, who'd be less interested in the sordid stuff and more into how the music does what it does? not sure if he likes aerosmith though.

― tylerw, Sunday, 2 September 2012 19:13 (8 months ago) Permalink

Excited about SAWII. And reading that proposal convinced me to break out "Passion," which is a great ambient record (of a sort) in its own right.

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 2 September 2012 19:33 (8 months ago) Permalink

i wanna read the new talking heads one.

― This Is... The Police (dog latin), Monday, 3 September 2012 13:25 (8 months ago) Permalink

Keeping in mind that I'm a hardcore Lethem fanboy, it's pretty awesome.

Reading Loveless right now. Very entertaining and well written, plus it seems to have some ILM connections!

― this is the dream of avril and chad (jer.fairall), Monday, 3 September 2012 14:20 (8 months ago) Permalink

I read the Tom Waits one a wee while back. Not sure what I thought of it, although it felt worthwhile at the time. The Paul's Boutique one is pretty good too.

I have If You're Feeling Sinister ready to read but I don't know if I can be fucked - is it any good?

― This Is... The Police (dog latin), Monday, 3 September 2012 15:02 (8 months ago) Permalink

"i'd read something that actually took 70s hard rock seriously, though."

you stay here, i'll be right back!

― scott seward, Monday, 3 September 2012 15:57 (8 months ago) Permalink

Poliopolice, did you miss the part where Weisb@rd goes song by song?

No, I did mention that:

the author states upfront that he hadn't heard the albums in 15 years, and still hadn't before writing the majority of the book. This was presented as a positive thing. When it finally got to [discussing] the songs, it was presented as a fairly half-assed song-by-song analysis at the end, totaling about 10-15 pages or so.

The analysis of the songs seemed very half-hearted to me. It felt like that part was only there because if he left it out, there would have been very little in the book that was specific to these albums.

As a meandering personal essay about the author's feelings on GNR, and GNR's place in the canon of music, it's a decent, if trifling book... but as an expository essay on the Use Your Illusion albums proper, I'd say it was not illuminating in the least bit, and in fact spent very little time talking about them. The Amazon reviews corroborate this.

― Poliopolice, Tuesday, 4 September 2012 16:15 (8 months ago) Permalink

Except uh he's not trying to write an expository essay of UYI so who cares.

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 4 September 2012 16:22 (8 months ago) Permalink

Then the title of the book should not be "Use Your Illusion."

― Poliopolice, Tuesday, 4 September 2012 16:34 (8 months ago) Permalink

Brr. I read the one on "Low" based on recommendations from this thread. I didn't like it that much. The historical stuff had some dynamite writing, but it was pretty strange to see "serious anecdotes" from "serious Bowie biographies" put side-by-side with sordid details from Angela Bowie's tell-all book. Admittedly, Angela's account is totally hilarious and interesting but she eats a lot of crow in that book-- the first chapter talks about Bowie's dick iirc-- so to read her account blended together with more serious interview-based stuff read to me as meta-narrative?

The track-by-track chapters were hit-and-miss for me, too. There was a paragraph about Eno/Bowie beating Burroughs and/or Stockhausen at their own game that made me frustrated and sad. Hugo's a good writer though, would read his other books.

― would smash pumpkins (Ówen P.), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 13:15 (8 months ago) Permalink

i liked the one on loveless. it was rather personal and was based a lot on interviews with the band, esp. kevin shields. i didn't realise before that loveless is almost a solo album by kevin except bilinda's singing.

― alex in mainhattan, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:36 (8 months ago) Permalink

6 months pass...

My two year old niece brought me the 20 Jazz Funk Greats book and asked "Can we play with this?"

I have no idea what she meant but I'm gonna play her some very inappropriate music tomorrow. I have a feeling I've got a very small and very cute Cosey fan here.

― kraudive, Saturday, 6 April 2013 00:51 (1 month ago) Permalink

look tasty all in a row don't they.

― piscesx, Saturday, 6 April 2013 01:08 (1 month ago) Permalink

the next one up; FLOOD by They Might Be Giants, is a bit of a surprise

― piscesx, Saturday, 6 April 2013 01:11 (1 month ago) Permalink

how so?

― Devendra Bumhat (sic), Saturday, 6 April 2013 01:13 (1 month ago) Permalink

TMBG aren't as alt/indie canon as a lot of bands of their generation that have had 33 1/3s, so it's a little surprising, mostly just nice that they're going for a cult classic that's obsessed over by a slightly different crowd.

― the drummer for gay Daddy Yankee (some dude), Saturday, 6 April 2013 01:16 (1 month ago) Permalink

oh the band themselves? yeah guess so. the album is way more beloved than many many others in the range though, so.

I just got excited when it was announced bcz I <3 Flood and I <3 Sandifer - thought it would still be ages away though, iirc was only turned in a month or so ago? hyped now.

― Devendra Bumhat (sic), Saturday, 6 April 2013 01:24 (1 month ago) Permalink

why arent those books in chromatic order

― Poliopolice, Saturday, 6 April 2013 01:42 (1 month ago) Permalink

Actually, Histoire de Melodie Nelson is next, to be released in October, followed by Flood in November and I Get Wet in January.

― MarkoP, Saturday, 6 April 2013 03:40 (1 month ago) Permalink

unhyped again

― Devendra Bumhat (sic), Saturday, 6 April 2013 03:56 (1 month ago) Permalink

I have the "Loveless", "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" and Afghan Whigs' "Gentlemen" books and enjoyed them all. Liked a lot of the contextual stuff in the Whigs book about the general events surrounding the making of the album.

― michaellambert, Saturday, 6 April 2013 19:56 (1 month ago) Permalink

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