Category: Interview

In our continued quest to profile authors of forthcoming 33 1/3 titles here on the blog–so you can get to know them, their writing, and what kind of twisted soul chooses to think about just one album for months at a time–we bring you celebrated Scottish author Alan Warner, author of our forthcoming 33 1/3 on Can’s Tago Mago. Alan Warner is the author of six novels: the acclaimed Morvern Callar (1995), winner of a Somerset Maugham Award; These Demented Lands (1997), winner of the Encore Award; The Sopranos (1998),…

In our continued quest to profile authors of forthcoming 33 1/3 titles here on the blog–so you can get to know them, their writing, and what kind of twisted soul chooses to think about just one album for months at a time–we bring you Michael Stewart Foley. Dr. Foley, a professor in American Political Culture and Political Theory at the University of Gronigen in the Netherlands, has past navigated the UK university system and is the author of several books, including Front Porch Politics: The Forgotten Heyday of American Activism…

Erik Davis, author of our Led Zeppelin IV 33 1/3, is a creature of many habits. He’s a writer and scholar, equally comfortable in the realms of rock criticism and explorations of mysticism, whose writings have touched on everything from California counterculture to Burning Man to Phillip K. Dick. His 2005 book on Plant, Page, and Co and their 1971 classic is a perennial favorite in the series, and was ranked #32 on Blender magazine’s roundup The 40 Greatest Rock & Roll Books. Said Blender at the time: “The most…

This particular Q&A brings with it a cavalcade of anniversaries: it’s been 15 years since Elliott Smith’s fourth studio album, XO, was released in 1998; ten years since Smith died in his home in Los Angeles; and, now that it’s 2014 (how’d that happen, by the way?), five years since the release of Matt LeMay’s 33 1/3 series title delving into XO, Smith’s misunderstood legacy, and his abbreviated life. LeMay, a writer, musician, and tech consultant, as well as senior contributor at Pitchfork, put considerable thought into his take on…

It’s hard to believe, but Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation is now 25 years old. In celebration of the album, a beloved indie masterpiece which also merited enough mainstream praise to be permanently housed in the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry, we sat down with the author of our 93rd book in the 33 1/3 series, Matthew Stearns. In the years since he wrote the book, a lot has changed for the band (Thurston and Kim’s marriage, RIP), but even more for our intrepid author. What, in particular, drew you…

Last week, we featured The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society 33 1/3 author Andy Miller taking a second look at the album, and his book, on the 45th anniversary of the album’s release. Now we sit Andy down for a more personal chat. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the author of the fourth ever 33 1/3, Andy Miller, a reader, author and editor of books. He sings and plays guitar with the Gene Clark Five, and his writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the Times, the Guardian, Esquire…

Happy DJ Culture Week! We’re celebrating the release of DJ Culture in the Mix, a groundbreaking edited collection that takes a critical academic look at international DJ culture. Meet the book’s editors, Bernardo (Ben) Attias, Anna Gavanas, and Hillegonda (Gonnie) Rietveld. What, in particular, drew you to writing/editing this book? AG:  After co-editing, with Ben Attias, a special issue on DJ culture for Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture, we were inspired to bring some under-explored issues to the forefront and to collect the existing international expertise out there…