33 1/3 Series of books

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?

Morrissey is not attracted to Morrissey.

Carl Wilson is writing one about Celine Dion's "Let's Talk About Love".

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.