If 33 1/3 Did Jpop and Kpop…


Ray Mescallado | May 2, 2012 | 10 comments

… What album would you want to read about? Or for that matter, what album would you want to write about?

For those who don’t know, each volume in the 33 1/3 series of books has an author write about one album in whatever way they wish. More often than not it’s a critical history of how the album was composed, but there’s also fiction and essays of a more wide-ranging manner. I’ve only read maybe a dozen of them, but among my personal favorites are Nicholas Rombes on the first Ramones album, Christopher R Weingarten’s majestically historical take on Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back, and Nick Attfeld’s wryly appreciative take on Dinosaur Jr’s You’re Living All Over Me.

If there’s any book I’d recommend without hesitation, though, it’d be Carl Wilson’s Celine Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste. Instead of being a traditional appreciation of the artist and her work, Wilson tackles the issue of why he hates Celine Dion so much. It’s a great introduction to Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital and how that ties into the way we think of music. Anyone who wants to write seriously about music – including Jpop and Kpop – would benefit greatly from considering the issues Wilson raises, and can certainly learn a great deal about music writing from Wilson’s effortless prose.

Anyway, the 33 1/3 people just closed a round of open proposals for new books and shared the list of what was suggested to them. It’s an interesting list, and there’s some albums there that I’d love to see get the 33 1/3 treatment – those by X, particularly, and Wu-Tang’s 36 Chambers. And of course, there’s albums not listed that I think deserve book length scrutiny, such as Pussy Galore’s Dial ‘M’ For Motherfucker and Sunn O)))’s 00 Void. But one of the welcome surprises was seeing that among the proposals was one for a Jpop album and one for Cpop. The Jpop album is Hamasaki Ayumi’s I Am… and the Cpop is Faye Wong’s Anxiety.

I don’t know what the chances are of either of these proposals making it to print – though really, I’d think an album from Big Bang or 2NE1 or even SNSD would stand a better chance, given the current global domination of the hallyu. But in personal conversations I’ve often used 33 1/3 as an example of the level of writing I’d love to see Jpop and Kpop get from writers, and I’ve even blue-skied with friends about what Japanese albums would make great 33 1/3 books. Seeing Ayu’s album mixed in with Fugazi and U2 and Neil Young (how come nobody wanted to write about Trans or Arc, by the way?) has me daydreaming of possibilities again.

So here’s my short list of what Jpop and Kpop 33 1/3′s I’d want to read about…

SweetS’ eponymous debut EP. It’s become the most important album in my life, the music is beautiful, the themes provocative – and if I was writing it, I’d examine all the PVs as well. But as an album, I think it bears study on its own terms, especially with the way it plays with the notions of lolicon in such an aggressively postmodern manner… and with such an obvious candy-flavored motif.

Morning Musume’s Ikimasshoi!. I know Third Love Paradise was when the group exploded into superstars, but I think it’d be interesting to see how they reacted in the wake of that sudden stunning success and what the introduction of fourth and fifth gens did for the group. And yeah, a part of me would also want to see if somebody can detect the seeds of the group’s decline in this album as well…

Bennie K’s Japana-rhythm. It feels like a magnificent concept album and has a cohesiveness that leaves me breathless still. I’d love a straightforward historical take on how it was composed and recorded.

Amuro Namie’s PLAY. This cemented her comeback as an artist and, like Japana-rhtyhm, strikes me as a flawless album whose history I’d want to read about.

I’m still new enough to Kpop not to have any particular favorites I’d desperately want to see handled as a 33 1/3. That said, books about After School’s Virgin and Brown Eyed Girls’ Sound G. would certainly catch my attention.

So now I’ll again ask you, IM readers: what Jpop or Kpop albums would you want to see get a 33 1/3-styled treatment, and why?

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10 Comments

  • http://twitter.com/IsolaValentine Nat – DSQ ♥(｡￫‿￩｡)♥

    Personally I think out of Ayumi’s albums ‘A Song for ×× ‘ is still the most interesting. Songs like ‘Trust’ still influence what people world over think when they think Jpop.

    I also think AKB48 carved there way into jpop history but sadly when it comes to LP’s they are lacking even compared to Morning Musume. If they were to have anything 33 1/3′d it would still be, even after two years now, Heavy Rotation.

    I think the LP I would want written about would be perhaps Ikimono Gakuri’s ‘Life Album’  simply because it was the first Jpop album I bought even if Ikimono are very vanilla.

    Y’know this is the first time Ive heard about 33 1/3 and I still have so much to say, I think I’ll save the rest for a blog post.

    Great article Ray!

  • Fresh Lemons

    If I could choose a group from korea who could have this treatment, it would be one of the following:
    Nell – “Separation Anxiety”
    Nell -”Slip Away”
    Clazzqui – “Color my soul”
    Humming Urban Stero “Baby Love”

    All of these Korean artists I have chosen have created music that would not fit in the current trend of Korean music with Kpop. Each of these albums instead have been made with passion, emotions and creativity that I would put in the class of great Western music from U2, Coldplay, the Killers etc.  Each one has a theme and not only meets the requirements of showing it off but goes over and beyond on letting the listener know exactly what the artist wants them to hear. I believe these types albums are ones that transcend language barriers and can be appreciated greatly from not knowing korean. 

    I especially love “slip Away” which was recently released a few weeks ago. Listening to it, it reminded me so much of what music in general was missing. Nell created an atmosphere of sadness and loneliness in each song (2 songs completely in English and probably the best songs on it)  that made me feel as if I could imagine the suffering they were portraying in the tracks.

    “Baby Love” was an album I would say that in Korean music in general may have not been done. The whole theme is using a bossa nova/samba sound throughout the CD (excluding a track or 2). There is even a song completely sung in spanish which to my knowledge a Korean artist has not done prior to this. Its a nice laid back, relax album filled with rhythms where it can either make you sway from side to side or get up to do some merengue or samba dancing.

  • Hayley

    I Am… and Anxiety (or Fu Zao to me) are two of my favorite albums, so I definitely agree with their inclusion in the linked list. I think you choice of SweetS is interesting, because a lot of it is so much about Japanese loli culture, and I’d definitely read a book about how SweetS tackled that.

    Personally, as much as I love K-Pop, I feel most of it doesn’t have enough depth for one of these books (granted, I’ve only read the Kid A one, but it had a lot going on). Maybe more indie stuff like mentioned above, or Seo Taiji, could be interesting topics, though.  

    Shiina Ringo’s albums are perfect for this, with the unusual sounds and lyrics, and Ringo’s attention to detail in even the kanji of the song titles. Kalk Zamen Kuri no Hana would particularly be a great 33 1/3 choice. 

    Perfume’s GAME could also be really great, talking about technology in Japanese culture, Nakata’s varied influences, and the definition of “real music”. Though that last one was covered in the Kid A book, I think approaching it with Perfume would shed new light on the topic, since unlike Radiohead they do not write their own music, and they are from a very different culture. 

    Puffy’s Spike is a great album, and though I’m not quite sure what would be said on it, the sounds on it are so unique and eclectic that I think there is a lot that could be written about it in the right hands.

    I’d love to see an Utada Hikaru album approached, though I don’t know which one since I love them all (except that last one….). I’d go with Deep River, since it’s my favorite, but I think they could all be great books. There is a lot that could be said about how her Eastern and Western influences mix, and how she approaches romance in her music and lyrics.

    The Celine Dion one is actually going to be my next 33 1/3 after Kid A, so I’m glad to know it’s as awesome as it sounds! Great article! :)

  • SQKIsiggy

    Hmm interesting. I think if anything I would like to see 33 1/3 for Momusu’s 12, Smart album in some capacity discussing the new era of Morning Musume.

    I am… is probably the perfect controversial album for Ayu though, so I agree with whoever/however it got nominated. Also, m-flo’s SQUARE ONE got so much attention, I’m sure someone would love to talk about that in the view of music corporate world etc. Taku sure was vocal when it came out.

    Finally, Kyary has to have one when her new album comes out. She’s just too awesome.

  • http://arbitrary-greay.livejournal.com/ Arbitrary_greay

    SNSD’s first Japan album “Girls Generation”: written about how SNSD changes their image and sound between Japan and Korea, and how that reflects the difference between Jpop and Kpop, both in aesthetic, sound, and perception.

    Perfume’s “Perfume ~Complete Best~”: because while GAME and JPN may be more interesting musically, the Complete Best bridges the time between their indie days and major debut, as well as documenting the moment when Nakata dropped the traditional pop angle in favor of the electro-pop sound that propelled them into the spotlight. Perfume’s growth since Polyrhythm has been fairly stable, but the chaotic times before that, as they were constructing their image, is more interesting to me.

    AKB48′s regular albums are shit. However, their stage albums are fascinating, looking at how each stage song is written and arranged, to how the members for each unit are chosen and styled, (and the reflection and importance of unit centers to popularity and image) to the order chosen for the stage. Stage songs are further more fascinating as individual songs become popular with both the girls and the fans, as reflected by shuffle performances of them, the Request Setlist, and in general which stage songs are chosen for performance in the regular concerts, both original lineup and shuffle. I’d want to see a book written either about A1 or A2, as they’ve been the stages performed by the most number of teams, or A6, as a reflection of how the 2010 team shuffle impacted the franchise and how Team A stalwarts have grown as idols. 
    Also, an examination of how the AKB48 theater system is essentially a revival of vaudeville. 

  • CJMarsicano

    Continuum had another round of proposals for the series and I missed it? Shit. I proposed one on the Let Them Eat Jellybeans comp the last time they had opens (a year before i got married) and only got as far as the first round. Oh well – I’ll probably do that one on my own anyway.

    Anyway… Whiteberry’s Chameleon would be a perfect one I would have liked to see. Same with the first W album. If I were to pick a MoMusu album I’d probably go with Ai No Dai 6 Kan.

    Michael Fournier, the guy who wrote the 33 1/3 book on the Minutemen’s Double Nickels On The Dime, contributed to the crowdfunding campaign for Resonant Blue, which shocked the shit out of me.

  • Guest1

    I wouldn’t say the book is about how much he hates Celine.  That simplifies it too much.  It’s more about him learning to respect Celine as an artist even though he personally hates her music.  
    It’s basically a study of taste, why and how our cultural backgrounds somewhat dictate our taste and things like the history of schmaltz as a genre. 

  • http://eroxtomo.wordpress.com/ eroxtomo

    Sound G would certainly be very interesting. Musically and in its circumstances too — why and how did BEG turn to electropop? And how the heck did they managed to succeed as a idol group when they’re ~30?

    Virgin, too would be interesting to analyze: Pledis has adapted the SM-like method of buying songs from German/Norwegian/Swedish/etc composers (and it’s really funny to me that SNSD TTS copied Orange Caramel), and although Virgin wasn’t a commercial success (Shampoo peaked at around #8 on Music Bank if I remember correctly), the album is interesting in that it is the most typical idol album it can be (and doesn’t even excel on it) yet it managed to keep the listener very engaged, a rare feat in idol albums. The Japanese influence being clearly visible in the group’s… well, everything, is also an interesting topic to look at, to be discussed along with the group itself’s expansion to Japan.

    f(x)’s Pinocchio was the best K-idol album of 2011, and I don’t think many will disagree with this. With this, SM proves that lyrical narrative is only secondary to a successful idol album, commercially and critically. Pinocchio is a work that has to be looked at with a larger scope — how SM destroyed K-pop’s narrative (with BoA) and made the singer’s voice into a mere an instrument, and how the Korean society has come to accept it. I’m not trying to criticize it, either; no narrative that sounds good is better than bad narrative that sounds bad. Pinocchio is the pinnacle of Kpop sound. Sound-wise, it leaves very little to be desired. Everything just falls in place without a flaw. And about the narrative, well, we can argue all day about it. This is where the book idea comes in; if the writer is a producer, he’ll be very favorable towards this album, while a rapper will be immensely critical about it. While it is almost complete and perfect sound-wise, it is a very controversial piece of work, and arguably one of the most important K-pop album ever made.

    Cho Yongpil or Seo Taiji would definitely be interesting but I don’t think it falls in the contemporary definition of K-pop which came to mean as Korean Idol Pop among many if not the majority. Same goes for indie acts like Bulssazo, Nuntteugo Cobain, Guckkasten, UMC, or MC Meta.

    I know too little about J-pop to see a book about an album, but

    • http://eroxtomo.wordpress.com/ eroxtomo

      I would want something about JPN.

      why did I write this in a separate comment? I have no clue.

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