The popular 33 1/3 "pocket book" series is back. This time they get author Shawn Taylor ("Big Black Penis: Misadventures In Race And Masculinity") to lay down some of his most personal memoirs and insights as they relate to one of hip...
expand review hop's most acclaimed albums, A Tribe Called Quest's "People Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm." The writing is half-documentary, half-anecdotes, but all in all, is a perfect recipe representing an era that was playful and serious, poetic and strong. Taylor's notes don't leave you hanging either. He includes unique angles into the artists' identities, while tying it into the pop culture, the Native Tongues and society in general. There's also an in-depth 20 question interview with Bob Power, the engineer for the album. 116 pages. -C'mish
This installment of the 33 1/3 pocket book series investigates the Beasties' college-rap classic Paul's Boutique. Writer Dan LeRoy (Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, Vibe) gets deep inside the back workings of the album through interviews with Mike D, the Dust Brothers(!), and...
expand review reclusive producer Mike Dike, among others. In the second chapter, the author breaks down each track with lots of interesting factoids (including lots of sample info) and some music writer-type analysis. The final chapter ends it with a classy touch with a selection of anecdotes, facts, and observations about the album. 124 pages. -the mgmnt
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. Each volume in the series revisits and breaks down (in meticulous detail) a classic...
expand review album, giving up every piece of inside info you could want, from recording techniques to the inspirations behind the songs themselves. This volume features Belle & Sebastians wistful indie pop classic If You're Feeling Sinister, as written by Pitchfork associate editor Scott Plagenhoef. 105 pages. -Larri Byrd
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. In this volume (#56), the Mountain Goats' John Darnielle goes experimental and hears Black...
expand review Sabbath's classic third album "through the ears of Roger Painter, a young adult locked in a southern California adolescent psychiatric center in 1985." It's not your typical 33 1/3, but a great read nonetheless. 101 pages. -Larri Byrd
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. Each volume in the series revisits and breaks down (in meticulous detail) a classic...
expand review album, giving up every piece of inside info you could want, from recording techniques to the inspirations behind the songs themselves. In this volume (#26), Australian novelist Hugo Wilcken looks at the fragmented personality of David Bowie during the Berlin recording sessions for the Brian Eno-produced Low. 136 pages. -Larri Byrd
Another quality installment of the 33 1/3 series of books, this one focusing on DJ ShadowÌs landmark LP Endtroducing. Unlike the edition on Meat Is Murder (which is fiction) and Unknown Pleasures (which is meticulously researched and written in unapologetic Pitchforkese: "alien...
expand review thwack" to describe a tom drum, anyone?), this one is based on a series of frank and revealing phone interviews between the author and Shadow. Did you know Shadow had a nervous breakdown? That the "What Does Your Soul Look Like" suite was primarily inspired by an epic depression? That Automator was instrumental in the production of the album? That James Lavelle was basically Malcom McLaren? All this and more is related by Josh Davis firsthand, progressing chronologically from his early primitive pause-tape beat compositions to Endtroducing to UNKLE to the Private Press. If you like X, you will like Y. 136 pages, softcover. -the mgmnt
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. Each volume in the series revisits and breaks down (in meticulous detail) a classic...
expand review album, giving up every piece of inside info you could want, from recording techniques to the inspirations behind the songs themselves. In this volume (#41), former Village Voice music editor Eric Weisbard "looks back to a time when rock was bigger and brasher, and when a man with access to the amplifier of the gods sat at his piano and tried to make beautiful music." 125 pages. -Larri Byrd
More pocket-sized knowledge gems for dat azz! If you're a NYC/BK denizen (or resident of any metro area), we know you'll believe when we say how many times these books have saved us during that long wait on the train platform. There's...
expand review never been a better time to go back and learn more about the life and times of James Brown, what with the recent untimely passing of the Godfather of Soul. Noted music journalist Douglas Wolk (I seen you in that Jandek movie!) takes on the daunting task of breaking down JB's monumental live album, Live At The Apollo. He painstakingly breaks down the details of the show (both what you hear on the record and what you don't), revealing not only the musical but the social ramifications of JB's performance. (Remember, this was recorded in 1962, at the height of the Cold War.) Essential reading. 117 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
More pocket-sized knowledge gems for dat azz! If you're a NYC/BK denizen (or resident of any metro area), we know you'll believe when we say how many times these books have saved us during that long wait on the train platform. In...
expand review this volume, John Perry takes us through Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, track-by-track, via interviews with Hendrix contemporaries and loads of eyewitness accounts. You might think this album is "dad rock" or too ingrained in the national conscious to be important anymore… but you're wrong! You can never read enough about Jimi Hendrix, flat out. Get knowledged. 132 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
Part 9 of the 33 1/3 mini-book series that spotlights landmark albums. This one investigates the development and lasting effects of Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures (so hipster right now), here's the synopsis: "Joy Division's career has often been shrouded by myths. But...
expand review the truth is surprisingly simple: over a period of several months, Joy Division transformed themselves from run-of-the-mill punk wannabes into the creators of one of the most atmospheric, disturbing, and influential debut albums ever recorded. Chris Ott carefully picks apart fact from fiction to show how Unknown Pleasures came into being, and how it still resonates so strongly today." 117 pages. -the mgmnt
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. Each volume in the series revisits and breaks down (in meticulous detail) a classic...
expand review album, giving up every piece of inside info you could want, from recording techniques to the inspirations behind the songs themselves. In this volume (#36), YETI magazine editor Mike McGonigal examines the bizarre circumstances which surrounded the recording of My Bloody Valentine's genre-defining shoegaze masterpiece. 119 pages. -Larri Byrd
More pocket-sized knowledge gems for dat azz! If you're a NYC/BK denizen (or resident of any metro area), we know you'll believe when we say how many times these books have saved us during that long wait on the train platform. You...
expand review may not be an angst-ridden teenager anymore, but it doesn't mean you can't still appreciate Nirvana's In Utero. Gillian G. Gaar (or "G-Cubed," like her friends call her) breaks down the before, during and after of In Utero, detailing Nirvana's effort to "recapture their punk rock ethic." She leaves no stone unturned, even pointing out symbolism and meaning in the imagery-laden music videos from the album. Damn, these little books are addictive. 105 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
If you're even the slightest bit into indie rock, chances are you already hold the Pixies' monkey-covered opus in pretty high regard. Dudes in two-sizes-too-small tee-shirts have been arguing for years about which is better, Doolittle or Surfer Rosa. But guess what,...
expand review bitches - Doolittle got a book written about it! And by a real-deal pro-fesh-oh-nal critic, no less! Ben Sisario (of the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Village Voice, etc.) breaks down Doolittle track-by-track, and unlike some of these other fan fiction-style 33 1/3 books, Sisario often includes some insightful commentary from Black Francis himself. He even goes record shopping with ol' Frank in a Cadillac at one point, living out the dream of pimply 13-year old me. 121 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. In this volume (#48), first-time novelist Kate Schatz creates a story which isn't about...
expand review PJ Harvey's sophomore album, "but because of it." The story concerns Kathleen and Mary, "two women who end up in a strange, abandoned cabin in the dark forest that borders their depressed valley town.... The result is a twisted, gripping fairy tale of kidnapping, dreams, murder, sex, revenge, and love." 112 pages. -Larri Byrd
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. Each volume in the series revisits and breaks down (in meticulous detail) a classic...
expand review album, giving up every piece of inside info you could want, from recording techniques to the inspirations behind the songs themselves. This volume features Prince's Sign 'O' The Times album, written by Seattle Weekly music editor (and bloggerator) Michaelangelo Matos. 121 pages. -Larri Byrd
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. Each volume in the series revisits and breaks down (in meticulous detail) a classic...
expand review album, giving up every piece of inside info you could want, from recording techniques to the inspirations behind the songs themselves. This volume features Radiohead's modern classic, OK Computer, as written by music professor Dai Griffiths. 123 pages. -Larri Byrd
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. Each volume in the series revisits and breaks down (in meticulous detail) a classic...
expand review album, giving up every piece of inside info you could want, from recording techniques to the inspirations behind the songs themselves. This volume dissects the Ramones' self-titled album, the definition of a classic punk album, as written by Nicholas Rombes (Exquisite Corpse, McSweeney's). 120 pages. -Larri Byrd
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. Each volume in the series revisits and breaks down (in meticulous detail) a classic...
expand review album, giving up every piece of inside info you could want, from recording techniques to the inspirations behind the songs themselves. In this volume (#57), Alternative Press reporter D.X. Ferris "shines a light on the creation of the most universally respected metal album and its long road to the stores." Includes interviews with the entire band, producer Rick Rubin, engineer Andy Wallace, cover artist Larry Carroll, Henry Rollins, Pantera's Phil Anselmo, and many more. 153 pages. -Larri Byrd
For most of us Sly Stone's "There's A Riot Going On" is one of those essential crate staples that's an incredible listen from beginning to end (plug: for only $7 in the funk section!). But as this book reveals, there's was a...
expand review lot more going on behind "It's A Family Affair." There's A Riot was rejection of the pop formula of Sly's own "Dance To The Music," and was also indicative of the political climate and Sly's hazy drug addiction (which is very obvious throughout the album). The book does an excellent job in describing the scenes surrounding the album, as well as its effects with lots of anecdotes and links to present artists. The book ends with the complete lyrics set from the album. 132 pages. -the mgmnt
Daydream Nation is one of those albums a lot of people own just because they think they should – it pops up on "best of" lists all the time, gets praised by tons of critics and musicians and just has a generally...
expand review mysterious air about it. But it's also kind of imposing, and trying to decode what the hell Thurston Moore is talking about is just too taxing sometimes. Never fear: in this installment of the 33 1/3 series, Resonance magazine contributor Matthew Stearns breaks down the hype behind Sonic Youth's finest album, and he does it in the best way possible – track-by-track. Each of the album's 14 songs is assigned its own section, wherein Stearns attempts to decipher some of those stream-of-consciousness lyrics, expounds on the dense, epic style of the album and more. The best bits are the interviews with SY members interspersed throughout: my favorite revelation is that the album's overly-serious artwork was all a big joke by the band, who assigned themselves "symbolic rock identities" a la Led Zeppelin, used a "Heavy Metal-ish" typeface on the track listing and incorporated "a prog-style song trilogy" just to take the piss. Also includes a foreword from SY co-founder and guitarist Lee Ranaldo. 160 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. Each volume in the series revisits and breaks down (in meticulous detail) a classic...
expand review album, giving up every piece of inside info you could want, from recording techniques to the inspirations behind the songs themselves. This volume features Steely Dan's Aja, as written by studio musician Don Breithaupt. (Who better to write a Steely Dan book than a studio musician??) 130 pages. -Cmish
More pocket-sized knowledge gems for dat azz! If you're a NYC/BK denizen (or resident of any metro area), we know you'll believe when we say how many times these books have saved us during that long wait on the train platform. Neither...
expand review I nor the author of this book (the astute Zeth Lundy of PopMatters) really need to tell you what a classic album Songs In The Key Of Life is - in fact, you're probably already thinking of ordering this, aren't you? Folks are just drawn to Stevie, and Lundy does a solid job of explaining why here. (The fact that Lundy lists Mr. Wonder's stated objective as squeezing "life itself into vinyl grooves" says something.) There's a reason this record is in your dad's collection AND all your cool friends' collection. 150 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
1989: an all-time classic brit rock album, a mysterious band with overshadowing frontman, and an ecstasy crazed Manchester. Is there an easier setup for an intriguing story? Personally, this is one of my favorite albums from the time period, and I...
expand review was pretty excited to see something that could extend the experience (Second Coming just didn't cut it for most). In this edition of 33 1/3, author Alex Green sets up the book with some band history and Manchester's environment at the time. He then dedicates one chapter to each of the album's songs, almost like super-extended linear notes. For best results listen to the album while reading. 132 pages. -the mgmnt
More pocket-sized knowledge gems for dat azz! If you're a NYC/BK denizen (or resident of any metro area), we know you'll believe when we say how many times these books have saved us during that long wait on the train platform. Jim...
expand review Fusilli (who you may know from The Wall Street Journal or National Public Radio… or maybe not, if you're reading TTLab…) does an amazing job of debunking some of the many, many myths surrounding the Beach Boys' classic Pet Sounds album, while raising many more pertinent questions and delving deeper into the mind of Brian Wilson than most would dare to go. If you consider yourself an appreciator of pop music, you owe it to yourself to find out how one of the best albums of all time was made. Get to it! 121 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
Part 5 of the 33 1/3 mini-book series that spotlights landmark albums. This one focuses on The Smiths' Meat Is Murder via a fiction story, here's the synopsis: "A Catholic high school near Boston in 1985. A time of suicides, gymnasium humiliations,...
expand review smoking for beginners, asthma attacks, and incendiary teenage infatuations. Infatuations with a girl (Allison), with a band (The Smiths) and with an album, Meat is Murder, that was so raw, so vivid and so melodic that you could cling to it like a lifeboat in a storm." 102 pages. -the mgmnt
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. Each volume in the series revisits and breaks down (in meticulous detail) a classic...
expand review album, giving up every piece of inside info you could want, from recording techniques to the inspirations behind the songs themselves. This volume features the Andy Warhol-produced Velvet Underground & Nico album, written by Fort Apache Studios co-founder / co-owner Joe Harvard. 152 pages. -Larri Byrd
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