33 1/3 #83: Television's Marquee Moon - Bryan Waterman (2011)
Like Scott Plagenhoef's entry in the 33 1/3 series (covering Belle & Sebastian's If You're Feeling Sinister), Bryan Waterman takes on an entire scene in his analysis of Television's classic debut LP, Marquee Moon. The details include the opening of CBGB, early band drama between Tom Verlaine and Richard Hell, the band's relationships with cohorts New York Dolls, Patti Smith and Blondie, and the overall vibe of mid-70s New York punk rock. The most fascinating information relayed here regards the recording of the album with Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin engineer Andy Johns. Also, I had no idea, though am not surprised, that the band had initially recorded tracks with Brian Eno. I would have loved to have been able to read more about the The Ramones' and Talking Heads' involvement at this point in the scene, but I guess that's for another book. Overall, not the best 33 1/3 installment I've read, but definitely one of the more interesting ones.
Palestine - Joe Sacco (1993-1995)
In the early 90s, comic artist extraordinaire Joe Sacco took a trip to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and produced an illustrated, journalistic series based on those travels. Sacco doesn't spend much time at all expressing the Israeli side of the well-known conflict over land at that point in time, but he does an excellent job letting a number of Palestinians tell their side of the story by way of detailed, informative interviews, as opposed to overwhelming his readers with his opinions. Palestine has its dull moments, but they are few and far between, as it is an incredibly fascinating read. Bonus that Sacco's drawing style clashes with the dark nature of the story he's telling in the most wonderful of ways.
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