Ordinarily, Continuum Books publishes some heavy shit. They’re the primary source of work by boundary-breaking philosopher Slavoj Zizek, the first intense Eastern European Egghead in awhile to gain visibility in popular culture. However, the reason why Continuum’s output comes up almost every week in conversations I have at the label I work for, or the clubs I hang out in, or interviews I conduct with musicians for magazines and websites, is their exquisitely-conceived, designed, and edited 33 1/3 series. 

These are small but meaty little tomes, each devoted to the making of a particularly influential album. Past writers have run the gamut from Colin Meloy of The Decemberists ruminating on his rapturous experiences discovering The Replacements (specifically their timeless “Let It Be” platter), to Scram ‘zine editor Kim Cooper interviewing the musicians and associates involved in the Neutral Milk Hotel recording of the seminal “In An Aeroplane Over The Sea” album. The former book was just as good as anything ever crafted by an exceptional coming-of-age novelist, while the latter was heartbreaking in its ability to delve within Jeff Mangum’s Anne Frank-obsession.

Choice stuff. And they fit nicely in my baggy, black, punk-rock shorts. The four most recent books in the series are about crucial albums by The Pixies, the Beastie Boys, Sly & the Family Stone, and The Stone Roses. “Doolittle” by Ben Sisario, a pop music writer, reveals the oddly Old Testament exegesis behind the crunchiest power-pop album of all time. “Paul’s Boutique,” by noted Vibe scribe Dan Leroy, meticulously describes the incredible creativity, bizarre energy, and sample-plundering in that legendary Jew-rock “hip-hop opera.” Paris-based hip-hop essayist Miles Marshall Lewis weaves a fascinating personal odyssey based on the radical times and evolutionary art of “There’s A Riot Goin’ On.” And teacher/writer Alex Green nails down why many people about 30 years old in the US and UK list the eponymous LP of The Stone Roses on their top 10 lists of all time.

In each book, you’ll find secrets of song meanings and constructions, either from an inside-the-tour-bus, manse, or studio (or, received inside the fan’s bedroom) point-of-view. Often, they contain elaborate discussions of production history and personnel shifting, which affected the subtle and overt elements in the classics you find yourself playing again and again.

Soon, iPods will change everything, but for now, the album’s influence still haunts the collective memory. These little books never stay in the realm of straight biography, or recording documentation, or lyric analysis; like our favorite albums, the authors create something we can examine from various different angles, the way each time I listen to “Scary Monsters” or “Straight Outta Compton” or “Pretty On The Inside” spins me in a new direction.

~Chris Estey

Read Them:

Most 33 1/3 books are available for $10 on amazon.com

For more info on Continuum Book, continuumbooks.com