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The Impossible Dream – Smart Books for musical Minds! The Walker Brothers were the US counter-strike to the British invasion of the mid-60s. While The Beatles, the Stones and many others were busy colonising the US charts, three tall, handsome American men went into voluntary exile in a freezing London bedsit and launched their quest for pop stardom.

Not actually brothers, John (Maus), Gary (Leeds) and Scott (Engel) succeeded against the odds, becoming one of world’s biggest bands of 1966/67. With that came hit records – including two British chart-toppers, ‘Make It Easy On Yourself’ and ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ – and all that success entails: screaming girls, package tours, and intense interest in their private lives. The pressure of success eventually caused them to split, and the Walkers went their separate ways. Of the three, Scott is now the most prominent, having embarked on a mysterious solo career that has since become the stuff of myth, but Gary and John have recorded varied and interesting work, too. All three drifted into obscurity before reforming in 1976 and releasing the classic ‘No Regrets’ single. They concluded their recording career with one of the decade’s most influential records, 1978’s Nite Flights, about which Brian Eno recently exclaimed: “We haven’t got any further than this. It’s a disgrace.”

The Impossible Dream is an in-depth biography that traces the career of one of the most successful bands in pop history. In addition to assessing and analysing the talent and appeal of the enigmatic Scott, the author also covers the history and contributions of the other ‘brothers’, John and Gary, and provides a thorough analysis of all three men’s careers both as individual artists and as a group, from 1963 to 1978.

Drawing on decades of archive interviews with the band (some previously unpublished), and many new interviews with backing musicians, record label staff and producers, The Impossible Dream is the definitive telling of The Walker Brothers’ story.

Anthony Reynolds is a musician and a writer. He has released eight critically acclaimed albums, the first of which, contributed essays and critiques to many US and UK magazines, and has published a biography of Jeff Buckley.

Although some define hardcore as a specific sound, most believe it’s more than that: a set of varying ideas, ethics, principles, attitudes, and yes, music, that converge to form a community. So, what draws people to this underground scene, and why are so many able to find their “home” within its invisible walls? Burning Fight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution in Ethics, Politics, Spirit, and Sound by Brian Peterson provides some answers, but also brings up a whole new set of questions for those who‘ve been drawn to the scene’s political, social, ethical, and spiritual ideas amidst the screamed vocals and abrasive chords. Beginning in 2003, Peterson tracked down some people who were a part of ’90s hardcore. Over the course of five years, the idea spread into a project that included over 150 interviews with many band members, fanzine writers, show promoters, and others involved in hardcore during the ’90s from all around the country. “I decided to focus the book on the debates surrounding straight edge, animal rights, politics/activism, and spirituality,” Peterson said. “It seemed like you couldn’t go to a show in the early ’90s without getting into a discussion with someone about one of these topics. Obviously, there were many other important issues, ideas, and, of course, bands from this era, but I also realized I couldn’t write an encyclopedia. So, I went with the topics and bands that seemed to resonate most with the people I interviewed.” Burning Fight draws upon the memories of many who played influential roles in the ’90s-hardcore era to understand what made this scene so unique in its ability to synthesize music, politics, social issues, and spirituality into what many felt was a powerful counter-cultural movement where change was just around the corner.

Moon Pix was conceived during a hallucinatory waking nightmare in the South Carolina home of Chan Marshall one fateful day in 1997. Spirits violently swam up around her house, looming at the windows, beckoning her to join them. Her and her acoustic guitar warded them off song after song, nearly the entire album rushed forth onto a tape recorder that night. Facts, fictions and visions ripple throughout the accounts of Moon Pix from every angle- memories of screaming at an audience, spirals of drunkenness, swimming with sharks in Australia, intense, resonant lyrics and thunderstorms ringing through speakers. Like all legends, the aura surrounding them is an impression, a sensory feeling of unreliable memories: layers of stories become histories.

Through interviews with key players, audience member accounts, fictional narrative imaginings, a collection of record reviews and other explorations of truth, this book, like Moon Pix itself, is an ode to the myth within the music and the music within the myth.

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.