33 1/3 series

Not too long ago, I read a great book that’s part of an intriguing series.  The book was The Pixies’ Doolittle (33 1/3) by Ben Sisario.  I’m a big fan of the Pixies and Doolittle is right up there with my all time favorite albums (though I do like the earlier Pixies albums a little better).  But this is not just about the Pixies. This book is part of a series that deconstructs well known albums from the past several decades.  This was my first foray into the series, and it will not be the last.

It’s really interesting to get behind the scenes and see how the musicians put the album together, one song at a time.  I found the book to be really inspiring as any good documentation about an artistic process is bound to get the creative juices flowing.  In this book, primarily through interviews with Black Francis, the reader is brought into the world of late-80s Boston when the Pixies were young and starving and at the peak of their creative abilities.  It’s also oddly compelling to listen to the story as told by Frank Black so many years later, driving around Oregon in a very different life.

Each song on the album is deconstructed – the thoughts behind the lyrics, the decisions about the instruments, the sound and the recording sessions that captured it all.  It’s also a good look into the recording industry at a high-level and can give outsiders like me an appreciation for the role of the record producer.  I especially enjoyed reading the book alongside my iPod, so that I could listen to the track, read about it, and then listen a few more times picking up the newly discovered little gems that I’d read about.

I have had an interest in music for most of my life, and lately I’ve been interested into the mechanics behind the albums that I’ve grown up with.  I’ve watched documentaries about tours and bands and the making of albums like Nirvana’s Nevermind or Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon (both of these documentaries I found in the used DVD section of Amoeba records). The 33 1/3 series provides an excellent read for so many albums that are of interest to me – and at such a small size, and easy-to-digest chapters (organized around the tracks) these books are no brainers for short commutes or moments that would otherwise be spent wasted.

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