Big Star documentary gets a blog

We've posted here before about Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, a feature documentary on "rock's first cult band." We here at 33 1/3 are big fans of the band (and are very proud of Bruce Eaton's take on Big Star's Radio City). Now the filmmakers behind the doc--who, it should be mentioned, crowdfunded the doc via Kickstarter--have started an awesomely obsessive Tumblr about the band and its doings, and it's worth a look not just for Big Star fans but for music fans in general. From the blog:

This is the vinyl lathe at Ardent Studios in Memphis. The Omnivore reissue of THIRD/Sister Lovers was mastered on this machine as were the original Big Star records in the 1970’s. Ardent is one of the few studios that masters their own vinyl reference disks. It was purchased from STAX Records in the heyday and came with their technician, Larry Nix.

How cool is that? I don't even think I've seen a vinyl lathe before. Nothing Can Hurt Me was featured as a work-in-progress at SXSW this year; We'll make sure to track its progress and keep you updated.

Talking Heads & New York Times Book Review

Hold on tight. “This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around.” Jonathan Lethem’s monograph on Talking Heads’ “Fear of Music” isn’t your everyday, step-by-step, track-by-track snapshot of a great record. “This ain’t the Mudd Club, or CBGB, I ain’t got time for that now.” And, most definitely, Lethem’s contribution to Continuum’s “33 1/3” series isn’t a quick spin down memory lane. It’s obsessive, passionate and personal. In short, the name of this new book by Jonathan Lethem is “Fear of Music.”

The rest of this lovely review by Pat Irwin can be found here.

The 94

I'm very pleased to announce that the following 94 proposals are still in the running, from the 471 that we received during March and April.

Andrew WK I Get Wet
Rush 2112
The Pharcyde Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde
J Dilla Donuts
The Modern Lovers The Modern Lovers
Aphex Twin Selected Ambient Works Vol II
Outkast Stankonia
Black Flag Damaged
Sigur Ros ( )
M.I.A. Arular
Wilco Being There
Randy Newman Good Old Boys
Rammstein Sehnsucht
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Nico Desertshore
Jandek Chair Beside A Window
Parliament Mothership Connection
Kraftwerk Trans-Europe Express
Eminem The Slim Shady LP
Daft Punk Discovery
Richard Hell Destiny Street Repaired
Rush 2112
Frank Zappa Joe's Garage
Oasis Definitely Maybe
The Mekons Rock'n'Roll
The Waterboys Fisherman's Blues
X Wild Gift
Nocturnal Emissions Spiritflesh
Danger Mouse The Grey Album
Phish Billy Breathes
The Go-Go's Beauty and the Beat
Richard Hell and the Voidoids Blank Generation
Jay-Z The Blueprint
Gang of Four Entertainment!
Can Tago Mago
Serge Gainsbourg Histoire de Melody Nelson
Bob Dylan Time Out of Mind
Ashlee Simpson Autobiography
Crass Christ - The Album
Smokey Robinson Going to a Go-Go
Helmet Meantime
The Game The Documentary
Janis Joplin Pearl
Gil Scott-Heron Winter in America
The Godz Godz 2
The Incredible String Band Wee Tam and the Big Huge
Queen News of the World
The Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks…
Half Man Half Biscuit Back in the DHSS
Big Black Songs about Fucking
Black Flag Damaged
The Wrens Meadowlands
ELO Out of the Blue
Caetano Veloso Caetano Veloso
Dead Kennedys Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Insane Clown Posse The Great Milenko
The Mountain Goats All Hail West Texas
Drake Thank Me Later
Bobbie Gentry Ode to Billie Joe
Manic Street Preachers The Holy Bible
They Might Be Giants Lincoln
Isaac Hayes Hot Buttered Soul
Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely
Lady Gaga The Fame
Pet Shop Boys Very
Van Halen Van Halen
Motley Crue Too Fast for Love
David Bowie Diamond Dogs
Beat Happening Beat Happening
Woody Guthrie Ballads of Sacco and Vanzetti
Diamanda Galas Malediction and Prayer
The Jesus and Mary Chain Psychocandy
The Mountain Goats All Hail West Texas
The Beach Boys Smile
Michael Jackson Dangerous
Hole Live Through This
John Lennon and Yoko Ono Double Fantasy
The Dismemberment Plan Emergency & I
Robert Johnson King of the Delta Blues Singers
Tubeway Army Replicas
Devo Freedom of Choice
Jay-Z The Blueprint
Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell
Bjork Biophilia
Van Morrison Astral Weeks
PJ Harvey Let England Shake
Refused The Shape of Punk to Come
Sloan Twice Removed
Tricky Maxinquaye
Husker Du New Day Rising
They Might Be Giants Flood
The Congos Heart of the Congos
Gogol Bordello Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike

If I've managed to figure out the technology, everybody who originally sent in a proposal should have just received an email, bearing either good or bad news. If for some reason you haven't received that email from me, and you're finding out via this blog post, I'm sorry - that was not the intention.

I should reiterate here that many, many of the proposals that didn't make the cut were really very strong - it was a real pleasure and an honour to read them all. And I do hope that the authors of those proposals post them online somewhere for others to enjoy.

As for the next stage: we'll do our damnedest to push through to the final decisions in the next 2 months and we'll keep everyone posted. I hope you'll forgive us if it takes a little longer than late July, though - we want to get this as right as we possibly can!

Anyhow: comment away, and feel free to ask questions, as usual...