The Music Box

Judging by the glut of music-related books, magazines and web-sites clogging the firmament, many music fans share a voracious reading appetite. Industry trends, CD reviews, artist profiles, genre history, gossip — you name it, there’s a blog or book about it. It’s a growth industry, too. Music buffs will seek alternatives as long as Lowest Common Denominator monoliths like Clear Channel, Ticketbastard, Satan’s Minions (the RIAA) and Rolling Stone (someone remind us what instrument Britney’s big ass plays?) attempt to control the universe.

Continuum Publisher’s new series, 33 1/3, targets that insatiable need for reading material of substance. It features short books about seminal records, retailing for $10, and written by musicians, critics, producers, authors — basically anyone who can eloquently describe how and why a particular record altered forever their listening landscape. The first half-dozen, released this October, include:

Meat Is Murder, a fictional account of the Smiths’ debut by musician Joe Pernice.

Harvest, Neil Young’s seminal release examined by Sam Inglis, a features editor at Sound On Sound magazine.

The Kinks’ Are the Village Green Preservation Society, chronicled by British novelist Andy Miller.

Forever Changes, author Andrew Hultkrans’ look at the Love record.

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, BBC broadcaster and recording artist John Cavanagh examines the Pink Floyd debut.

Dusty In Memphis, a look at Dusty Springfield’s magnum opus by musician Warren Zanes.

This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2003.