For obsessive compulsives

If liner notes and record reviews are not enough for you, turn to the 33 1/3 series of books from Continuum publishing. 33 1/3 is a series of pocket sized books, around 150 pages, that focus in detail on great albums old and new. Written by scholars, critics, and musicians the series has attracted a fanatical following. They have been around for a few years, and up until now I have resisted, thinking I'd rather spend 10 bucks on a CD. But the music geek in me has recently prevailed. I also have a weakness for collecting small things of identical size (there's a psychological condition for this, but I don't know the name). I love reading about music, and chances are if you're reading this blog, you do too. In some ways the books I've read are like graduate thesis papers; intriguing, but not always the best writing. Detailed footnotes and bibliographies are provided for further obsessing. Here are brief reviews of the first two I've read, to help you decide if you're ready to take the plunge:

#17 - Led Zeppelin IV - Author Erik Davis tackles one of the greatest albums of all time. Davis is an expert in mysticism and the occult, and delves into the hidden symbolism pretty heavily, maybe more than most readers care to read about. He does make a compelling argument for the overall meaning of the album, though, and balances the occult theory with a good knowledge of all things Zeppelin. He also offers a really insightful review of all the things we loved about the 12-inch record and the concept of creating an 'album' of songs, notions that have fallen by the wayside in the digital era. I was hoping for more detail on the recording sessions at Headley Grange, but there are other sources for that.

Conclusion: A must-read for Zeppelin fanatics. Casual music fans may be overwhelmed.

Buy It

#37 - The Who Sell Out - Written by John Dougan, a Who fan with a PhD in American Studies, the book is really more of a history of the Pop Art and pirate radio era in mid 1960's Britain than an intense analysis of the album. Sell Out is an overlooked masterpiece, and I found the discussion of cultural climate that led to the music very worthwhile reading. I didn't know much about the pirate radio movement and this book provides a complete history, which of course is instrumental in the concept of Sell Out. If you're looking for 120 pages on the Who though, you will be disappointed.

Conclusion: Anyone with an interest in 60's rock music should read it. If you're a Who fan that has forgotten about Sell Out in favor of the Who's more well-known albums then you should definitely read it.

Buy It

More to come as I continue to read. There's 56 in the series and counting....

The 33 1/3 Blog

Time is a jet plane, it moves too fast

It has been over a month since I've written anything in this blog. It's a classic case of too much to do, and too little time. Truth be told, I've been immersed in the biggest project of my career, and it has overshadowed most everything this summer, least of all this little blog. I've dedicated my career to keeping old buildings from falling down, and these images of my 1931 public school renovation project are but a very small fraction of the work at hand. There's light at the end of the tunnel though.

I will also admit a little bit of writer's block lately, and more than a little feeling of inadequacy in the wide ol' blogosphere. There are so many great music related blogs out there that do an incredible job of staying current and publishing regularly that my ramblings often seem irrevelant. Nevertheless, the purpose of this blog is not solely to inform, but to share my thoughts and some occasional music. Every once in a while, I get a nice comment from a reader, and that's enough to keep going. I've also had some problems with Ezarchive, the low cost, and increasingly insufficent file sharing site that I use to post my music files. And what's a music blog without music? I could switch to much better sites, but these will cost me. I'm trying out hipcast, see below.

Ok, enough whining. I will attempt to get back on track in the coming weeks. One of my missions with this blog was to revisit my vinyl music collection, which I haven't touched in 20 years, and slowly begin the process of digitizing the music, sharing some along the way. Over the years I've only replaced the bare essentials in CD format. I have lot of great stuff on vinyl that was a huge a part of my life until I bought that first CD player in 1986. Well I now have the technology, a basic USB turntable and software to convert the wax to wav files and mp3s. This week, for the first time in over 20 years, I actually pulled a vinyl record out of it's sleeve and dropped a needle in the groove. There was something really pleasant about this little ceremony, looking at the gatefold cover while the music played. I rarely listen to music at home; typically it's in my car or at work, on the ipod. I'm looking forward weeding though all this vinyl and just sitting down and listening.
Of course, there's the pops, hiss and scratches. We've been conditioned to reject any and all background noise in the digital age, even if it's at the expense of fidelity and rich sound. I have a few software programs that can filter out some of crackle, but I'm not going to obsess over it. It's nostalgic, and really the crackle is only there in the dead space.

The first record I pulled out is David Gilmour's outstanding eponymous 1978 debut album. One of the best solo albums by a group member that comes to mind, it reminds me that what I love about Pink Floyd is Gilmour's extraordinary guitar playing, and smooth voice. Waters may have been the brains behind Floyd, but Gilmour's talent just soars.

The popular track from this record is There's No Way Out Here, but I've chosen So Far Away, the second track from Side 1 (yes kiddies, there are 2 sides and we really did have to get up flip the disk after 22 minutes). If you like Pink Floyd but you're unfamilar with Gilmour's solo material, you owe it to yourself to buy this record.

David Gilmour - So Far Away

More to come, I promise.