Always thought of WK as a novelty act and hen he goes and gets a 33 1/3 volume and a Best New Reissue from P4k on the same day.
― this is the dream of avril and chad (jer.fairall), Friday, 31 August 2012 21:56 (twelve years ago) link
Most interesting one here is TMBG, at least in theory.
Especially by Sandifer, I'm rly excited for that one and wld like to buy and read it today
― itt: i forgot that he yells at a butt (sic), Friday, 31 August 2012 22:32 (twelve years ago) link
that's the 'brony bump,' you're going to be seeing a lot of that in the next few years (xpost)
― some dude, Friday, 31 August 2012 22:40 (twelve years ago) link
Bjork: Biophilia, by Nicola Dibben
This is gonna be a "fascinating critique of a great artist's shortcomings" type of defense, right?
― Eric H., Saturday, 1 September 2012 01:17 (twelve years ago) link
probably more of a "lots of non-musical/technical stuff surrounding the project to delve into" type of book
― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 01:20 (twelve years ago) link
would definitely feel better about them doing books about such recently released albums if there had already been 33 1/3s about earlier Bjork and Kanye records
― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 01:21 (twelve years ago) link
Genuinely excited about Bobbie Gentry book
― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 1 September 2012 01:25 (twelve years ago) link
Not sure how that Bjork album got in the list? Assuming the writer already was involved in writing about said contemporary album and was able to successfully roll it into a book.
― your native bacon (mh), Saturday, 1 September 2012 02:41 (twelve years ago) link
Don't know who Mike Foley is but that DKs album (and the band's whole history) definitely deserves analysis.
― 誤訳侮辱, Saturday, 1 September 2012 02:46 (twelve years ago) link
― your native bacon (mh), Friday, August 31, 2012 10:41 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
well people submit pretty extensive proposals, and they apparently liked that proposal
― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 10:35 (twelve years ago) link
i mean, given the fact that there have been some fairly lousy books about great canonical albums in the series in the past, i think offbeat picks like that are actually kind of a good sign that they're looking out for really convincing proposals that would make engaging books rather than greenlighting things because they're about canonical albums everyone loves and wants to read about
― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 10:37 (twelve years ago) link
I'm willing to bet the Bjork book is going to focus a ton on technology and interaction and a good deal of it will be abt the iOS app and maybe her live setup
― clijster flockhart (Stevie D(eux)), Saturday, 1 September 2012 14:58 (twelve years ago) link
yeah it makes sense to write about in the same way Zaireeka did
― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 15:03 (twelve years ago) link
offbeat picks like that are actually kind of a good sign that they're looking out for really convincing proposals that would make engaging books
It seemed like the Use Your Illusion book was only chosen because it was the non-obvious pick. It had very little of value to say about the albums, and actually talked more about Appetite for Destruction than UYI. Regardless, all these offbeat picks makes you wonder how this functions as an actual business model.
― Poliopolice, Saturday, 1 September 2012 15:46 (twelve years ago) link
i disagree and think UYI was one of the best books in the series so hey
― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 15:49 (twelve years ago) link
really? it hardly talked about the albums at all, seeking instead to talk at length about the band, their history, their fans, their disastrous concerts, their influence, and everything else except the actual albums at hand-- all which conveyed quite clearly that the author was no fan of GNR. In fact, the author states upfront that he hadn't heard the albums in 15 years, and still hadn't before writing the majority of the book. This was presented as a positive thing. When it finally got to the songs, it was presented as a fairly half-assed song-by-song analysis at the end, totaling about 10-15 pages or so.
― Poliopolice, Saturday, 1 September 2012 16:08 (twelve years ago) link
it hardly talked about the albums at all, seeking instead to talk at length about the band, their history, their fans, their disastrous concerts, their influence, and everything else except the actual albums at hand-- all which conveyed quite clearly that the author was no fan of GNR.
yeah this is not accurate imo
― cute, banned, alert (some dude), Saturday, 1 September 2012 16:09 (twelve years ago) link
Marc who is writing the Aphex one is a brilliant sound-thinker, I bet this will kick ass.
― Lewis Apparition (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 1 September 2012 16:44 (twelve years ago) link
oh yeah, i left out the huge personal bloglike sides that litter the book, which also have little to do with the albums. how are you gonna write a good book about an album you haven't listened to in 15 years?
― Poliopolice, Saturday, 1 September 2012 17:04 (twelve years ago) link
xp Use Your Illusion made sense in this series IMO because the story of their implosion is more compelling than the story of their rise and the success of Appetite.. I thought it was great.
― billstevejim, Saturday, 1 September 2012 18:54 (twelve years ago) link
sometimes the records that are most heralded or most popular don't always generate the best discussion... I don't think any of the album choices are "offbeat" as long as there's something worth saying about them.
― billstevejim, Saturday, 1 September 2012 19:03 (twelve years ago) link
Glad to see Entertainment! but what I'd really like to see - Hex Enduction Hour. Why no Fall yet?
― Silvercigarette, Sunday, 2 September 2012 18:24 (twelve years ago) link
Poliopolice, did you miss the part where Weisb@rd goes song by song?
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 2 September 2012 18:29 (twelve years ago) link
man I really feel that Rocks or Toys in the Attic (but to me Rocks is the one) ought to get one of these. Does anybody even pitch Aerosmith albums? I mean actual Aerosmith albums. We were an awesome band for about six years and we made some classic records!!
― we don't wanna miss a THING!!! (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Sunday, 2 September 2012 18:50 (twelve years ago) link
I wonder if those are albums that would hold up to sustained analysis, though. Sure, there'd be plenty of lurid drug stories and I-hate-your-wife-so-I-wrote-this-song-about-how-much-I-hate-your-wife psychodrama, but as far as actual detailed musical analysis, I don't know what there would be to say. The songs are killer, but they're also not particularly formally or technically innovative - they're just really good songs, played by a perfect combination of complementary musicians. Which is on the one hand all you need, but on the other hand really fucking hard to write about in a compelling way.
― 誤訳侮辱, Sunday, 2 September 2012 18:55 (twelve years ago) link
feel like if someone pitched an aerosmith album it'd be kind of a lol klosterpaws one about Get a Grip and have long alicia silverstone digressions, sorry to say. i'd read something that actually took 70s hard rock seriously, though.
― tylerw, Sunday, 2 September 2012 19:06 (twelve years ago) link
i'd read something that actually took 70s hard rock seriously, though.
Me too. Could you imagine, say, Joe Carducci doing a 33 1/3 book about Rocks?
― 誤訳侮辱, Sunday, 2 September 2012 19:10 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, carducci was who i was thinking of! he is really the only person i can think of who would do it, who'd be less interested in the sordid stuff and more into how the music does what it does? not sure if he likes aerosmith though.
― tylerw, Sunday, 2 September 2012 19:13 (twelve years ago) link
Excited about SAWII. And reading that proposal convinced me to break out "Passion," which is a great ambient record (of a sort) in its own right.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 2 September 2012 19:33 (twelve years ago) link
i wanna read the new talking heads one.
― This Is... The Police (dog latin), Monday, 3 September 2012 13:25 (twelve years ago) link
Keeping in mind that I'm a hardcore Lethem fanboy, it's pretty awesome.
Reading Loveless right now. Very entertaining and well written, plus it seems to have some ILM connections!
― this is the dream of avril and chad (jer.fairall), Monday, 3 September 2012 14:20 (twelve years ago) link
I read the Tom Waits one a wee while back. Not sure what I thought of it, although it felt worthwhile at the time. The Paul's Boutique one is pretty good too.
I have If You're Feeling Sinister ready to read but I don't know if I can be fucked - is it any good?
― This Is... The Police (dog latin), Monday, 3 September 2012 15:02 (twelve years ago) link
"i'd read something that actually took 70s hard rock seriously, though."
you stay here, i'll be right back!
― scott seward, Monday, 3 September 2012 15:57 (twelve years ago) link
No, I did mention that:
the author states upfront that he hadn't heard the albums in 15 years, and still hadn't before writing the majority of the book. This was presented as a positive thing. When it finally got to [discussing] the songs, it was presented as a fairly half-assed song-by-song analysis at the end, totaling about 10-15 pages or so.
The analysis of the songs seemed very half-hearted to me. It felt like that part was only there because if he left it out, there would have been very little in the book that was specific to these albums.
As a meandering personal essay about the author's feelings on GNR, and GNR's place in the canon of music, it's a decent, if trifling book... but as an expository essay on the Use Your Illusion albums proper, I'd say it was not illuminating in the least bit, and in fact spent very little time talking about them. The Amazon reviews corroborate this.
― Poliopolice, Tuesday, 4 September 2012 16:15 (twelve years ago) link
Except uh he's not trying to write an expository essay of UYI so who cares.
― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 4 September 2012 16:22 (twelve years ago) link
Then the title of the book should not be "Use Your Illusion."
― Poliopolice, Tuesday, 4 September 2012 16:34 (twelve years ago) link
Brr. I read the one on "Low" based on recommendations from this thread. I didn't like it that much. The historical stuff had some dynamite writing, but it was pretty strange to see "serious anecdotes" from "serious Bowie biographies" put side-by-side with sordid details from Angela Bowie's tell-all book. Admittedly, Angela's account is totally hilarious and interesting but she eats a lot of crow in that book-- the first chapter talks about Bowie's dick iirc-- so to read her account blended together with more serious interview-based stuff read to me as meta-narrative?
The track-by-track chapters were hit-and-miss for me, too. There was a paragraph about Eno/Bowie beating Burroughs and/or Stockhausen at their own game that made me frustrated and sad. Hugo's a good writer though, would read his other books.
― would smash pumpkins (Ówen P.), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 13:15 (twelve years ago) link
i liked the one on loveless. it was rather personal and was based a lot on interviews with the band, esp. kevin shields. i didn't realise before that loveless is almost a solo album by kevin except bilinda's singing.
― alex in mainhattan, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:36 (twelve years ago) link
My two year old niece brought me the 20 Jazz Funk Greats book and asked "Can we play with this?"
I have no idea what she meant but I'm gonna play her some very inappropriate music tomorrow. I have a feeling I've got a very small and very cute Cosey fan here.
― kraudive, Saturday, 6 April 2013 00:51 (eleven years ago) link
look tasty all in a row don't they.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/482718_10151572603944273_13098934_n.jpg
― piscesx, Saturday, 6 April 2013 01:08 (eleven years ago) link
the next one up; FLOOD by They Might Be Giants, is a bit of a surprise
― piscesx, Saturday, 6 April 2013 01:11 (eleven years ago) link
how so?
― Devendra Bumhat (sic), Saturday, 6 April 2013 01:13 (eleven years ago) link
TMBG aren't as alt/indie canon as a lot of bands of their generation that have had 33 1/3s, so it's a little surprising, mostly just nice that they're going for a cult classic that's obsessed over by a slightly different crowd.
― the drummer for gay Daddy Yankee (some dude), Saturday, 6 April 2013 01:16 (eleven years ago) link
oh the band themselves? yeah guess so. the album is way more beloved than many many others in the range though, so.
I just got excited when it was announced bcz I <3 Flood and I <3 Sandifer - thought it would still be ages away though, iirc was only turned in a month or so ago? hyped now.
― Devendra Bumhat (sic), Saturday, 6 April 2013 01:24 (eleven years ago) link
why arent those books in chromatic order
― Poliopolice, Saturday, 6 April 2013 01:42 (eleven years ago) link
Actually, Histoire de Melodie Nelson is next, to be released in October, followed by Flood in November and I Get Wet in January.
― MarkoP, Saturday, 6 April 2013 03:40 (eleven years ago) link
unhyped again
― Devendra Bumhat (sic), Saturday, 6 April 2013 03:56 (eleven years ago) link
I have the "Loveless", "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" and Afghan Whigs' "Gentlemen" books and enjoyed them all. Liked a lot of the contextual stuff in the Whigs book about the general events surrounding the making of the album.
― michaellambert, Saturday, 6 April 2013 19:56 (eleven years ago) link
didn't see this coming
http://www.amazon.com/Kanye-Wests-Beautiful-Twisted-Fantasy/dp/1623565421/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_9
other new ones according to Amazon include Aphex Twin Ambient II, Oasis Definitely Maybe and Richard Hell Blank generation.
― piscesx, Thursday, 3 October 2013 04:51 (ten years ago) link
Yeah the upcoming ones are mentioned in this very thread. Also if you go to http://www.333sound.com and browse through the archived posts, you can find Q&A interviews with all the authors of the upcoming books.
― MarkoP, Thursday, 3 October 2013 06:01 (ten years ago) link