The Book series 33 1/3 on classic albums.. Great stuff
Have any of ya'll read any book in the amazing 33 1/3 book series, published by Bloomsbury? it's absolutely brilliant reading for any music fanatic, each book is a small pocket on about 110 to 140 pages with each book exclusively discussing a single classic/timeless/game changing/masterpiece of an album, based on the writers theories, various interview quotes, etc.
* most recently i read Cristopher R. Weingarten's (who has written for The Source, Rolling Stone, Village Voice, etc.) take on Public Enemey's "It Takes A Nation..." and it's probably the finest i read in the series yet. filled to the limits with trivia, and not only discusses PE but also their influences and how they and The Bomb Squad changed the production game. if you want a lesson on old school hip-hop this is the one to get, there's also much talk about James Brown and other material they sampled + black leaders, etc. strongly recommended - especially if you love the album as much as me!
* i read Sly & The Family Stone's "There's A Riot Going On", which was a terrific read as well.. the first half of the book talk about Sly's upbringing and growing up into building the first incarnation of the band and small analysis of the first album.. once it gets to "There's A Riot..." it really get serious. filled with quotes from band members, i really gained a better understanding of that album, which of course is another one of my favorites.
* the first book i read was Nas' "ILLMATIC", still my #1 favorite album of all time so it was just amazing readng a full (albeit short) book on its making and impact. i remember large parts of this book was done as track-by-track breadkwons with each song getting a chapter. all the original producers are interviewed, MC Serch, Faith Newman, and some others. this book had me HOOKED!
* J Dilla's "Donuts" - it could have been called just J Dilla bc like 60% of the book is about James Yancey growing up in Detroit, finding his love for music, his time with Slum, evolving styles, his fight with Lupus. only the latter half of it are on "Donuts" per se, but it really doesn't matter bc i was hooked from page 1. as big a Dilla head i see myself as there were actually stuff in here i had not a clue about before.
* Kanye West's "Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", say what you want i love this album and i would really like to hear trivia about the extreme production sessions and whatnot. i'm sad to say that the book is WACK, the writer starts with something like "for this book i haven't interviewed any of the artists involved, neither have i looked at any preexisting interview... this book is solely based on my personal relationship with the music and this is an analysis". sure that can be cool, but based on the other books in the series this is not what i want so it was very dissapointing.
* I just started reading the psychadelic late '60s rock band Love's self-titled album but have just started so i ain't got too much say right now, but seems good. i have a friend who i borrowed it from who says its great!
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