33 1/3 Series of books

I think I've wanted different things from different books, though. I read Matos's book and am interested in Darnielle's because I like their writing (I've never even heard a Black Sabbath album), whereas I read the Aja and Court and Spark books because I like those albums.

Never read Matos's, but it sounds like a nice combo.

Deric, what did you like about the Celine book (what viewpoint are you sympathetic to)?

I'm sympathetic to the idea of taste being subjective and often based largely on negation (i.e. in terms of that which repels us and threatens our self-identity) and how approaching art from that standpoint can be incredibly limiting. Also, on a related note, I'm intrigued with the schism between individual interaction (as experienced by the critic/connoisseur) and social interaction with art (as experienced by the "unwashed masses").

You brought up something in your post that I've been wondering about -- the part about what you're looking to get out of the series. It seems like fans of these books fall into two camps; ppl who want to read opinion or even more personal writing (crit equavalent of "perzine"? haw) and people who want fact-packed, historical accounts of the makings of the records.

I think the best books in the series kinda hit both notes at once. The Guns n' Roses book being a perfect example, wherein Eric Weisbard writes around the album and doesn't even listen to it until before writing the last chapter.

The only entries I've avoided were the fictional ones (which I'm re-thinking now) and anything heavily technical (Murmur kind of turned into an audio engineering guide in places and my interest waned). But that's about it. I'm interested in reading ones about albums I don't even like.

hey everybody I am giving a reading on Saturday at Housing Works so if you are in NY and would like to see me read my stuff please come out! here is where the deal is: http://www.livefromhome.org/events/

Holy shit, thats right around the corner from me. I'll for sure be there. Just bought the book last night, almost done with it. It is really amazing J0hn.

I have trouble articulating how stunned I am by John's book. My wife, who shakes her head and leaves the room when I play Sabbath, was equally moved.

It seems my reaction may not be universal. Some people just don't get it:

PSU Vanguard

That review is stupid. I finished the book last night. Fantastic work!

what's the average word length for these books?

Just got the Reign in Blood book today. Judging by the big "outtake" chapter that appeared in Decibel a few months ago (http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/apr2008/slayer.aspx), this is going to be a good one...

Upstairs in Foyle's bookshop in London, as you enter the music section (which is aces btw), there is a whole set of shelves devoted to the series, I has most, if not all of the books and they look so damn cool all racked together.

Good stuff in that Slayer excerpt. Lombardo sounds like the metal version of Doug Christie, totally pussy-whipped.

I didn't get that impression at all.

I have trouble articulating how stunned I am by John's book.

me too, although "outcast teens fucked over by the system" stories ALWAYS tug at my heartstrings.

The Slayer book didn't make me as happy as I hoped it would, though frankly anything traveling in the wake of John's book was gonna be pretty much fucked from the get-go.

anything traveling in the wake of John's book was gonna be pretty much fucked from the get-go.

Can't argue with that.

This series is coming along nicely. I've got some catching up to do. Also really looking forward to Geeta's Another Green World.

i cant get the AJA book anywhere.

I'd buy a Sherburne or Tim Finney contribution to the series.

can't wait to read j0hn's

Bought Drew's "20 Jazz Funk Greats" yesterday and started it on the subway this morning. It's excellent so far. Thanks, Drew!

There are a lot of good things about reign in Blood, but being a typical, nitpicky metal fan, a lot of stuff stuck in my craw. Like how so much emphasis is placed on Slayer, Rubin, and Wallace getting Grammy awards, facts nobody should ever care about, let alone a Slayer fan. It's a neat change that he bookends the analysis with views of the album from a hardcore perspective, but at the same time he almost glosses over the impact the album had on the people who adore it the most: the metal community. And although there are some fabulous quotes from people like Gene Hoglan and Page Hamilton, so many of the musicians interviewed have litlle to nothing original to say about Slayer and the record, aside from that Slayer Rules and "Angel of Death" is awesome, which the entire world knows already. And what really bugged me was when he finally gets to dissecting the album at the end, when he gets to "Postmortem", the coolest song on the album and arguably the most complex piece the band has ever recorded, he just goes on and on about the "Do you wanna die" line and little else, going off on a stupid tangent involving the Toadies. That part just made me mad.

Overall it's enjoyable, but argh, it could have been even better in my opinion.

Oh, and Matos's review of Master of Reality in this month's Decibel has the best assessment of the book I've read so far: "Forget the other 33 1/3's, this belongs next to The Catcher in the Rye."

Extremely high praise, and totally OTM.

drew daniel's "20 jazz funk greats" is genius

it really is!

the book on theres a riot is dissapointing. seems like it was done in a rush job.

I'm pissed that I just realized I missed the deadline (Dec. 31) for the latest round of submissions. I had a great idea ... :(

EXILE IN SPIDERLAND

597 proposals submitted. See January 11th posting

http://www.33third.blogspot.com/

The Counting Crows one better not be accepted. I reallllly want to write one about THIS DESERT LIFE, and even with the new rules, there's no way they'd print two CC books.

btw, anyone know what's going on with ann powers' kate bush book?

Some pretty interesting and exciting proposals on their. Will be interesting to see the short list. (and to see if I make it that far!)

loved the riot book, it works as a great companion to the 'in their own words' book....

Anyone here make the shortlist? (Besides Raggett and Southall?)

i'm surprised a proposal for 808s & heartbreak made it. surely it is way too soon to be thinking about writing a book on that album!

i'm in, still

I actually think writing about a really recent album (especially a divisive one) is a great idea. Kind of higher risk, but still something I've been kind of hoping they'd do for a while now.

if they hadn't already done Use Your Illusion in the last run i'd say Chinest Democracy would've been a good one to pitch.

i guess it depends on the angle, and i'm all in favour of doing recent stuff, but...idk, at least wait until the album promo cycle is over?

be the time you write it, the promo cycle will be long over fwiw

yeah i mean this next run wouldn't hit shelves til what, 2011, maybe late 2010? what Kanye does in the next couple years will definitely have some impact on how much people wanna read about that particular record by then, but i don't see anything wrong with taking a gamble that there'll still be interest.

Yeah, it seems like a book comes out anywhere from a year to three years after the title is chosen. (Five of the 21 titles chosen in January 2006 have yet to see publication, and I'm only aware of one case in which the project fell apart.)

of the 2 out of 21 picked in march 2007 have seen publication!

lol whiney idk if it's all the tweeting but yr typing has taken a turn for the worse in this thread

before you know it he won't even bother to type out "billyburg beardos" unabbreviated

can i just

abbreviating words saves you 30 oh fuck it

I'm out, but it was a total longshot anyway.

I can't believe they turned down my proposal for Rudimentary Peni "Cacophony"!

Oh wait, yes I can :)

Twas a fun proposal to write anyway! (and an honest choice)

James Franco is reading the Celine Dion book:
http://www.truveo.com/James-Franco-Has-No-Time-For-TV/id/652871651

my respect for dude ever increases