33 1/3 Series of books

I'll probably read the Entroducing book.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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.

Songs in the Key of Life, by Dave Hesmondhalgh

Why not?

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

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

So then I guess he didn't read the 100-odd pages in which Matos discussed Prince.

DeRo is a FUCKING MORON.

Yeah, it's all info, no prose. A lot of the 33 1/3 books seem to forget how much people like that.

Someone should do Tom T. Hall's greatest hits.

seriously though, i realize the books have to sell, hence the more mainstream angle. i'm sure there are a ton of albums the writers would love to write about that aren't commercially viable for the publisher.

actually do you think they would let somebody self-33 1/3? if it was some famous musician?

Except for Woodie Guthrie and maybe Cher the list is just decent enough Us and Uk rock and r& b but with no dancehall, reggae, afrobeats/ afropop, blues, jazz , South Asian or Latino sounds .

Gorillaz’ Plastic Beach by Ihor Junyk
Interpol’s Antics by Gabriel T. Saxton-Ruiz

lol ok

I guess I’d be interested to hear about the guests on Plastic Beach - DLS, Reed, Ryder, Smith all used very well I think.

Incoming asshole post: imagine reading a whole book on a gorillAz album let alone writing one

I swear I try not to be a snob but man some people are really missing out on… how good and wonderful music can be

moss icon album is patient zero the biggest subgenre of american hardcore. will be happy that book exists if it comes out

its a really good album!

OK, but this is the same publisher that turned down Carl Wilson's proposal on an album as foundational as Dub Housing because it was too obscure. But maybe Moss Icon are a bigger deal than Pere Ubu ever were, I honestly don't know.

Chris Richards of the Washington Post has been doing deep dives into mid-80s and later onward hardcore and post-hardcore and wrote a big 2023 article about Annapolis hardcore band the Hated. The article briefly mentions late 80s /early 90s Moss Icon. There seems to be a bit of a renewed interest in that era, but yea is it bigger than that into Pere Ubu Dub Housing

The Hated were so great, got to see them twice

Anybody got that running list of rejected book pitches handy?

I can recommend the Ingenue one, it does absolutely everything I wanted it to do.

yeah, echoing Raymond. i have had a pitch for a book for years, think i am finally ready to get crackin on it for real

I really liked the "Starfish" one. Possibly the last book in the series I've enjoyed.

Same, table

I haven't kept up with these in years, but I recently bought a bunch of the ebooks, sort of blindly, just to have them stocked on my phone during long commutes. Now I'm wishing I hadn't, or at least that I'd consulted some kind of quality guide first. I don't want to single any out for criticism, because they're generally so well-meaning and enthusiastic that I never feel much dislike toward them, but there are so many modes like ... long term paper containing maybe 5 pages, total, of anything interesting that you wouldn't already know ... book that spends half its length on abstract groping trying to articulate that the album's great, which is pointless because everyone reading already thinks that, and the writer's reasons for thinking it aren't unusual or illuminating ... large pile of research notes and critical thoughts that have not really been structured, organized, or synthesized into something that operates as a book (even a short one) ... academic monograph approach ill-suited for the general reader ... book hamstrung by a level of prose or thinking that never lifts itself all that far beyond bloggish territory ...

Maybe somebody who's followed these more closely than I have can confirm, but it seems like maybe the level of editorial control receded even more, and now there's especially wild variability in whether they're much good? I might try a couple more than have gotten specific praise on here (Starfish?), and I will 100% be checking out the forthcoming Violent Femmes one (extremely psyched to get a view of the place/time/people that produced that, and it's a writer who can write) — but for the most part I think this dip into recent stuff has put me off the whole endeavor a bit!

The money for the advances dropped to a 1/3 of what they were in the '00s, so you get what you pay for. Best method is to just see what people recommend or if its a writer you like

I'm mostly chuffed at the price these days. I could see scooping these up 10 at a time when they were like $10, but I think they are like $15 now?

Amazon was charging $22 for one!

xp https://acmi-website-media-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/media/images/Mandy_Patinkin_in_The_Princess_Bride.width-2208.jpg

got my w1fe the Exile in Guyville one and she thought it was pretty good but she noted a lot of factual errors throughout

hahaha @ me using chuffed wrong

whiney post hard advance numbers or gtfo

Just got the Antics one, apparently written by someone who taught some of the band at college. Another case where i'm surprised by the choice of album, although I guess the debut has been done to death.

xpost I got 3k for mine circa 2010 and I heard from a writer who is working on one now that it's down to 1k.

Anybody know anything about this 33 1/3 Africa series book that came out last year?--

Stephanie Shonekan 33 1/3 book on Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s Sorrow Tears and Blood

That one definitely fell into "academic monograph" territory for me but ymmv.

From the Brazil series, I thought Allen Thayer's one on Tim Maia's Racional albums was really good. Well written, worked as a book & turned me on to a ton of stuff

lol the proposal process alone seems like more than 1k worth of labor

Proposal Requirements:
2-3 pages that describe the book.
A concise description of the book (up to 200 words).
A 5-page sample from anywhere in the book.
A one-line description of the book summing up its scope and content.
3 short points that emphasize the unique aspects of your proposed book.
A 1-page table of contents for the book with chapter titles and light annotation if desired.
Your professional CV/resume including full contact details and 200 word bio.
A 1-page marketing plan (with comparable titles and suggestions for finding an audience).
The amount of time it will take you to complete your manuscript.

Bit rich that you have to come up with marketing ideas!

not even gonna lie i am still thinking like "hmm well should i submit one"

When I did mine, also around 2010, I wasn’t asked to do a “marketing plan” but I recall making sure they knew the book might coincide with the album’s 20th anniversary and I just tried to explain why enough people would care about the particular album I was proposing. Sometimes that might be a layup (say if you’re proposing Radiohead or Public Enemy) but I’ve seen books like Ween or Super Mario Bros or whatever that might require a little more articulation as to the audience, for the booksellers who may not know much about niche music

xxxp yeah i put two weeks into it once and they didn't even do me the courtesy of sending a boilerplate "we haven't picked your proposal" email when they didn't pick it.