What do you think?
Rate this book
33⅓ Main Series #68
Zaireeka
Zaireeka is the anti-headphone and the anti-mp3. It purposely makes the two biggest developments in end-user music in the last 30 years irrelevant. Zaireeka is not mobile. It is not personal. It is not solitary, cannot be easily controlled, and can't easily be consumed in small doses. So another way to think of Zaireeka is as a one-off piece of technology that comes in a highly inconvenient dead-end format, which is a rather extraordinary kind of thing for a rock band to make.
The Flaming Lips' 1997 album Zaireeka is one of the most peculiar albums ever recorded, consisting of four CDs meant to be played simultaneously on four CD players. Approaching this powerful and complex art-rock masterpiece from multiple angles, Mark Richardson's prismatic study of Zaireeka mirrors the structure the work itself. Thoughts on communal listening and the "death of the album" are interspersed with the story of the Zaireeka's creation (with assistance from Wayne Coyne) and an in-depth analysis of the music, leading to a complete picture of a record that proved to be a watershed for both the band and adventurous music fans alike.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
114 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2009
About the author
Mark Richardson
1 book14 followersMark Richardson is the rock and pop critic for the Wall Street Journal. He is the former editor-in-chief of the online music magazine Pitchfork. He is the author of Zaireeka, a book in the 33 1/3 series of short books focusing on a single album, and has written for publications including the New York Times, NPR, the Ringer, and Billboard.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 8, 2013
As much as I love music I rarely read books on the subject, but when a good friend of mine lent me this book I knew that I’d have to read it. Both The Flaming Lips and the Zaireeka album are fascinating and compelling subjects. The Flaming Lips are perhaps the most rewarding underground band to have emerged in America in the last thirty years. Their career arc has been one of unbridled adventurousness, always following their muse without concern for commercial gain, whilst at the same time maintaining a high level of quality control.
Zaireeka was released in 1997 as a four CD set designed to be listened to simultaneously on four separate CD players. As an album Zaireeka also stands as one of the best The Flaming Lips have produced in their long and eccentric career. Richardson notes in the introduction that when he mentioned to friends that he was going to write about Zaireeka they would joke about him having to write four separate books meant to be read simultaneously. A good joke yes, but this inspired Richardson to structure the book in four separate parts that contain eight ‘tracks’ each, a format that serves the subject well.
If you are a fan of The Flaming Lips then Zaireeka is an essential read. Richardson examines Zaireeka as an idea, where it came from and how it then became a fully realized album. He also includes a condensed history of The Flaming Lips that answers the question of how an amateurish bunch of small town freaks inspired by both punk and the likes of Pink Floyd came to transform themselves into an innovative and accomplished band. Both the story of the band and the Zaireeka album are truly inspirational and Richardson does a fine job of articulating just how it all happened.
If you happen to not be a fan of the band then why would you want to read about a bunch of freaks that made an album that is inherently difficult to actually sit down and listen to? Well believe it or not there is quite a bit of cultural significance attached to Zaireeka. The requirement of actually having to organize four stereos (that’s at least eight speakers!) means that there needs to be at least two or more people present, something that results in gatherings known as Zaireeka listening parties. The act of listening in groups, Richardson muses, is not all that common and when it does happen is fraught with psychological issues; a theory that is perhaps questionable, but also fascinating to consider.
In an age in which both convenience and speed are paramount Richardson argues that Zaireeka represents the music world’s equivalent to the concept of slow food and therefore by extension the slow living movement. I’ve taken part in two Zaireeka listening parties, one amazingly using the vinyl version, in which organisation, patience and sociability were all integral to the overall experience. Zaireeka, fortunately, is well worth the effort.
Zaireeka is number sixty-eight in the thirty-three and a third series of pocket books that focus on one important album. There are some significant albums on the list, including Bowie’s Low, The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and Love’s Forever Changes, but no other album engages with the listener in Zaireeka’s unique way. Other albums are more culturally significant, but Zaireeka alone stands in opposition to the effects of the rapid cultural changes driven by technology in recent decades. I recommend to anyone who is interested in listening to the album that they read this book first, after all, you’ll only need one copy and it will make your Zaireeka experience a richer one.
From my blog: http://excelsiorforever.blogspot.com.au/
Zaireeka was released in 1997 as a four CD set designed to be listened to simultaneously on four separate CD players. As an album Zaireeka also stands as one of the best The Flaming Lips have produced in their long and eccentric career. Richardson notes in the introduction that when he mentioned to friends that he was going to write about Zaireeka they would joke about him having to write four separate books meant to be read simultaneously. A good joke yes, but this inspired Richardson to structure the book in four separate parts that contain eight ‘tracks’ each, a format that serves the subject well.
If you are a fan of The Flaming Lips then Zaireeka is an essential read. Richardson examines Zaireeka as an idea, where it came from and how it then became a fully realized album. He also includes a condensed history of The Flaming Lips that answers the question of how an amateurish bunch of small town freaks inspired by both punk and the likes of Pink Floyd came to transform themselves into an innovative and accomplished band. Both the story of the band and the Zaireeka album are truly inspirational and Richardson does a fine job of articulating just how it all happened.
If you happen to not be a fan of the band then why would you want to read about a bunch of freaks that made an album that is inherently difficult to actually sit down and listen to? Well believe it or not there is quite a bit of cultural significance attached to Zaireeka. The requirement of actually having to organize four stereos (that’s at least eight speakers!) means that there needs to be at least two or more people present, something that results in gatherings known as Zaireeka listening parties. The act of listening in groups, Richardson muses, is not all that common and when it does happen is fraught with psychological issues; a theory that is perhaps questionable, but also fascinating to consider.
In an age in which both convenience and speed are paramount Richardson argues that Zaireeka represents the music world’s equivalent to the concept of slow food and therefore by extension the slow living movement. I’ve taken part in two Zaireeka listening parties, one amazingly using the vinyl version, in which organisation, patience and sociability were all integral to the overall experience. Zaireeka, fortunately, is well worth the effort.
Zaireeka is number sixty-eight in the thirty-three and a third series of pocket books that focus on one important album. There are some significant albums on the list, including Bowie’s Low, The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and Love’s Forever Changes, but no other album engages with the listener in Zaireeka’s unique way. Other albums are more culturally significant, but Zaireeka alone stands in opposition to the effects of the rapid cultural changes driven by technology in recent decades. I recommend to anyone who is interested in listening to the album that they read this book first, after all, you’ll only need one copy and it will make your Zaireeka experience a richer one.
From my blog: http://excelsiorforever.blogspot.com.au/
Want to Read
September 25, 2012I just found this book at the library's used book store and I don't know if I'll ever actually read it. But it instantly took me back 15 years, so this review is more for my own sake, in order to remember my experience with Zaireeka, the album. It's totally self-indulgent, so no need to read on.
I bought Zaireeka back in 1997 and wasn't able to fully listen to it until my freshman year at college in 1998 when I found another Flaming Lips fan in our dorm hall who would join me in making the playback of this album work. We borrowed 2 CD player boomboxes, in addition to our own 2 boomboxes, and started practicing the timing of pressing play simultaneously with both hands. When we finally got it to work just right, I remember just sitting there fully focused on the movement of the music around our little dorm room. I remember thinking the songs were not up to the same level as Clouds Taste Metallic or Transmissions From the Satellite Heart, but also that the songs themselves weren't really the most important part of the album. The Flaming Lips were creating a whole environment, the songs just being a part of it. It was a singular experience. I remember multiple times looking at each other with huge eyes, laughing, and saying "holy sh#*, this is amazing" without actually saying anything. In 2003'ish, I let a friend borrow the entire album. About a month later, in the middle of summer, I looked through his car window and saw the CD case sitting on his dashboard, completely twisted and unusable from the sun. So that's where my experience with Zaireeka ended, until I stumbled upon this little book that I didn't even know existed in the library book store.
I bought Zaireeka back in 1997 and wasn't able to fully listen to it until my freshman year at college in 1998 when I found another Flaming Lips fan in our dorm hall who would join me in making the playback of this album work. We borrowed 2 CD player boomboxes, in addition to our own 2 boomboxes, and started practicing the timing of pressing play simultaneously with both hands. When we finally got it to work just right, I remember just sitting there fully focused on the movement of the music around our little dorm room. I remember thinking the songs were not up to the same level as Clouds Taste Metallic or Transmissions From the Satellite Heart, but also that the songs themselves weren't really the most important part of the album. The Flaming Lips were creating a whole environment, the songs just being a part of it. It was a singular experience. I remember multiple times looking at each other with huge eyes, laughing, and saying "holy sh#*, this is amazing" without actually saying anything. In 2003'ish, I let a friend borrow the entire album. About a month later, in the middle of summer, I looked through his car window and saw the CD case sitting on his dashboard, completely twisted and unusable from the sun. So that's where my experience with Zaireeka ended, until I stumbled upon this little book that I didn't even know existed in the library book store.
December 27, 2010
Not finished, but the sloppiness here goes to eleven. Let's play a quick game of "Which One Doesn't Belong Here?" with the sentence below:
"It's generally assumed that drugs--particularly marijuana and LSD--are both a primary source of inspiration for the band and also an essential component of the Flaming Lips-needs the definite article experience from the perspective of a listener" (Richardson 30).
Let's for the moment overlook the mild asininity of this "generally assumed" truism and deal with the sentence itself. Anything seem--I dunno--amiss? I think I'm going with "needs the definite article" as the odd bird. That's right folks. They failed to remove the editor's interpolated commentary from the original sentence before production. It's indicative of this horribly slipshod effort, which is as packed full of errors and omissions as any book I've read. Dude even typos Wayne Coyne's name late in the book (Wayne Cone).
If there were enough insights and revelations to compensate for the painful writing (which isn't just a matter of sloppiness)it would be one thing, but those insights aren't here. The analysis of the actual tracks verges on interesting but never quite gets there. He's prone to coincidental comparisons to Pink Floyd which he admits probably only happen in his mind. Which isn't exactly helpful.
Zaireeka is a fascinating contraption--4 CDs to be played simultaneously through four separate stereos--but this adds little depth or insight to the project that can't be found elsewhere.
Watch Fearless Freaks--skip this cast off tome.
"It's generally assumed that drugs--particularly marijuana and LSD--are both a primary source of inspiration for the band and also an essential component of the Flaming Lips-needs the definite article experience from the perspective of a listener" (Richardson 30).
Let's for the moment overlook the mild asininity of this "generally assumed" truism and deal with the sentence itself. Anything seem--I dunno--amiss? I think I'm going with "needs the definite article" as the odd bird. That's right folks. They failed to remove the editor's interpolated commentary from the original sentence before production. It's indicative of this horribly slipshod effort, which is as packed full of errors and omissions as any book I've read. Dude even typos Wayne Coyne's name late in the book (Wayne Cone).
If there were enough insights and revelations to compensate for the painful writing (which isn't just a matter of sloppiness)it would be one thing, but those insights aren't here. The analysis of the actual tracks verges on interesting but never quite gets there. He's prone to coincidental comparisons to Pink Floyd which he admits probably only happen in his mind. Which isn't exactly helpful.
Zaireeka is a fascinating contraption--4 CDs to be played simultaneously through four separate stereos--but this adds little depth or insight to the project that can't be found elsewhere.
Watch Fearless Freaks--skip this cast off tome.
July 29, 2018
"Zaireeka makes for asynchronous, unrepeatable surround sound that has to be manually controlled by the listeners. Its hardware needs are taxing. Convenience is anathema to what it's about. Deliberately inconvenient technology obviously doesn't have a storied history. But Zaireeka is the anti-headphone and the anti-mp3. It purposely makes the two biggest developments in the end-user music in the last 30 years irrelevant. Zaireeka is not mobile. It is not personal. It is not solitary, cannot be easily controlled, and can't be easily consumed in small doses. So, another way to think of Zaireeka is as a one-off piece of technology that comes in a highly inconvenient dead-end format, which is a rather extraordinary kind of thing for a rock band to make".
Zaireeka is most likely one of 33 1/3's least-listened albums. Nonetheless, Richardson tests his readers and opens their ear buds, like the smell coming out of a haute cuisine's kitchen. Hopefully I'll embark in this experimental odyssey soon, if I find other three boomboxes (or turntables) that are willing to take this risk.
Zaireeka is most likely one of 33 1/3's least-listened albums. Nonetheless, Richardson tests his readers and opens their ear buds, like the smell coming out of a haute cuisine's kitchen. Hopefully I'll embark in this experimental odyssey soon, if I find other three boomboxes (or turntables) that are willing to take this risk.
October 31, 2022
Such a well written piece on an epic and meant album. Richardson breaks down this book into “4 CDs” sections on the history of the band, the concept of the album, a track listing, and what happened to the band after Zaireeka was released.
It took me back to a special tone when Zaireeka listening events happened and I gained some extra knowledge on one of my favorite bands.
It took me back to a special tone when Zaireeka listening events happened and I gained some extra knowledge on one of my favorite bands.
November 29, 2024
Como curiosité está estupendo, como lectura metamusical meh. El Homogenic de Björk fue una experiencia, una lectura sobre el amor y la humanidad, este se queda en un reportaje de Pitchfork largo.
July 20, 2016
I've never heard Zaireeka. It's not for lack of wanting to, but for lack of not having the resources. I can't really say this about any other record; albums I can pick-up at the record store or stream on Spotify. That makes it such a compelling subject for a book like this and partly why I've had this on my t0-read list for so long. The other part is from my being a fan of Mark Richardson's work for Pitchfork.
It's an ambitious record to try and contain in such a short format, but Richardson does a commendable job. There are things that I wish would've have been delved into more rather than hinted at. While he does talk about the recording of the record, it keeps pretty high level and doesn't get into the nitty gritty. Also would have loved to have an element that explained the audio science behind how the record works as well as parallels to any similar projects from other artists. Just another 10-20 pages would have really made this a definitive book.
That said, there's a lot to really love about the background of the record, especially with the boombox and parking lot experiments. There's healthy context to the Lips' career - not much exclusive to the book, but essential for understanding why this record matters. And as much as I've been getting burnt out on the first person reflections in the series (partly because of my own binge-reading), Richardson's closer feels poignant and a prime example of his approachable writing style.
It's an ambitious record to try and contain in such a short format, but Richardson does a commendable job. There are things that I wish would've have been delved into more rather than hinted at. While he does talk about the recording of the record, it keeps pretty high level and doesn't get into the nitty gritty. Also would have loved to have an element that explained the audio science behind how the record works as well as parallels to any similar projects from other artists. Just another 10-20 pages would have really made this a definitive book.
That said, there's a lot to really love about the background of the record, especially with the boombox and parking lot experiments. There's healthy context to the Lips' career - not much exclusive to the book, but essential for understanding why this record matters. And as much as I've been getting burnt out on the first person reflections in the series (partly because of my own binge-reading), Richardson's closer feels poignant and a prime example of his approachable writing style.
February 7, 2016
Reading this book really took me back to my adolescence. I vividly remember coming across the 4 CD album and eagerly buying it, thinking the Flaming Lips had produced a whole boxset worth of music. Then I tried listening to disc 1 in the car on the way home and I was really confused why the drum track would keep dropping off. I thought something was wrong with my CD player.
I poured over the liner notes of Zaireeka when I arrived home and then I started to realize what the whole concept was about. The whole idea behind the album took some reorienting, I definitely had no schema to put this into.
Sadly, I did not have access to 4 CD players at the time so I dubbed one of the CDs onto tape so I could play 2 cds and one tape. If you think CD players got out of sync fast, the tape would get so far behind in each song that I would have to pause the CDs to let the tape track catch up. Despite the mount of effort required to listen to just three-fourths of the album, I loved it.
Mark Richardson does a great job capturing the magic of Zaireeka and offering some insight into it's place in history.
I poured over the liner notes of Zaireeka when I arrived home and then I started to realize what the whole concept was about. The whole idea behind the album took some reorienting, I definitely had no schema to put this into.
Sadly, I did not have access to 4 CD players at the time so I dubbed one of the CDs onto tape so I could play 2 cds and one tape. If you think CD players got out of sync fast, the tape would get so far behind in each song that I would have to pause the CDs to let the tape track catch up. Despite the mount of effort required to listen to just three-fourths of the album, I loved it.
Mark Richardson does a great job capturing the magic of Zaireeka and offering some insight into it's place in history.
February 25, 2010
This was a pretty fun book about what, to me, is the best album ever made. I continue to be blown away by it 13 years after first hearing it. The book does a great job of showing where the album came from and what it's all about and how it feels to listen to it the true 4-stereo way. But sometimes the writing feels a little rushed, and there certainly was no copy-editing done before it went to press. Typos abound! Hey 33 1/3, I would love to proofread your books. Just give me a copy of each of them and we'll call it even!
January 9, 2010
This was a good read, and I especially enjoyed the sentiment of the closing moments. I will admit, though it was easy to read, there weren't necessarily too many points that drew me in too deeply as a reader. Still, it was an enjoyable addition to the collection, and one that strengthened ties to a band that everyone I know, including myself, seems to have rubbed elbows with at some point or another.
January 5, 2012
The pick of an amazing series of books designed to enrich the way we experience our favourite music. This book, about one of the most unlistenable records ever produced (it requires several people operating multiple CD players simultaneously), will inspire you buy the album and immediately begin begging your friends to bring all their stereos to your house so you can indulge in the beautiful communal musical moment that Richardson so lovingly describes.
January 12, 2012
i'm enjoying how the crux of this author's essay is about how inconvenient it is to listen to Zaireeka and how it was recorded/planned/created with that intent. One of the better of the 33 1/3 books I've read. The author nails with accuracy the listener's experience. I believe he even pinpointed the precise moment that listeners break into smile.
November 15, 2016
I've long been a fan of Mark Richardson's writing, both at Pitchfork and elsewhere, so I'm not surprised to find this among the more enjoyable of the 33-1/3 books I've read. The way he structured the book made a lot of sense and really gave me more reason to appreciate it (though I'm sad that I've STILL never heard this even close to "properly").
October 7, 2013
This is a fast read with just enough content to recommend to fans of Flaming Lips and similar bands. There's a few repetitive sections, which is a problem for such a short book, but overall its a decent entry in the 33 1/3 series.
August 10, 2010
Not quite as detailed as your typical entry in the 33 1/3 series, but it was very fun and interesting to read about one's relationship with this unconventional, inconvenient and quite beautiful Flaming Lips record.
October 25, 2013
Interesting.
February 22, 2015
One of my favorites in the series. A great combination of a think piece and a simple story of the making of an album.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews