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For fans, Boxer is a profound personal meditation. Life decisions have been based on it. Relationships have been created and dissolved by it. For the band that recorded it, Boxer symbolizes a do-or-die moment; a final, give-it-everything-you've-got effort to make it work.

Released in May 2007, The National's fourth full-length is the album that saved them. It's where the Ohio-via-Brooklyn five-piece found the sound, success, and spiritual growth to become one of the most critically acclaimed bands of their time. Obsessively researched and featuring intimate interviews with the fighters who were there in the ring, Ryan Pinkard captures a transformative chapter in The National's story, revealing how their breakthrough album is deeply intertwined with their personal lives, the New York indie rock renaissance of the early aughts, and a generational experience in America.

Kraftwerk's most concise and focused conceptual statement, Computer World, was also their most influential album, paving the way for a range of new musical styles and genres. This book explores the band's revolutionary sonic template, and their lyrical obsessions in detail.

An analysis of the bands work reveals a unifying theme, overlooked by other writers, of movement and transition. While many remarked on the prevalence of travel within Kraftwerk's art: Autobahn (1974) – cars, Trans-Europe Express (1977) – trains, The Man- Machine (1978) – space, and Tour De France (1982) – bicycles, Francis contends that this is a surface manifestation of a deeper theoretical subtext in their work. Movement is really a reflection of the concept of transition, through time and space, from one physical, emotional, or existential state of being to another. The book explores transition, as expressed on Computer World, via theories of post-humanism, cybernetics and the anthropology of transnationalism.

New York City in the 1970s was an urban nightmare: destitute, dirty, and dangerous. As the country collectively turned its back on the Big Apple, two musical vigilantes rose out of the miasma. Armed only with amplified AC current, Suicide's Alan Vega and Marty Rev set out to save America's soul. Their weaponized noise terrorized unsuspecting audiences. Suicide could start a riot on a lack of guitar alone. Those who braved their live shows often fled in fear--or formed bands (sometimes both). This book attempts to give the reader a front-row seat to a Suicide show.

Suicide is one of the most original, most misunderstood, and most influential bands of the last century. While Suicide has always had a dedicated cult following, the band is still relatively unknown outside their musical coterie. Arguing against the idea of the band's niche musical history, this book looks at parallels between Marvel Comics' antiheroes in the 1970s and Suicide's groundbreaking first album. Andi Coulter tells the origin story of two musical Ghost Riders learning to harness their sonic superpower, using noise like a clarion call for a better future.

The question of control for Black women is a costly one. From 1986 onwards, the trajectory of Janet Jackson's career can be summed up in her desire for control. Control for Janet was never simply just about her desire for economic and creative control over her career but was, rather, an existential question about the desire to control and be in control over her bodily integrity as a Black woman.

This book examines Janet's continuation of her quest for control as heard in her sixth album, The Velvet Rope. Engaging with the album, the promotion, the tour, and its accompanying music videos, this study unpacks how Janet uses Black cultural production as an emancipatory act of self-creation that allows her to reconcile with and, potentially, heal from trauma, pain, and feelings of alienation. The Velvet Rope's arc moves audiences to imagine the possibility of what emancipation from oppression--from sexual, to internal, to societal--could look like for the singer and for others. The sexually charged content and themes of abuse, including self-harm and domestic violence, were dismissed as “selling points” for Janet at the time of its release. The album stands out as a revelatory expression of emotional vulnerability by the singer, one that many other artists have followed in the 20-plus years since its release.

In a bar called The Bucket of Blood, a man shoots the bartender four times in the head. In the small town of Millhaven, a teenage girl secretly and gleefully murders her neighbors. A serial killer travels from home to home, quoting John Milton in his victims' blood.

Murder Ballads, the ninth studio album from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, is a gruesome, blood-splattered reimagining of English ballads, American folk and blues music, and classic literature. Most of the stories told on Murder Ballads have been interpreted many times, but never before had they been so graphic or profane. Though earning the band their first Parental Advisory warning label, Murder Ballads, released in 1996, brought Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds their biggest critical and commercial success, thanks in part to the award-winning single, “Where the Wild Roses Grow,” an unlikely duet with Australian pop singer, Kylie Minogue.

Closely examining each of the ten songs on the album, Santi Elijah Holley investigates the stories behind the songs, and the numerous ways these ballads have been interpreted through the years. Murder Ballads is a tour through the evolution of folk music, and a journey into the dark secrets of American history.

"The first decades of the 21st century saw dramatic changes in the music industry as new technology transformed creation, communication, and consumption. Amid this turmoil one change occurred relatively quietly, almost naturally: so-called bedroom producers, music makers raised on hip-hop and electronic music, went from anonymous, often unseen creators to artists in their own right.

In Bedroom Beats & B-sides: Instrumental Hip Hop & Electronic Music at the Turn of the Century, Laurent Fintoni details the rise of a new generation of bedroom producers at the turn of the century through the stories of various instrumental hip-hop and electronic music scenes. From trip-hop, jungle, illbient, and IDM in the 1990s to just “beats” in the late 2000s, the book explores how these scenes acted as incubators for new ideas about composition and performance that are now taken for granted.

Combining social, cultural, and musical history with extensive research, the book tells the B-side stories of hip-hop and electronic music from the 1990s to the 2010s and explores the evolution of a modern beat culture from local scenes to a global community via the diverse groups of fringe idealists who made it happen and the external forces that shaped their efforts.

Includes quotes and stories drawn from more than 100 interviews with producers, DJs, label owners, and more including James Lavelle, Charlie Dark, Luke Vibert, Mark Pritchard, Flying Lotus, Georgia Anne Muldrow, El-P, Hudson Mohawke, Kode9, Prefuse 73, Anti Pop Consortium, Dabrye, Waajeed, Tekilatex, Ghislain Poirier, Kutmah, LuckyMe, Benji B, The Bug, and many more.

Bedroom Beats & B-sides is the first comprehensive history of the instrumental hip-hop and electronic scenes and a truly global look at a thirty-year period of modern music culture based on a decade of research and travel across Europe, North America, and Japan.

Laurent Fintoni says: “This book is a deeply personal project that has consumed me for over 20 years. I hope it can do some justice to the vibrancy and importance of the culture it seeks to celebrate and its people. I am grateful to Velocity Press for taking a chance on me as a first-time author and giving me space and support to tell the first, but hopefully not the last, version of this story.”

Quotes

“Laurent Fintoni has created an epic tome of information. It’s one of the best examples of connecting the dots between many facets of electronic music. He writes similar to a DJ seamlessly transitioning from one point to the other, with visual vigour. Not since Kwodo Eshun’s More Brilliant Than The Sun, has someone delved this deep between the beats.”

King Britt

“As hip-hop has erupted over four decades to become the dominant genre of the 2020s, this work casts essential analysis on an influential set of producers who rose from obscurity to influence pop culture. It’s a story of changes in music technology and musical education, but crucially of how a small set of outsiders sought to hack, adapt, and break their technology in pursuit of making something expressive and new. In appropriation of tech and genre, the beat scene is a worthy analogue to consider a culture facing the failures of postmodernism, and the opportunities of a new age in media.”

Dominic Flannigan (LuckyMe)

“Finally a deep dive into one of the more interesting new musical trajectories of the modern era.”

Sam Valenti IV (Ghostly)

“The music industry was caught looking the other way, head in the sand, handing out golden parachutes. In the used bins we would marvel at their trash, what they couldn’t sink their teeth into, upcycling it in our way.”

Daedelus (Brainfeeder)

With the "War At Warfield" Back Patch on tne back of your denim vest or bomber jacket, you label yourself as a die-hard Suicidal Tendencies stan. But don't forget to sport your ST bandana! Measures: approx. 21.5 x 30.5 cm.

Archivio is a new series of publications by Never Sleep focused on the exploring archiving practices displaying private collections of visual artefacts, memorabilia, collecting garments and graphic curiosities. A memories wunderkammer: from rave-club culture to the youth subcultures. The first issue, curated by Gabber Eleganza, is a publication made it during the Covid lockdown, collecting and scanning Rave records store advertisements, graphics curiosity and illustration ephemera find consulting tons of old techno and rave fanzines from the early 90s from: USA, UK, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy and Germany. A pure, rough and beautiful visual testimony of a unique and unrepeatable historical moment. Preface by Colin Stevan (Knowledge magazine and Velocity Press founder)

Jim Ottewill’s exploration of UK club culture and the urban landscapes that have housed it returns in a newly remixed form. This extended version features a new chapter exploring hidden histories and untold stories within Birmingham’s nocturnal scene to provide more insights into the past, present and future of electronic music culture.

“We don’t want more unaffordable flats. We want somewhere to dance…”

Since the dawn of time, humans have had the urge to come together and move to music. It may have started in caves but these days it happens in clubs often found in the shady corners of our towns and cities.

Or at least it did until these places succumbed to the beat of property developers rather than DJs. In London in the five years to 2016, half of the clubs were lost while a further quarter have disappeared in the devastation of Covid. So what now?

At this critical moment, Out of Space plots a course through the different towns and cities club culture has found a home. From Glasgow to Margate via Manchester, Sheffield and unlikely dance music meccas such as Coalville and Todmorden, this book maps where electronic music has thrived, and where it might be headed to next while exploring other shades of club culture too, such as pirate radio, dance music festivals, and sound system culture.

As our lives become increasingly digitised and real estate more valuable, we’ll look at the new clubbing models emerging in the 21st century. Rather than an epitaph, this is a rallying cry and celebration of the club’s resilience based on a lifetime of getting wide-eyed inside them.

Quotes:

“As gentrification, lack of funding, stifling politics and the pandemic continue to pummel nightlife, it feels all the more poignant to chart the past and present of raving, while questioning what’s next. With lively and forensic research, clarity of thought and a passion for keeping clubbing’s resilient spirit alive, Out of Space is less of a commemoration and more of a rallying cry.” – The Face

“Ottewill’s book is tireless in its seeking out of new buzzes in grassroots clubland, LGBT collectives and local scenes, all of them ensuring euphoric highs for future generations of ravers.” – The Wire

“Jim Ottewill lands in Glasgow, South Yorkshire and beyond to write this comprehensive rave chronicle ‘Out of Space’. In an era where nightlife spaces are increasingly endangered, Ottewill posits his record of the past as a pugilistic rallying cry.” – Resident Advisor

“Most importantly, the book goes beyond the four walls of each club to the urban sprawl that surrounds it as we’re taken on a local history tour. The author reminds us that clubs and parties, despite operating on the fringes of society, are an integral part of our culture, and many of us have gone through our own rights of passage, often travelling miles to experience our favourite clubs. Clubs and their supporting infrastructure not only have a heritage worth saving but also one worthy of capturing for posterity in a book – something which Ottewill has done justice to.” – Now Then

“Jim Ottewill’s look into urban rave culture defies expectations.” – The National

Maggot Brain is a full-color, quarterly magazine edited by noted Detroit scribe Mike Mcgonigal: 100+ pages packed with phenomenal content—art, music, literature, unpublished archival material, and more—with a simple promise to only exist on the printed page. The cover feature is a career-spanning piece by Tamara Palmer on Iceland’s most noted export since the foundation of their parliament in 930, Björk, with a terrifically gorgeous cover image by our illustrator, Marly Beyer. Also included and excerpt from a graphic novel by Marcellus Hall; Chelsea Wolfe, Wayne Phoenix, BE Your OWN PET, Penguin Cafe, a new food column from Quintron and much more.

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.

The dozens of artists and craftspeople featured in this volume create miniature representations of real-world scenes—everything from housewares, such as a thumb-sized rice cooker, to storefronts and cliffside dwellings suspended in test tubes, all the way up to entire multi-story buildings, with every detail preserved inside and out. Each of these exquisite works tells an intriguing story, encapsulating history, culture and memory, and elevating everyday items—the signage on the side of a garbage can, a rusted downspout—to objects worthy of artistic representation, prompting us through this striking shift of scale to perceive the world in whole new ways.

Among the featured artists, Tatsuya Tanaka brings Japanese iconography into his master work “Miniature Calendar,” while Joshua Smith, from Australia, keeps streets and addresses and memory alive by re-creating them in miniature, freezing them in time, complete with weeds and water stains. This book not only digs into the stories behind the works, but provides guidance for those who are ready to try their own hand at mini crafts. Three masters share their inspirations and techniques by revealing a detailed process of a single masterpiece.

Limited edition, detailed vinyl toy of X-Men: Days Of Future Past (1981) Wolverine out of the Funko Pop Comic Cover series. Height: approx. 9 cm. Highly collectible!

… And out come the wolves! The collaboration between Super7 and punk rock greats Rancid continues with the Skeletim - Wolf Head 3.75” ReAction Figure! This latest figure comes howling in with not one, but two guitar accessories to represent the axes used by Tim and Lars.

• Product Material/Process: Injected Plastic & Paint
• Product Dimensions (in): 3.75"
• Weight (oz): 3 oz

In the style of the Classic 70s point battling card game, get ready to to pit your favourite original UK punk groups against one another!

The filthy (The Sex Pistols, The Stranglers), the furious (Sham 69, Crass), the shambolic (The Fall, The Slits), the style-icons (The Damned, Siouxsie and the Banshees), the pop-maestros (The Jam, Buzzcocks), the Oi! boys (Cockney Rejects, U.K. Subs), the lo-fi heroes (The Desperate Bicycles, Subway Sect) and many many more.

Each of the 30 cards features original artwork and facts about the band.

So fasten your safety pins, spike up your hair and let battle commence with the categories of ‘Sneer Factor’, ‘Peel Sessions’, ‘Filthy Lucre’, ‘Fashion Punks’ and ‘Live Fast Die Young’.

Professionally printed, 32 card set (inc. instructions), 330gsm, laminated, casino quality, Trump size cards (100mm x 62mm), packaged in a printed slip box. Professionally printed, 32 card set (inc. instructions) 330gsm, laminated, casino quality, Trump size cards (100mm x 62mm), packaged in a printed slip box. Contains some rude words

In the style of the Classic 70s point battling card game… Welcome to Twin Peaks and its eccentric array of residents and visitors.

From the good and evil to the downright weird… you’ll meet a murdered homecoming queen, wisecracking FBI agents, malevolent spirts, high school students looking for trouble, a dancing dwarf, a riddling giant, a super strong wannabe cheerleader, a one-armed man, a lady who talks to a log and many more.

Each of the 30 cards features original illustrations and facts about the characters.

Battle it out with the categories of ‘Not What They Seem’, ‘Black as Midnight’, ‘Back in Style’, ‘A Glass of Warm Milk’ ‘From Another Place’ and ‘Damn Fine!’

Professionally printed, 32 card set (inc. instructions) 330gsm, laminated, casino quality, Trump size cards (100mm x 62mm), packaged in a printed slip box.

This is an unofficial fan-made product!

Prince of Grass is the debut poetry collection from Dan Wriggins, songwriter and frontman of the band Friendship. Loving and absurd, Wriggins' poems are overflowing cauldrons of metaphor, always inviting, always in motion. For fans of James Tate, C.D. Wright, David Berman, and pie for breakfast. Dan Wriggins is a writer and musician from Maine. He records and tours solo and with the band Friendship. His debut poetry collection, Prince of Grass, is coming in July of 2024 from Dear Life Records. He lives in Philadelphia with his dog, Roy.

Known for his socially conscious and politically charged lyrics, KRS-One, which stands for "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone," is recognized for his advocacy of education and activism within the hip-hop community. This articulated, 3.75” scale KRS-One ReAction Figure is inspired by the cover art from Boogie Down Productions’ album By All Means Necessary and includes a book accessory. Don’t be a part time sucker and miss out on adding this KRS-One ReAction Figure to your collection of hip-hop legends!

• Product Material/Process: Injected Plastic & Paint
• Product Accessories: Book
• Package Dimensions (in): 9"x6"x1"
• Weight (oz): 3 oz

Koji Takahashi, who loves The Clash, shares his love on the Clash and over 250 items from his vast collection of items from around the world! This is a book that can be enjoyed as a reading material, a buyer's guide, or a collection book, all wrapped up in the love of The Clash! Koji Takahashi says, "I always liked to collect movie flyers, so I had a habit of collecting them," but it is obvious that he is no longer at that level. The contents are overwhelming just looking at the photos of these items, including original albums, singles, country-specific discs, merchandise, apparel, posters, and more. Some of the items are one-of-a-kind.

Dive into the fascinating world of art history with a jigsaw puzzle that's a true masterpiece itself! Embark on an artistic journey spanning centuries. Each piece of this puzzle is a work of art in itself, depicting iconic moments and legendary artists that have shaped the course of art history. From early cave paintings and ancient Egyptian art, through the Renaissance, Realism and Impressionism, to the Modern era of Expressionism, Cubism and Pop Art, witness the evolution of creativity unfold piece by piece.

Piece together some of history’s most iconic pieces of art, including Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Edvard Munch’s The Scream, Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, and Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa. The Pieces of Art puzzle is a perfect gift: It's not just a puzzle; it's a captivating art history lesson waiting to be assembled. Share the joy of discovery with friends and family, young and old.

The puzzle image in Pieces of Art is illustrated by Martin "Mander" Ander, known for his humor and incredible attention to detail and reverence for art. Mander has beautifully captured the essence of each historical masterpiece, and his unique style and passion for storytelling through art shine through every piece, making this puzzle an immersive experience.

The Pieces of Art puzzle features high-quality, sturdy pieces that fit together seamlessly. The image reproduction is sharp and vibrant, ensuring that your completed puzzle will be a true work of art to display and cherish.

As you piece together each element of Pieces of Art you'll not only gain a deeper appreciation for the world of art but also experience the satisfaction of bringing these famous works to life, one piece at a time.

If there is one image that captures Punk Rock, it’s the Circle Jerks’ main dude Skank Man! The latest 3.75” articulated Circle Jerks ReAction figure of Skank Man was inspired by those xeroxed show flyers stapled to light poles back in The Day, with his Punk Rock attitude ready to go wild in the streets. Now you can bring the mosh pit to your collection!

• Product Material/Process: Injected Plastic & Paint
• Package Dimensions (in): 9"x6"x1"
• Weight (oz): 3 oz

A collection of Guided BY Voices frontman Robert POLLARD’s fantastic collage art in a perfect bound book. 235 pages. The man never stops creating.

Maggot Brain is a full-color, quarterly magazine edited by noted Detroit scribe Mike McGonigal: 100+ pages packed with phenomenal content—art, music, literature, unpublished archival material, and more—with a simple promise to only exist on the printed page. Issue # 10 has features on Belle & Sebastian, novelist David Gordon, 1960s-'70s Motown artist Christina Carter, Chris Forsyth & Steve Wynn, Tony IOMMI-era Black Sabbath, Buffy Saint-marie, and much more.

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.

Out of Space plots a course through the different UK towns and cities club culture has found a home. From Glasgow to Margate via Manchester, Sheffield and unlikely dance music meccas such as Coalville and Todmorden, this book maps where electronic music has thrived, and where it might be headed next…

Please note that Out Of Space is available as a paperback and postage is charged separately. There’s no postage charge for the ebook option which will be delivered as an epub file.

The first up to date, post-pandemic, no-borders era book to cover Berlin’s role as an electronic music and cultural capital. Coming To Berlin breaks the tradition of Berlin’s perception as techno ground zero and shows the true diversity and richness that make up the city. Written by a former Londoner who made Berlin his home, the book captures nuances and details of living in Berlin that will be immediately relatable to fellow Berliners yet at the same time captures the city’s creative, free-living essence to anyone with a curiosity for Berlin and a love of electronic music.

During the second half of the 1990s, Paris experienced a dance music revolution thanks to groundbreaking artists like Daft Punk, Air, Super Discount, Motorbass, Cassius, Dimitri from Paris, Bob Sinclar and many, many more. It was a scene that became known as French Touch and was heralded throughout the world as the epitome of dance music cool, forever placing Paris on the dance culture map. Journalist and author Martin James was there right from the start, documenting the scene from its inspirations to its earliest moments and onto its global breakthrough. In the process, he inadvertently provided the French Touch moniker that became adopted throughout the world. Drawing on a dazzling array of exclusive interviews with the biggest names in French electronic music history, French Connections explores France's significant contribution to dance music culture that paved the way for the French Touch explosion.

"As government legislation, standardised music and bad drugs forced the euphoria of the rave phenomenon into the darkness, a new underground movement emerged – the jungle and drum & bass nexus.

It was the sound of the beating heart of Britain’s multi-cultural urban rave, produced by the children of the Windrush and their closest friends, and distilled via the journey from a Tivoli Gardens soundclash, to the UK’s inner city blues parties and onto jazz-funk all-dayers and soul weekenders.

It was a space that was forged in the hidden edges of urban warehouses and the darkened recesses of clubland’s backrooms; schooled in the swagger of dancehall, the thunder of hardcore, the fury of bebop and the depth charge of dub.

Jungle and drum & bass was like nothing else the world had experienced before – simultaneously black and white, urban and suburban, old skool attitude and new school innovation. A socio-cultural melting pot of early-90s broken Britain seizing the wheel and taking control of the machine.

Originally published in 1997, State of Bass explores the scene’s roots through its social, cultural and musical antecedents and on to its emergence via the debate that surrounded the apparent split between jungle and drum & bass. Drawing on interviews with some of the key figures in the early years State of Bass explores the sonic shifts and splinters of new variants, styles and subgenres as it charts the journey from the early days as the deliberately hidden underground, ignored by the media in favour of the post-rave progressive house scene, to its position as a global phenomenon.

State of Bass: The Origins of Jungle and Drum & Bass extends the original text to include the award of the Mercury Prize to Roni Size & Reprazent for the groundbreaking New Forms album and brings new perspectives to the story of the UK’s most important subterranean urban energy.



Quotes

“Cogent, well researched and hardly oblivious to the nutty charisma of jungle’s lexicon and nomenclature. The first serious attempt to document the drum & bass realm is a total success.”
Select

“Exceedingly well researched, endlessly authoritative and undeniably ace…”
Melody Maker

“(State of Bass) deserves a special mention. A thorough account of the story of jungle.”
Ben Osborne, author of The A-Z of Club Culture

“The best book so far on the evolution of drum & bass”
Sheryl Garratt, author of Adventures in Wonderland: a decade of club culture

“Martin James comes up trumps with an in-depth examination of Jungle’s roots, history and even a recommended listening guide.”
Muzik

“Essential reading for anyone who is interested not only in the jungle scene… but in dance in general, in the music industry as a whole or even British society and its infrastructures.”
DJ

“An acutely perceptive and thought-provoking account of the circumstances and celebrities surrounding the development of a modern music that we can finally call our own.”
The Scotsman

“Well worth rattling through if you can track it down.”
FACT

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Record Culture Magazine is a biannual publication that focuses on niche music communities around the world and their intersection with the worlds of art, fashion and culture.

200 plus magazine featuring interviews and studio visits with:

– Louise Chen – John Gómez – Apiento – Regularfantasy – Lauer – Beatrice Dillon – Public Possession – River Yarra – Sadar Bahar – Anthony Naples And the visual feature, “A Decade of Power and L.I.E.S.

Mit den Büchern von Christiane Rösinger, Bernd íBegemann und Carsten Friedrichs starten wir eine Reihe, in der die Texte deutscher Musiker:innen erstmals in Buchform zugänglich gemacht werden. Texte von Musiker:innen, die die hiesige (Sub-)Kultur mit ihren íSongtexten in der Retrospektive ebenso geprägt haben wie die ausschließlich schreibende Zunft. Eine längst íüberfällige Würdigung außergewöhnlicher Songwriter:innen, deren Texte nicht bloße Anhängsel ígroßartiger Musik sind, sondern ebenso auch für sich stehen. Christiane Rösinger, geboren 1961, zog 1985 aus dem íBadischen nach West-Berlin, wo sie mit Almut Klotz und Funny van Dannen die Lassie Singers gründete. Nach deren Auflösung war sie Kopf der Band Britta. Rösinger war zudem eine der Betreiberinnen der legendären Flittchen Bar und betrieb das Label Flittchen Records. Sie veröffentlichte zwei Soloalben, mehrere Bücher und schrieb zahlreiche Theatermusiken. 2019 hatte ihr erstes Musical "Stadt unter Einfluss" Premiere im Hebbel am Ufer. "Was jetzt kommt" ist die Würdigung einer außergewöhnlichen Songwriterin. Ob Lassie Singers, Britta, Solo: das Buch enthält Lyrics aus allen Schaffensphasen, Geschichten und ein exklusives Christiane-Rösinger-Glossar.

Pünktlich zu seinem 60. Geburtstag erscheint in der Ventil-Verlag-Reihe "Ausgewählte Songtexte" eine Ausgabe mit 100 Songtexten von Bernd Begemann: "Gib mir eine zwölfte Chance". "Ich bin besessen davon, ein Beobachter zu sein" sagte er einmal über sich selbst und so sind seine Texte präzise Beobachtungen des bundesdeutschen Alltags. Begemann schafft es in den wenigen für einen Liedtext zur Verfügung stehenden Zeilen ein ebenso präzises wie mitfühlendes, erklärendes und vor allem unterhaltsames Bild der Gesellschaft zu erschaffen. Seine Songs könnten und sollten Hits und/oder Volkslieder sein, sie sind es aber nicht. "Meine Aufgabe ist es Literatur zu schaffen, nicht meine Kundschaft zu maximieren" so Begemann einmal gegenüber dem Spiegel. Höchste Zeit also für vorliegende Textsammlung und eine eventuelle Maximierung der Kundschaft. Zusätzlich zu den Songtexten enthält das Buch Anmerkungen und Erläuterungen des Autors zu jedem Liedtext und eine Einführung. Bernd Begemann, geboren am 1.11.1962, war der erste Punk in Bad Salzuflen. Er gilt vielen als Erfinder der Hamburger Schule und schrieb deutschsprachige Lieder, als es noch beziehungsweise schon wieder uncool war. Mitte der 80er zog er nach Hamburg und veröffentlichte mit Die Antwort sein erstes Album. Sein späteres Solodebüt nahm er in der Küche seiner Wohnung im Hamburger Arbeiterstadtteil Rothenburgsort auf. Ein urbanes Folk-Album mit Elektronik namens "Rezession, Baby!". Also das, was alle machen, bevor man das machte. Er war nämlich oft als Erster auf dem Minenfeld. Er inspirierte eine Menge Leute, von Tocotronic bis Olli Schulz. Begemann hat über 20 Alben und über 400 Songs veröffentlicht. Er trägt gern smarte Anzüge und spielt, wenn es die Umstände zulassen, Hunderte Konzerte im Jahr.

With his deep, booming voice, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels never needed lyrical trickery to stand out as a force to be reckoned with in the hip hop world. This 3.75” articulated RUN DMC ReAction figure of Darryl “DMC” McDaniels reminds us of his imposing physical and lyrical presence in one of the most iconic hip hop groups of all-time. There aren’t too many artists who it can be said truly changed the game, but RUN DMC broke the mold and stomped on the pieces. The RUN DMC ReAction figure of Darryl "DMC" McDaniels is a must-have for any collector or fan of these hip hop icons.

• Commemorate hip hop pioneers RUN DMC with ReAction figures by Super7!
• 3.75” articulated figure of Darryl “DMC” McDaniel
• Packaged on carded back with iconic logo

• Product Material/Process: Injected Plastic & Paint
• Package Dimensions (in): 9"x6"x1"
• Weight (oz): 3 oz

With his deep, booming voice, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels never needed lyrical trickery to stand out as a force to be reckoned with in the hip hop world. This 3.75” articulated RUN DMC ReAction figure of Darryl “DMC” McDaniels reminds us of his imposing physical and lyrical presence in one of the most iconic hip hop groups of all-time. There aren’t too many artists who it can be said truly changed the game, but RUN DMC broke the mold and stomped on the pieces. The RUN DMC ReAction figure of Darryl "DMC" McDaniels is a must-have for any collector or fan of these hip hop icons.

• Commemorate hip hop pioneers RUN DMC with ReAction figures by Super7!
• 3.75” articulated figure of Darryl “DMC” McDaniel
• Packaged on carded back with iconic logo

• Product Material/Process: Injected Plastic & Paint
• Package Dimensions (in): 9"x6"x1"
• Weight (oz): 3 oz

In Border/Between: A Symphony in Essays, Carol D. Marsh writes about death, addictions, and war while also exploring how written form and expression have a counterpart in music. Structured upon the 4-movement symphony and incorporating other forms such as the rock song and the Requiem, Border/Between seeks and finds its place in what lies between the sharp and unforgiving edges of ideology and judgment. In refusing to allow borders to govern her, Marsh is able to bring compassion and hope to what seems irredeemable.

Strange Things Behind Belgian Windows is exactly whatits title describes: a series of photos of the strange andintriguing objects people display behind their windows, for passers-by to look at. These tableaus will make you smile, or maybe even stop and reflect. A stuffed fox, a portrait of Christ, a dusty Egyptian bust, a globe with gaudy colours...They are exhibited like treasures behind a glass screen, inviting you to wonder about the stories behind them, or about the daily lives going on behind the facade. Photographer Jean-Luc Feixa roamed the streets and avenues of Brussels for months, with his camera in hand, curious about the hidden spots and the unique colors of his new hometown.

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.

In recent years, Björk's artistry has become ever more ambitious and ever more respected. With the release of her conceptual app-album Biophilia in 2011, and a huge retrospective exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art coinciding with her most recent album, Vulnicura, in 2015, her status as artpop auteur has been secured. The album that made all this possible, though is 1997's Homogenic, a turning point in Björk's career and still among her finest musical achievements. Produced under great strain, it moves beyond the stylistic magpie rush of Debut and the urbanophile future-pop of Post, to something darker, stronger and braver, full of dramatic assertions of independence, sharp, stuttering beats, rich strings and raw outbursts of noise. It created, as the Alexander McQueen designed sleeve clearly asserted, a new Björk, one who would never stop hunting.

Finally, a brilliant exploration of the German rock band Can's monumental 1971 album Tago Mago.
Tago Mago is a hugely unique and influential album that deserves close analysis from a fan, rather than a
musicologist. In this officially approved account of one of the most influential and powerful albums of the 1970s, Scottish novelist Alan Warner details the
concrete music we hear on the album as well as how it was composed,
executed and recorded—including the history of the album in terms of
its release, promotion and art work. Warner includes a backtracking of
the history of the band up to that point and also some description of Can's unique recording approach taking into account their home studio set up. Yet this tale of Tago Mago is more than just a history of the band; it is also the tale of a young man obsessed with record collecting
in the dark and mysterious period of pop music before Google.
Through a combination of Warner’s own experiences and interviews with the two surviving members of the band (drummer Jaki Liebezeit, keyboardist Irmin Schmidt and bassist Holger Czukay) Can’s Tago Mago
is a hilariously personal and illuminating picture of one of the biggest names in experimental rock.

160 pages, paperback.

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.