If you’ve ever perused the endcaps at a local, independent record or book store, it’s likely you’ve seen the pocket-sized book series 33 1/3. Each of the volumes in the series focuses on a single quintessential album, hence the title for the series–33 1/3 being the number of revolutions per minute an LP makes on a turntable. This year, the series will publish its 100th volume, which will be Susan Fast’s Dangerous, on the album by Michael Jackson. Other books in the series have covered albums by Dusty Springfield, The Beatles, The Replacements, The Pixies, Neutral Milk Hotel, Talking Heads and have been penned by notable authors such as Jonathan Lethem, Colin Meloy (Decemberists), and John Darnielle (Mountain Goats).
Recently the imprint’s blog spent two weeks announcing each of the titles individually. The final list is a diverse representation of genres, eras, and styles of music. You can peruse it below. We were blown away by every title in the list, but are particularly excited by the forthcoming books on albums by Geto Boys, Daniel Johnston, Sleater-Kinney, The Raincoats, and Blondie, as well as Pop Press International’s own Bryan C. Parker’s volume on Beat Happening.
Coming Spring 2015
Koji Kondo’s Super Mario Bros by Andrew Shartmann
Coming Fall 2015
Grateful Dead’s Workingman’s Dead by Puzz Poole
Beat Happening’s Beat Happening by Bryan C. Parker
Metallica’s Metallica (The Black Album) by David Masciotra
Phish’s A Live One by Walter Holland
Coming Spring 2016
Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew by George Grella
The Geto Boys’ The Geto Boys by Rolf Potts
The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Psychocandy by Paula Mejia
Daniel Johnston’s Hi, How Are You by Benjamin Shapiro
Sleater-Kinney’s Dig Me Out by Jovana Babović
Coming Fall 2016
New Kids on the Block’s Hangin’ Tough by Rebecca Wallwork
Donny Hathaway’s Donny Hathaway Live by Emily Lordi