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Cover of A Disco Pogo Tribute To LCD Soundsystem by Disco Pogo.

Disco Pogo

A Disco Pogo Tribute To LCD Soundsystem

Disco Pogo

    The third instalment in the Disco Pogo Tribute series celebrates the best electronic post-punk band on the planet, LCD Soundsystem.

    This follows the hugely successful Disco Pogo Tribute books on Daft Punk and Aphex Twin that have been reprinted numerous times.

    As with both previous books the people behind Disco Pogo have a long-standing relationship with James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem and the wider DFA crew which gives them a unique insight into the band.

    The book is edited by Disco Pogo editor Jim Butler and features interviews, essays and features from the best music journalists working today, alongside a timeline, family tree, gear and gig lists. There are also archive LCD Soundsystem features from Jockey Slut and Dummy magazine.

    The book features an iconic cover portrait of James Murphy by unofficial/official LCD photographer Ruvan Wijesooriya, plus a huge amount of exclusive, never-before-seen photography from Ruvan, Tim Soter, Tim Saccenti and other photographers who have been close to LCD since the very beginning of their career.

    The book is hardback, even chunkier than the previous books at 308 pages and is beautifully designed and printed with a (sound of) silver ribbon and spine cloth.

    The book is the same size and format as the two previous books and will sit perfectly alongside them on any music lover's bookshelf.

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    Cover of Issue 23 by Wordplay.

    Wordplay

    Issue 23

      It’s been 4 years but we’re back in print! Kicking off a new A4 quarterly magazine with Lord Apex gracing one of two covers. More to be announced soon with a whole host of Beats & Culture from the world of UK Jazz, Rap and Soul.

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      Reduced Cover of I Am Hated For Loving - A Morrissey Tour On The Brink by Dickie Felton.

      Dickie Felton

      I Am Hated For Loving - A Morrissey Tour On The Brink

      Dickie Felton

        Morrissey marks 40 years in music with no record label, no management, no airplay, no promotion, no new release and no media support.

        The legendary singer embarks on a world tour facing an uncertain future. Frenzied front-line fans rally to their under-fire hero in a series of concerts across the globe. Dickie Felton attends 16 Morrissey shows in little over a year and captures a singer and his audience bonded in history, unity and love.

        Focussing on gigs in iconic cities of Dublin, Liverpool and New York, Felton photographs fans and captures the world of Morrissey at a crossroads.

        Featuring more than 125 images, 'I AM HATED FOR LOVING' is a visual and written documentary of a unique subculture. The sanest days are mad everywhere from The Stockton Globe to the Salle Pleyel in Paris – yet the world won’t listen.

        The book is a collaboration between Dickie and Persian artist Iman Kakai-Lazell who has created books with Kristin Hersh, Mark Lanegan and Kirk Brandon.

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        Cover of The Chronicles Of DOOM : Unravelling Rap's Masked Iconoclast by S.H. Fernando Jr..

        S.H. Fernando Jr.

        The Chronicles Of DOOM : Unravelling Rap's Masked Iconoclast

        Faber & Faber

          On December 31st, 2020, the world was shocked to learn about the death of hip-hop legend MF DOOM. Born in London and raised in the suburban enclave of Long Beach, New York, Daniel Dumile Jr.'s love of cartoons and comic books would soon turn him into one of hip-hop's most enigmatic, prolific and influential figures. Sweeping and definitive, The Chronicles of Doom: Unraveling Rap’s Masked Iconoclast recounts the rise, fall, redemption and untimely demise of MF DOOM. Broken down into five sections: The Man, The Myth, The Mask, The Music and The Legend, journalist SH Fernando, or SKIZ, chronicles the life of Daniel Dumile Jr., beginning in the house he grew up in in Long Beach, into the hip-hop group KMD, onto the stage of his first masked show, through the countless collabs and across the many different cities Daniel called home.

          Centring the music, SKIZ deftly lays out the history of east-coast rap against DOOM's life story and dissects the personas, projects, tracks, and lyrics that led to his immortality. Including exclusive interviews with those who worked closely with DOOM and providing an unknown, intimate, behind the scenes look into DOOM’s life, The Chronicles of DOOM is the definitive biography of MF DOOM, a supervillain on stage and hero to those who paid attention.

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          Cover of Hope I Get Old Before I Die : Why Rock Stars Never Retire by David Hepworth.

          David Hepworth

          Hope I Get Old Before I Die : Why Rock Stars Never Retire

          Bantam

            From the author of Abbey Road comes the story of how enduring rock icons like Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen and many more have remained in the ever changing music game. When Paul McCartney closed Live Aid in July 1985 we thought he was rock's Grand Old Man. He was forty-three years old.

            As the forty years since have shown he - and many others of his generation - were just getting started. This was the time when live performance took over from records. The big names of the 60s and 70s exploited the age of spectacle that Live Aid had ushered in to enjoy the longest lap of honour in the history of humanity, continuing to go strong long after everyone else had retired.

            Hence this is a story without precedent, a story in which Elton John plays a royal funeral, Mick Jagger gets a knighthood, Bob Dylan picks up the Nobel Prize, the Beatles become, if anything, bigger than the Beatles and it's beginning to look as though all of the above will, thanks to the march of technology, be playing Las Vegas for ever.

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            Cover of The Drums - Signed Edition by Mike Joyce.

            Mike Joyce

            The Drums - Signed Edition

            New Modern

              The long-awaited memoir from the legendary Smiths drummer.

              Throughout his honest and witty reflections, Joyce answers the question he and bassist Andy Rourke used to often ask each other: “Where did it all go right?”

              Joyce articulates humour, honesty and genuine humility, whilst retaining an acute awareness of how much people already know about his career. This focused his intention of conveying what it felt like to be in one of the most influential groups of all time. He tells us what it meant for that boy from the parochial suburbs of Fallowfield to be told he had a number one record.

              ‘Mike Joyce – The Drums’ (a credit that all Smiths fans will recognise) finally gives us the perspective from the self-confessed biggest Smiths fan in the world: some lad who plays the drums.


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              Cover of Rumours Of My Demise by Evan Dando.

              Evan Dando

              Rumours Of My Demise

              Faber & Faber

                From the clubs, the drugs, and the ringing ears, to the fun, the fame, and the fall, Rumours of My Demise is a heady, candid trip into the grunge-filled 90s from the Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando.

                “Did you hear Evan Dando died last night?”

                After Kurt Cobain’s passing in 1994, everyone expected Evan Dando to be
                next. Rising to fame in the 90s as frontman of the Lemonheads, he was infamous for his decadent lifestyle, from his extensive drug-taking and partying with Keith Richards and Kate Moss to sleeping on floors in his punk days and crashing at Johnny Depp’s house in Hollywood. But despite the rumours that are constantly circulating about him, he has lived to tell the tales.

                Following decades of the press wanting to label him and fit him in a box, Rumours of My Demise sees Dando tell his own story. Reclaiming the innocence and exuberance of his early days and encapsulating the spirit of the era, this candid autobiography presents a portrait of an artist who lives wholly for his music, and one that makes no apologies for doing so 

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                Cover of Plunderphonics - 33 1/3 Genre Series by Matthew Blackwell.

                Matthew Blackwell

                Plunderphonics - 33 1/3 Genre Series

                Bloomsbury Publishing USA

                  Featuring interviews with John Oswald, Negativland, and others and drawing on a wealth of research on copyright and intellectual property, Plunderphonics explores the impact of a genre that made illegality a point of pride.

                  In Plunderphonics, Matthew Blackwell tells the story of a group of musicians who advocated for changes to the copyright system by deploying unlicensed samples in their recordings. The composer John Oswald, who coined the genre term “plunderphonics,” was threatened with legal action by the Canadian Recording Industry Association on behalf of Michael Jackson. The Bay Area group Negativland was sued by Island Records on behalf of U2 for their parody of the band. These artists attracted media attention to their cause in a bid to expand fair use protections. Later, the Australian band the Avalanches encountered the limitations of the music licensing system during the release of their debut album, having to drop several samples that could not be successfully cleared. Finally, American DJ and producer Girl Talk released a series of albums featuring hundreds of uncleared samples and successfully avoided lawsuits by publicly arguing a fair use defense.

                  This book narrates the conflicts between these artists and the recording industry. Blackwell places plunderphonics in the cultural contexts of postmodernism, Situationism, and culture jamming and analyzes responses to the genre from the media and the legal system. Along with histories of each artist, changes to American copyright law are tracked through important cases like Grand Upright v. Warner Bros. and Bridgeport v. Dimension Films. Though the legal terrain did not shift in the favor of plunderphonic musicians, they changed public perception of fair use and enabled more widespread sampling in underground music.

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                  Cover of Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell - 33 1/3 by Joel Mayward.

                  Joel Mayward

                  Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell - 33 1/3

                  Bloomsbury Publishing USA

                    Upon the release of Sufjan Stevens' seventh studio album, Carrie & Lowell, two divergent groups found themselves as strange bedfellows: the LGBTQIA+ community and American evangelical Christians. Both were united in praise for Stevens' beautifully melancholic music.

                    Critically acclaimed as one of the best albums of 2015, the elegiac and intimate record about the death of Sufjan's estranged mother reflects the musician's own paradoxical posture-Carrie & Lowell is both sacred and profane, Christian and queer, traditional and progressive, despairing and hopeful.

                    Theologian and cultural critic Joel Mayward considers Carrie & Lowell as a mystical metamodern memento mori, Sufjan's symphonic (as opposed to systematic) approach to the questions of mortality, sexuality, and God. Fusing critical observations with personal narrative, Mayward examines the unique audience reception of Carrie & Lowell and the questions it raises: in a world of division, how might Stevens' affecting music act as a bridge of love between seemingly irreconcilable communities? As Carrie & Lowell reminds us of the painful truth that “we're all gonna die,” perhaps it also offers a glimpse of transcendence and hope on this side of death.

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                    Cover of 20th Century Ambient - 33 1/3 Genre Series by Dusty Henry.

                    Dusty Henry

                    20th Century Ambient - 33 1/3 Genre Series

                    Bloomsbury Publishing USA

                      Through text and comics, 20th Century Ambient searches through ambient music's recent history to unearth how the genre has evolved and the role it plays in our daily lives.

                      Ambient music is a part of our daily lives, whether we all realize it or not. It's the undercurrent in some of our favorite songs. It's the mood-setting background music in our favorite movies and video games. We hear it in the placid music pumped through the speakers in department stores, on critically acclaimed albums from generational talents, and in synthesizer drones from the depths of Soundcloud. It's present in the peaceful sounds of spa music, new-age chants, and wellness resources like the Calm app that purport ambient's healing properties. You can find it on those strange, anonymous instrumental nature albums you can buy at Bed Bath & Beyond. It shows up in genres ranging from electronic and rock music to jazz and lo-fi beats. Ambient is everywhere.

                      20th Century Ambient details a crucial period in which ambient music became a fully realized idea and is secretly one of the most popular genres in the world. Ambient has existed debatably as long as music itself. It wasn't until the 20th century that it became a defined genre. This book walks through ambient's ambiguous timeline to uncover not just the genre's evolution but to understand why it resonates so deeply with the human spirit. From Erik Satie's classical compositions, hidden histories in blues and dub music, innovations by Brian Eno and Alice Coltrane, all the way through modern artists spearheading ambient in the still early 21st century.

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                      Cover of Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material - 33 1/3 by Kevin Dunn.

                      Kevin Dunn

                      Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material - 33 1/3

                      Bloomsbury Publishing USA

                        Situating the band and its groundbreaking debut within the context of The Troubles, this book explores the band's complicated and controversial relationship with the Belfast punk scene, a scene that actively defied violent social divisions to create important non-sectarian spaces through which an “Alternative Ulster” was imagined and put into practice.

                        Stiff Little Fingers' 1979 debut album, Inflammable Material, was the first independent album to ever reach the UK Top 20 and is regarded as one of the most influential punk releases of all time, containing the singles “Suspect Device” and “Alternative Ulster.” Inflammable Material was both a product of, and response to, The Troubles, the era of political violence in Northern Ireland that claimed more than 3,500 lives over three decades.

                        Though Inflammable Material was regarded as the clarion call for that scene, with anthemic songs now regarded as synonymous with the times, the band was often viewed with suspicion and outright hostility by many of their contemporaries.

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                        Cover of Grime : Documenting The Scene’s Rise And Reign by Roony Keefe.

                        Roony Keefe

                        Grime : Documenting The Scene’s Rise And Reign

                        Pavilion

                          This is the extensive legacy of grime, as told by a pioneer of the scene. With vivid imagery from Roony’s archive and firsthand accounts from MC’s, designers and artists, this illustrated guide invites you to experience the 140BPM beating heartbeat of grime – not just as a music genre, but as a living, breathing culture that continues to thrive, inspire, and boldly challenge the status quo. “Grime to some is a just a genre; a specific form of music.

                          But, to those involved, and anyone brought up in London around the early 2000’s, it’s way more than a BPM. Grime is a way of life, a voice for the ambitions and dreams of the inner-city youth. It’s a vessel for our creativity and a way to express ourselves.

                          It’s a rebellion to the system; to those who said we can’t or don’t deserve to be involved, be better, or to want more. Grime is the way you carry yourself, the way you talk, the way you wear your clothes. It’s a culture, it’s the heartbeat of the UK’s underdog story for this generation; it’s our punk.

                          It’s acceptance across the world for the music we make and the respect we’ve commanded. It’s the evolution of the sounds brought to England and the culmination of cultures: the black, the white, the Turkish and the Asian, the working classes, the poor and the wanting more. It’s that little voice inside you that says, ‘go the extra mile and don’t give up’.” Roony ‘Risky Roadz’ Keefe stands as a trusted chronicler of the grime scene's early days.

                          Starting as a fan armed with a handy cam, his RiskyRoadz series captured the buzz of the time, and blew up when YouTube emerged. He later directed iconic music videos that defined the genre's visual identity – from Skepta's "Man" and "It Ain't Safe," to Chip's "Scene," and Kano's "3 Wheel-ups." Legendary status runs in his bloodline; his grandmother is non other than 80-year-old viral sensation, Grime Gran. GRIME spotlights the people and places across East London that shaped the genre: from its inception in the early 2000s, to today.

                          It's a portal into the gritty, authentic world of grime, offering a front-row seat to modern history; the beef, the social history, the personalities, the tracksuits, the tunes – and the reality of a revolution that reshaped a generation. Contents: What is Grime?LondonPioneersMarginalisation and CensorshipYouTube & The Quiet TimeGoing MainstreamIconic Artwork & VideosFashionGentrification& How We SpeakGirls of GrimeFriendshipsA-Z of Artists

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                          Cover of Live Aid - The Definitive Inside Story by Paul Vallely.

                          Paul Vallely

                          Live Aid - The Definitive Inside Story

                          New Modern

                            The authoritative, official inside story of 40 years of Live Aid, from Band Aid to todayIn 1985, with £100+ million in his back pocket from Live Aid – the greatest rock concert the world had ever seen – Bob Geldof took a trip across Africa to decide how the money should be spent. He asked Paul Vallely to accompany him. Over the next four decades Vallely became one of Geldof’s closest advisers – travelling with him to meet the world’s top rock stars and politicians.

                            Here, for the first time, Vallely gives his full eye-witness account of what happened backstage at Live Aid – and Live 8, the biggest collective event in human history. Both of them, watched by more people than saw the moon landing. Vallely reveals for the first time exactly how Geldof reunited the Pink Floyd, drank late night whisky with Margaret Thatcher, witnessed Bob Dylan take singing lessons from Stevie Wonder and met Vladimir Putin on a boat in the Mediterranean.

                            Why was Bob forced to write a grovelling apology to Bill Clinton? What did Maria Carey say when Geldof told her that her dress was too short? Why did the prime minister of Italy once hide from Bob in a bathroom? Is Bob Geldof a bully or a charmer, saint or a ‘white saviour’, or simply a force of nature? This book reveals all. With a foreword by Sir Bob Geldof this is the authoritative behind-the-scenes guide to four decades which rocked the world.


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                            Cover of Far Above The World : The Time And Space Of David Bowie by Paul Morley.

                            Paul Morley

                            Far Above The World : The Time And Space Of David Bowie

                            Headline Book Publishing

                              A landmark exploration of David Bowie as an everlasting cultural force and changemaker, by acclaimed writer Paul Morley. In the ten years since the death of David Bowie in 2016 there has been no loss of interest in and fascination with his life, music and driven, complex personality. He is definitely one musician, one performer, destined not to be forgotten.

                              The significant grief and sadness that greeted Bowie's death has evolved into a deeper, enduring love for his music, style, wit, artistic curiosity, sexual energy, flamboyant outsider spirit and insatiable, provocative appetite for life. Far Above the World will document one of the UK's greatest creative artists, through the spectacularly colourful and vibrant journey of a man who constantly reinvented himself and his music. Bowie lived in the future, using the pop song to chronicle overwhelming and dangerous times, searching for the light, and creating a communication channel between post-war 20th century times and where(ever) we are now.

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                              Cover of Techno Is Boring by Daniel Avery.

                              Daniel Avery

                              Techno Is Boring

                              Velocity Press

                                Long-time friends and collaborators, musician Daniel Avery, alongside photographer Keffer are proud to present Techno Is Boring, a new book that collects a decade of work chronicling club culture in visceral form.

                                Techno Is Boring also includes short written essays and notes from Avery and fellow DJ, writer and collaborator John Loveless, who also provides an introduction, appearing alongside guest contributions from friends and allies.


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                                Cover of The Motel : High Times In 90s Ibiza by Claire Manumission.

                                Claire Manumission

                                The Motel : High Times In 90s Ibiza

                                New Modern

                                  The deliciously hedonistic autobiography of Claire Manumission - the club promoter, performer and mastermind behind Ibiza’s most iconic club nights. The most intriguing part of Manumission, Ibiza’s most notorious club night, is that if anyone else told you the story, you would scarcely believe them. Claire Manumission however, one half of the boundary-pushing duo behind the scenes, remembers it all.

                                  In all of its decadent glory. This is the story – her story - of the club that changed the scene forever. The Motel: High Times in 90s Ibiza expertly navigates the cast of 1.5 million guests – from supermodels and superstar DJs, rock royalty and Hollywood A-listers - that passed through its doors and delivers a story through raucous, jaw-dropping anecdotes that capture an incredibly unique point in time, place and culture.

                                  It is only right that Manumission gets to tell this story; With her partner Mike, she re-wrote party history by creating a brand new space for it to happen in. And, for once, it is a corner of cultural history seen from the perspective of a woman who tilted club life on its axis. The afterglow of “Brat Summer” demonstrates that people yearn for either the nostalgia or the lifestyle that Manumission helped curate during her career.

                                  Youth culture today is a high-execution homage to the 90s club scene - only, of course, more Insta-friendly. This book will be the catalyst that relaunches Manumission back into the public conscious whilst evolving their legacy for future generations. Nearly two decades after the club’s last party, interest has never been higher as to just what shocking acts happened behind its doors.

                                  It can’t all be true. Can it? Submit to Claire Manumission as she unleashes a candid, shocking and empowered tell-all from the epicentre of global youth culture. Strap yourself in.

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                                  Reduced Cover of Brothers by Alex Van Halen.

                                  Alex Van Halen

                                  Brothers

                                  HarperCollins

                                    In this intimate and open account - nothing like any rock-and-roll memoir you've ever read - Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family, friendship, music and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved brother and band mate. Told with acclaimed New Yorker writer Ariel Levy Brothers is seventy-year-old drummer Alex Van Halen's love letter to his younger brother, Edward, (maybe "Ed," but never "Eddie"), written while still mourning his untimely death.In his rough yet sweet voice, Alex recounts the brothers' childhood, first in the Netherlands and then in working class Pasadena, California, with an itinerant musician father and a very proper Indonesian-born mother - the kind of mum who admonished her boys to "always wear a suit" no matter how famous they became - a woman who was both proud and practical, nonchalant about taking a doggie bag from a star-studded dinner. He also shares tales of musical politics, infighting, and plenty of bad-boy behaviour.

                                    But mostly his is a story of brotherhood, music, and enduring love."I was with him from day one," Alex writes. "We shared the experience of coming to America and figuring out how to fit in. We shared a record player, an 800 square foot house, a mom and dad, and a work ethic.

                                    Later, we shared the back of a tour bus, alcoholism, the experience of becoming famous, of becoming fathers and uncles, and of spending more hours in the studio than I've spent doing anything else in this life. We shared a depth of understanding that most people can only hope to achieve in a lifetime."There has never been an accurate account of them or the band, and Alex wants to set the record straight on Edward's life and death.Brothers includes never-before-seen photos from the author's private archives.

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                                    Reduced Cover of Brothers by Alex Van Halen.

                                    Alex Van Halen

                                    Brothers

                                    HarperCollins

                                      In this intimate and open account - nothing like any rock-and-roll memoir you've ever read - Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family, friendship, music and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved brother and band mate. Told with acclaimed New Yorker writer Ariel Levy Brothers is seventy-year-old drummer Alex Van Halen's love letter to his younger brother, Edward, (maybe "Ed," but never "Eddie"), written while still mourning his untimely death.In his rough yet sweet voice, Alex recounts the brothers' childhood, first in the Netherlands and then in working class Pasadena, California, with an itinerant musician father and a very proper Indonesian-born mother - the kind of mum who admonished her boys to "always wear a suit" no matter how famous they became - a woman who was both proud and practical, nonchalant about taking a doggie bag from a star-studded dinner. He also shares tales of musical politics, infighting, and plenty of bad-boy behaviour.

                                      But mostly his is a story of brotherhood, music, and enduring love."I was with him from day one," Alex writes. "We shared the experience of coming to America and figuring out how to fit in. We shared a record player, an 800 square foot house, a mom and dad, and a work ethic.

                                      Later, we shared the back of a tour bus, alcoholism, the experience of becoming famous, of becoming fathers and uncles, and of spending more hours in the studio than I've spent doing anything else in this life. We shared a depth of understanding that most people can only hope to achieve in a lifetime."There has never been an accurate account of them or the band, and Alex wants to set the record straight on Edward's life and death.Brothers includes never-before-seen photos from the author's private archives.

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                                      Cover of Wings : The Story Of A Band On The Run by Paul McCartney.

                                      Paul McCartney

                                      Wings : The Story Of A Band On The Run

                                      Allen Lane

                                        A landmark account of Paul McCartney’s triumphant musical reinvention in the 1970s and the rise of one of the decade’s most iconic bandsAs the Sixties came to a close, Paul McCartney was faced with the daunting prospect of being a solo artist for the first time. Wings’ ascension to the top of the charts with classic albums including Band on the Run, Venus and Mars and At the Speed of Sound, along with the band’s stadium-filling live shows, would prove to critics and fans that not all great acts are impossible to follow. Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run is a rousing, stereophonic celebration of the songs, collaborations and performances that would shape the soundtrack of the late 20th century.

                                        Drawn from over 500,000 words, based on dozens of hours of interviews with McCartney and numerous key players in the band’s orbit, Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run weaves together the improbable trajectory of Paul McCartney and his newly formed band (featuring co-founding members Linda McCartney and Denny Laine) across the technicolor 1970s until their dissolution in 1981.


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                                        Cover of Bread Of Angels by Patti Smith.

                                        Patti Smith

                                        Bread Of Angels

                                        Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

                                          A radiant new memoir from beloved artist and writer Patti Smith, author of the National Book Award Winner Just Kids. God whispers through a crease in the wallpaper, writes Patti Smith in this indelible account of her life as an artist. A post-Second World War childhood unfolds in a condemned housing complex described in Dickensian detail: consumptive children, vanishing neighbours, an infested rat house, and a beguiling book of Irish fairytales.

                                          We enter the child’s world of the imagination where Smith, the captain of her loyal and beloved sibling army, vanquishes bullies, communes with the king of tortoises and searches for sacred silver pennies. The most intimate of Smith’s memoirs, Bread of Angels takes us through her teenage years where the first glimmers of art and romance take hold. Arthur Rimbaud and Bob Dylan emerge as creative heroes and role models as Patti starts to write poetry, then lyrics, merging both into the iconic songs and recordings such as Horses and Easter, ‘Dancing Barefoot’ and ‘Because the Night’.

                                          She leaves it all behind to marry her one true love, Fred Sonic Smith, with whom she creates a life of devotion and adventure on a canal in St. Clair Shores, Michigan with ancient willows and fulsome pear trees. She builds a room of her own, furnished with a pillow of Moroccan silk, a Persian cup, inkwell and fountain pen.

                                          The couple spend nights in their landlocked Chris-Craft studying nautical maps and charting new adventures as they start their family. As Smith suffers profound losses, grief and gratitude are braided through years of caring for her children, rebuilding her life and, finally, writing again — the one constant in a life driven by artistic freedom and the power of the imagination to transform the mundane into the beautiful, the commonplace into the magical, and pain into hope. In the final pages, we meet Patti on the road again, the vagabond who travels to commune with herself, who lives to write and writes to live.

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                                          Cover of Issue 15 by STAT Magazine.

                                          STAT Magazine

                                          Issue 15

                                            250 limited, numbered copies.

                                            Rainy Miller is back to Lancs, Bolton’s home to a Romani dance troupe and we’re telling the Hacienda to FAC OFF all in our brand spanking new issue 15.

                                            Black elastic bound and a black-on-black cover the work of artist Matthew Wood, this aqua-flecked issue comes tightly wrapped in a stark STAT ribbon.

                                            64 pages, 100gsm, black and aqua card covers.

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                                            Cover of NOW JAZZ NOW - 100 Essential Free Jazz & Improvisation Recordings [1960-80] by Neneh Cherry, Thurston Moore, Byron Coley, Mats Gustafsson & Joe McPhee.

                                            Neneh Cherry, Thurston Moore, Byron Coley, Mats Gustafsson & Joe McPhee

                                            NOW JAZZ NOW - 100 Essential Free Jazz & Improvisation Recordings [1960-80]

                                            ECSTATIC PEACE LIBRARY

                                              London, UK— Musicians Mats Gustafsson, Neneh Cherry, Joe McPhee, Thurston Moore, along with music writer Byron Coley have contributed to an illustrated collector’s guide to records — replete with 277-pages pages of beatific album art, labels, sleeve notes and collector musings on their life-long obsessions of record collecting, with a distinct focus on the recorded history of Free Jazz and Free Improvisation.

                                              Compiling personal archives with discussions and debates of their selections of recordings which could be contenders within a list defined by a parameter of 100 most essential releases presented in chronologic order, acknowledging the music to be preternaturally non-competitive, non-hierarchical, and of equal value. NOW JAZZ NOW is a book for all adventurous music lovers, whether ravenous record collectors, avant-garde jazz enthusiasts, students of radical culture, or simply curiosity seekers in wonder to this music’s illustrious history and lineage.
                                              The gleanings of Cherry, Coley, Gustafsson, McPhee and Moore will enlighten, delight, amuse, and bemuse all who follow their streams of consciousness, knowledge, perception, and, most importantly, unbridled respect and regard for a genre of music dedicated to the dignity of practicing freedom.

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                                              Cover of Punk : The Last Word by Chris Sullivan & Stephen Colegrave.

                                              Chris Sullivan & Stephen Colegrave

                                              Punk : The Last Word

                                              Omnibus Press

                                                The last word on the movement that shook the world. Punk: The Last Word is a powerful reimagining of punk-not just as a sound or style, but as a radical, DIY philosophy rooted in defiance, truth, and individuality. Cultural insider and Wag Club founder Chris Sullivan and Byline Times co-founder and executive editor Stephen Colegrave bring together over 150 original interviews with punk's most iconic figures-Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Siouxsie Sioux, Vivienne Westwood, and many others.

                                                From musicians and designers to promoters and provocateurs, they paint a vivid portrait of the movement's chaotic rise and lasting impact on both sides of the Atlantic. Tracing punk's rebellious spirit from 19th-century bohemia to the explosion of Kings Road and Coventry in the late '70s, this is, without a doubt, the most in-depth, insider account of punk's evolution and legacy. As the movement approaches its 50th anniversary, its core values-authenticity, resistance, and creative freedom-feel more urgent than ever.

                                                Punk isn't just music. It's a way of life.

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                                                Cover of Turn My Head Into Sound : A History Of Kevin Shields And My Bloody Valentine by Andrew Perer.

                                                Andrew Perer

                                                Turn My Head Into Sound : A History Of Kevin Shields And My Bloody Valentine

                                                Jawbone

                                                  Turn My Head Into Sound: A history of Kevin Shields and My Bloody Valentine tells the story of one of the great sonic innovators of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. My Bloody Valentine have released only three albums in their forty-year career, but each of them has made a seismic impact. Isn t Anything (1988) is often cited as one of the Ur-texts of shoegaze and dream rock; Loveless (1991) is an undisputed masterpiece heralded by many as the best album of the 1990s; m b v (2013) is one of the best-loved comeback albums in recent memory.

                                                  For those who know Kevin Shields and his work already, he is an indie-rock icon, but by other measures he s still a relatively obscure figure in the musical mainstream, and to date there has been no full-length appraisal of his work or his band s career. Until now. Shields is truly a one-of-a-kind musician, and this book which fills in the gaps, corrects errors, and takes an objective look at the band s entire career, warts and all paints the full picture of one of the most revolutionary sonic artists of our time.

                                                  Turn My Head Into Sound is based on numerous interviews with people who were there (some of them speaking on the record for the first time) as well as an exhaustive archive of band-related material that the author has been assembling since 1990. Longtime fans of the band will find plenty of new information here, including the full story of the tumultuous period at Island Records following the release of Loveless. The lost years that followed would see Shields employed as engineer, producer, and remixer while also becoming an auxiliary member of Primal Scream.

                                                  This book s analysis of this diverse but lesser-known work offers reader a much fuller picture of the relentless creativity and perfectionism at the center of his process.


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                                                  Cover of How High: A Portrait Of The Charlatans by Tim Burgess And Tom Sheehan.

                                                  Tim Burgess And Tom Sheehan

                                                  How High: A Portrait Of The Charlatans

                                                  Welbeck

                                                    This is the inside story of The Charlatans, told through the lens of legendary
                                                    photographer Tom Sheehan and the words of the band's frontman Tim Burgess.

                                                    More than 250 of Sheehan's photographs - blending iconic shots with those seen here for the first time - are accompanied by moving and insightful text from Burgess, sharing his memories of a band at the very height of their powers.

                                                    Covering a decade of the band's story, the book captures recording sessions, live performances, cover shoots, tours and intimate moments snatched backstage and around the world.

                                                    Beautifully presented in a cloth-bound hardback, this book is a stunning visual
                                                    history of The Charlatans, one of the defining bands of a generation.


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                                                    Cover of A Complicated Woman by Rebeca Lucy Taylor (Self Esteem).

                                                    Rebeca Lucy Taylor (Self Esteem)

                                                    A Complicated Woman

                                                    BRAZEN

                                                      Sometimes when I drink wine out of a globulous glass with the thinnest of rims, blocking out the fact it's billed at £14 a pop, I think of baby Becky. Hair so blonde it's neon white, cheeks so chubby you can't see her eyes. What must she think right now? She must think she made it.

                                                      We're a great big adult person. That was always the plan, right?In her extraordinary debut, with her trademark lyricism and razor-sharp wit, Ivor Novello Award-winning musician and artist Rebecca Lucy Taylor (aka SELF ESTEEM) takes us on a journey through womanhood - whatever the hell that means. Through the notes, lyrics and biting observational prose for which Taylor has become renowned, A Complicated Woman offers itself up as a subversive anti-Bible for any woman who has ever cracked under the weight of impossible expectation; who has done unto others the damage that has been wrought upon her; and who has discovered deep within herself a resilience that surprised her.

                                                      A Complicated Woman is a cathartic scream of a book that gets to the heart of being a woman in the world today, and cements Taylor as one of the most exciting voices of her generation.

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                                                      Cover of Ringo : A Fab Life by Tom Doyle.

                                                      Tom Doyle

                                                      Ringo : A Fab Life

                                                      New Modern

                                                        Ringo Starr’s eventful and remarkable life laid bare in a first-of-its-kind mosaic biography of one of the greatest musicians of all time. Often overshadowed by his former bandmates, Starr’s remarkable story is no less compelling. ‘Ringo: A Fab Life’ highlights a life so jaw-droppingly eventful that one is left wondering how he also had time to become one of the best musicians on the planet.

                                                        Through an episodic, mosaic format critically acclaimed author Tom Doyle takes readers through the ride of a lifetime, from Starr’s brushes with death as a child bought up in poverty, through to dizzying heights of fame and success with The Beatles and beyond. By examining pivotal moments, anecdotes and cautionary tales, we see Starr soar as part of the biggest band in the world - and then try and cope with life outside of it: a film career, misadventures with friends, children’s TV narrator, furniture designer, marriage to a Bond girl, before eventually finding peace and sobriety as one of the elder statesmen of rock. So much more than another Beatles related biography, we follow Starr’s career far beyond the rose-tinted sixties, through the various addictions and career left turns in the seventies and eighties, before reaching the 1990’s, his legacy and reputation intact.

                                                        The life of Richard Starkey is long overdue a proper inspection and this book - with exclusive new interviews conducted by Doyle with, amongst others, Starr himself - provides a never-before-seen level of detail that will delight hardcore fans and curious readers alike. Ringo: A Fab Life - hilarious, moving, insightful and constantly surprising - is the definitive account of one of the greatest living musicians and the uncontested best drummer in The Beatles.

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                                                        Cover of Billy Bragg - A People's History by Billy Bragg.

                                                        Billy Bragg

                                                        Billy Bragg - A People's History

                                                        Spenwood Books

                                                          Billy Bragg - A People's History is an authorised oral history of the British singer-songwriter and political activist in thewords of people who have been moved by his music. Containing over 400 fanmemories of seeing Billy in concert, on a demonstration or on TV, BillyBragg - A People's History is the story of the Bard of Barking as it'snever been told before. Whether singing aboutlove in 'A New England', domestic violence in 'Levi Stubbs Tears' or political activismin 'There is Power in a Union', Billy Bragg has been inspiring fans through hismusic and sparking political debate with his opinions for more than 40 years.

                                                          With memorabilia from Billy's personal archive and contributions from the man himself, Billy Bragg- A People's History will span Billy's career in music, from his days withthe punk-inspired Riff Raff through to the present day. The book will includeanecdotes of seeing Billy in concert or encountering him as an activist, aswell as Billy's reflections on his long career.

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                                                          Cover of Freedom, Rhythm & Sound Chapter Two: Revolutionary Jazz Cover Art by Gilles Peterson & Stuart Baker.

                                                          Gilles Peterson & Stuart Baker

                                                          Freedom, Rhythm & Sound Chapter Two: Revolutionary Jazz Cover Art

                                                          Soul Jazz

                                                            ‘Freedom, Rhythm & Sound’ showcases the stunning graphic works of independently published jazz record cover designs in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and beyond, from radical jazz musicians such as Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, The Art Ensemble of Chicago and others.

                                                            This second ‘Freedom, Rhythm & Sound’ book is a new chapter, featuring hundreds more unique, rare and beautiful jazz record cover designs. This book documents the continued development in jazz as African-American artists set out on new journeys to enlightenment, heading out into Europe at the end of the 1960s.

                                                            The artwork of these (often self-produced) record cover designs during this era reflected their radical agenda, spiritual awareness and singular search for musical and personal freedoms. From raw, DIY aesthetics to lyrical and poetic illustrations, sometimes containing futuristic worlds and ancient landscapes, the designs are always bold, strikingly graphic, and most importantly capture the spirit of the music, giving them a unique beauty.

                                                            The book also includes sections on African-American poets and writers, Civil Rights and Black Power Movement leaders (Martin Luther King, Malcolm X) and early musical pioneers (Yusef Lateef, Max Roach, Art Blakey and others), all of which helped influence and shape the world of radical and spiritual jazz from the 1960s and onwards to its rebirth today.

                                                            Since the 1980s, Gilles Peterson has been a pivotal figure in the club scene, renowned for his genre-defying approach to music with jazz at its core. As one of the UK’s most iconic DJs, he has spent over 40 years shaping music trends as a radio presenter, club DJ, producer and festival curator. He hosts a flagship show on BBC Radio 6 Music and, in 2016, launched Worldwide FM. He is founder of the Worldwide Festival in the South of France and We Out Here festival in the UK. He runs the label Brownswood Recordings, dedicated to discovering and promoting new talent and bringing fresh voices to the global stage.

                                                            Stuart Baker founded Soul Jazz Records in 1992. For more than 30 years the record company has released over 500 records covering a genre-defying array of non-mainstream musical worlds - Jazz, Reggae, Punk, Latin, Brazilian, Disco, African, Gospel, Acid House and more. In 2017, part of Stuart Baker’s jazz record collection (much of which appears in ‘Freedom, Rhythm & Sound’) was featured and displayed as part of the Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power exhibition at Tate Modern in London and subsequently at The Broad in Los Angeles (2019) and Brooklyn Museum (2019).

                                                            Soul Jazz Books launched in 2007, a similarly diverse and critically acclaimed publishing house with graphic art, culture and photography titles that include ‘Voguing and The House Ballroom Scene of New York’, ‘Dancehall - The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture’, ‘Yo! The Early Days of Hip-Hop’, ‘Freedom, Rhythm & Sound - Revolutionary Jazz Cover Art 1965-83’, ‘Punk 45 - The Singles Cover Art of Punk 1976-80’ and others.

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                                                            Cover of Happy Forever : My Musical Adventures With The Turtles, Frank Zappa, T. Rex, Flo & Eddie, And More by Mark Volman & John Cody.

                                                            Mark Volman & John Cody

                                                            Happy Forever : My Musical Adventures With The Turtles, Frank Zappa, T. Rex, Flo & Eddie, And More

                                                            Jawbone

                                                              Mark is one of the most indomitable yet gentle spirits I ve ever met. He will always be one of my favorite artists I ve ever worked with. And someday when I grow up, I want to be just like him.

                                                              Alice Cooper. This book is a puzzle. The outside frame pieces are about me, but the picture wouldn t be complete without the perspectives of all the people telling you about me.

                                                              Mark Volman. Mark Volman has led a storied life, and many of those stories are contained in Happy Forever. A true son of southern California, he has gone from topping the charts with The Turtles ( Happy Together ) to underground cred with Frank Zappa and beyond.

                                                              As Flo & Eddie, Mark and his longtime singing partner Howard Kaylan were the not-so-secret ingredient on many other artist s records, taking Bruce Springsteen into the Top 10 for the very first time and helping T. Rex dominate the British charts. Then came The Ramones, U2, Blondie, Duran Duran, and so many more; the list of credits is long and varied.

                                                              Happy Forever covers all of that, along with subsequent forays into animation, a stint as a radio personality in Los Angeles and New York, and a midlife return to academia, which led Mark to create and run innovative college programs in LA and Nashville. But this is not the world according to Mark Volman, and it is not your average musical autobiography. Alongside his own comments, this uniquely insightful book contains contributions from more than one hundred of Mark s peers, friends, and lovers who share their thoughts on the man himself and on topics that span the social and cultural landscape of past half-century.

                                                              Happy Forever s cast list reads like a who s who of popular music, featuring members of The Doors, The Monkees, The Byrds, The E Street Band, and many more; producers Tony Visconti, Bob Ezrin, and Hal Willner; voice actors from The Simpsons and the Firesign Theatre; and key figures from the worlds of radio, animation, and academia. The book also includes previously unseen photographs and forewords by Alice Cooper and Chris Hillman.

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                                                              Cover of The Absence: Memoirs Of A Banshee Drummer - Record Store Exclusive Edition by Budgie.

                                                              Budgie

                                                              The Absence: Memoirs Of A Banshee Drummer - Record Store Exclusive Edition

                                                              White Rabbit

                                                                RECORD STORE EXCLUSIVE - SIGNED COPIES WITH BONUS BILLY & HELLS PORTRAIT ART PRINT.

                                                                As a member of Big in Japan, The Slits and, most famously, Siouxsie and The Banshees and The Creatures, 'Budgie' became one of the era-defining drummers in the much-mythologised post punk scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

                                                                Growing up in working class St Helens in the 1960s, Peter Clarke lost his mum as a young boy and it's her 'absence' that haunts the pages of this book. Disenchanted with art school inLiverpool, Peter became Budgie and befriended the likes of Jayne Casey, Holly Johnson, Pete Burns, Bill Drummond and other luminaires of the legendary Eric's' Club, before taking off for London and the big city heat of punk. Budgie's unique technique and musical sensitivity endeared him to the all-female group The Slits, who asked him to play on their debut album Cut. Subsequent touring with former members of the Sex Pistols and others from the post punk aristocracy firmly established Budgie's reputation for innovation.

                                                                But the beating heart of this painfully honest and frank account of a life often sabotaged by substance abuse and alcoholism is, of course, his long-term position as Siouxsie and The Banshee's drummer and co-writer alongside ex-lover, and ex-wife, Siouxsie Sioux. In the Banshees and seminal side project The Creatures, their creative partnership produced some of the most seductive and celebrated pop music of the decade, from Juju, through A Kiss in the Dreamhouse to the salutary valedictory album, Peepshow. Eventually, their personal relationship started to fall apart, with inevitable consequences for both bands. The Absence is brave and unflinching in its dissection of how and why this happened. Angels emerged, many of them female, to show Budgie that a mother's lost love can be replaced.

                                                                A man and musician whose creativity and singular style came to define the goth-pop 1980s as much as any other individual, Budgie's life is both fabulously glamorous and a tawdry cautionary tale. For the first time the story of this most exalted and mysterious of bands has been told by one who survived inside the belly of the beast.

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                                                                Cover of Last Rites by Ozzy Osbourne.

                                                                Ozzy Osbourne

                                                                Last Rites

                                                                Sphere

                                                                  At the age of sixty-nine, Ozzy Osbourne was on a triumphant farewell tour, playing to sold-out arenas and rave reviews all around the world. Then disaster. In a matter of just a few weeks, he went from being hospitalised with a finger infection to having to abandon his tour - and all public life - as he faced near-total paralysis from the neck down.

                                                                  Last Rites is the shocking, bitterly hilarious, never-before-told story of Osbourne's descent into hell. Along the way, he reflects on his extraordinary life and career - including his turbulent marriage to wife Sharon, his encounters with fellow hellraisers including Slash, Bon Scott, John Bonham and Keith Moon, the harrowing final moments he spent with Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister, all alongside his reflections on the triumphant Back to the Beginning concert, streamed around the world, where Ozzy reunited with his Black Sabbath bandmates for the final time and raised millions for charity. Unflinching, brutally honest, but surprisingly life-affirming, Last Rites demonstrates once again why Ozzy has transcended his status as 'The Godfather of Metal' and 'The Prince of Darkness' to become a modern-day folk hero and national treasure.

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                                                                  Cover of Shadowplayers : The Rise And Fall Of Factory Records - New Edition by James Nice.

                                                                  James Nice

                                                                  Shadowplayers : The Rise And Fall Of Factory Records - New Edition

                                                                  Faber & Faber

                                                                    In 1978, a 'Factory for Sale' sign gave Alan Erasmus and Tony Wilson a name for their fledgling Manchester club night. Though they couldn' t have known it at the time, this was the launch of one of the most significant musical and cultural legacies of the late twentieth century. The club's electrifying live scene soon translated to vinyl, and Factory Records went on to become the most innovative and celebrated record label of the next thirty years.

                                                                    Always breaking new musical ground, Factory introduced the listening public to bands such as Joy Division, whose Unknown Pleasures was the label's first album release, New Order, Durutti Column and Happy Mondays. Propelled onwards by the inspirational cultural entrepreneur, Tony Wilson, Factory always sought new ways to energise the popular consciousness, such as the infamous Hacienda nightclub, which enjoyed a chequered 15-year history after opening in 1982. Now fully revised and expanded with a new chapter, Shadowplayers is the most complete, authoritative and thoroughly researched account of how a group of provincial anarchists and entrepreneurs saw off bankers, journalists and gun-toting gangsters to create the most influential record label of modern times.

                                                                    Based on both archive and contemporary sources, the book tells the full story of Factory' s heroic struggles, its complex web of inventive, idiosyncratic and tragic personalities, and ultimately, the acclaimed and much-loved music it produced.

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                                                                    Cover of Travelling : On The Path Of Joni Mitchell by Ann Powers.

                                                                    Ann Powers

                                                                    Travelling : On The Path Of Joni Mitchell

                                                                    HarperCollins

                                                                      Celebrated music critic Ann Powers explores the life and career of the legendary Joni Mitchell What you are about to read is not a standard account of the life and work of Joni Mitchell. Instead, it’s a tale of long journeying through a life that changed popular music: of a homesick wanderer forging ahead on routes of her invention, and of me on her trail, heading toward the ringing of her voice. One of the most celebrated artists of her generation, Joni Mitchell has inspired countless musicians and writers, while never stopping still herself.

                                                                      In Travelling, celebrated music critic Ann Powers seeks to understand the paradox of Mitchell – at once both elusive and inviting – through her myriad journeys. Drawing on extensive inter­views with Mitchell’s peers and deep archival research, Powers takes readers to rural Canada, charts the course of Mitchell’s musical evolution, follows the winding road of Mitchell’s collaborations with other greats and explores the loves that fed her songwriting. Kaleidoscopic in scope and intimate in detail, Travelling is a fresh and fascinating addition to the Joni Mitchell corpus – and one that questions whether an artist can ever truly be known to their fans.

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                                                                      Cover of Rebel Grrrls : The Real Story Of Women And Punk From The 1970s To Today by Molly Tie.

                                                                      Molly Tie

                                                                      Rebel Grrrls : The Real Story Of Women And Punk From The 1970s To Today

                                                                      Omnibus Press

                                                                        The unfiltered story of women in the punk scene— celebrating the highs, confronting the lows, and proving the power of community.

                                                                        From the gritty streets of 1970s London to the sun-soaked beaches of 2000s California, Rebel Grrrls: The Real Story of Women and Punk is a raw and exhilarating exploration of rebellion and identity through the eyes of its fans. This book goes beyond the musicians, spotlighting the women who defied small-town limitations, challenged family expectations, and shaped the scene from the inside out.

                                                                        Molly Tie examines what the movement has meant to millions of fans, setting their experiences within a wider cultural and political landscape. What is it like to be a woman at a gig? Which bands and songs truly reflect the female experience in a male-dominated space? And how does our connection to alternative music change when powerful figures face allegations of abuse?

                                                                        Spanning every era—from the British explosion and American hardcore to riot grrrl, pop punk, emo, ska, and today’s activist revival—Tie reveals how women in the movement have fought to be heard, proving that, at its best, punk is about refusing to stay silent.

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                                                                        Cover of Mazzy Star’s So Tonight That I Might See - 33 1/3 by Anthony Gomez III.

                                                                        Anthony Gomez III

                                                                        Mazzy Star’s So Tonight That I Might See - 33 1/3

                                                                        Bloomsbury Publishing USA

                                                                          Anthony Gomez III explores how out of the commercial failure of the 1980s Paisley Underground genre, a Los Angeles that suffered one of the highest crime rates in the country, the rise of Chicano/a art in the public eye, and record label disputes, singer Hope Sandoval and guitarist David Roback form the influential dream pop band Mazzy Star.

                                                                          Mazzy Star's So Tonight That I Might See was a slow, reluctant success. Pushed by Capital Records as an album for teenagers to make out during, as a record about girlhood, and as music for those uninterested in the era's male aggression, the album's reputation has been plagued by these forced connections ever since.

                                                                          But by tracing the hurried development of So Tonight That I Might See and the band's efforts to bend the record company's wants to their will, this book revisits and challenges these imposed narratives that have overshadowed the band's interest in the mystical, the American Southwest, ranchera music from the mid-century, and a surrealism which summons the strange, dark shadows of everyday life in the US.

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                                                                          Cover of Teenage Daydream : We Are The Girls Who Play In A Band by Debsey Wykes.

                                                                          Debsey Wykes

                                                                          Teenage Daydream : We Are The Girls Who Play In A Band

                                                                          New Modern

                                                                            An evocative coming of age story from one of the UK’s first ever female post-punk musicians. Debsey Wykes was the bass playing singer in the first all girl punk group Dolly Mixture. Thrown into the musky, misogynistic, male dominated world of the UK music industry in the late 1970s, they enjoyed unlikely #1 success alongside Captain Sensible of The Damned on1982’s even unlikelier cover version of ‘Happy Talk’, whilst fame and success on their own individual terms alluded them.

                                                                            Debsey went onto greater prominence with Saint Etienne with who she has performed since 1992, whilst in 2025, desirable Dolly Mixture reissues sell out around the world as quickly as they are printed. Featuring a cast of contemporary post-punk heroes – rom Paul Weller and the Jam (their first record label boss) to Madness and the Pogues – Teenage Daydream is a unique coming of age story of youthful ambition, enterprising DIY musical ethics and how an unlikely bunch of school-girl friends ended up on Top of the Pops in home made hula skirts.

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                                                                            Cover of Around The World In 80 Record Stores: Updated Edition : A Guide To The Best Vinyl Emporiums On The Planet by Marcus Barnes.

                                                                            Marcus Barnes

                                                                            Around The World In 80 Record Stores: Updated Edition : A Guide To The Best Vinyl Emporiums On The Planet

                                                                            Ryland, Peters & Small Ltd

                                                                              DISCOVER the BEST places on the planet to buy records – Marcus Barnes’s updated guide is a MUST-READ for all vinyl lovers, crate diggers and music fans. Looking for the best place in Europe to buy electronic music? Want to get lost in the racks of the world’s biggest independent record store? Are you constantly in search of the undiscovered, the original, the cult, the lost classics? Around the World in 80 Record Stores offers a unique look at where music lovers need to go to feed their addiction for new records. Boasting a truly global outlook – featuring stores everywhere from Iceland and India to the coolest cities in Europe, the US and the UK, plus the mecca for crate diggers that is Japan – each entry includes plenty of interesting details about the record store, including the music genres sold, the store's opening date and facts about its history and quirks. Showcasing the best places to buy house, indie, jazz, rock, hip-hop, afrobeat and everything in between, this is an essential companion for all record junkies.


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                                                                              Cover of Pink Floyd Shine On : The Definitive Oral History by Mark Blake.

                                                                              Mark Blake

                                                                              Pink Floyd Shine On : The Definitive Oral History

                                                                              New Modern

                                                                                The definitive oral history of Pink Floyd as told by friends, associates, family members and the band themselves through exclusive, never before published interviews. Bestselling music author Mark Blake has been an associate and collaborator of Pink Floyd for over thirty years. Shine On takes on the behemoth task of capturing the most comprehensive history of the band ever compiled, drawing on huge amounts of new, archive and unpublished interview material with Gilmour, Waters, Mason and Wright.

                                                                                No other writer has interviewed the members of Pink Floyd as often nor as thoroughly, which is candidly apparent in this textured, gripping and consistently surprising biography. For the first time, the band's story is told as an oral history with each chapter presented through the words of the band, their friends, contemporaries and supporting musicians. The accessible structure and high level of detail means that the narrative is both approachable to casual readers and magnetic to the committed.

                                                                                Shine On is comprised of a significant amount of previously unpublished material, including a rare interview with Rosemary Breen lamenting that her younger brother Roger, aka Syd Barrett, should have never become a musician as well as exclusive new interviews with Pink Floyd's Nick Mason and Guy Pratt, reflecting on their enduring legacy and rather more complicated recent twists and turns in the bands story. Shine on is a forensic retelling of one of the most turbulent and enduring groups in rock music history, a complex history that only someone as skilled and insightful as Blake can navigate.

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                                                                                Cover of Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams : The Official Visual History by Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson & Iron Maiden.

                                                                                Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson & Iron Maiden

                                                                                Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams : The Official Visual History

                                                                                Thames & Hudson Ltd

                                                                                  Celebrating 50 years of Iron Maiden, this magnificent visual book, incorporating commentary by band members past and present, and never-before-seen photography from the Iron Maiden archives, chronicles the evolution of heavy metal’s most prestigious band. Iron Maiden is an institution. Hailed as pioneers of a new wave of British heavy metal in the 80s, the band has come to embody a spirit of fearless creative independence and ferocious dedication to their fans that has won them a huge following around the world and across the generations.

                                                                                  Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams traces the creative evolution of heavy metal’s most influential and enthralling band, from 1975 to 2025. Presenting iconic album and single artworks, photographs of the band’s instruments past and present, stage props, hand-written lyrics and artefacts from the archive and the band’s personal collections, as well as landmark photographs by Ross Halfin and John McMurtrie, Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams is rife with revelatory stories and intriguing insights from pivotal band members and management. It is bookended by a foreword from band founder Steve Harris and an afterword by vocalist Bruce Dickinson.

                                                                                  Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams is the definitive legacy volume, celebrating the band’s creativity, dedication, personality and success.

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                                                                                  Cover of To Hell With Poverty! : A Class Act: Inside The Gang Of Four by Jon King.

                                                                                  Jon King

                                                                                  To Hell With Poverty! : A Class Act: Inside The Gang Of Four

                                                                                  Constable

                                                                                    TO HELL WITH POVERTY! documents Jon King's story from a South London slum and impoverished working-class background to international success as core musician, lyricist, writer, and producer in legendary post-punk/funk band Gang of Four. The reader is taken on an episodic and kaleidoscopic journey full of adventures from childhood to the end of Gang of Four's 'golden period' in 1984. Thrown off Top of the Pops, truncheoned by police at an anti-Nazi rally, being at the heart of Leeds music scene and the UK post-punk movement in the 1970s, fraternising with Hell's Angels and other undesirables, supported by bands like REM and playing with the likes of the Police and Talking Heads, King's times with Gang of Four are rich with stories.


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                                                                                    Reduced Cover of I Was There : Dispatches From A Life In Rock And Roll by Alan Edwards.

                                                                                    Alan Edwards

                                                                                    I Was There : Dispatches From A Life In Rock And Roll

                                                                                    Simon & Schuster Ltd

                                                                                      Alan Edwards, the godfather of British music PR, has worked with some of the most legendary artists of our time, from David Bowie to the Spice Girls via the Rolling Stones, the Stranglers, Prince and Amy Winehouse. In I Was There, he describes getting his break in the mid-'70s as a scruffy, stoned 20-year-old just back from the hippie trail; his encounter with London's thriving punk scene, which inspired him to set up his own PR company; broadening his horizons as his work with the likes of Blondie takes him to the US and beyond; and his move into the world of pop with the Spice Girls during the tabloid-crazed '90s.

                                                                                      At the centre of this story sits the defining relationship of Edwards' career: his close, thirty-year collaboration with David Bowie. He guides us through a series of vivid, funny, always insightful behind-the-scenes reports, whether he's playing a spontaneous game of football with Bob Marley, listening to Prince discuss the future of civilisation in a nightclub VIP area, or being used as a pawn in the power struggle between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Above all, we're treated to Edwards' fascinating observations about the brilliant artists he has worked with and what makes them tick, as he looks back on his role in the last five decades of music and culture.

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                                                                                      [ - ]
                                                                                      Reduced Cover of I Was There : Dispatches From A Life In Rock And Roll by Alan Edwards.

                                                                                      Alan Edwards

                                                                                      I Was There : Dispatches From A Life In Rock And Roll

                                                                                      Simon & Schuster Ltd

                                                                                        Alan Edwards, the godfather of British music PR, has worked with some of the most legendary artists of our time, from David Bowie to the Spice Girls via the Rolling Stones, the Stranglers, Prince and Amy Winehouse. In I Was There, he describes getting his break in the mid-'70s as a scruffy, stoned 20-year-old just back from the hippie trail; his encounter with London's thriving punk scene, which inspired him to set up his own PR company; broadening his horizons as his work with the likes of Blondie takes him to the US and beyond; and his move into the world of pop with the Spice Girls during the tabloid-crazed '90s.

                                                                                        At the centre of this story sits the defining relationship of Edwards' career: his close, thirty-year collaboration with David Bowie. He guides us through a series of vivid, funny, always insightful behind-the-scenes reports, whether he's playing a spontaneous game of football with Bob Marley, listening to Prince discuss the future of civilisation in a nightclub VIP area, or being used as a pawn in the power struggle between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Above all, we're treated to Edwards' fascinating observations about the brilliant artists he has worked with and what makes them tick, as he looks back on his role in the last five decades of music and culture.

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                                                                                        Cover of Our Secrets Are The Same : Friendship & Fame At The Heart Of Simple Minds by Jim Kerr & Charlie Burchill With Graeme Thomson.

                                                                                        Jim Kerr & Charlie Burchill With Graeme Thomson

                                                                                        Our Secrets Are The Same : Friendship & Fame At The Heart Of Simple Minds

                                                                                        Constable

                                                                                          The long-awaited memoir from Simple Minds' founder members and lifelong collaborators, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill. A candid, moving and kinetic story of self-realisation through the power of music, Our Secrets Are The Same is the remarkable joint memoir by Simple Minds' founder members, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill. It not only reveals the inner workings of one of the most innovative and successful British bands of the past half-century, but the deeply personal tale of an extraordinary friendship which powered teenage dreams into visionary action. Exploring key songs, places, years and events in the Simple Minds story, and told in the distinct voices of both men, Our Secrets Are The Same explores a bond which has encompassed stratospheric highs and humbling lows, marriages and divorces, fatherhood, fickle fame, tricky inter-band dynamics, the occasional explosive bust up, and a ruthless streak to rival the Sicilian Mafia.

                                                                                          Their connection is grounded in shared experiences and a set of values and codes so deeply ingrained they don't need to be spoken. For Our Secrets Are The Same is not just the story of two rock stars, but of two sons, brothers, partners and parents who have never forgotten where they come from. Two men who have remained deeply bonded to their roots and each other, while fulfilling a teenage dream to form a world-class live band and take their music around the globe.

                                                                                          Fascinating and funny, evocative and inspiring, this unforgettable memoir captures a unique journey through life and music, and a friendship like no other.


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                                                                                          Cover of Rusty Egan : The Autobiography by Rusty Egan.

                                                                                          Rusty Egan

                                                                                          Rusty Egan : The Autobiography

                                                                                          McNidder & Grace

                                                                                            Rusty Egan is one of the most iconic and influential figures in the electronic music industry. His career began in the music industry as a runner at DJM studios, followed by a stint at WEA Records. Rusty collaborated with former Sex Pistols member Glen Matlock, alongside Steve New and Midge Ure, to establish the new wave band Rich Kids. Their debut album, Ghosts of Princes in Towers, released in 1978, achieved both critical acclaim andcommercial success.

                                                                                            During the Rich Kids tours, Rusty met Steve Strange. This encounter led to Rusty's concept for a club night at Billy's, a Sohovenue, catering to fashionable punks and showcasing the music they were passionate about. In 1979, they moved their club night to the Blitz in Covent Garden.

                                                                                            As the resident DJ at the Blitz, Rusty played a pivotal rolein introducing British, German, and Japanese electronica to the Britishclub scene, essentially curating the soundtrack for the burgeoning New Romantic movement. Rusty Egan was instrumental in the formation of the band Visage with Midge Ure. Steve Strange joined them as the frontman (face and voice), and the lineup was completed by Billy Currie on keyboards, along with John McGeoch (guitar), Dave Formula (keyboards), and Barry Adamson (bass), all from the band MAGAZINE.

                                                                                            Beyond his band work Rusty co-founded the incredibly popular Camden Palace nightclub in London with Steve Strange, where he continued to champion and shape the development of electronica in the UK. He also established Metropolis Music, a publishing and production company,allowing him to create music as well as perform it. In more recent news, Rusty released his album Welcome To The Dancefloor in 2017, which featured collaborations with Midge Ure, Tony Hadley, and Peter Hook.



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                                                                                            Reduced Cover of Issue 009 by Rendah Mag..

                                                                                            Rendah Mag.

                                                                                            Issue 009

                                                                                              Welcome to our latest edition of Rendah Mag. Within this issue, we’re very happy to once again highlight some of our favourite music & art—bringing the conversation into a physical medium.

                                                                                              This issue features names such as Giant Swan, William Light, Paul Tobin, Lorem, Halina Rice, Joshua Mays, Glass Crane, and Yamatai Records

                                                                                              Cover design by NANIGOTO

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                                                                                              Cover of Issue: The First by Ultra K.

                                                                                              Ultra K

                                                                                              Issue: The First

                                                                                                HOLY COW PEOPLES! This A5 zine packs a punch.. and sups from the KOOLAID PUNCH BOWL… this is ULTRA K: Incorporating ULTRA KOMIK.

                                                                                                A new home made occasional, a zine, comic, eye-searing collection of writings, ravings, illustrations and comes with a free badge and stickers.. get with it!!

                                                                                                Put together by the Koolaiders, it features some top album reviews, a couple crazy underground pop interviews.. features on Televisiion shows that still matter…a feature on SURF PUNKS.. you need it.. those in the know will know who and whats behind this.. those who don’t will want to find out more.. get yer skates on!

                                                                                                This first issue is limited to 100 copies only … pick it up at Piccadilly…

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                                                                                                Reduced Cover of Maggot Brain (Issue #12) by Third Man Books Present.

                                                                                                Third Man Books Present

                                                                                                Maggot Brain (Issue #12)

                                                                                                  The cover feature celebrates the enduring, luminous genius of DOLLY PARTON, with a revealing conversation between Caryn Rose and Lynn Melnick on how her music quite literally saved Melnick’s life. ALSO IN THE ISSUE: OCTAVIA BUTLER – The very full transcript of editor Mike McGonigal’s lengthy, in-depth talk with the sci-fi feminist visionary, from 1997. The entire transcript has never appeared in print. ROLIN-POWERS – The great Michelle Dove on what makes these avant-folk lovebirds tick, and why you should care. THE CLEAN + HAMISH KILGOUR – An epic, archival interview with the band from 15 years ago, plus a fresh look thanks to Michael Galinsky at why Hamish meant so much to so many. The Clean were our favorite contemporary rock band. FRED TOMASELLI – Many pages of his delightful reworkings of New York Times front pages, plus an insightful interview with one of our finest contemporary artists. CRAZY DOBERMAN – Erick’s Bradshaw delivers an epic, well-illustrated tour diary of a brief jaunt with these noise greats. Plus also – Composer TAYONDAI BRAXTON by Katy Henricksen! – a meaty, beautiful feature on DR. PETE LARSON by Fred Thomas, worlds collide! – An amazing LUCY SANTE column! – Cassette tapes! – Reissue of the issue is the ‘Saturn 2’ comp of obscure Midwestern ‘90s shoegaze! – The Bay Area’s deliriously good new band GALORE by Jessica Beard! – A beloved celebrity writes in to Mimi Lipson’s advice column! – A lengthy excerpt from a great unpublished novel by DAVID GORDON! – Editor Mike McGonigal’s tribute to Tom Verlaine! – And we think that’s everything, hard to really know, as we always pack so much into every issue because we love you!

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                                                                                                  Reduced Cover of Johnny Cash: The Life In Lyrics - Super Deluxe Record Store Edition by Mark Stielper & Johnny Cash.

                                                                                                  Mark Stielper & Johnny Cash

                                                                                                  Johnny Cash: The Life In Lyrics - Super Deluxe Record Store Edition

                                                                                                  White Rabbit

                                                                                                    DELUXE LIMITED COLLECTOR'S EDITION: Enclosed in a protective slipcase debossed with foil, including several frameable reproductions of rare memorabilia:
                                                                                                    - A never-before-published photograph of Johnny Cash performing at a private event in Knoxville, TN, in April, 1975
                                                                                                    - A reproduction of the Cash coat of arms, hand-drawn and lettered by Cash, with reflections on its meaning
                                                                                                    - A double-sided reproduction of Cash's handwritten lyrics for "Flesh and Blood" with ornamental drawings and a special note to June Carter
                                                                                                    - An access code to listen to never-before-released audio comments by Cash.

                                                                                                    This book marks the first time Johnny Cash's 60 years of songwriting have been collected anywhere. Cash is one of the most beloved and influential country-music stars of all time, having composed more than 600 songs and perhaps best known for blending country, rock, blues, and gospel in his music, ushering in the countrypolitan and Outlaw country movements.

                                                                                                    An essential collectible that sheds new light on Cash's life and work, this oversize and sumptuously designed book includes rare and never-before-seen visual material alongside stories and commentary from Cash's son, John Carter Cash, Mark Stielper, Cash and Carter family historian, and others. Released the year of the twentieth anniversary of the legendary musician's passing, it will be a landmark moment in music publishing.

                                                                                                    This publication marks the first time the Cash Estate will open its archive to help lovers of his music understand his timeless songs in a new light, and to share the stories behind their creation. Public Historian Dr. Brian Dempsey will oversee the visual contributions.

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                                                                                                    Cover of Paused In Cosmic Reflection by The Chemical Brothers With Robin Turner.

                                                                                                    The Chemical Brothers With Robin Turner

                                                                                                    Paused In Cosmic Reflection

                                                                                                    White Rabbit

                                                                                                      Paused in Cosmic Reflection is the definitive story of The Chemical Brothers. Told in the voices of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, with contributions from friends and collaborators, it is fully illustrated with 30 years of mind-bending visuals.

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                                                                                                      Cover of Night People : How To Be A DJ In 90s New York City by Mark Ronson.

                                                                                                      Mark Ronson

                                                                                                      Night People : How To Be A DJ In 90s New York City

                                                                                                      Century

                                                                                                        Lady Gaga, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Dua Lipa, Bruno Mars, Miley Cyrus, the Barbie soundtrack. Behind some of the biggest musical moments in the past two decades is one man: Mark Ronson. Now, his memoir Night People captures the music, characters, escapades and energy of his formative DJ days in 90s New York.

                                                                                                        Mark Ronson was born a night person. With hedonistic creatives for parents, parties became his playground. Yet, having moved to New York City from London at a young age, he always felt like a bit of an outsider, until discovering himself in the pulsing, unifying joy of the city’s parties and hip-hop scene.

                                                                                                        Each night brought a heady mix of music, ambition, danger, delight, and possibilities. Having well and truly caught the DJing bug, he worked to find his place and make his name in the city that never sleeps. Night People conjures the undeniable magic of 90s New York, when clubs were diverse, glamorous, a little lawless.

                                                                                                        It evokes the rush of a time and place where fashionistas and rappers on the rise danced alongside club kids and 9-to-5'ers – and invites us into the tribe of creatives and partiers who came alive when the sun went down. A heartfelt coming-of-age tale, Night People is the definitive account of a cultural moment and the making of a musical mastermind.

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                                                                                                        Cover of We All Shine On : John, Yoko, And Me by Elliot Mintz.

                                                                                                        Elliot Mintz

                                                                                                        We All Shine On : John, Yoko, And Me

                                                                                                        Bantam Books

                                                                                                          We All Shine On is the personal, intimate and, at times, heart-breaking memoir of an extraordinary friendship, which gives a first hand view of what it was like to be close to one of the most famous couples of all time. From the moment he interviewed Yoko Ono on his late night radio show in September 1971, Elliot Mintz’s life would never the same again. That phone call would lead him to an intense and revealing friendship with Yoko and her husband, John Lennon, until John’s untimely death in 1980, and beyond, to the present day.

                                                                                                          In 1971, then the talk host on American airwaves, Elliot Mintz was talking to all of the major figures in the burgeoning West Coast music scene when he was asked whether he would interview Yoko about her new album. Their talk quickly lead to other private calls and then to John Lennon, with whom he quickly formed a firm bond. Those conversations became hours-long epics, to the extent that Elliot had another phone line put in, for which only two people had the number - John and Yoko.

                                                                                                          The aftermath of The Beatles’ breakup ushered in a tumultuous decade. Elliot witnessed it, or heard all about it, at close hand including the unbearable cost of such fame when John and Yoko separated for what became known as his ‘lost weekend’. There was joy when their son Sean was born and the creative rebirth that was the multi-platinum selling triumph, Double Fantasy.

                                                                                                          But then there was unimaginable tragedy too when John was brutally murdered in December 1980.

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                                                                                                          Cover of Rebel Sounds : Music As Resistance by Joe Mulhall.

                                                                                                          Joe Mulhall

                                                                                                          Rebel Sounds : Music As Resistance

                                                                                                          Footnote Press Ltd

                                                                                                            While the global history of the dictatorships, oppression, racism and state violence over the last century is well known - the role that music played in people's lives during these times is less understood. This book is a collection of stories and hidden histories about how music provided light in the darkest of times over the past century. How it steeled souls and inspired resistance to oppression.

                                                                                                            Rebel Sounds will explore freedom songs in the Republic of Ireland, the Soviet Union's oppression behind the Berlin Wall, authoritarian dictatorships in Brazil and Nigeria, institutionalised racism and police violence in America and South Africa, street violence in Britain, ethnic cleansing in the Balkans and musical resistance in war-torn Ukraine. This is a social history of the twentieth century but one that takes in the human impulse to create, share and enjoy the one thing that connects cultures and spans generations: music

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                                                                                                            Cover of Girl In A Band: 10th Anniversary Edition by Kim Gordon.

                                                                                                            Kim Gordon

                                                                                                            Girl In A Band: 10th Anniversary Edition

                                                                                                            Faber & Faber

                                                                                                              In Girl in a Band Kim Gordon, a founding member of Sonic Youth and role model for a generation of women, tells her story. She writes frankly about her route from girl to woman to pioneering icon within the music and art scene of New York City in the 1980s and 90s, as well as marriage, motherhood, and independence. Filled with the sights and sounds of a changing world and a remarkable life, and updated with a new chapter by the author, Girl in a Band is a moving, evocative chronicle of an extraordinary artist.

                                                                                                              This tenth anniversary edition also includes a new foreword by Rachel Kushner.

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                                                                                                              Cover of Oasis : Trying To Find A Way Out Of Nowhere by Jill Furmanovsky & Noel Gallagher.

                                                                                                              Jill Furmanovsky & Noel Gallagher

                                                                                                              Oasis : Trying To Find A Way Out Of Nowhere

                                                                                                              Thames & Hudson Ltd

                                                                                                                Dramatic, iconic, tumultuous: this is the story of Oasis, as seen through the lens of legendary photographer Jill Furmanovsky and edited by Noel Gallagher. Jill has been documenting the phenomenon that is Oasis since 1994 and the Definitely Maybe tour, through the tense and difficult shows for Dig Out Your Soul in 2009 and, following a hiatus, to a new beginning in 2025. Featuring more than 500 exceptional photographs from her archive, this book includes acclaimed and classic shots alongside swathes of candid, behind-the-scenes images, many of which are published here for the very first time.

                                                                                                                With unprecedented access, Jill was able to capture strikingly emotive images, recording the band’s raw energy, humour and – at times – their vulnerability. ‘Oasis permitted closeness,’ she commented, ‘and that was a great gift to me as a photographer.’ Weaving sequences together to craft stories and stitch montages, the book brings you right into the room with the musicians. Noel’s foreword is followed by an introduction by Jill, while three expansive pieces by acclaimed author Simon Spence, publicist and writer Johnny Hopkins and music columnist and novelist Laura Barton chart Oasis’s early, mid and late eras.

                                                                                                                Jill and Noel’s reflections, alongside the photos, give the inside track on key moments, revealing the intimate friendship between band and photographer and reminding us of a remarkable era in music history, right to the edge of their 2025 reunion tour. This is a book to treasure long after the final encore.

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                                                                                                                Cover of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless - 33 1/3 by Mike McGonigal.

                                                                                                                Mike McGonigal

                                                                                                                My Bloody Valentine's Loveless - 33 1/3

                                                                                                                Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

                                                                                                                  This epoch-making record of the late '80s effortlessly combines dense swathes of guitar noise and dance music. This turned out to be their last record, guitarist and studio maestro Kevin Shields having set their standards so high it was impossible to surpass them. Shields is now playing with Primal Scream.


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                                                                                                                  Cover of Prince: A Sign O' The Times by John McKie.

                                                                                                                  John McKie

                                                                                                                  Prince: A Sign O' The Times

                                                                                                                  Nine Eight Books

                                                                                                                    There are pop stars, and then there is Prince. In this kaleidoscopic, freewheeling biography, John McKie examines the remarkable life and career of one of the most mysterious figures in music through the prism of the record most widely considered his masterpiece, 1987's Sign o' the Times. Drawing on more than 200 interviews with friends, ex-girlfriends, bandmates, recording engineers, bodyguards, personal assistants, wardrobe designers and hairdressers, accomplished music writer John McKie examines the life of this musical polymath with the help of many of the people who knew him best.

                                                                                                                    Family members and friends discuss his childhood when he learned to master several instruments, there is new information on how he made the soundtrack to Purple Rain, the full story about why he decided to stop using his name, the now legendary Super Bowl half-time show and that guitar solo at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame which has been viewed on YouTube 100 million times. McKie also dives into the personality of the man: what made him laugh, the way he hired and fired colleagues, what he was like to live with, how his relentless drive to make music led to him recording for hours without sleep, how he changed his car stereo to road test his new hits and even booked his guitar and album sleeves their own seats on flights. Prince: A Sign o' the Times is the most comprehensive book ever written about one of the most enigmatic and talented pop stars of all time.

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                                                                                                                    Cover of How To Run An Indie Label by Alan McGee.

                                                                                                                    Alan McGee

                                                                                                                    How To Run An Indie Label

                                                                                                                    Atlantic Books

                                                                                                                      Music is like no other business. It's about being at the right place at the right time, following your nose and diving in feet first. It's about being plugged into the mystical electricity and about surfing on the wild energy. It's about how to fuck up and how to survive and be sustained by the holy grail of the high decibel. No-one captures this wild feral spirit better than Alan McGee whose helter skelter career through music has made him a major force. Wilder than his bands, more out of control than his most lunatic singer, more driven than his contemporaries and closer in spirit to the rock n roll star he could never be himself, McGee was always in a rush. Creation would sign people and not just the music. McGee understood that running an indie label is mainly about the charisma, the game changers, the iconography and the story. It's about neverbeing boring.

                                                                                                                      His ability to start a raw power ruckus brought the visceral danger back to a moribund mid-eighties music scene. His nose for danger and his ear for classic guitar rock n roll brought us Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Teenage Fan Club and Ride before topping out in the nineties with the biggest band in the world, Oasis.

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                                                                                                                      Cover of Looking For The Perfect Beat : Remixing And Reshaping Hip-Hop, Rock And Rhythms by Arthur Baker.

                                                                                                                      Arthur Baker

                                                                                                                      Looking For The Perfect Beat : Remixing And Reshaping Hip-Hop, Rock And Rhythms

                                                                                                                      Faber & Faber

                                                                                                                        Beginning his career as a club DJ and disco producer in the early-70s in his native Boston, Arthur Baker moved to New York City in 1981 and in the summer of 1982 produced one of the genre-defining early hip-hop tracks "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force. This began an illustrious career that has seen him work with artists including Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Al Green, Pet Shop Boys, Quincy Jones, New Order, New Edition, Hall & Oates, Neneh Cherry and Damon Albarn. Looking for the Perfect Beat will tell Arthur's unique and inspiring story in his own words and features unheard stories about many of the world's best and most successful musicial figures, which together form a portrait of a man who has been quietly influencing the sound of popular music for over fifty years.

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                                                                                                                        Cover of Good Pop, Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker.

                                                                                                                        Jarvis Cocker

                                                                                                                        Good Pop, Bad Pop

                                                                                                                        Vintage

                                                                                                                          What if the things we keep hidden say more about us than those we put on display?

                                                                                                                          We all have a random collection of the things that made us - photos, tickets, clothes, souvenirs, stuffed in a box, packed in a suitcase, crammed into a drawer. When Jarvis Cocker starts clearing out his loft, he finds a jumble of objects that catalogue his story and ask him some awkward questions: Who do you think you are? Are clothes important? Why are there so many pairs of broken glasses up here?

                                                                                                                          From a Gold Star polycotton shirt to a pack of Wrigley's Extra, from his teenage attempts to write songs to the Sexy Laughs Fantastic Dirty Joke Book, this is the hard evidence of Jarvis's unique life, Pulp, 20th century pop culture, the good times and the mistakes he'd rather forget. And this accumulated debris of a lifetime reveals his creative process - writing and musicianship, performance and ambition, style and stagecraft.

                                                                                                                          This is not a life story. It's a loft story.

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                                                                                                                          Cover of Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success by Miki Berenyi.

                                                                                                                          Miki Berenyi

                                                                                                                          Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success

                                                                                                                          Nine Eight Books

                                                                                                                            'Compelling, funny, vivid.' Mojo
                                                                                                                            'Beautifully written.' Stylist
                                                                                                                            'Remarkable, revelatory.' The Times

                                                                                                                            Formed in 1988, Lush were part of the London gig scene during one of the most vibrant and creative periods in UK music. Now, Miki Berenyi tells all. From the bohemian ways of her father's social circle to the privileged glamour of her mother's acting career, Miki's young life was a blur of travel, celebrities and peripatetic schooling.

                                                                                                                            But frequent relocation, parental neglect and the dark presence of her abusive grandmother resulted in crippling shyness, mental-health issues and a vulnerability to exploitation. The route out of this hole was music - a passion shared by schoolmate Emma Anderson. The teenagers began attending gigs together and would ultimately go on to form Lush.

                                                                                                                            Talented and exuberant, the band became hot property, swiftly transitioning from shoegaze icons to Britpop darlings. Re-living the tours, recording sessions and music-industry madness they experienced along the way, this uncompromising memoir documents Lush's thrilling rise and untimely fall. Yet at the heart of the book are Miki's own battles: the conflict between her mouthy public persona and her thin-skinned private identity; the trials of being a woman in an infuriatingly male world; the struggle to find a middle ground between 'safe' indie obscurity and 'sell-out' international success.

                                                                                                                            Miki also explores her complicated relationship with Emma - one that has fluctuated between camaraderie and rivalry over the years - and addresses the devastating tragedy that led to the band's split. Told through frank confession, wry humour and searing emotional honesty, this is the incredible tale of a trailblazing woman and a seminal band.

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                                                                                                                            Cover of Living In The Present With John Prine by Tom Piazza.

                                                                                                                            Tom Piazza

                                                                                                                            Living In The Present With John Prine

                                                                                                                            Omnibus Press

                                                                                                                              In the spring of 2018, Tom Piazza climbed into a cherry-red Cadillac Coupe-Deville with the great singer-songwriter John Prine. The two embarked on a road trip through Florida full of jokes and tall tales, afternoons digging around record stores and long nights playing guitar. Having forged a deep friendship, they decide to embark on a new shared project - to write Prine's memoir together.

                                                                                                                              When Prine died suddenly of COVID in April 2020, that unfinished memoir evolved into an intimate narrative of the artist's final years. The result is a warm and intimate story, richly detailed with hilarious stories of his youth and family in Chicago and Kentucky, his breakthrough into the national spotlight. Piazza offers fans an unforgettable portrait of the beloved musician in the twilight of his life; as a boyish cut-up, an epic raconteur, a great American poet and most importantly, the good friend his fans have always imagined.


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                                                                                                                              Cover of SMiLE : The Rise, Fall, And Resurrection Of Brian Wilson by David Leaf.

                                                                                                                              David Leaf

                                                                                                                              SMiLE : The Rise, Fall, And Resurrection Of Brian Wilson

                                                                                                                              Omnibus Press

                                                                                                                                The story of the Brian Wilson's legendary SMiLE album from Beach Boys authority David Leaf.

                                                                                                                                This is the first book to tell the full story of Brian Wilson and SMiLE, including the details of the original SMiLE recording sessions and their increasingly legendary status as well as the final release of the album, the accompanying concerts and film, and its afterlife.

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                                                                                                                                Cover of 168 Songs Of Hatred And Failure: A History Of Manic Street Preachers by Keith Cameron.

                                                                                                                                Keith Cameron

                                                                                                                                168 Songs Of Hatred And Failure: A History Of Manic Street Preachers

                                                                                                                                White Rabbit

                                                                                                                                  The story of Manic Street Preachers is unique in pop. Raging out of the stricken mining communities of south Wales in the late 80s, they were bonded by friendships, family ties and a self-styled 'geometry of contempt', whereby James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore would orchestrate the daring intellectual broadsides written by Richey Edwards and Nicky Wire. Seemingly condemned to mere cult status by a cruel juncture of artistic triumph, commercial failure and personal despair, the story took an agonising twist when the tragedy of Edwards' 1995 disappearance was followed by a remarkable rebirth built upon 'A Design For Life's hymn to the band's working-class roots, and then the award-winning, multi-million-selling album Everything Must Go, a majestic soundtrack to history and loss.

                                                                                                                                  Less than five years later, Manic Street Preachers played to 60,000 at the national stadium of Wales and had their second UK Number 1 single. Subsequent output has confirmed the band as both a wellspring of restless creativity and a barometer of the cultural conversation. Because it was music that saved them, it's through the prism of their music that Keith Cameron tells the definitive story of Manic Street Preachers, drawing on many hours of new interviews to dive deep into 168 songs, from 1988's debut single 'Suicide Alley' to the late day peaks of 2025's album Critical Thinking.

                                                                                                                                  Writing with the band's full co-operation, his book charts the dynamic evolution of a universe in which Karl Marx and Kylie Minogue happily co-exist, that accords Rush and The Clash equal favour, and where Morrissey & Marr meet Torvill & Dean via Nietzsche and New Order in a single four-minute pop song - all in the name of what Nicky Wire himself calls 'the fabulous disaster' of Manic Street Preachers.

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                                                                                                                                  Cover of Everything We Do Is Music : How 20th-Century Classical Music Shaped Pop by Elizabeth Alker.

                                                                                                                                  Elizabeth Alker

                                                                                                                                  Everything We Do Is Music : How 20th-Century Classical Music Shaped Pop

                                                                                                                                  Faber & Faber

                                                                                                                                    The worlds of pop and rock owe a much greater debt to the classical canon than we realise. A direct and fascinating lineage draws from the experimentalism of Pierre Henry to The Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows', from Stockhausen to Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' and from Bruckner to Sonic Youth via Glenn Branca. In Everything We Do is Music, Elizabeth Alker highlights the innovators of classical music and their fans and collaborators in pop who challenged the notion that such musical worlds were mutually exclusive.

                                                                                                                                    Alker shines a light on the rich tapestry that exists between their borders through exclusive interviews with Sir Paul McCartney, Steve Reich, La Monte Young, Nils Frahm, The Blessed Madonna, Jonny Greenwood, Soweto Kinch and Jean-Michel Jarre among others.


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                                                                                                                                    Cover of The Fun Lovin’ Criminal by Huey Morgan.

                                                                                                                                    Huey Morgan

                                                                                                                                    The Fun Lovin’ Criminal

                                                                                                                                    Quercus Publishing

                                                                                                                                      When Fun Lovin' Criminals released their debut album Come Find Yourself in 1996, its fusion of hip-hop, funk, blues and rock quickly became one of the most iconic and influential records of the decade. Now, in this fascinating memoir, frontman Huey Morgan describes his remarkable journey from journeyman to rock star. His is a story that begins in the early 1990s in New York, a marine freshly returned from combat and struggling to cope with his return to regular life.

                                                                                                                                      As Huey tries to kickstart his musical career, he finds himself falling into the criminal underworld to get by. But as his band begins to take off, can he extract himself before his chance of stardom goes begging?Written in Huey's indomitable and distinctive style, this is a book that brings the grit and glamour of 90s New York brilliantly to life.

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                                                                                                                                      Cover of Mark Kermode's Surround Sound: The Stories Of Movie Music by Mark Kermode.

                                                                                                                                      Mark Kermode

                                                                                                                                      Mark Kermode's Surround Sound: The Stories Of Movie Music

                                                                                                                                      Picador

                                                                                                                                        How can a film score make you cheer, shiver, cry or punch the air?How do directors communicate their musical vision to composers?And when does a soundtrack take on a life of its own?'Fascinating, enjoyable and amusing...

                                                                                                                                        opens a window into the art of filmscoring' Rachel Portman, Oscar winning composer for Emma'Brims with enthusiasm and joyful insight' Richard AyoadeIn Mark Kermode's Surround Sound the award-winning film critic, together with radio producer Jenny Nelson, embarks on a full-throttle trip down the glorious rabbit hole of film composition. Celebrating the emotional connection that audiences form with film music, exploring the evolution of film scoring from silent films to the present day, and examining how what we hear has an impact on what we see, Mark talks to some of his favourite composers and delves into the movie music he loves. Including interviews with extraordinary talents from Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood to Oscar-winning composers Rachel Portman and Howard Shore, and telling the stories behind iconic soundtracks such as Jocelyn Pook’s Eyes Wide Shut, Michael Kamen’s Brazil and Vangelis’s Blade Runner, Mark Kermode’s Surround Sound is a thrilling take on how great scores are brought to life on the silver screen.

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                                                                                                                                        Cover of Issue #5 - BOX by RISIKO Magazine.

                                                                                                                                        RISIKO Magazine

                                                                                                                                        Issue #5 - BOX

                                                                                                                                          "RISIKO Issue 5 is a film issue. We've selected five film directors that capture our attention and collected stories about their works and comments from movie-loving artists.

                                                                                                                                          This issue includes contributions from German artists like Isolation Berlin and Nils Keppel, who are currently making waves, as well as international artists like Nick Zinner from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Lemon Twigs and Swans. Rather than typical movie reviews, this issue explores films through the lens of these artists, offering fresh discoveries about both film and music. You will encounter your favorite films, artists and music from various perspectives. We've created an issue that will resonate with both movie and music lovers. The cover artwork is a collage based on a scene from Klaus Maeck's film Decoder."

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                                                                                                                                          Reduced Cover of Grant & I : Inside And Outside The Go-Betweens by Robert Forster.

                                                                                                                                          Robert Forster

                                                                                                                                          Grant & I : Inside And Outside The Go-Betweens

                                                                                                                                          Omnibus Press

                                                                                                                                            BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017 - MOJO MAGAZINE & UNCUT MAGAZINE "In early '77 I asked Grant if he'd form a band with me. `No,' was his blunt reply." Grant McLennan didn't want to be in a band. He couldn't play an instrument; Charlie Chaplin was his hero du jour.

                                                                                                                                            And yet, when Robert Forster wrote Hemingway, Genet, Chandler and Joyce into his lyrics, McLennan couldn't resist a second invitation to become 80s indie sensation The Go Betweens. The friends would collaborate for three decades, until Grant's premature death in 2006. Beautifully written - like lyrics, like prose - Grant & I is a rock memoir akin to no other.

                                                                                                                                            Part `making of', part music industry expose, part buddy-book, this is a delicate and perceptive celebration of creative endeavour. With wit and candour, Robert Forster pays tribute to a band who found huge success in the margins, having friendship at its heart.

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                                                                                                                                            Reduced Cover of Access All Areas : A Backstage Pass Through 50 Years Of Music And Culture by Barbara Charone.

                                                                                                                                            Barbara Charone

                                                                                                                                            Access All Areas : A Backstage Pass Through 50 Years Of Music And Culture

                                                                                                                                            White Rabbit

                                                                                                                                              First as a journalist and then a publicist at Warner Brothers Records for nearly twenty years, Barbara Charone has experienced, first-hand, the changes in the cultural landscape. Access All Areas is a personal, insightful and humorous memoir packed with stories of being on the cultural frontline, from first writing press releases on a typewriter driven by Tip Ex, then as a press officer for heavy metal bands taking the bus up to Donnington Festival with coffee, croissants and the much more popular sulfate. To taking on Madonna, an unknown girl from Detroit, and telling Smash Hits 'you don't have to run the piece if the single doesn't chart', and becoming a true pioneer in music, Charone continues to work with the biggest names in music, including Depeche Mode, Robert Plant, Foo Fighters and Mark Ronson at her agency MBCPR.

                                                                                                                                              The story of how a music-loving, budding journalist from a Chicago suburb became the defining music publicist of her generation, Access All Areas is a time capsule of the last fifty years, told through the lens of music.


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                                                                                                                                              Cover of Issue 1 by Louder Than War.

                                                                                                                                              Louder Than War

                                                                                                                                              Issue 1

                                                                                                                                                Thought-pieces about the scythe-wielding, artist-starving tyrants perched atop Mount Spotify, with a dovetailing of deliciously sardonic opinions about band life on the DIY circuit by post-rock musician Francis Atkinson, Los Angeles art rock missile Qween Kwong and ‘sasswave’ group Fashion Tips that sweeps up just about everyone and anyone, from promoters to punters in their furious, vitriolic spurt.

                                                                                                                                                Within, readers can hope to spot interviews with Gez Varley from LFO about bass music and jeep culture, a thrillingly weird, totally wired tale about doll collections, accounts of mental-health melting before our eyes, and the hijacking activities or ‘fragments of testimony’ belonging to rogue youth traversing across the world in search of UK Decay by Discontented Youth author Ian Trowell, and the occasional flash of an image to visually manifest the tone pulsating from the heart and through the body of each page.

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                                                                                                                                                Cover of No One You Know : Dave Rowntree's Early Blur Photos by Dave Rowntree.

                                                                                                                                                Dave Rowntree

                                                                                                                                                No One You Know : Dave Rowntree's Early Blur Photos

                                                                                                                                                Hero

                                                                                                                                                  Drummer Dave Rowntree’s exclusive, intimate, never-seen-before photographs of Blur at the start of their career.

                                                                                                                                                  Dave Rowntree, drummer and founder member of Blur, brought his camera along to all of the band’s first adventures. He used it to capture insider moments: close-up and personal pictures of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and himself in the thrilling early stages of the band’s rise to the top. Here are photographs from Blur’s debut tours of America and Japan, in the studio in the UK, playing games in the tour bus, larking around backstage, messing about in hotel rooms, at video shoots, with fans and friends. A one-of-its kind document of what it’s really like to be in a young band during the vital first few years, when everything is new, romantic and fresh.

                                                                                                                                                  With hundreds of previously unseen photographs, a personal foreword and detailed quotes of memories attached to the images, “No One You Know” is a unique visual insight into the first few years of one of Britain’s most successful and well-loved bands, from one of the only four people who knows what it was really like.

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                                                                                                                                                  Cover of Paul Weller: Dancing Through The Fire : The Authorised Oral History by Dan Jennings.

                                                                                                                                                  Dan Jennings

                                                                                                                                                  Paul Weller: Dancing Through The Fire : The Authorised Oral History

                                                                                                                                                  Constable

                                                                                                                                                    The groundbreaking oral history on one of the most legendary musicians of all time: Paul Weller. Across musical history, certain artists have transcended their craft to become cultural icons, leaving an indelible mark on the world of sound and style. Paul Weller, the legendary British musician, singer and songwriter, stands among the select few whose influence spans generations.

                                                                                                                                                    His enduring popularity, traversing the explosive energy of The Jam to the sophisticated sounds of The Style Council and a prolific solo career spanning over thirty years, underscores the timeless appeal of his work. Weller also holds a unique position in music history: he shares the rare distinction with Lennon and McCartney as one of the few artists to achieve Number 1 albums in five consecutive decades. Dancing Through the Fire explores the fascinating narrative of Paul Weller's musical career, weaving together never-before-told stories, intimate insights and perspectives from the man himself and those who have been integral to his remarkable journey.

                                                                                                                                                    With unique access to his inner circle - including family, friends, bandmates, producers, and long-time collaborators - award-winning broadcaster and journalist Dan Jennings weaves together over 200 hours of exclusive conversations, allowing exclusive access to the man behind the music, including his unparalleled drive, creative struggles and personal triumphs that have shaped his iconic career and legacy. Endlessly candid, insightful and definitive in its approach, Dancing Through the Fire captures the essence of Weller's musical evolution through the voices of those who know him best.

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                                                                                                                                                    Cover of The B-52s' Cosmic Thing - 33 1/3 by Pete Crighton.

                                                                                                                                                    Pete Crighton

                                                                                                                                                    The B-52s' Cosmic Thing - 33 1/3

                                                                                                                                                    Bloomsbury Publishing USA

                                                                                                                                                      The B-52s were always queer, though not overtly, and this book dissects the coded queer messaging in their music, using 1989's Cosmic Thing as a focal point.

                                                                                                                                                      Alongside the author's own queer awakening, Crighton investigates the band's history and recorded work to date, providing cultural context along the way, and proves what was obvious all along – the B-52s aren't just pop culture icons, they are queer history.

                                                                                                                                                      Cosmic Thing took the world by storm in 1989 in the wake of the band's single greatest tragedy: losing guitarist Ricky Wilson to complications from AIDS in 1985. Cosmic Thing is a celebration of queer joy in the face of that seismic setback. Not only did the B-52s have to fight through their pain and grief to make their fifth full length record, the band was also up against a conservative government under Reagan (then Bush), a misunderstood virus still ravaging the queer community and an indifferent public after years out of the spotlight. Watching the band enjoy their greatest success in the face of adversity was part of what made Cosmic Thing such a marvel to behold - as miraculous as the B-52s' entire career.

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                                                                                                                                                      Cover of Issue 1 / Edition 13 by 13 Tracks.

                                                                                                                                                      13 Tracks

                                                                                                                                                      Issue 1 / Edition 13

                                                                                                                                                        A magazine about how music makes us feel.

                                                                                                                                                        The first issue of the new 13tracks magazine includes writing and art from contributors inspired by each track in a 13tracks playlist.

                                                                                                                                                        The writing ranges across short fiction, memoir, poetry, and non-fiction, while the art includes painting, photography, digital art, printmaking, sculpture and more.

                                                                                                                                                        It's a new way of engaging with music in the streaming age, inviting readers to deeply immerse themselves in a multi-sensory experience, away from our screens of disposable social media designed to keep us scrolling.

                                                                                                                                                        13tracks founder Kieron Faller has been making mixtapes, compilations, playlists, whatever you want to call them, since childhood. He believes there’s something magical in connecting together pieces of music thoughtfully, to create something meaningful, fun, and surprising.

                                                                                                                                                        Printed on high quality, sustainable paper stock to enhance the reading experience.


                                                                                                                                                        TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                        Jigoo - Radio Edit - Maurice Fulton, Peggy Gou
                                                                                                                                                        In And Out Of Sight - The Horrors
                                                                                                                                                        Home - Caribou
                                                                                                                                                        Bra - Cymande
                                                                                                                                                        I THINK - Tyler, The Creator
                                                                                                                                                        Positive - Hot Chip
                                                                                                                                                        Bed For The Scraping - Fugazi
                                                                                                                                                        Yefikir Tizita - Mulatu Astatke
                                                                                                                                                        Something In The Sadness - Four Tet
                                                                                                                                                        A Trick Of The Light - Villagers
                                                                                                                                                        Crown - Jay Som
                                                                                                                                                        Rayon Gris - Cold Pumas
                                                                                                                                                        Maybe Someday/Maybe Never - Dennis Stoner

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                                                                                                                                                        Cover of Journey To The Centre Of The Cramps by Dick Porter.

                                                                                                                                                        Dick Porter

                                                                                                                                                        Journey To The Centre Of The Cramps

                                                                                                                                                        Omnibus Press

                                                                                                                                                          Based upon work and materials compiled for the acclaimed and now much sought after 2007 Cramps biography A Short History of Rock'n'Roll Psychosis, Journey To The Centre Of The Cramps goes far beyond being a revised and updated edition: Completely overhauled, rewritten and vastly expanded, it now represents the definitive work on the group. In addition to unseen interview material from Ivy, Lux and other former band members, Journey To The Centre Of The Cramps also sees the Cramps' story through to its conclusion, recounting Lux's unexpected death in 2009, the subsequent dissolution of the group and their enduring legacy. The Cramps' history, influences and the cast of characters in and around the group are likewise explored in far greater depth. Features unseen first-hand interview material from Lux Interior and Poison Ivy. A wealth of new interview material with former band members and other key players in the band's history and never before seen/rare photographs and ephemera to help illustrate the book

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                                                                                                                                                          Cover of Oasis' Definitely Maybe - 33 1/3 by Alex Niven.

                                                                                                                                                          Alex Niven

                                                                                                                                                          Oasis' Definitely Maybe - 33 1/3

                                                                                                                                                          Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

                                                                                                                                                            Oasis' incendiary 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe managed to summarize almost the entire history of post-fifties guitar music from Chuck Berry to My Bloody Valentine in a way that seemed effortless. But this remarkable album was also a social document that came closer to narrating the collective hopes and dreams of a people than any other record of the last quarter century. In a Britain that had just undergone the most damaging period of social upheaval in a century under the Thatcher government, Noel Gallagher ventriloquized slogans of burning communitarian optimism through the mouth of his brother Liam and the playing of the other Oasis ‘everymen’: Paul McGuigan, Paul Arthurs and Tony McCarroll.

                                                                                                                                                            On Definitely Maybe, Oasis communicated a timeworn message of idealism and hope against the odds, but one that had special resonance in a society where the widening gap between high and low demanded a newly superhuman kind of leaping. Alex Niven charts the astonishing rise of Oasis in the mid 1990s and celebrates the life-affirming, communal force of songs such as “Live Forever,” “Supersonic,” and “Cigarettes & Alcohol.” In doing so, he seeks to reposition Oasis in relation to their Britpop peers and explore one of the most controversial pop-cultural narratives of the last thirty years.

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                                                                                                                                                            Cover of Madvillain's Madvillainy - 33 1/3 by Will Hagle.

                                                                                                                                                            Will Hagle

                                                                                                                                                            Madvillain's Madvillainy - 33 1/3

                                                                                                                                                            Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

                                                                                                                                                              This book celebrates Madvillainy as a representation of two genius musical minds melding to form one revered supervillain. A product of circumstance, the album came together soon after MF DOOM's resurgence and Madlib's reluctant return from avant-garde jazz to hip-hop. Written from the alternating perspectives of three fake music journalist superheroes—featuring interviews with Wildchild, M.E.D., Walasia, Daedelus, Stones Throw execs, and many other real individuals involved with the album's creation—this book blends fiction and non-fiction to celebrate Madvillainy not just as an album, but as a folkloric artifact.

                                                                                                                                                              It is one specific retelling of a story which, like Madvillain's music, continues to spawn infinite legends.

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                                                                                                                                                              Cover of J Dilla's Donuts - 33 1/3 by Jordan Ferguson.

                                                                                                                                                              Jordan Ferguson

                                                                                                                                                              J Dilla's Donuts - 33 1/3

                                                                                                                                                              Bloomsbury Academic USA

                                                                                                                                                                From a Los Angeles hospital bed, equipped with little more than a laptop and a stack of records, James “J Dilla” Yancey crafted a set of tracks that would forever change the way beatmakers viewed their artform. The songs on Donuts are not hip hop music as “hip hop music” is typically defined; they careen and crash into each other, in one moment noisy and abrasive, gorgeous and heartbreaking the next. The samples and melodies tell the story of a man coming to terms with his declining health, a final love letter to the family and friends he was leaving behind.

                                                                                                                                                                As a prolific producer with a voracious appetite for the history and mechanics of the music he loved, J Dilla knew the records that went into constructing Donuts inside and out. He could have taken them all and made a much different, more accessible album. If the widely accepted view is that his final work is a record about dying, the question becomes why did he make this record about dying?Drawing from philosophy, critical theory and musicology, as well as Dilla’s own musical catalogue, Jordan Ferguson shows that the contradictory, irascible and confrontational music found on Donuts is as much a result of an artist’s declining health as it is an example of what scholars call “late style,” placing the album in a musical tradition that stretches back centuries.

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                                                                                                                                                                Cover of CUREPEDIA: An A-Z Of The Cure by Simon Price.

                                                                                                                                                                Simon Price

                                                                                                                                                                CUREPEDIA: An A-Z Of The Cure

                                                                                                                                                                White Rabbit

                                                                                                                                                                  The Cure are arguably the biggest alternative rock band in the world. Their popularity is not limited to any one country, or even continent. Between 1985 and 2000 every album they released went to at least Gold in the UK, the US or both. In America they have earned four Platinum albums, and they are estimated to have sold 30 million albums worldwide. Their iconic status as elder statesmen of Alternative Rock remains undiminished - if anything, their tireless touring has ensured that it has grown with every passing year - and lead singer Robert Smith is an endlessly fascinating figure to successive generations of fans. The Cure's influence reverberates through genres including Emo, Goth, Industrial and Indie Rock.

                                                                                                                                                                  The book is an encyclopaedic A-Z of The Cure examining and riffing on miscellaneous trivia, biographies of the band members past and present, summaries of each album and selected songs, details of the band's various tours and films, and essays on broader topics such as their image, their politics and their influences. Playful, eccentric and irreverent - true to the spirit of the band itself - CUREPEDIA is a comprehensive biography of one of the biggest alternative rock bands in the world.

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                                                                                                                                                                  Cover of DEPECHE MODE: VINCE by Simon Spence.

                                                                                                                                                                  Simon Spence

                                                                                                                                                                  DEPECHE MODE: VINCE

                                                                                                                                                                  Backstage Books

                                                                                                                                                                    Four boys who grew up in the experimental 'New Town' of Basildon in the late 70s on a diet of Kratwerk and Essex soul produced what the founder Vince Clarke called "ultrapop". In the words of Depeche Mode singer David Gahan, "a new kind of band from a new kind of town".

                                                                                                                                                                    After writing debut album 'Speak & Spell' and hit single 'Just Can't Get Enough', Clarke left to start Yazoo with Basildon's Alison Moyet. She is interviewed here alongside the band's closest friends for a book that tells how these Basildon teenagers went from church to the charts.

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                                                                                                                                                                    Cover of The Secret Public by Jon Savage.

                                                                                                                                                                    Jon Savage

                                                                                                                                                                    The Secret Public

                                                                                                                                                                    Faber & Faber

                                                                                                                                                                      A monumental history of the LGBTQ influence on popular culture, from the award-winning, Sunday Times bestselling author Jon Savage

                                                                                                                                                                      An electrifying look at key moments in music and entertainment history
                                                                                                                                                                      between 1955 and 1979. From the secret sexuality of stars such as Little Richard in the 1950s through to the ambiguity of David Bowie, glam rock and
                                                                                                                                                                      Sylvester’s ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’. Jon Savage reflects on the
                                                                                                                                                                      figures and events that helped move gay culture from the margins to the mainstream and changed the face of pop forever.

                                                                                                                                                                      The Secret Public is a searching examination of the fortitude and resilience of
                                                                                                                                                                      the gay community through the lens of popular music and culture; it reflects
                                                                                                                                                                      on the freedom found in divergence from the norm and reminds us of the need to be vigilant against those seeking to roll back the rights of marginalised groups.

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                                                                                                                                                                      Cover of Roadmap by Antony Szmierek.

                                                                                                                                                                      Antony Szmierek

                                                                                                                                                                      Roadmap

                                                                                                                                                                      Faber Music

                                                                                                                                                                        Manchester-based poet, writer and producer Antony Szmierek rose to prominence on the Manchester spoken word scene with his 2023 single “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Fallacy”. His debut book Roadmap, launched at Hay Festival 2025, is a hyper-visual experience, packed with exclusive material. It includes Szmierek’s debut album lyrics and an ‘exploded view’ on the tracks, alongside additional poems, sketches and stories, presented as a full-colour paperback.

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                                                                                                                                                                        Cover of The Stone Roses' The Stone Roses - 33 1/3 by Alex Green.

                                                                                                                                                                        Alex Green

                                                                                                                                                                        The Stone Roses' The Stone Roses - 33 1/3

                                                                                                                                                                        Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

                                                                                                                                                                          The Stone Roses shows a band sizzling with skill, consumed with drive and aspiration and possessing an almost preternatural mastery of the pop paradigm. This book explores the political and cultural zeitgeist of England in 1989 and attempts to apprehend the magic ingredients that made The Stone Roses such a special and influential album.

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                                                                                                                                                                          Cover of FEELING SUPERSONIC : From Madchester To Britpop by Simon Spence.

                                                                                                                                                                          Simon Spence

                                                                                                                                                                          FEELING SUPERSONIC : From Madchester To Britpop

                                                                                                                                                                          Backstage Books

                                                                                                                                                                            "No - one's been brave enough to write the real story " Noel Gallagher

                                                                                                                                                                            Features contributions from Noel Gallagher, Ian Brown, GioGoi, New Order, Reni, Happy Mondays, Pulp, Primal Scream, The Farm and John Squire plus many more.

                                                                                                                                                                            Includes a brand new and exclusive extract from an unpublished biography of Liam Gallagher, stellified in the white-hot heat of Knebworth 996

                                                                                                                                                                            Feeling Supersonic is a compendium, a celebration and a roadmap to the remarkable career of Oasis: including never-before-seen coverage of Britain’s most notable band of the past three decades

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                                                                                                                                                                            Cover of Shouting Out Loud: Lives Of The Raincoats by Audrey Golden.

                                                                                                                                                                            Audrey Golden

                                                                                                                                                                            Shouting Out Loud: Lives Of The Raincoats

                                                                                                                                                                            White Rabbit

                                                                                                                                                                              Art students Gina Birch and Ana da Silva formed The Raincoats in 1977. Since the release of their seminal early records, the 'godmothers of grunge' have been revered by punk, queer, feminist and indie pop artists alike. The Raincoats reimagined the nature of experimental music and DIY design and went on to inspire Sonic Youth, Nirvana, and an entire generation of Riot Grrrl and queercore musicians.

                                                                                                                                                                              Shouting Out Loud: Lives of the Raincoats tells their astonishing story in three
                                                                                                                                                                              extraordinary lives. In The Raincoats' first life, they recorded three full-length albums now regarded as classics and were the first punk band to play behind the Iron Curtain in Warsaw. Nearly a decade later in 1992, the band's second life took off when Kurt Cobain's love of the band catalysed their renaissance.

                                                                                                                                                                              In 2001, The Raincoats emerged from their five-year hiatus into their third and ongoing iteration marked by performances in art museums such as New York's MoMA, the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and London's National Portrait Gallery. The Raincoats have and continue to be a singular phenomenon and influence for so many.

                                                                                                                                                                              Featuring exclusive interviews and never-before-seen images from The Raincoats' archive, Shouting Out Loud is the ultimate, authorised biography of this pioneering group of women - and the must-have account of a legendary band that holds a vital place in twentieth and twenty-first century sonic history.


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                                                                                                                                                                              Cover of Supersonic : The Complete, Authorised And Unabridged Interviews by Oasis.

                                                                                                                                                                              Oasis

                                                                                                                                                                              Supersonic : The Complete, Authorised And Unabridged Interviews

                                                                                                                                                                              Headline

                                                                                                                                                                                'We are the biggest band in Britain of all time, ever. The funny thing is, all that fucking mouthing off three years ago about how we were going to be the biggest band in the world - we actually went and did it.' Noel Gallagher

                                                                                                                                                                                Oasis are one of the biggest bands the word has ever seen. Here, in Supersonic, they tell the story of the their beginnings from dive-bar hopefuls to global superstars.They themselves talk us through the pivotal moments in their phenomenal trajectory, from the day Noel Gallagher joined his brother Liam's band, through their first crucial five years culminating at their landmark gigs at Knebworth Park in 1996 - the pinnacle of their success.

                                                                                                                                                                                With over thirty hours of interviews with Liam, Noel and those closest to them, this book documents in unprecedented depth and with their trademark candour and humour, the story behind one of the world's greatest bands, all told in their own words and fully illustrated with exclusive photographs and ephemera throughout.

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                                                                                                                                                                                Cover of Rebel Girl: My Life As A Feminist Punk by Kathleen Hanna.

                                                                                                                                                                                Kathleen Hanna

                                                                                                                                                                                Rebel Girl: My Life As A Feminist Punk

                                                                                                                                                                                William Collins

                                                                                                                                                                                  An electric, searing memoir by the original riot grrrl and legendary frontwoman of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre Hey girlfriend I got a proposition, goes something like this: Dare ya to do what you want. Kathleen Hanna’s rallying cry to feminists echoed far and wide through the punk scene of the 1980s, ’90s, and beyond. Her band, Bikini Kill, embodies this iconic time, and today their gutsy, radical lyrics of anthems like ‘Rebel Girl’ and ‘Double Dare Ya’ are more powerful than ever.

                                                                                                                                                                                  But where did this transformative voice come from? In Rebel Girl, Hanna’s raw and insightful new memoir, she takes us from her tumultuous childhood home, to her formative college years in Olympia, Washington, and on to her first years on tour, fighting hard for gigs and for her band. As Hanna makes blindingly clear, being in a ‘girl band’, especially a punk girl band, in those years was not a simple or a safe prospect. Male violence and antagonism threatened at every turn, and surviving as a singer who was a lightening rod for controversy took limitless amounts of determination.

                                                                                                                                                                                  But the relationships she developed during those years buoyed her – including with her bandmates Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, and Billy Karren; her friendship with Kurt Cobain; and her introduction to Joan Jett – and they were a testament to how the true punk world nurtured and cared for its own. Hanna opens up about falling in love with Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys and her debilitating battle with Lyme disease, and she brings us behind the scenes of her later bands, Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin. She also writes candidly about the Riot Grrrl movement and its decline, documenting with love its grassroots origins but critiquing its later exclusivity.

                                                                                                                                                                                  In an uncut voice all her own, Hanna reveals the darkest, hardest times along with the most joyful – and how it all fuelled her revolutionary art, from the 1980s to today.

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                                                                                                                                                                                  Cover of Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures - 33 1/3 by Chris Ott.

                                                                                                                                                                                  Chris Ott

                                                                                                                                                                                  Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures - 33 1/3

                                                                                                                                                                                  Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

                                                                                                                                                                                    33 1/3 is a series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the last 40 years. Focusing on one album rather than an artist's entire output, the books dispense with the standard biographical background that fans know already, and cut to the heart of the music on each album. The authors provide fresh, original perspectives - often through their access to and relationships with the key figures involved in the recording of these albums.

                                                                                                                                                                                    By turns obsessive, passionate, creative, and informed, the books in this series demonstrate many different ways of writing about music. (A task which can be, as Elvis Costello famously observed, as tricky as dancing about architecture.) What binds this series together, and what brings it to life, is that all of the authors - musicians, scholars, and writers - are deeply in love with the album they have chosen.

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                                                                                                                                                                                    Cover of Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division by Peter Hook.

                                                                                                                                                                                    Peter Hook

                                                                                                                                                                                    Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division

                                                                                                                                                                                    Simon & Schuster

                                                                                                                                                                                      'Genuinely funny; indeed, the story will keep you entertained for a very long time' - Sunday Times

                                                                                                                                                                                      Joy Division changed the face of music. Godfathers of the enduring alternative scene, they reinvented rock in the post-punk era, creating a sound - dark, hypnotic, intense - that would influence U2, Morrissey, R.E.M., Radiohead and many others. This is the rollercoaster story of Joy Division - the friendships, fights, fall-outs; the rehearsals and recording sessions; the larger than life characters - told by the band's legendary bassist, Peter Hook.

                                                                                                                                                                                      'Hook has restored a flesh-and-blood rawness to what was becoming a standard tale. Few pop music books manage that' - Guardian

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                                                                                                                                                                                      Cover of Oasis: What's The Story?: Life On Tour With Liam And Noel Gallagher by Iain Robertson.

                                                                                                                                                                                      Iain Robertson

                                                                                                                                                                                      Oasis: What's The Story?: Life On Tour With Liam And Noel Gallagher

                                                                                                                                                                                      John Blake Publishing Ltd

                                                                                                                                                                                        Oasis were a band like bands used to be. Hard-drinking and substance abusing. If they liked you, they loved you.

                                                                                                                                                                                        If they didn't, you had to be prepared for confrontation. Iain Robertson is used to tough jobs - after retiring from the Parachute Regiment, he took on jobs guarding George Harrison, Gary Moore and Johnny Rotten. But keeping Oasis on the rails after debut album Definitely Maybe ignited their rise toward global superstardom would be the toughest gig of them all.

                                                                                                                                                                                        Oasis would explode into public consciousness and have the world at their feet in the wake of their epic first album and a huge world tour. Iain was side-by-side as their road manager and minder, twenty-four hours a day, eight days a week, as they took on the world and won. No one was closer.

                                                                                                                                                                                        Now updated with new unpublished material ahead of the thirty year anniversary of Definitely Maybe, this story is the defining chronicle of life on tour with Oasis.

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                                                                                                                                                                                        Cover of Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story Rude Boys, Racism And The Soundtrack Of A Generation by Daniel Rachel.

                                                                                                                                                                                        Daniel Rachel

                                                                                                                                                                                        Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story Rude Boys, Racism And The Soundtrack Of A Generation

                                                                                                                                                                                        White Rabbit

                                                                                                                                                                                          In 1979, 2 Tone exploded into the national conscience as records by The Specials, The Selecter, Madness, The Beat, and The Bodysnatchers burst onto the charts and a youth movement was born.

                                                                                                                                                                                          2 Tone was black and white: a multi-racial force of British and Caribbean island musicians singing about social issues, racism, class and gender struggles. It spoke of injustices in society and took fight against right wing extremism.

                                                                                                                                                                                          The music of 2 Tone was exuberant: white youth learning to dance to the infectious rhythm of ska and reggae; and crossed with a punk attitude to create an original hybrid. The idea of 2 Tone was born in Coventry, masterminded by a middle-class art student raised in the church. Jerry Dammers had a vision of an English Motown. Borrowing £700, the label's first record featured 'Gangsters' by The Specials' backed by an instrumental track by the, as yet, unformed, Selecter. Within two months the single was at number six in the national charts. Dammers signed Madness, The Beat and The Bodysnatchers as a glut of successive hits propelled 2 Tone onto Top of the Pops and into the hearts and minds of a generation. However, soon infighting amongst the bands and the pressures of running a label caused 2 Tone to bow to an inevitable weight of expectation and recrimination.

                                                                                                                                                                                          Still under the auspices of Jerry Dammers, 2 Tone entered in a new phase. Perhaps not as commercially successful as its 1979-1981 incarnation the label nevertheless continued to thrive for a further four years releasing a string of fresh signings and a stunning endpiece finale in '(Free) Nelson Mandela'.

                                                                                                                                                                                          Told in three parts, Too Much Too Young is the definitive story of a label that for a brief, bright burning moment, shaped British culture.

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                                                                                                                                                                                          Cover of Manchester; It Never Rains..... by Gareth Ashton.

                                                                                                                                                                                          Gareth Ashton

                                                                                                                                                                                          Manchester; It Never Rains.....

                                                                                                                                                                                          Empire Publications

                                                                                                                                                                                            In 1976, a brand new, exhilarating musical revolution was beginning to gather momentum in London, instigated by grown ups, but embraced and spearheaded by a dissatisfied youth, bored of the stagnant stench of a music industry that said, and meant, nothing to them. 200 miles North up the M1 was a city that was primed ready and able to play it’s part in the growth of punk rock in the U.K; Manchester.

                                                                                                                                                                                            This book aims to explain why punk was the ideal natural musical progression in the city, as told by the people who were there at that embryonic stage before it entered into mainstream consciousness. In a time when hairstyle and dress sense defined your personality, nailing your colours to the mast of a grey and monochrome backdrop. Where people’s indifference to difference was measured in punches, and intolerance of tolerance was metered out in kicks. Working class kids from the inner city council estates who found escape from their surroundings in music and fashion. Not off the peg fashion, but homemade ingenuity, glamour through austerity, there’s nothing like a bit of individuality to make the natives restless.

                                                                                                                                                                                            Manchester has been the home of many musical firsts; Halle Orchestra, Top Of The Pops, Sex Pistols on television, Independent record release. An infamous gig that spawned a plethora of bands, writers, photographers, artists. It was home to The Electric Circus, Pips, Rafters, Band On The Wall, venues which are all (predominantly) fondly remembered as memories of a well spent youth.

                                                                                                                                                                                            The book charts those protagonists from their early life growing up, socially and musically, the impact that punk had on their lives, including the bands that sprung up from it, how it allowed them to express their beliefs, and how it’s ideology has stayed with them up to the present day. The time line is between the early 1960’s until December 1977 (ish). The story is predominantly told through the words of the subjects, after hours of editing face to face interviews and emails, interspersed with my narrative connecting and introducing the differing topics and chapters.

                                                                                                                                                                                            It is a social history document as well as a musical coming of age memoir, a time capsule of days of which we will never again see the like.

                                                                                                                                                                                            TRACK LISTING

                                                                                                                                                                                            Chapter Breakdown
                                                                                                                                                                                            1: History Of Manchester’s Slum Dwellings From The 19th Century To 1960’s.
                                                                                                                                                                                            2: Interviewee’s Experiences Of Growing Up In The Inner City. Musical Influences And Access To Physical Musical Output.
                                                                                                                                                                                            3; Nightclubs/Bars Of Manchester. The Gay Scene, Pips, The Ranch Bar. Bowie/Roxy
                                                                                                                                                                                            4; The Electric Circus. Early Gigs Including Sex Pistols And Buzzcocks.
                                                                                                                                                                                            5; So It Goes- Sex Pistols First Appearance On T.V. Recollections From The Producer.
                                                                                                                                                                                            6; Early Punk Fashion In The City. People’s Stories Of Homemade Clothing.
                                                                                                                                                                                            7; Violence On The Streets Of Manchester And The Terraces. Football And Punk.
                                                                                                                                                                                            8; Venues Of Manchester; Band On The Wall, Rafters, The Oaks, Apollo Theatre.
                                                                                                                                                                                            9; The Growth Of Punk In Manchester, Interviewee’s Gig Memories.
                                                                                                                                                                                            10; So It Goes Second Series. Recollections Of Outside Broadcasts From Director And Video Assistant.
                                                                                                                                                                                            11; The Closure Of The Electric Circus.
                                                                                                                                                                                            12; The Dissolution Of Punk At The End Of 1977. The Lasting Legacy Of What Punk Meant To The People Interviewed For The Book.

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                                                                                                                                                                                            Cover of The Absence : Memoirs Of A Banshee Drummer by Budgie.

                                                                                                                                                                                            Budgie

                                                                                                                                                                                            The Absence : Memoirs Of A Banshee Drummer

                                                                                                                                                                                            White Rabbit

                                                                                                                                                                                              As a member of Big in Japan, The Slits and, most famously, Siouxsie and The Banshees and The Creatures, 'Budgie' was an era-defining drummer in the much-mythologised post punk scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s. But before he was Budgie, Peter Clarke was a boy growing up in working class St Helens in the 1960s.

                                                                                                                                                                                              The loss of his mum at a young age created the absence that haunts the pages of this book. As a teenager disenchanted with art school in Liverpool, Peter became Budgie and befriended the likes of Jayne Casey, Pete Burns and other luminaries of the legendary Eric's Club before taking off for London and the big city heat of punk. Budgie's unique technique and musical sensitivity endeared him to the all-female group The Slits, who asked him to play on their debut album Cut.

                                                                                                                                                                                              Subsequent touring with former members of the Sex Pistols and others from the post punk aristocracy firmly established Budgie's reputation for innovation. But the beating heart of this at times painfully honest account of a life often sabotaged is, of course, his long-term position as Siouxsie and The Banshees' drummer and co-writer alongside his ex-wife Siouxsie Sioux. Their creative partnership produced some of the most seductive and celebrated pop music of the decade.

                                                                                                                                                                                              Eventually, their personal relationship started to fall apart, with inevitable consequences for both bands. The Absence is bravely unflinching in its dissection of how and why this happened, and powerfully moving in its account of the angels that emerged to heal both these wounds and those of a mother's lost love. A man and musician whose creativity and singular style came to define the goth-pop 1980s, Budgie's life is both fabulously glamorous and a cautionary tale.

                                                                                                                                                                                              For the first time the story of the era's most exalted and mysterious bands has been told by one who survived inside the belly of the beast.


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                                                                                                                                                                                              Cover of Slint's Spiderland - 33 1/3 by Scott Tennent.

                                                                                                                                                                                              Scott Tennent

                                                                                                                                                                                              Slint's Spiderland - 33 1/3

                                                                                                                                                                                              Continuum Publishing Corporation

                                                                                                                                                                                                This is a thorough history of Slint, and the Louisville scene that surrounded the band, leading up to and focusing on the creation of their masterpiece, "Spiderland". Of all the seminal albums to come out in 1991 - the year of "Nevermind", "Loveless", "Ten", and "Out of Time", among others - none were quieter, both in volume and influence, than "Spiderland", and no band more mysterious than Slint. Few single albums can lay claim to sparking an entire genre, but "Spiderland" - all six songs of it - laid the foundation for post rock in the 1990s.

                                                                                                                                                                                                Yet for so much obvious influence, both the band and the album remain something of a puzzle. This thoroughly researched book is the first substantive attempt to break through some of the mystery surrounding "Spiderland" and the band that made it. Scott Tennent has written a long overdue look at this remarkable album and its origins, delving into the small, insular musical universe that included bands like Squirrel Bait, Maurice, Bitch Magnet, and Bastro.

                                                                                                                                                                                                The story, helped by in-depth interviews with band members David Pajo and Todd Brashear, explores the formation of Slint, the recording of "Tweez", and the band's dramatic move into the sound of "Spiderland". For more information on the series and on individual titles in the series, check out our blog.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                Cover of Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II - 33 1/3 by Marc Weidenbaum.

                                                                                                                                                                                                Marc Weidenbaum

                                                                                                                                                                                                Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II - 33 1/3

                                                                                                                                                                                                Bloomsbury Academic USA

                                                                                                                                                                                                  Extravagantly opaque, willfully vaporous — Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II, released by the estimable British label Warp Records in 1994, rejuvenated ambient music for the Internet Age that was just dawning. In the United States, it was Richard D. James's first full length on Sire Records (home to Madonna and Depeche Mode) under the moniker Aphex Twin; Sire helped usher him in as a major force in music, electronic or otherwise.

                                                                                                                                                                                                  Faithful to Brian Eno’s definition of ambient music, Selected Ambient Works Volume II was intentionally functional: it furnished chill out rooms, the sanctuaries amid intense raves. Choreographers and film directors began to employ it to their own ends, and in the intervening decades this background music came to the fore, adapted by classical composers who reverse-engineered its fragile textures for performance on acoustic instruments. Simultaneously, “ambient” has moved from esoteric sound art to central tenet of online culture.

                                                                                                                                                                                                  This book contends that despite a reputation for being beatless, the album exudes percussive curiosity, providing a sonic metaphor for our technologically mediated era of countless synchronized nanosecond metronomes.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                  Cover of Jeff Buckley's Grace - 33 1/3 by Daphne A. Brooks.

                                                                                                                                                                                                  Daphne A. Brooks

                                                                                                                                                                                                  Jeff Buckley's Grace - 33 1/3

                                                                                                                                                                                                  Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.

                                                                                                                                                                                                    The power and influence of Grace increases with each passing year. Here, Daphne Brooks traces Jeff Buckley's fascinating musical development through the earliest stages of his career, up to the release of the album. With access to rare archival material, Brooks illustrates Buckley's passion for life and hunger for musical knowledge, and shows just why he was such a crucial figure in the American music scene of the 1990s.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                    Cover of To Rise In The Dark by Nick J. Brown.

                                                                                                                                                                                                    Nick J. Brown

                                                                                                                                                                                                    To Rise In The Dark

                                                                                                                                                                                                    Incendiary Books

                                                                                                                                                                                                      In early nineties Manchester, Pete and Jim are high on music, sarcasm and dreams of success. With Devon and Steve they form a band, play four gigs, then suddenly implode.

                                                                                                                                                                                                      Thirty years later, Jim is a warehouse worker with a wife, two kids and back trouble. Threats of medical retirement loom over his future.

                                                                                                                                                                                                      Cult singer Pete is gone, leaving behind five albums, a history of belligerence and a daughter, Lauren, who wonders why the last 45 spinning on her father’s turntable is a record by a group she’s never heard of and no one wishes to speak about.

                                                                                                                                                                                                      At Moran’s funeral, Lauren reunites his old bandmates, leading them on a booze-fuelled odyssey through Manchester in search of a secret they would rather remained buried…

                                                                                                                                                                                                      A tale of working class dreams realised and unfulfilled, and the easy hit nostalgia can provide but also what it can bury, the scars that don’t show and conversations never had.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                      Cover of And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain : A Journey Through Global Music by Joe Boyd.

                                                                                                                                                                                                      Joe Boyd

                                                                                                                                                                                                      And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain : A Journey Through Global Music

                                                                                                                                                                                                      Faber & Faber

                                                                                                                                                                                                        Legendary producer and record label boss Joe Boyd has spent a lifetime travelling the globe and immersing himself in music. He has witnessed first-hand the growing popularity of music from Africa, India, Latin America, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe since the 1960s and was one of the protagonists of the 'world music' movement of the 1980s. In this sweeping history, Boyd sets out to explore the fascinating backstories to these sounds and documents a decade of encounters with the most extraordinary musicians and producers who have altered the course of music for us all.

                                                                                                                                                                                                        And the Roots of Rhythm Remain shows how personalities, events and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston and Rio are as colourful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll would never have happened if it weren't for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon.


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                                                                                                                                                                                                        Cover of Padlocks : Living With Sid & Nancy by Den Browne.

                                                                                                                                                                                                        Den Browne

                                                                                                                                                                                                        Padlocks : Living With Sid & Nancy

                                                                                                                                                                                                        Backstage Books

                                                                                                                                                                                                          Summer 1977. A chance ring at the door. Punk’s most notorious couple need to score and they’ve come to the right place.

                                                                                                                                                                                                          Two couples, two beds, one cat, one room, and a TV; the junkie life is laid bare as Sid & Nancy move in; bonding over books, music and the eternal quest for the next hit.

                                                                                                                                                                                                          From Never Mind The Bollocks to ‘Holidays In the Sun’, this is the story of the Pistols observed up close by Den Browne, the man who Tony Wilson claimed ‘turned him onto punk’.

                                                                                                                                                                                                          As the Pistols descend into chaos so does Sid: from witty, committed, idealistic musician into drunken, knife-wielding, tabloid hate figure.

                                                                                                                                                                                                          Padlocks is an unflinching account of living with Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen in the eye of the media storm.

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