33 1/3 Series of books

they've picked the wrong Talking Heads album like but hey should be good.

waaah what happened with the Tori one?? man alive..

and indeed ILM backs me up on that first point
Talking Heads studio albums poll

looking forward to a Fear Of Music book all the same.

Any recent reviews? I'm looking at the Some Girls and Achtung Baby ones

xxponst: i seem to recall someone giving the thumbs up to the some girls one here awhile back (on a different thread). i picked up a copy but am waiting for my deluxe reissue to start it though

I still really, really, really hope someone does one of the behind-the-scenes type ones about Blur's "13" someday

only loujag could do it justice

I actually love it more than loujag

"Blur - 13" would be great

Really interested in the Dummy one, although I think I might even be more into reading one about Third at this point.

A longer book about the More Songs/Fear/Remain trilogy would be the ideal, but oh well. Looking forward to this one.

Talking Heads' Fear of Music by Jonathan Lethem - this will publish in March/April 2012

This is just about the news of the century, for me.

― Who wants to see the great Pavarotti sit on a pie? (jer.fairall), Thursday, November 17, 2011 3:04 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

!!!!!!

― the 500 gats of bartholomew thuggins (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

why can't anyone spell 'canceled' right

can you spell "pedant" with one d?

;)

they're just publishers nbd

ha!

wait they spelled it 'cancelled', that's ok

lol u irish

Both are acceptable in Webster's (though "canceled" is listed first).

Man, if Sinker did one on Dragnet or Y, I would buy five copies instantly.

Really interested in the Dummy one, although I think I might even be more into reading one about Third at this point.

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Friday, November 18, 2011 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

The author participated in that One Week One Band tumblr a week or two ago and tackled all things Portishead, not just Dummy. http://oneweekoneband.tumblr.com

are the cancelled projects the writers' or publishers' decisions?

could be either i think. some writers giving up, some writers coming up with stuff the publisher's not convinced by.

true, true. maybe i should do this. do they accept proposals from no-name jerks from the internet?

Tyler, I hope you're really considering doing it! I know at least two of my friends would definitely buy it. Or I'd buy it for them as a gift. dan selzer would surely buy one so there's five copies secured already - go for it dude! ;-)
IIRC, the publisher's open to pitches from anyone.

could be either i think. some writers giving up, some writers coming up with stuff the publisher's not convinced by.

kind of makes you wonder about their selection procedure. like many others I submitted a proposal which wasn't accepted. I wouldn't have given up nor would (imho) Continuum have been unconvinced by what I would have written. I'm sure many others would have been the same, and yet the slots they could have taken have now gone to waste.

IIRC, the publisher's open to pitches from anyone

there are specific times when proposals are accepted, now is not one of them.

I said anyone, not anytime ;-)
I agree with you re. the selection process - with so many cancellations one could question its quality. Would you care to share the album title you had proposed?

sure, it was a Peter Hammill album, Over. would not have been a best seller, admittedly.

There's quite a dedicated Hammill following in the Netherlands (admittedly, a small market), so with a bit of adequate marketing it could sell reasonably well I'd say

I'm sure Italians would buy it, if they still have any money by the time it comes out

I've only got the Abba Gold, 20 Jazz Funk Greats, and Master of Reality ones in this series...what're normally regarded as the best? Fancy putting a few on my Xmas list...

i ranked my favorites upthread, i've read a couple since then so i'll add those and do it again:

Led Zeppelin IV by Erik Davis
Aja by Don Breithaupt
Use Your Illusion I and II by Eric Weisbard
The Who Sell Out by John Dougan
It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back by Christopher R. Weingarten
Born In The U.S.A. by Geoffrey Himes
Electric Ladyland by John Perry
Sign O' The Times by Michaelangelo Matos
Armed Forces by Franklin Bruno
Let's Talk About Love: A Journey To The End Of Taste by Carl Wilson
Exile On Main Street by Bill Janovitz
Double Nickels On The Dime by Michael T. Fournier
In Utero by Gillian G. Gaar
Radio City by Bruce Eaton
Illmatic by Matthew Gasteier
Let It Be by Colin Meloy

like many others I submitted a proposal which wasn't accepted. I wouldn't have given up nor would (imho) Continuum have been unconvinced by what I would have written.

Having had my proposal for a book on Black Vinyl Shoes (and power-pop more generally) rejected a number of years ago--which, ditto, I never would have abandoned and, in my very unhumble opinion, would have been excellent--I'm glad that the secret curse I put on the entire series is finally starting to take effect.

They are still publishing books, guys, so it's not like these six or so cancels has affected output (also six cancels from six different writers doesn't seem like a lot to me). Folks get busy, get other better offers, or realize that the project isn't worth the time, I don't know, it doesn't surprise me at all. That said I am bummed that Skiz Fernando's Wu-Tang book isn't ever coming out cuz while his book on Rice & Curry: Sri Lankan Home Cooking sounds interesting it isn't really the same sort of reading.

Either way if your proposal is a good one, resubmit it again.

that's not how it works, Alex in SF

Sorry I'm not totally clear on the rules submission (I know they periodically do open calls). Can you not resubmit a tweaked proposal?

they pretty much only do open calls unless you're Jonathan Letham

The Who Sell Out by John Dougan

This was something of a revelation for me. Tremendously illuminating history of UK pirate radio.

As weird as it looks now, I knew a couple of fellow thirteen-year-olds who bought Roll With It.

haha – wrong thread

maybe the right one too, if I pitched this.

The author participated in that One Week One Band tumblr a week or two ago and tackled all things Portishead, not just Dummy. http://oneweekoneband.tumblr.com

holy shit this site is amazing

what're normally regarded as the best? Fancy putting a few on my Xmas list...

Live At The Apollo is the bestest ime. Disagree with s. dude about Nation Of Millions tbh. If you like 69 Love Songs, that one is great, if you're not into the record it's probably of no interest.

(annoyingly it does keep directing you to a dedicated website for even more, than even on archive.org is nothing but a big imagemap with 90% of the images missing)

what're normally regarded as the best? Fancy putting a few on my Xmas list...

David Bowie, Low (I've read a dozen)

Sabbath, Throbbing Gristle, Eno are my favs (and not just because the authors post here.)

The Sabbath one hit me hard. Made my wife read it and, even though she has no use for or familiarity with the band, she was similarly moved.

Of the dozen or so I've got, the Prince, MBV, Eno, TG, Joni Mitchell & Minutemen ones are all great, the Tribe one is good although people seem a little down on the writing.

I guess I didn't like the U2 one and really couldn't get on with the Radiohead, ditching it 3/4 of the way in.

Per 33 1/3's website:

Unfortunately we are not accepting proposals at the moment. We have a bunch of awesome 33 1/3s lined up for publication in the next two years. Please check back soon.

Oh also six canceled titles since the series began is really not that bad... I worked for a publisher and there was always a book here or there that fell off the list, for any variety of reasons.

Sabbath and Celine are the best ones I've read so far but both are, for one reason or another, probably unusual for the series.

Of the straight history/critical analysis ones I've read, Bill Janovitz' one on Exile is terrific, and Philip Shaw's one on Horses has a lot of interesting pre-history (though it goes surprisingly light on the album itself).

New call for proposals.

In the middle of the Tom Waits Swordfishtrombones. A huge amount of conjecture, but somehow the writer seems to make it valid and hugely entertaining.

I'd love to read a Let England Shake one.

Damn, that's a lot of requrements.