Paperback Books 254 Items

Eat Volume 19: 240 page full color journal of Robert POLLARD’s gorgeous collage art.

Recent winners of Royal Photographic Society Award for Photographic Publishing. All books 36 pages, printed in England, staple bound, 14cm x 20cm. There was a time before the boutiques, imaginative eateries and overpriced property developments. This was its last gasp.

Super Sharp Shooter is a carefully curated selection of over 700 images from event photographer Sarah Ginn’s extensive archives, many never before seen. Spanning drum & bass, dubstep, house and techno, the book showcases festivals, clubs, press shots and record covers, providing an unsurpassed document of electronic music in a colourful and dazzling celebration of beats and bass.

It’s a deluxe coffee table book: 480 pages in full colour on heavyweight 150 gsm paper.

After picking up a camera in 2006 to shoot events at London superclub Fabric, Sarah Ginn started her journey of documenting the dance music scene. With exclusive, behind-the-scenes access at the likes of Fabric, Ultra Festival, Boomtown, Glastonbury, Outlook, Printworks, Creamfields and Hospitality, Sarah captured the sights of UK rave and dance culture in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.

Super Sharp Shooter is a carefully curated selection of over 800 photographs from Sarah’s extensive archives, many never before seen. Spanning drum & bass, dubstep, house and techno, the book showcases festivals, clubs, press shots and record covers, providing an unsurpassed document of electronic music in a colourful celebration of beats and bass.

This deluxe book features artists like Andy C, Skream, Chase & Status, Shy FX, Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim, Goldie, Chemical Brothers, Jon Hopkins, Sub Focus, DJ Zinc, Ben UFO, Craig Richards, Erol Alkan, Miss Kitten, Dusky and many more. Also contained is Sarah’s essay,

The Feedback Loop Theory. A demonstration of how music affects time and energy and makes it a magic entity. Set in colour order to reflect the visible light spectrum, this gorgeous book is a must-have for all music and photography enthusiasts. It has 480 pages in full colour on heavyweight 150 gsm paper. It's available as a book only and as a bundle with an exclusive A2 poster.

“‘I’m looking forward to publishing this book because these actually are my only memories!Research shows that when you take photos it actually affects the way you remember things. So on that note, I hope you all enjoy my crazy spectral journey into sound, the many sights of the rave and everything in between.” - Sarah Ginn

Written by veteran journalist Shawn Reynaldo, First Floor is a weekly newsletter that focuses on electronic music, along with the culture and industry that surround it. Over the course of just a few years, it’s become one of electronic music’s most influential platforms, routinely putting many of the genre’s thorniest issues under the microscope while reckoning with changes in the culture during a time of profound transformation.

A collection of Reynaldo’s most thought-provoking essays, First Floor Volume 1 provides a nuanced, wide-ranging look at contemporary electronic music culture, with a particular focus on systemic issues that often go undiscussed.

Topics covered included the evolving nature of electronic music fandom and artistry, value shifts brought on by the current changing of the generational guard, the shortcomings of the modern music press and the growing gap between electronic music’s foundational rhetoric and the genre’s present-day norms.

Incorporating both pieces originally published in the newsletter (all of which have been updated) and exclusive new material from Reynaldo himself, the book also features a foreword by veteran artist and 3024 label founder Martyn.

Who had the greatest dunk of all time? Which version of Michael Jordan was the best Michael Jordan? What is allowed and absolutely not allowed in a game of pickup basketball? Basketball and Other Things takes readers through the most pivotal and ridiculous fan disputes in basketball history, providing arguments and answers to basketball’s greatest questions, explained with the wit and wisdom that is unique to Shea Serrano. Serrano breaks down debates that all NBA fans have considered, from the classics (Which years was Kobe at his best?) to the fantastical (If you could assign different values to different shots throughout basketball history, what would they be and why?). With incredible art from Arturo Torres, this book is a must-have for anyone who has ever stayed up late into the night debating basketball’s greatest moments, what-ifs, stories, and legends.

Illustrated by Arturo Torres, foreword by Reggie Miller.

Shea Serrano is an award-winning writer, author, and illustrator. His most recent book, The Rap Year Book, reached the bestseller lists of the New York Times and Washington Post, topped the Arts and Entertainment iBooks bestseller list, and was chosen for the Pitchfork book club. Currently, Serrano is a staff writer for The Ringer. He lives in Houston, Texas.

22,9 x 19,1 cm, 240 pages, paperback

apper Bun B lends his street cred and occasionally his face to the creative, hilarious, and just flat-out fun imaginings of Shea Serrano in Bun B's Rap Coloring and Activity Book. Described by the Washington Post as "what every hip-hop head wishes they had as a child," this imaginative work started as a series of printable rap-related coloring and activity images. The 48-page, fully interactive book of coloring pages, unbelievably clever activities, and smart plays on rap culture brings these stars and their music right into your living room.Featured rappers include:
Bun B
Queen Latifah
Drake
Talib Kweli
Ice-T
Common
Wiz Khalifa
Ludacris
LL COOL J
Big Boi
Childish Gambino
Questlove
B.o.B
Mac Miller

And many, many more!

Written in Japanese!

Story of CAN / Stockhausen and WDR Studio / Postwar German landscape that nurtured krautrock / Euro Free Jazz Mixture / CAN's Constituent molecules / CAN's DNA / Long interview for members / Disc Guide.

Words like "inspiring," "expansive," and "moving" are
regularly used to describe Sigur Rós's ( ), and yet the
only words heard on the record itself are a handful of
meaningless nonsense syllables. The album has no
title—or rather, its title is no title: just an empty pair
of parentheses. The intention being that listeners will
fill in the parentheses with their own title, their own
interpretation of the sounds on the record. The CD
sleeve consists of twelve pages that are essentially blank, lacking song
titles, liner notes or production credits. Instead, it contains only semitranslucent
frosted images of abstract natural scenes (tree branches,
clouds, etc.), on which the listener is free to inscribe their own notes—
or no notes at all. And then there are the lyrics, sung in a deliberately
unintelligible tongue called "Hopelandic" which the band invites listeners
to interpret freely.
Ethan Hayden's book doesn't try to fill in the gaps between the album's
parentheses, but instead explores the ways in which listeners might
attempt to do so. Examining the communicative powers of asemantic
language, the book asks whether music can bring sense to nonsense.
What happens to the voice when it stops singing conventional
language: does it simply become another musical instrument, or is it
somehow more "human"? What role does space play on ( )? And how do
we interpret music that we cannot possibly understand, but feel very
deeply that we do?

168 pages, paperback.

The perfect guide for those who want to explore a different, trendy side of Berlin. Photographer Silvie Bonne presents 100 scenic, impressive and 'Instagrammable' spots in Berlin. Some are classics but most are hidden gems only locals know about. Every hotspot is accompanied by a fascinating background story, some fun facts, and practical information. The true eyecatchers are of course the original Instagram images, along with some expert tips and trips on how to shoot them.

Following the success of The Ultimate Sneaker Book and SOLED OUT, Sneaker Freaker are set to release a new 752-page title published with TASCHEN. The newest book, World’s Greatest Sneaker Collectors, is a journey into the priceless stockpiles and obsessive minds of footwear aficionados. From Tokyo to New York via London Philadelphia, Melbourne and Stjørdal, no crumbled midsole is left unturned.

Simon "Woody" Wood, founder and editor-in-chief of Sneaker Freaker magazine, has spent the last two decades analyzing the global cult of footwear fanatics. That experience directly inspired World's Greatest Sneaker Collectors, a stonking 752-page journey into the priceless stockpiles and obsessive minds of prominent aficionados.From Tokyo to New York, via London, Philadelphia, Melbourne, and Stjørdal, no crumbled midsole is left unturned as over 2,500 vintage classics, unique athlete SMUs, unobtainable samples, handmade 1-of-1 prototypes, stratospherically priced colabs, and Player Exclusives and game-worn Jordans with multi-million-dollar price tags are lauded with gusto. The endless quest for "Holy Grails" is both blessing and curse as our collectors fiend, scheme, and dream of "the one" shoe they don't yet own! Luxuriously photographed profiles are augmented with a series of informative "How-to" guides stuffed with pro tips on sneaker photography, storage, insurance, cleaning, and avoiding the counterfeit curse. The expertise is priceless. The stories will entertain for days as we seek out the fundamentals of what it means, and takes, to define yourself as a "true collector."

From notes, invitation cards, marking and signs, to decorative artwork: There's always a use for hand lettering! Learn the basics of letterforms and styles, tools and materials, and practice eight different alphabets created exclusively for this book. With step-by-step instructions and exercises, this workbook will guide you through the process of learning the techniques and skills necessary to create beautiful, unique lettering. You’ll learn the basics of letterform structure, spacing and alignment, and progress to more advanced techniques where you will be able to design your own beautiful letters as well as creating letter images with composition and decorative embellishments that make your text stand out. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to improve your existing lettering skills, this workbook is an excellent way to release your creativity. Explore the medium, be creative, make an impact and immerse yourself in the world of letters, design and shapes. Hand Lettering and Beyond is the fundamental guide for you to learn how to master the alphabet with style and finesse, letter by letter, until you are able to put together complicated words and messages, adding the coloring of your own choice. Sofie Björkgren-Näse is an experienced lettering artist. She is a full-time freelance letterer who have created lettering work for numerous international companies and shared the joy of hand lettering with thousand of workshop participants. Hand Lettering and Beyond suits all ages and is a great tool for advertisers, home stylers, school teachers, creative kids and adults alike. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to elevate your hand lettering to the next level!

Yo! The Early Days of Hip-Hop 1982-84 is a new book published by Soul Jazz Books/Records that features 300+ pages of stunning photographs documenting the rise of hip hop in the early 1980s, taken by French photographer Sophie Bramly.

Featuring: Fab Five Freddy Futura Afrika Bambaataa Grand Mixer D.ST Beastie Boys Kool Herc Run DMC Cold Crush Brothers Rocksteady Crew Grandmaster Flash and many more!

Introduction BY: Bill Adler

With Additional Text BY: Fab Fab Freddy Grand Mixer D. St Rahiem of The Furious Five Arthur Baker Zephyr Muhamad of The Magnificent Force Lady Pink Mister Freeze of The Rock Steady Crew Patti Astor & Slick Rick

“All these photos speak for a time that is so special, is never coming back and changed the world. It’s pretty much this experience that changed everything for ever. What makes it amazing, is that you hear stories about superheroes that changed the world, and that was us.” Grand Mixer D. St

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Sophie Bramly lived in New York in the early 1980s and became firmly embedded in the emergent scene. The book features many stunning, intimate images of a star-studded roll call of legendary hip hop figures, all of whom were only just getting known or in their ascendency.

These include Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmixer DST, Jazzy Jay, Red Alert, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Kurtis Blow, Lisa Lee, the Fat Boys, Run-DMC, Beastie Boys and many more.

Bramly knew that hip hop was becoming a cultural force rather than just a musical fashion, and spent many hours photographing the four essential elements of this new world: the emcees, the deejays, the graffiti artists and the break dancers.

Aside from the musical stars of hip-hop you will also see legendary graffiti artists captured at work and play, such as Keith Haring, Dondi, Futura, Phase One, Zephyr and Lady Pink, and break dancers including members of Magnificent Force, Dynamic Breakers and the Rock Steady Crew

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Sophie Bramly is a French photographer born in 1959. In 1982, she moved from France to New York at age 22 and for two years documented the burgeoning hip-hop scene, taking pictures of everyone from graffiti artists and breakdancers to rappers such as the Beastie Boys and Run-DMC. She returned to France in 1984, bringing a number of US hip-hop artists to Europe and then in 1987 moved to London to host and produce MTV’s first ever hip-hop show, Yo! MTV Raps.

She currently lives in Paris and her work is featured extensively at Hip-Hop 360 a six month long exhibition showing at the prestigious Philarmonie de Paris, France (Dec 21–Aug 22)

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“One of the curious facts about hip-hop’s history is how little photographic documentation exists of the culture’s early years. Come the dawn of the Eighties, a handful of talented photographers finally began to pay attention, most notably Henry Chalfant, Martha Cooper, and Joe Conzo. In retrospect, it’s clear that each of them focused on a particular element or two of the multiform explosion of creativity that came to be called hip-hop. Henry zeroed in on graffiti. Martha devoted herself to graffiti and breakdancing. And the heart of Joe’s work documents the career of the Cold Crush Brothers. Uniquely Sophie Bramly, unlike the others, managed between 1982 and 1984 to put her arms around all four of the hip-hop elements: the emcees, deejays, graffiti artists, and breakdancers.” Bill Adler from the introduction.

Isbn: 978-1-9163598-2-6

Flexibound, 304 pages, Dimensions 224 X 284 mm, Weight 1.75Kg

Brand new edition of Soul Jazz Records" massive deluxe 400-page Punk 45s cover art book edited and compiled by Jon Savage (author of the seminal book on punk, England"s Dreaming) and Stuart Baker (founder of Soul Jazz Records). This new edition comes with a new introduction from Bobbie Gillespie, founder of Primal Scream (who has recently also published his memoirs Tenement Kid). Contributors include Peter Saville, Richard Hell, Richard H Kirk, Seymour Stein, Geoff Travis, Martin Moscrop, Glenn Branca, Jamie Reid, Dave Robinson, Roger Armstrong, Martin Mills, Gee Vaucher, Savage Pencil, Dennis Morris and more. This book is a revelatory guide to hundreds and hundreds of original 7" record cover sleeve designs - visual artefacts found at the heart of the most radical and anarchistic musical movement of the 20th century.

Recent winners of Royal Photographic Society Award for Photographic Publishing. All books 36 pages, printed in England, staple bound, 14cm x 20cm.

Let the Music Play: How R&B Fell in Love with 80s Synths is the overlooked story of how R&B, disco and funk were transformed by the explosion of music tech in the era of ghetto blasters and Ronald Reagan. It traces how pioneers like Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock inspired a new generation of black musicians and producers to reinvent music with a whole new set of rules.

From superstars like Prince and Sade to production geniuses like Kashif and Jam & Lewis, it tells the fascinating stories of the artists involved and how they made some of the best-loved records of the era – creating a blueprint for music today.

»Here In, Absence« is the result of the dialogue between the Finnish photographer Mikael Siirilä and ambient artists The Humble Bee & Offthesky. Mikael Siirilä describes himself as a darkroom artist based in Helsinki, Finland. »My small individual photographs examine the themes of absence, presence and outsiderhood. My characters appear immersed in their inner worlds and moments of being: simultaneously absent and intensely present.«

From New York pioneers who helped create the art form in the 70s, to freight train kings in Florida and hall of fame spray can wizards in California. In the American Graffiti Coloring Book, more than 45 of America’s most prominent graffiti writers have provided the initial outlines – now it is up to you to give them color! With full pages devoted to the artwork, each spread becomes its own unique full color piece of art as you go along filling out the pages, and there is plenty of room for the small details. American Graffiti Coloring Book is printed on marker friendly paper. Use your markers and color-in on both sides of the page with no risk of the ink bleeding through. The content is carefully curated by the influential artist and Museum of Graffiti co-founder Alan KET, and the striking cover and

As immediately believable as they were cartoonish, as much an inner city cipher as a suburban boys gang, the foursome that made up the Pharcyde were the most relatable MCs to ever pass the mic. On their debut and magnum opus Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, they created a record almost overstuffed with possibility, the sound of four restless man-children fresh out of their teens, finding a perfect outlet in a form of music that was just as young and fertile.

And like the product of any adolescent, Bizarre Ride wears its contrarianism and contradictions on its sleeve. It's a party album about shyness and unrequited love. A swirl of jubilant L.A. psychedelia recorded in the midst of the Rodney King trial. A blast of black consciousness that still makes room to poke fun at Public Enemy and reference the Pixies. A dense, sophisticated sonic stew punctuated by yo mama jokes and prank calls. While hip-hop was already calcifying its tropes of steely machismo and aspirational fantasy, Bizarre Ride was a pure distillation of the average hip-hop listener's actual lifestyle-the joys and sorrows of four guys who were young, broke, sexually frustrated, and way too clever for their own good. A touchstone for Kanye West, Drake, Lil B and a whole generation of off-center MCs, Bizarre Ride sketched out a whole strata of emotions that other rappers hadn't yet dared to tackle, and to a certain extent, still haven't.

The Secret DJ’s first two books lifted the lid on what really happens behind the decks in the sometimes hilarious, sometimes harrowing world of the superstar DJ. Now they’ve reached out to dozens of DJs from around the world – and from every scene and genre – for their own true stories of the DJ life.

Tales From the Booth raises the BPM, rounding up an all-star cast of Secret DJs to tell their anonymous stories of what it’s really like to rock dancefloors for a living. From strange encounters on tour to side-splitting debauchery and afterparty excess to the seamy and even dangerous side of the industry, this is your access-all-areas backstage pass. You’ll never look at a DJ quite the same again.

"The Secret DJ returns with the follow-up to their acclaimed debut book. Less a sequel and more a panoramic wide-angle painting of the biggest youth movement in human history, The Secret DJ: Book Two charts the rise of dance music over the last 30 years and its connection to western capitalism and culture.

While never claiming to be instrumental, The Secret DJ was around for every stage of the journey and is a continually wry observer of this unstoppable growth. The Secret DJ’s signature humour and wit are ever-present in this ascent, charting personal ups and downs as well as the buying and selling of the acid house revolution.

Covering topics as wide as drugs, music production, anthropology, the gentrification of the scene, technology, travel, fame, devaluation, inflation, relationships, technique, festivals, rejection, social media, situationism and hypernormalisation; almost no aspect of the last four decades go unmentioned in terms of what we know today as Electronic Dance Music.

“No one in publishing would have the balls to touch this book with a bargepole,” says the Secret DJ. “It takes courage to speak up. There’s not much in the way of reward for telling it like it is, not any more. If you expose an industry, that industry hates you for life with the intensity of the sun. I have nothing but admiration for Velocity Press, they’ve taken a big risk working with me. I appreciate it greatly. It’s good to know there are still people out there willing to stand up.”

“I loved The Secret DJ – some all-too-familiar characters mixed with the highs and lows of what this industry can throw at you. Excited and intrigued to read the second instalment… how much more extreme can it get?!” – Denney

“I never read books about electronic music, why would I? But I guess The Secret DJ is more an anarchist handbook for shattered dreamers than a manual on how to make it big on the scene. Can’t wait for his new adventures.” – Ivan Smagghe

“We all have war stories, us jobbing night-lifers. From having sets ended by soldiers with automatic weapons in Juarez to coming-round in Glasgow city centre suddenly best pals with a gangster who’s most affectionate nickname was ‘Wolf’. I’ve bagged a couple over the years. And yours are undoubtedly more vivid, funnier or more ludicrous than mine. The Secret DJ’s are better still.” – Ewan Pearson

“I loved book one, waiting to live the DJ life vicariously again thru book two!” – Arthur Baker

“The Secret DJ’s first book managed to do something very different to the existing dance music memoirs (and I should know as I have read them all). It functioned not only as a hilarious jaunt through the insanity of the glory years of dance music – i.e. when there was still money in music – but as a harrowing portrayal of the emotionally, physically and mentally taxing straits an international DJ will find themselves in. Anyone with even a passing curiosity about ‘the industry’ should read it and await its follow up, especially if they have any frankly dangerous notions of joining up professionally, which I cannot in all good conscience recommend.” – Manu Ekanayake (music and culture journalist)

“It’s rare for a writer to capture the excitement and absurdity of dance music culture at the same time, but the Secret DJ did that to great effect in the first book. This latest chapter in the story promises to be every bit as exhilarating, providing an important critical voice at a time when ‘the society of the spectacle’ threatens to suck the life out of those clinging to the acid house dream.” – Justin Robertson

“The first book is a raw, effective and bizarrely emotional tale of ‘the life’. Superbly true and direct. I can hardly wait to hear the tale of the music movement being told by The Secret DJ in Book Two!” – Miguel Campbell

“The Secret DJ returns to once again pull back the curtain on the world of dance music and the sometimes harsh, but always hilarious, realities of what lurks behind it. Get ready for a second descent into the far(cical) side.” – Neville Watson

“Really enjoyed the first book, both hilarious debauchery and insightful commentary on a world usually kept behind the curtain. I’m looking forward to the next instalment, hoping for a lot more righteous anger within.” – Posthuman

“Every participant in the music industry will wince at the thought of falling under the glance of the Secret DJ’s withering pen, but still find themselves avidly leafing through his pages for the merest mention.” – Carl Puttnam (Cud)"

When Tim from Dagger Zine approached us about his book idea covering long-loved "spaces" held sacred for countless music fans, we knew it was a great project to get behind, Similar in its community effort to our last book release (The White Label Promo Preservation Society), Hinely organized an incredible list of contributors from all stripes of the underground music spectrum, each waxing their own warm recollections of wild nights seeing life-changing bands and/or terrible bathroom experiences. Chock full of photos, original newspaper ads, flyers, and long-lost monthly calendars of the pre-Internet age, Where The Wild Gigs Were illustrates how important these sacred spaces really are, and how much it's noticeable when we can't actually be AT these homes-away-from-home, spread all across the USA. From Stache's in Columbus, OH to Flynn's Ocean 71 in Miami, FL (the 'CBGB's on the beach'), back to The Brewery in Lansing MI (complete with previously unpublished Stooges photos!), to City Gardens in Trenton, NJ (staffed by Comedy Dentral's Jon Stewart) to Peter Aaron's sordid details on the mob-run Jockey Club in Newport, KY, you won't find many dull moments as each page bleeds into the next, oozing with recollections of blurry good times and endless excitement before the world changed, as we know it. Includes a foreword by Byron Coley and an afterword by Tesco VEE. 235 pages, paperback. First edition of 500 copies.

Why is it that thousands of clubbing tourists land at Berlin Schönefeld airport every weekend? Why have clubs like Berghain become the stuff of legend the world over? Why have some of the best-known producers and techno DJs like Richie Hawtin and DJ Hell moved with their labels to this city? These are the kind of questions explored in Lost and Sound by Tobias Rapp, a German music journalist who has been living, working and partying in Berlin since the beginning of the nineties. He has spoken with DJs, clubbers, label bosses, hostel managers and urban planners; he has looked and listened carefully; and most important of all, he has been part of the dance floor himself. Every day of the week – from Wednesday night (in Watergate) right through to Wednesday night (back in Watergate).

Lost and Sound is not one of those books that try to grasp techno from a desk-bound position. Rapp zooms in to relate intimate moments in front of the DJ booth and at the bar, and then cuts to historical tangents and theoretical reflections. Detailed research is interspersed with accounts from a first-person perspective. An excellent portrait of Ricardo Villalobos, the biggest star of the Berlin minimal techno and after-party scene, stands alongside a precise sociological portrayal of the queue for Berghain. Through this interplay of music, architecture, infrastructure and drug-induced explorations of personal limits, Rapp is able to capture what makes Berlin such a unique place for electronic music and how this music is experienced.

Following its publication in Germany in February 2009, Lost and Sound made an impact not
seen from a book about popular music for a long time. This was undoubtedly due in part to the
term coined for its subtitle: the ‘Easyjet set’ is a new group of music fans who – thanks to the
deregulation of the European air travel market – now regard the aeroplane as a taxi service for
parties, effectively making Barcelona, London and Paris suburbs of Berlin.

In the early ‘70s, Detroit was the musical hub of America. Everything from the chart-topping sounds of Motown Records to the vicious proto-punk of THE Stooges and MC5 was being brewed out there and it seemed like there was no end in sight. But by the early ‘80s, the city was both a physical and cultural wasteland due to major-label buyouts of the artists as well as the crippling drug habits of some of the others. Detroit’s most known musical export at the time was the vapid sounds of new wave heartthrobs THE Romantics; this wasn’t good. It took a gaggle of suburban skateboarders, a grade school teacher, and a census bureau clerk to wake this city up from its slumber and start one of the first hardcore punk scenes in America. Why Be Something That You’re Not chronicles the first wave of Detroit hardcore from its origins in the late ‘70s to its demise in the mid ‘80s. Through a combination of oral history and extensive imagery, the book proves that even though the Southern California beach towns might have created the look and style of hardcore punk, it was the Detroit scene— along with a handful of other cities across the country—that cultivated the music’s grassroots aesthetic before most cultural hot spots around the globe even knew what the music was about. The book includes interviews with members of THE FIX, Violent Apathy, Negative Approach, Necros, Pagans, Bored Youth, and L-seven, along with other people who had a hand in the early hardcore scene like Ian MacKaye (minor Threat), Tesco Vee, and Dave Stimson (Touch & Go Fanzine).

As Torch describes it:

In 2015, I decided to fly to NYC again. When I told Robert about it, he responded briefly: „I’m flying with you. I’ve never been to New York. Just book me the same flight as you.“ To my surprise, that’s exactly what happened. Our trip was from April 9th to the 21st, 2015, flying from Zurich to Newark. I had the contacts and knew my way around. He had the camera and captured everything. I was his guide on the ground, and he became my eyes.


Photography: Rob Hak
Texts: Frederik Hahn aka Torch
Authors: Robert Hak & Frederik Hahn


Written in 2024 / 1st Edition 2024
Editing: Adam Silverstein &
Bernd Kammerer / textonaut.de
Cover Design: Rob Hak / www.studiohak.de
Layout: studio hak, Rottweil
Printing: Otto Druck, Oberndorf a.N.
Bookbinding: Spinner, Ottersweier
Paper: Munken Print Cream

»Queen Of Nowhere« is the result of the photographic works by Kourtney Roy and the musician Dayve Samek (Trance Farmers). Samek has recorded his first album in 2014 on Leaving Records (Stones Throw Records). His music ranges between sweaty, garage-born ballads brush shoulders with drifter anthems and gasoline drenched doo wop with at some points some beats close from the past Anticon works. The Canadian photographer Kourtney Roy was born in Northern Ontario in 1981. She conjures an intimate universe pervaded by both wonder and mystery. Her photographer’s eye is drawn to places and settings whose lyrical qualities underscore the sublime banality of everyday life.

In the summer of 1989, when Trip City was first released with a five-track cassette EP by A Guy Called Gerald, there had been no other British novel like it. This was the down and dirty side of London nightclubs, dance music and the kind of hallucinogenic drug sub-culture that hadn't really been explored since Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Maybe this is why Trip City is still known as "the acid house novel" and an underground literary landmark. Over the decades, Trip City became shrouded in scandal and mystery. The original London book launch literally descended into a riot - shut-down by the Metropolitan Police. Everyone from the makers of Raiders Of The Lost Ark through the director of Candyman tried to adapt the book into a movie - but imploded in the process. And the galleys of the 25th-anniversary edition were destroyed in a fire before they could even be proofed or printed. Perhaps Trip City is uniquely summed-up by the original publisher, sci-fi legend Brian Aldiss, who wrote of the novel: "In the vintage of Thomas De Quincey's Confessions Of An English Opium Eater - but smack up to date. It's about a young man's descent into hell - a hell that looks very much like London."

A report from the trenches on the most exciting and original graffiti scene to emerge from Brasil.

From the startingly distinctive achievements of the internationally renowned twin-brother painters Os Gemeos to the visual powers of the ubiquitous daredevil pichadores, Brazil's graffiti captivates with entirely fresh ideas, techniques and messages. Whether one’s taste is for the extraordinary creative extremes generated amid urban deprivation or for crafted murals at their most elaborate, Graffiti Brasil offers both stunning photography and in-depth history and insight... 128 pages with over 300 colour illustrations!

With graffiti worldwide becoming more homogenized, this book is a reminder of the strengths of creative independence and the rich fruits of cultural diversity.

'Art that packs an emotional punch … a shining tribute to human determination to create beauty in the least likely places'
Metro

'A phalanx of exceptional image makers'
State of Art

About the Author:
Tristan Manco is a graphic designer based in Hove, England, and pioneering author of books on the graffiti and the international street art scenes. He has published multiple books with Thames and Hudson, including Street Logos, Graffiti Brasil, Street Sketchbook: Journeys, Big Art / Small Art and Make Your Mark.

Caleb Neelon has been involved in mural and street art projects in twenty countries, ranging from Brazil to Nepal, Germany to Australia, France to India.

Format:Paperback with flaps
Size:22.0 x 23.0 cm
Extent:128 pp
Publication date:10 October 2005
ISBN:9780500285749

In The Graffiti Coloring Book, sixty of Scandinavia’s best graffiti writers have provided the outlines. You choose the colors. The graffiti sketch can be used as a pattern for a graffiti piece, but is equally a work of art in its own right. The book features drawings by legends such as Skil, Nug, Egs and Bates. The Graffiti Coloring Book is as fun for children as adults. Get out your markers and walk the path of the kings of graffiti.

Hidden Notes Records are proud to announce that in February next year we will be releasing a smorgasbord of new music; creative collaborations born out of the award winning music podcast excuse the mess. Two compilation albums featuring 17 unique voices from contemporary music worlds and beyond…

How does a podcast = two albums worth of music? excuse the mess is a music podcast with a twist - alongside your bread and butter artist interviews each guest takes on the challenge of writing a brand new piece of music on the fly, in the room and with excuse the mess host, Ben Corrigan. They follow three rules (limitations are liberating!): 1. There can be no preplanning, it is spontaneous music making. 2. The track must be finished the same day. 3. Only one instrument can be used as a sound source but there can be electronic manipulations of it.

Our upcoming release is the end result of each of those heart palpating writing sessions featuring Hannah Peel, Gold Panda, Anna Meredith, Galya Bisengalieva, Manu Delago, Robert Ames, Emily Hall, Oliver Coates, Mira Calix, Matt Calvert, Douglas Dare, Laura Jurd, Mark Lockheart, Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, Anne Nikitin, Alev Lenz and Elliot Galvin. Released as two albums, to mirror the two series of excuse the mess in which they were made.

All the music fizzes with an energy that only fast paced work can invoke and the compositional fingerprint of each guest artist is embedded into the core of each track, whilst intermingling with Ben's own artistic voice. For anyone interested in a further delve they can go back to the podcast episode and witness the composition unfolding bit-by-bit, from the blank page to the finished piece, you are invited on that compositional journey.

This edition includes an essay about the essence of improvisation by Joan La Barbara, Lee Gamble looking at
neural networks and vocal simulation systems, an untitled anecdote from Ghédalia Tazartès (RIP) and Stine
Janvin on the necessity of singing, plus much more.
“The voice is everywhere, infiltrating everything, making civilisation, marking out territories with infinite
borders, spreading from the farthest reaches to the most intimate spaces. It can be neither reduced nor
summarised. And accordingly, when taken as a theme, the voice is inexhaustible, even when seen in the light
of its very particular relation with the sonic or the musical, as is the case in most of the texts collected in this
volume. There is no point therefore in trying to circumscribe or amalgamate the multiple avatars of the voice.
We must rather try to apprehend what the voice can do, to envisage its landscape, its potential effects.”
—Extract from the editors’ forwords

Recent winners of Royal Photographic Society Award for Photographic Publishing. All books 36 pages, printed in England, staple bound, 14cm x 20cm. Pretentious posthumous reaction to punk briefly created this foppish mini-trend, leaving in its wake pop acts like Culture Club, Visage, Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran. The few clubs themselves were a melting pot of electronic music and some experimentation, a taste of things to come...

Recent winners of Royal Photographic Society Award for Photographic Publishing. All books 36 pages, printed in England, staple bound, 14cm x 20cm.

After ten years, Deathbeds is finally available again as a paperback with the original cover. Deathbeds was first released in 2007, compiling the lyrical content of Wesley EISOLD’s work in renowned bands American Nightmare, Some Girls and the beginning of his current moniker, Cold Cave. Along with tour journals, poems and prose of early fanzines, Deathbeds is the comprehensive work of an artist in their twenties trying to connect with the outside world and their discontent, confusion and the existential within. The book celebrates the beauty that is the struggle of depression and growth in a poignant and foreword way that is rarely written down or documented coherently. These words came from a place of desperation and isolation but ended up inspiring others with how relatable not being able to relate is. First published in 2007, Heartworm has sold over 10,000 copies of this cult collection between three paperback and three hardcover editions. 3rd edition paperback.

Shorty’s Ark is a book for young readers, a collaborative effort between singer Will Oldham and graphic artist Lori Damiano, based on work by Oldham and musician Matt Sweeney. Drawing inspiration from the story of Noah, Shorty’s Ark names and pictures a wild variety of species to inform and engage an equal variety of young minds with the diversity that can be found around this great planet of ours. The flood stands as metaphor for current impending changes in our planet, and the story works as a springboard for understanding concepts of interdependency, diversity and extinction. Colorfully illustrating as many creatures and their places as possible, Shorty’s Ark is an earth-affirmative vision meant to stimulate the curiosity and passion of those who encounter it.

See our fast-changing world through the lenses of 140 leading contemporary photographers around the globe.

With close to 500 images, many previously unpublished, this landmark publication takes stock of the material and spiritual cultures that make up ‘civilization’. Ranging from the ordinary to the extraordinary, from our great collective achievements to our ruinous collective failings, Civilization: The Way We Live Now explores the complexity of contemporary civilization through the rich, nuanced language of photography.

Featuring images by some 140 photographers – from Reiner Riedler’s families at leisure parks, Raimond Wouda’s high schools, Wang Qingsong’s Work, Work, Work and Cindy Sherman’s Society Portraits, to Lauren Greenfield’s displays of ostentatious wealth, Edward Burtynsky’s oil fields, Pablo Lopez Luz’s views on a sprawling contemporary megalopolis, Thomas Struth’s images of high technology, Xing Danwen’s electronic wastelands and Taryn Simon’s Contraband, Civilization draws together the threads of humankind’s ever-changing, frenetic, collective life across the globe.

Visually epic, Civilization is presented through eight thematic chapters, each featuring powerful imagery and accompanied by provocative essays, quotes and concise statements by the artists themselves.

'Through the work of top photographers, split into themed chapters (hive, flow, control), the editors have created a fascinating, amusing, disturbing picture of the world we have created' A Photography Book of the Year, The Times

'Part a Who’s Who handbook for the photographically astute, part documentary of everything ... The 352 pages zing with 500 photographs, many previously unpublished, from 140 leading photographers. A global family photo album, a memory book of personal stories that patchwork to form a rounded impression of humanity ' Wallpaper*

'The most ambitious stock-taking of our world since Edward Steichen's 'Family of Man' in the 1950s' World of Interiors

'An admirable and ambitious undertaking ... a compelling collection of photographs ' Geographical Magazine

About the Author: William A. Ewing has been an author, lecturer, curator of photography and museum director for more than forty years. His many publications on photography include The Body, Landmark and Edward Burtynsky: Essential Elements, all published by Thames & Hudson.

Format:Paperback Edition Type:New Format Size:29.5 x 24.5 cm Extent:352 pp Illustrations:485 Publication date:5 October 2023 ISBN:9780500297513

Although rap music is famous for its ingenuity, double entendres and clever turns of phrase, until now no one has attempted to collect rap lyrics into an organised compendium. Enter UNDERSTAND RAP, a very funny pop-cultural reference book based on the website of the same name, which precisely explains all the confusing terms and lyrics used in rap songs in a language even the most un-hip person can understand. The result is a book with breakout potential that's both entertaining and highly informative. The juxtaposition of dry, academic manner with Hip Hop terminology in UNDERSTAND RAP frequently lends itself to ironic comedy gold. For example: Lyric: "been servin' since you was doin' the runnin' man" Explanation: My experience selling drugs began long ago, while you were still concerning yourself with immature things like doing goofy dances where you look like you're running in place. (From Song: Rubberband Man on Album: Trap Muzik by Artist: T.I.) Understand Rap features hip hop artists of all names, colours, and creeds and organise their lyrics into the following categories: Cars, Money, Drugs/Alcohol, People, Places, Fashion, Crime/Weapons, Insults, Skills/Pride and Sex/Relationships.

Since its first publication in 1982, Modern Architecture Since 1900 has become established as a contemporary classic. Worldwide in scope, it combines a clear historical outline with masterly analysis and interpretation. Technical, economic, social and intellectual developments are brought together in a comprehensive narrative which provides a setting for the detailed examination of buildings. Throughout the book the author's focus is on the individual architect, and on the qualities that give outstanding buildings their lasting value.

For the third edition, the text has been radically revised and expanded, incorporating much new material and a fresh appreciation of regional identity and variety. Seven chapters are entirely new, including expanded coverage of recent world architecture.

Described by James Ackerman of Harvard University as 'immeasurably the finest work covering this field in existence', this book presents a penetrating analysis of the modern tradition and its origins, tracing the creative interaction between old and new that has generated such an astonishing richness of architectural forms across the world and throughout the century.

About the author: William Curtis has won worldwide acclaim for his architectural writing. His books include Le Corbusier: Ideas and Forms and Denys Lasdun, both published by Phaidon.

Reviews: 'the book is excellent value.' Architects' Journal

'as close to a definitive guide to the architecture of our century as we yet have.' Sunday Times

'A book of this length and depth is an unimaginable achievement…' Building Design

'comprehensive, up-to-date and very readable.' Sunday Telegraph

'This should be a standard volume in all architecture collections.' Library Journal

'… the clearest and most authentic survey to appear in English. ... Essential reading, indeed breath-taking reading' Architecture New Zealand

Specifications: Format: Paperback Size: 245 × 210 mm (9 5/8 × 8 1/4 in) Pages: 736 pp Illustrations: 862 illustrations