33⅓

33⅓

33⅓

Book series of music analysis and criticism


33+13 (Thirty-Three and a Third) is a series of books, each about a single music album.[1] The series title refers to the rotation speed of a vinyl LP, 33+13 RPM.[2]

Cover of the Live at the Apollo book.

History

Originally published by Continuum,[3] the series was founded by editor David Barker in 2003.[1] At the time, Continuum published a series of short books on literature called Continuum Contemporaries. One-time series editor Ally-Jane Grossan mentioned that Barker was "an obsessive music fan who thought, 'This is a really cool idea, why don't we apply this to albums'.[3] PopMatters wrote that the range consists of "obscure classics to more usual suspects by the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones".[1]

In 2010, Continuum was bought out by Bloomsbury Publishing, which continues to publish the series.[3] Following a leave, Barker was replaced by Grossan in January 2013.[2] Leah Babb-Rosenfeld has been the editor of the series since 2016.[4]

Several independent books have been spun off of the series. The first, Carl Wilson's 2007 entry on Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love, was expanded for a 2014 Bloomsbury reissue with material not specifically pertaining to the Dion album and retitled Let's Talk About Love: Why Other People Have Such Bad Taste. Joe Bonomo, at the invitation of Barker, expanded his 33+13 proposal on Jerry Lee Lewis's Live at the Star Club, Hamburg album into a full-length book about Lewis, the album, and his career titled Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found, published by Continuum in 2009. A rejected proposal from writer Brett Milano for an entry on Game Theory's 1987 album Lolita Nation was instead expanded by Milano into a biography on the band's leader Scott Miller; that project, titled Don't All Thank Me at Once: The Lost Genius of Scott Miller, was released by 125 Books in 2015.[5]

In August 2017, Bloomsbury announced the launch of 33+13 Global,[6] an extension of the 33+13 series to popular music from around the world. The first two sub-series launched were 33+13 Brazil, edited by Jason Stanyek, and 33+13 Japan, edited by Noriko Manabe.[7] The first book for 33+13 Brazil was Caetano Veloso's A Foreign Sound by Barbara Browning.[8] The first books for 33+13 Japan were Supercell ft. Hatsune Miku by Keisuke Yamada and Yoko Kanno's Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack by Rose Bridges.[9]

Published titles

As of February 2024, 179 books have been published in the main series.

Main series

More information #, Album ...
  1. Intentionally mis-numbered
  2. The original Smile album remains unfinished; not to be confused with The Smile Sessions (2011) box set

33⅓ Japan

More information #, Work ...

33⅓ Brazil

More information #, Work ...

33⅓ Europe

More information #, Work ...

33⅓ Oceania

Anthologies

More information #, Title ...

Genre: A 33⅓ Series

More information #, Genre ...

Forthcoming titles

Main series

With release date[20]

Without release date

33⅓ Japan

33⅓ Europe

33⅓ Oceania

33⅓ South Asia

Genre: A 33⅓ Series

See also

  • Boss Fight Books – a publisher that releases an eponymous series about notable video games

References

  1. Yoder, Anne K. (April 2, 2006). "Introduction and Interview with Series Editor David Barker". PopMatters. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018.
  2. Benfer, Amy (August 28, 2014). "33⅓ book series celebrates records – and its 10th anniversary". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018.
  3. Brown, Harley (February 25, 2015). "How the 33 1/3 Series, In Spite of Two Shrinking Industries, Continues to Thrive". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 26, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  4. "Contact Us". 333SOUND. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  5. Zaleski, Annie (January 1, 2016). "The lost pop genius of Scott Miller". Salon. Archived from the original on January 6, 2016.
  6. "New series announcement: 33 1/3 Global". 333Sound. August 9, 2017. Archived from the original on March 20, 2018.
  7. "33 1/3 Global editor highlight: Noriko Manabe". 333Sound. August 31, 2017. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  8. "33 1/3 Brazil". Bloomsbury Publishing. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018.
  9. "33 1/3 Japan". Bloomsbury Publishing. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018.
  10. "Upcoming Releases". October 4, 2023.
  11. Don't Be Swindle bloomsbury.com/uk [dead link]
  12. "Ardit Gjebrea's Projekt Jon". Bloomsbury Publishing.
  13. "Einstürzende Neubauten's Kollaps". Bloomsbury. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  14. "Screamfeeder's Kitten Licks". Bloomsbury Publishing.
  15. Soundtrack bloomsbury.com [dead link]
  16. "Neue Deutsche Welle". Bloomsbury Publishing.
  17. "Math Rock". Bloomsbury Publishing.
  18. Vaporwave bloomsbury.com [dead link]

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