33 1/3 Series of books

What makes you say that? From what I've read, some of the more recent books have been really great! Are you speaking more to the quality of the writing? Or the choice of albums?

Some Girls!
http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?ReturnURL=%2fmain.aspx&BookId=136558&SubjectId=1381&Subject2Id=1381

yeah and marquee moon! guess the authors think of them as "companion volumes" or some such. which is interesting.

Aretha Franklin's Amazing Grace by Aaron Cohen

Wu Tang Clan's Enter the Wu Tang - this project has been cancelled

:(

Great review, fastnbulbous. Brilliant book, easily one of the best of the series.

In response to a question left in the Comments section by John, here's where the series currently stands regarding upcoming titles:

Aretha Franklin's Amazing Grace - just published
Portishead's Dummy - just published
Talking Heads' Fear of Music by Jonathan Lethem - this will publish in March/April 2012
Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville by Gina Arnold - we don't yet quite have the final manuscript, but fully expect to publish this in May/June 2012

Weezer's Pinkerton - this project has been cancelled
Wu Tang Clan's Enter the Wu Tang - this project has been cancelled
Tori Amos' Boys for Pele - this project has been cancelled
Funkadelic's Maggot Brain - this project is still alive, and partially written, but I wouldn't hold your breath...
Outkast's Aquemini - this project has been cancelled
The Clash's London Calling - this book is deeply, profoundly cursed. If you pre-ordered it in 2004 when it was first announced, I can only apologise...
Lucinda Williams' Self-Titled LP - 90% written, but cannot be confident of a publication date
Kate Bush's The Dreaming - unlikely this will ever happen, but not yet officially cancelled

And that's it, for the moment! Apologies for the messiness and frustration caused by late and cancelled titles, but that's part of the fabric of the series. It's more difficult than it seems, to write 30,000 original and insightful words about a favourite record...

Who is RJ Wheaton?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/3080395630_273326a28b.jpg

can't say i've loved every book i've read in this series, but i'm glad it exists and keeps chuggin' along. why hasn't there been a feelies crazy rhythms one? because i'm the only one who would buy it it?

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.

Cohen's a really good writer; I need to get this.
Who was doing Aquemini?

i was at my friend's house this weekend and she had a copy of the "wowee zowee" 33 1/3 book out but i was struggling to read the spine from across the room and i thought someone had written one of these on white zombie.

ha, i would so rather read a "white zombie" 33 1/3 book than a "wowee zowee" one.

i would actually pick it up.

I'd buy a Feelies book too!

that's two of us. actually, if i was feeling ambitious, I'd pitch a volume on The Good Earth. but that'd sell even less copies than the Crazy Rhythms book, I'm sure.

At least with Crazy Rhythms you could talk about all the time that predates it, the evolution of the songs and sound, etc.

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

All the time!

sweet!
Aretha Franklin's Amazing Grace - just published
Portishead's Dummy - just published
Talking Heads' Fear of Music by Jonathan Lethem - this will publish in March/April 2012
Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville by Gina Arnold - we don't yet quite have the final manuscript, but fully expect to publish this in May/June 2012
The Feelies' Crazy Rhythms by tylerw - yeah right

Jonathan Lethem on Fear of Music--now THAT I will get!

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

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

!!!!!!

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