33 1/3 Series of books

Re kraftwerk - Continuum published a whole book of essays devoted to Kraftwerk a year or so ago. Not part of the series, but...

'sup JMB

atm otm

Weird. Howdy, atm!

who is atm?

he is a hippie dishwasher.

I'm too ADD to write 1,000 words on any topic, much less 30,000, but someone needs to take on Kris Kristofferson's first album.

atm's me, amateurist. EX-hippie dishwasher. jmb is an ex-arkansan (hope he doesn't mind the reveal). couldn't resist sayin hi. xp and carry on.

when i heard they reopened submissions i was like "finally, scott can write a book about katatonia's discouraged ones"

Addressing financial issues upthread:

I wrote one of these books, way back in 2005. I got the $3,000 advance, and after a few years, the book did earn out its advance and I started getting royalties. Not sure how much I've earned, as the cheques have come in in dribs and drabs, but it's in the $2,000-$3,000 range. So that's $5,000-$6,000 so far for 30,000 words. On top of that, I had some journalistic work specifically off the back of the book.

Certainly no one's going to write one of these books for the money, but I'd say that ultimately it does just about make financial sense as well, as long as you write about a fairly popular album.

Your book was excellent.

Which book was yours?

Just going out on a limb here, but based on display name i'm guessing Low, which really was a great read.

Matrix: Music From The Motion Picture by Hugo Weaving

lol

I actually met Hugo Weaving once, and we talked about the ins and outs of being called Hugo.

But yeah, I wrote the Low one. And thanks for the kind words, smash williams!

low is one of the best ones imo http://i.imgur.com/zi7hd.gif

my friends' book/magazine store carries these, i took a picture of another friend's dog looking mildly interested in dave's book.

has anyone ever suggested 'Pump Up The Volume' by MARRS? i mean i know the idea is to do albums per se, but there'd be enough material to do 8 chapters about that one song i'd have thought. and uh.. you know the original 12" was 33 1/3 RPM too! you could do a chapter on all the samples (of which there were meant to be literally 100s) and stuff about the 2 bands that made MARRS, the impact, the history etc. it's not a particularly well known story either and would surely make for a more interesting read than yet another book about some band who have been written about a million times before.

"and stuff about the 2 bands that made MARRS"

reslly only one if you ask me. you gonna do a chapter on the loser ar kane b-side?

could you really write 90+ pages about one MARRS track?

i totally could. i mean, i won't, but i could.

I'd be genuinely into a book on the Vengaboys' The Party Album. There's a surprising amount of backstory once you start reading a bit. The backgrounds of some of the members are also pretty intriguing (e.g., dolphin trainer). And then there's the eurodisco/klf element to some of their stunts (not to mention their attitude towards the music they produce).

it's true about the LOW book - I learned from that when I was keen to find about that Bowie era.

o hullooo, the pinefox!
what other 33 1/3 books have you read, and how art they?

Finished the Swordfishtrombones book the other. Quite good fun.

Really enjoyed the Low book, but then I'm a huge fan of Hugo Williams's 2 novels, too

Couldn't get past one chapter of the Rid of Me book--like the Meat is Murder book it's a fiction response to the album, but unlike the Meat is Murder book it was incredibly irritating

Really hoping for a book on Suicide's first album

reading the amazing grace book right now, which is pretty solid, a little bit subdued in tone, but that's not a bad thing. lots of interesting background about the gospel world. mainly makes me wish they would get the film of the sessions completed, for the love of GOD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JrHr1P5ryc

film is completed, i think, but aretha's blocking it.

The one about Tusk is a piece of shit.

reading the amazing grace book right now, which is pretty solid, a little bit subdued in tone, but that's not a bad thing. lots of interesting background about the gospel world. mainly makes me wish they would get the film of the sessions completed, for the love of GOD.

Yeah, the film-in-limbo is pretty frustrating. Great book, though. Tremendously informative.

yeah, frustrating, looks like amazing footage.

The one about Tusk is a piece of shit.
― Lil' Kim Philby (Call the Cops)

Why?
I was considering buying it.

Village Green & Song Cycle both seem pretty great, tho.

i got to meet Weisbard at EMP over the weekend and had to tell him that Use Your Illusion was by far one of my favorite 33 1/3s -- he seemed genuinely surprised to hear that from anyone and said it was the lowest selling book in the series (i don't know if he meant literally the single lowest or just that it was pretty far down there)

nevermind, i forgot that there was an actual sales ranking on the official 33 1/3 blog -- GNR is in the bottom 10 but as of last year the lowest was Van Dyke Parks apparently

is anyone else here planning on submitting a proposal?

Man, that's too bad. I really dug Use Your Illusion, as well. It's prolly in my top five (with Let's Talk About Love and Master of Reality and some other stuff...kinda want to see Another Green World get some use as an improv text).

as of last year the lowest was Van Dyke Parks apparently

How we lost $35,509 on 'The 33 1/3 Book of the Year' (Dammit)

Don't mean to be too negative but The Tusk one is more a book about the author than the record, which I find utterly tragic. Dip into it in a bookshop if you can. YMMV.

The Song Cycle one, on the other hand, should be at the top of the charts rather than the bottom. It sheds all hell of new light on many aspects of what is to many an obscure and at times impenetrably referential LP. Plus it's well-written by a guy who has loved the record since it came out.

Wot Lil' Kim Philby said! re: Song Cycle book.

And I do dearly hope that somebody's already writing as good a little tome on The Osmonds' The Plan.

Just bought Spiderland and am eagerly anticipating tearing through it in one sitting.

need to read the song cycle one -- a friend talked a bit with VDP recently and the man himself recommended it!

Whoa! I wonder how many artists have read/spoken abt their books

I am just going to write my own books on Cheap Trick and Erykah Badu and the Boo Radleys and El Gran Silencio's Superriddim Internacional Vol. 1. They will all be self-published [in my head].

(xpost)
tylerw, should you await any more recommendations re Song Cycle - buy it, goddammit! buy it!:)
i'm on page 76 and loving it helluva lot.

...did check those 33 1/3 lists as per which titles are in the making. sadly, no mention of The Osmonds' The Plan:(

does anyone know if there are distribution issues with these now? i've been watching the shelves of these dwindle at Reckless and I noticed today that the entire display is gone.

xp tbh i'm not sure if VDP actually *read* the book, but he gave it his blessing.

it says in the book that VDP was interviewed for it and cooperated in any-which-way most kindly.