33 1/3

History and overview

Each book of ** is about a single album. The series title refers to the rotation speed of a vinyl LP, revolutions per minute.

Originally published by Continuum, the series was founded by editor David Barker in 2003. At the time, Continuum published a series of short books on literature called Continuum Contemporaries. One-time series editor Ally-Jane Grossan described Barker as "an obsessive music fan who thought, 'This is a really cool idea, why don't we apply this to albums. PopMatters wrote that the range consists of "obscure classics to more usual suspects by the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones".

In 2010, Continuum was bought out by Bloomsbury Publishing, which continues to publish the series.

Several independent books have been spun off of the series. The first, Carl Wilson's 2007 entry on Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love, was expanded for a 2014 Bloomsbury reissue with material not specifically pertaining to the Dion album and retitled Let's Talk About Love: Why Other People Have Such Bad Taste. Joe Bonomo, at the invitation of Barker, expanded his proposal on Jerry Lee Lewis's Live at the Star Club, Hamburg album into a full-length book about Lewis, the album, and his career titled Jerry Lee Lewis: Lost and Found, published by Continuum in 2009. A rejected proposal from writer Brett Milano for an entry on Game Theory's 1987 album Lolita Nation was instead expanded by Milano into a biography on the band's leader Scott Miller; that project, titled Don't All Thank Me at Once: The Lost Genius of Scott Miller, was released by 125 Books in 2015.

In August 2017, Bloomsbury announced the launch of Global, an extension of the series to popular music from around the world. The first two sub-series launched were Brazil, edited by Jason Stanyek, and Japan, edited by Noriko Manabe. The first book for Brazil was Caetano Veloso's A Foreign Sound by Barbara Browning. The first books for Japan were Supercell ft. Hatsune Miku by Keisuke Yamada and Yoko Kanno's Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack by Rose Bridges.

Published titles

, 196 books have been published in the main series.

Main series

33⅓ Japan

33⅓ Brazil

33⅓ Europe

33⅓ Oceania

33⅓ South Asia

33⅓ Africa

Anthologies

Genre: A 33⅓ Series

Forthcoming titles

Main series

With release date

• Antics (January 22, 2026) by Gabriel T. Saxon-Ruiz, on the album by Interpol (2004)
• Inflammable Material (March 5, 2026) by Kevin C. Dunn, on the album by Stiff Little Fingers (1979)
• So Tonight That I Might See (March 5, 2026) by Anthony Gomez III, on the album by Mazzy Star (1993)
• Violent Femmes (May 14, 2026) by Nic Brown, on the album by Violent Femmes (1983)
• Blonde (June 11, 2026) by Yousef Srour, on the album by Frank Ocean (2016)
• Believe (June 11, 2026) by Lior Phillips, on the album by Cher (1998)
• Disintegration (September 3, 2026) by Andi Harriman, on the album by The Cure (1989)
• Plastic Beach (September 3, 2026) by Ihor Junyk, on the album by Gorillaz (2010)
• I'm Your Baby Tonight (October 1, 2026) by Brandon Tensley, on the album by Whitney Houston (1990)
• "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D (October 1, 2026) by Justin Remer, on the album by "Weird Al" Yankovic (1984)
• Dust Bowl Ballads (October 15, 2026) by Allison C. Meier, on the album by Woody Guthrie (1940)

Without release date

• Tragic Kingdom by Rhae Lynn Barnes, on the album by No Doubt (1995)
• I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Holden Seidlitz, on the album by Bright Eyes (2005)
• What's the 411? by Ricky Tucker, on the album by Mary J. Blige (1992)
• Lyburnum Wits End Liberation Fly by Zak Fusciello, on the album by Moss Icon (1994)
• I Want You by Derrais Carter, on the album by Marvin Gaye (1976)
• Timeless by Martyn Deykers, on the album by Goldie (1995)
• Tin Drum by Agata Pyzik, on the album by Japan (1981)
• Nightbirds by Craig Seymour, on the album by Labelle (1974)
• Shout at the Devil by Micco Caporale, on the album by Mötley Crüe (1983)
• Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version by Jarett Kobek, on the album by Ol' Dirty Bastard (1995)

33⅓ Japan

• Kōhaku utagassen: The Red and White Song Contest by Shelley Brunt (January 8, 2026)
• Yellow Magic Orchestra (delayed) by Toshiyuki Ohwada, on the album by Yellow Magic Orchestra (1978)

33⅓ Brazil

--

33⅓ Europe

• 1964/1985 Affinità-divergenze fra il compagno Togliatti e noi – Del conseguimento della maggiore età (January 8, 2026) by Giacomo Botta, on the album by CCCP (1986)
• Februar (January 8, 2026), on the album by Silly (1989)
• Phaedra (delayed) by Dan Bynre-Smith, on the album by Tangerine Dream (1974)

33⅓ Oceania

• Currents (January 8, 2026) by Alister Newstead, on the album by Tame Impala (2015)
• The Happy Prince (June 11, 2026) by John Tebbutt, on the album by The La De Das (1969)

33⅓ South Asia

--

33⅓ Africa

• Graceland (August 6, 2026) by Kalvin Schmidt-Rimpler Dinh, on the album by Paul Simon (1986)

Genre: A 33⅓ Series

• Minimalist Music (April 2, 2026) by George Grella, Jr.
• Pub Rock (June 11, 2026) by George Grella, Jr.
• Queercore (June 11, 2026) by Audrey Golden
• Vaporwave (delayed) by Kirk Walker Graves

References

References

1. Yoder, Anne K.. (April 2, 2006). "Introduction and Interview with Series Editor David Barker". PopMatters.
2. Benfer, Amy. (August 28, 2014). "33⅓ book series celebrates records – and its 10th anniversary". Los Angeles Times.
3. Brown, Harley. (February 25, 2015). "How the 33 1/3 Series, In Spite of Two Shrinking Industries, Continues to Thrive".
4. "Contact Us".
5. Zaleski, Annie. (January 1, 2016). "The lost pop genius of Scott Miller". [[Salon (website).
6. (August 9, 2017). "New series announcement: 33 1/3 Global". 333Sound.
7. (August 31, 2017). "33 1/3 Global editor highlight: Noriko Manabe". 333Sound.
8. "33 1/3 Brazil". Bloomsbury Publishing.
9. "33 1/3 Japan". Bloomsbury Publishing.
10. "John Prine's John Prine (33 1/3) Erin Osmon: Bloomsbury Academic". Bloomsbury Publishing.
11. "Maria Callas's Lyric and Coloratura Arias (33 1/3) Ginger Dellenbaugh: Bloomsbury Academic". Bloomsbury Publishing.
12. "The National's Boxer: : 33 1/3 Ryan Pinkard Bloomsbury Academic". Bloomsbury Publishing.
13. "Kraftwerk's Computer World: : 33 1/3 Steve Tupai Francis Bloomsbury Academic". Bloomsbury Publishing.
14. "Cat Power's Moon Pix: : 33 1/3 Donna Kozloskie Bloomsbury Academic". Bloomsbury Publishing.
15. "George Michael's Faith: : 33 1/3 Matthew Horton Bloomsbury Academic". Bloomsbury Publishing.
16. "Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly: : 33 1/3 Sequoia L. Maner Bloomsbury Academic".
17. "33 1/3 Greatest Hits, Volume 1".
18. "33 1/3 Greatest Hits, Volume 2".
19. "The 33 1/3 B-sides".
20. "33 1/3: Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)".
21. (January 27, 2023). "Announcing the newest 33 1/3s".
22. (July 19, 2024). "Announcing the newest 33 1/3s".
23. (November 30, 2020). "Announcing the newest 33 1/3s".
24. (October 4, 2023). "Upcoming Releases".
25. "Open Call 2015 Results: The 16 New Books in the 33 1/3 Series | 333sound".
26. (November 23, 2015). "New 33 1/3 Title Coming Spring 2018: Tin Drum".
27. (August 31, 2021). "Announcing the Newest 33 1/3S".
28. "Noriko Manabe, Ph.D. - 33-1/3 Japan".
29. "Yellow Magic Orchestra's Yellow Magic Orchestra".
30. "CCCP's Affinità e Divergenze".
31. "Silly's Februar".
32. "Tangerine Dream's Phaedra".
33. "Tame Impala's Currents".
34. "The La De Das' The Happy Prince".
35. "Paul Simon's Graceland".
36. "Minimalist Music".
37. "Pub Rock".
38. "Queercore".
39. "Vaporwave".