Continuum ad Infinitum

33 1/3 Keeps Spinning

Continuum has just announced the nervously awaited list of new 33 1/3 books to be published in 2007-2008. Guess the series is finding its legs now, which is fantastic news, regardless of my personal stake in it (supposedly, even sales of my book are starting to pick up. I'd long since resigned to viewing my book as a literary homologue to the album it's about: critically, an unmitigated triumph; commercially, a brick.) I though the series was unplugged after '07. Instead, here's the chef's table behind-the-scenes peek at the ongoing erection of the post-boomer canon...

Continuum's press release [emphases mine]:

For Immediate Release: January 27, 2006

"Continuum International Publishing Group is thrilled to announce 21 new titles in its popular 33 1/3 series of books about much-loved albums. Series creator and editor David Barker first posted the listing of new additions, slated for publication throughout 2007 and 2008, on Thursday morning at his 33 1/3 blog."

Belle and Sebastian's IF YOU'RE FEELING SINISTER by Scott Plagenhoef
Steely Dan's AJA by Don Breithaupt
Richard and Linda Thompson's SHOOT OUT THE LIGHTS by Hayden Childs
Nine Inch Nails' PRETTY HATE MACHINE by Daphne Carr
Guns'n'Roses's USE YOUR ILLUSION by Eric Weisbard
Patti Smith's HORSES by Phil Shaw
The Minutemen's DOUBLE NICKELS ON THE DIME by Mike Fournier
Nick Drake's PINK MOON by Amanda Petrusich
A Tribe Called Quest's PEOPLE'S INSTINCTIVE TRAVELS AND THE PATHS OF
RHYTHM by Shawn Taylor
U2's ACHTUNG BABY by Stephen Catanzarite
Throbbing Gristle's 20 JAZZ FUNK GREATS by Drew Daniel
Kate Bush's THE DREAMING by Ann Powers
PJ Harvey's RID OF ME by Kate Schatz
Brian Eno's ANOTHER GREEN WORLD by Geeta Dayal
Stevie Wonder's SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE by Zeth Lundy
Captain Beefheart's TROUT MASK REPLICA by Kevin Courrier
Celine Dion's LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE by Carl Wilson
Lucinda Williams' LUCINDA WILLIAMS by Anders Smith Lindall
The Magnetic Fields' 69 LOVE SONGS by LD Beghtol
Television's MARQUEE MOON by Peter Blauner
Tom Waits' SWORDFISHTROMBONES by David Smay

"The call for proposals was announced in October of 2005 and the enthusiastic response -- roughly 200 proposals in fewer than two months -- made it clear that the series has captured the imagination of music lovers everywhere. "This wasn't an easy decision-making process, there were just so many good proposals to choose from," Barker said."

"Currently home to 29 books, the series covers a wide range of seminal albums from the past 40 years and includes books on albums by artists such as the Beatles, Dusty Springfield, Love, Prince, Radiohead, Joy Division, DJ Shadow, The Band and most recently, Kim Cooper's fast-selling tome on Neutral Milk Hotel's cult favorite IN THE AEROPLANE OVER THE SEA, already in its second printing after debuting in November."

"Previously announced for 2006:

The Pixies' DOOLITTLE by Ben Sisario
The Beastie Boys' PAUL'S BOUTIQUE by Dan LeRoy
Sly and the Family Stone's THERE'S A RIOT GOIN' ON by Miles Marshall Lewis
The Stone Roses' STONE ROSES by Alex Green
Sonic Youth's DAYDREAM NATION by Matthew Stearns
Joni Mitchell's COURT AND SPARK by Sean Nelson
The Clash's LONDON CALLING by David L. Ulin
The Byrds' THE NOTORIOUS BYRD BROTHERS by Ric Menck
Bob Dylan's HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED by Mark Polizzotti
Guided By Voices' BEE THOUSAND by Marc Woodworth
Nirvana's IN UTERO by Gillian Gaar
The Who's THE WHO SELL OUT by John Dougan

~

Before both theory and Jacques Derrida died, one could say the para-text here is ripe for the picking: metal, hardcore, and punk are musics for illiterates who don't read books and the sub-leisure class who can't afford to buy books (cf. Bourdieu), so why throw bankrolls into the Thames over that bullpucky? Concessions are made for a few of the "smart" punk bands, like the Clash, Television, and the Minutemen, so as to seem well-rounded, like on a college application. This discrepancy is an issue of cardinal importance that needs to be addressed dead-on if/when the series makes it to '09.

And with the sightline of the series so firmly fixed on the middle-of-the-road that the book contracts might as well be printed in reflective asphalt paint, another consideration here is of redundancies that could crap on the tenor of the whole project: does the universe really need any more ink on Nirvana, Bob Dylan, or U2? Does the universe need any more books that cobble together bits of previously published books? And what options are there, anyway, in trying to engage this level of fame? Lives end; biographies are finite; all the facts of an artist's existence have long since been found, labeled, and filed away, like dead butterflies (a seriously troubling notion in my approaching Murmur). To Barker's credit, I highly doubt this is his fault, but rather that of the artless bean counters upstairs. I'm sure Barker would like nothing more than to assign someone a book about the Marine Girls or 14 Iced Bears.)

But kudos* to David Barker for reigning in some of the best, smartest, and most important writers working today, on the for-real-ass. I'm very very much looking forward to works by Drew Daniel (Mr. Matmos), Carl Wilson (of the Globe and Mail), Ann Powers (famous rock crit, new mommy, and wonderfully nice human being), Geeta Dayal (critic for The Wire), and Sean Nelson (didn't know who he was 'til he threw down about Morrissey at a conference last year, blowing my slo-blo mind.)

Writers they absolutely blew it by passing over: Dave Queen, Seth Sanders, Mike O'Flaherty, Keith Harris, John Darnielle, Brian Costello.

--Mere Pseud. Mag Ed.

* [Ed. note: not a plural noun, but actually the Attic Greek singular noun form defined by suffix -os]

posted at 2:03 AM