Song Book

Launched in 2003, the 33 1/3 series puts an interesting spin on your favourite album: get an author to write 100-plus pages on one record that has influenced or bewildered them. Compiling extracts from the first 20 volumes, 33 1/3 Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (Continuum) is a tasty sampler of the different reactions writers like the Decemberists’ Colin Meloy have had. With an unrestricted policy toward style, anything from critical analyses or a collection of anecdotes to details of the recording process to a rant about why it sold millions can be found. Sure it can result in hit (Joe Pernice’s Meat is Murder) and miss (Dai Griffiths’ OK Computer) reading at times, but much like your record collection, it’s all about finding something to fit the mood — Abba Gold or Unknown Pleasures?