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Now in stock: The Sneeze Magazine N61 aka The Violet Issue. The latest edition of the Sneeze Magazine is dedicated to skateboard deck designer/producers and skate team Violet, shot by legendary photographer and filmmaker Ari Macropoulos. Violet is a skateboardin company with a pro team made up of nine riders, each featured with their own portrait in this issue of Sneeze. Among the images is an interview of Violet, Ari and the contemporary skateboarding scene. Includes features of William Strobeck, Seven Strong, Kader Sylla, Patrick O'Mara, Auguste Bouznad, Efron Danzig, Troy Gipson, Kyle Teh, Kris Brown, Mike Ward, Jax and Lucas as well as stickers. Dimensions: approx. 28 x 40.5 cm (folded) / 56 x 81 cm (unfolded); printed in Canada.

In July 2019, eleven years after Jay-Z became the first hip-hop artist to headline Glastonbury, Stormzy became the first English rapper to follow suit. Wearing a customised stab-proof vest designed by Banksy, the South London rapper delivered an explosive performance and finished by thanking the “legends for paving the way,” name-checking Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, and Giggs. Despite how unlikely it seemed for decades, UK rap was now firmly a part of pop music and the greater hip-hop canon.

Rich, nuanced, and often misunderstood, the history of UK rap is a story of music that refused to stand still. Factoring in socioeconomics, gender, identity, music industry disruption, and innovation, What Do You Call It? charts the artform’s first four decades, beginning when rap landed on our island in the early 1980s. Shaped by sound system culture, inspired by punk, and accelerated by rave, it has evolved from Britcore, UK hip-hop, and trip-hop of the late twentieth century to garage, grime, and drill.

Through cultural theory, historical research, and original interviews with key figures and collaborators in the UK rap scene, from pioneers like Malcolm McLaren, Soul II Soul, Tricky, Roots Manuva, and Roll Deep to modern artists like Dave, CASISDEAD, Little Simz, Loyle Carner, and Skengdo x AM, adds a rich human dimension to the UK rap story — one that helped change British music and culture forever.

Cover design by Trevor Jackson.

“A long overdue exploration of rap music in the UK and its longstanding – albeit overlooked – legacy and influence. In an era when UK rappers dominate the charts, star in major movies and TV shows and front huge advertising campaigns for multi-national corporations, Kane traces back the arduous journey from maligned sub-culture to celebrated mascot of neoliberal capitalism.” Jehst

“David Kane writes with a deft touch and possesses a disarming and deeply insightful interview style. Sparking life, humour, and sorrow across every page of more than three decades of UK rap history.” Charlie Dark MBE

“Kane builds bridges in a rich musical universe full of heroes and villains—and plot twists. With an inimitable style, he merges culture high and low to bring new meaning to the music. What Do You Call It? is a landmark tome for UK rap music.” Brian DiGenti, Wax Poetics

“A mind rich in ideas” Stanley Ledbetter, The New Yorker

Weight: 0.4 kg
Dimensions: 23 × 3 × 17 cm

“Raghunath’s transformation shows how one person’s choice to evolve can change the lives of so many. This book is real, funny, and inspirational.” – Jay Shetty The heartfelt memoir of Ray Raghunath Cappo, a legendary hardcore-punk musician-turned-monk—and pioneer of the straight-edge movement—told with warmth, candor, and humor. Ray Cappo was a hardcore-punk singer and pioneer of the straight-edge movement living on the Lower East Side of New York City in the ’80s, where his band Youth OF Today played to packed clubs and touched thousands of people across the globe. But despite the accolades from fans, the popularity of his records, and the positivity he’d brought to the punk music scene, none of this success gave Ray joy. He felt stagnant, and he yearned for something more. This, along with his father’s untimely death, led him to abruptly quit the band and buy a one-way ticket to India in pursuit of the answers to life’s great mysteries. Living as a monk in the sacred city of Vrindavan and traveling across the country on a series of train trips, Ray embraced the rich, spiritual culture he discovered there. As his unusual adventure unfolded, he encountered extraordinary characters, witnessed deep acts of devotion, and experienced profound moments of divine connection, leading to a radical transformation that was ego-crushing and blissful all at once. Inspired to write music again, Ray returned to the US, where he and other monks founded Shelter, a band dedicated to spreading a message of faith, hope, and love. Told with warmth, candor, and humor, this heartfelt memoir chronicles Ray’s emotional and

eye_C Magazine's first cover this time is dedicated to the mag's legacy and their Spring 24 collection titled ‘Snow in April’. The cover shoot, shot in Tokyo is also accompanied by an interview with one Jockum Hallin, one of the label’s co-founders. Their second sees the return of norbit by Hiroshi Nozawa as a cover brand featuring an editorial shot in the mountains west in the Greater Tokyo area. Lastly a simple cover dedicated to eye_C Magazine's love of Navy featuring some of the latest pieces from the editor’s choice x SEE SEE.

eye_C Magazine also included several multi-brand editorials for this issue featuring a plethora of different labels alongside their regular product highlights.

A landmark publication celebrating the life and work of American musician and composer Arthur Russell, the man the Guardian called 'One of the 20th century's true musical visionaries'

The music of Arthur Russell defies classification. From his pioneering compositions as part of New York's vibrant avant-garde scene (alongside artists including Philip Glass, David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, John Cage, and Allen Ginsberg) to his genre-expanding disco productions, from his new wave and art pop to his posthumously released folk songs, Russell crafted timeless and foundationally influential work until his premature death in 1992 from AIDS-related illnesses.

Now, in a landmark publication assembled by critically-acclaimed writer Richard King, Travels Over Feeling collects the extensive ephemera found in Russell’s New York Public Library archive, along with pieces from the personal collections of those who were closest to him. Combining unseen visual material—handwritten scores, lyrics, photos, letters, and drawings—with new texts by King and extensive original interviews with Arthur’s collaborators, contemporaries, family, and friends, Travels Over Feeling paints a portrait of Arthur Russell unlike any which has come before, revealing a true picture of one of the most distinctive artists of the last fifty years.

Charles Arthur Russell Jr., better known as Arthur Russell (May 21, 1951—April 4, 1992) was an American cellist, composer, producer, singer, and musician from Iowa whose work spanned a disparate range of styles. After studying contemporary composition and Indian classical music in California, Russell relocated to New York City in the mid-1970s, where he became involved with both Lower Manhattan's avant-garde community and the city's burgeoning disco scene. His eclectic music was often marked by adventurous production choices and his distinctive voice. He died from AIDS-related illnesses in 1992.

Richard King was born in South Wales and for the last twenty years has lived in the rural county of Powys, in mid-Wales. He is author of Original Rockers (2015), which was shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize, and How Soon Is Now? (2012), which was Sunday Times Music Book of the Year. The Lark Ascending was published in 2019, and was a Rough Trade, Mojo, and Evening Standard Book of the Year. His latest book, Brittle with Relics, was published in February 2022.

‘50 years later, hip hop’s influence has never been stronger. This book is proof of that – a must have for collectors, artists, dreamers, and hip hop heads everywhere.’ – Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean), record producer and rapper

A visual and cultural history of hip hop, charting its meteoric rise from underground trailblazer to global tastemaker

To tell the story of contemporary American culture is to tell the story of hip hop. From its humble, underground origins, hip hop transcended the confines of rap music and spread its influence across a broad spectrum of American life – fashion, film, art, sports, politics, language – to become a cultural movement of profound influence.

Rapper’s Deluxe is a critical contribution to America’s cultural canon, shining a light on hip hop’s ability to redefine and influence culture, through: photographs; fine art; advertisements; book, magazine, and album covers; film stills; and more. Organized chronologically from the 1970s to the present, image-rich and dynamic layouts show the people, places, events, objects, outfits, and inspirations that redefined the world as we know it – from fur-coated fans lining up for a Muhammad Ali fight at Madison Square Garden to a legendary party in the “Boogie Down” Bronx, through the hoods of South Los Angeles and the trap houses of Atlanta to the extravagant red carpet looks of the Met Gala.

Drawing on a broad range of curated examples, Dr. Todd Boyd re-examines hip hop’s legacy and how the genre remixes ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture, past and present, to come up with a style that is uniquely its own. Filled with original insights and clever wordplay, Rapper’s Deluxe is a tale of transformation, following hip hop’s arduous, but always triumphant, journey as it rose up to dominate the game.

‘A sumptuous object and a museum of a book. It’s probably everything you think it is, and it’s definitely then some.’ – Art Spiel

‘A visual and cultural history of hip hop, charting its meteoric rise from underground trailblazer to global tastemaker.’ – Aspire Design and Home

About the author
Dr. Todd Boyd is Price Chair for the Study of Race and Popular Culture and Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at USC. A media commentator, author, producer, and consultant, Dr. Boyd has appeared in documentaries such as The Last Dance (ESPN, 2020) and the Ken Burns-directed Muhammed Ali (PBS, 2021). His body of work includes seven books and his essays have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Guardian.

Specifications:
Format: Hardback
Size: 270 × 205 mm (10 5/8 × 8 1/8 in)
Pages: 298 pp
Illustrations: 430 illustrations
ISBN: 9781838666224

The definitive history of the iconic ‘90s videogame TV show, written by host Dominik Diamond.

GamesMaster: The Oral History charts the highs and lows of Channel 4’s iconic and anarchic UK videogames entertainment show. First broadcast in 1992 amid a brash youth television takeover, the ambitious and sometimes chaotic production of GamesMaster is as much a story of the 1990s, set against a backdrop of videogame console wars, Britpop and a curious new thing called the World Wide Web. This definitive retrospective is guided by show host Dominik Diamond and features over 40 contributors, including production crew, celebrity guests and the games-playing members of the public who became either playground heroes or defeated outcasts vying for the iconic Golden Joystick prize.

'Any fan of GamesMaster should come away from this book having learned something new, but it would be an interesting read even for those who never saw the show. In any case, we can’t imagine any way to have done it better' Retro Gamer

'Superb' Time Extension

About the Author: Dominik Diamond is a Scottish television and radio presenter and newspaper columnist. He is best known as the original presenter of Channel 4’s video gaming programme GamesMaster, as host of The Dominik Diamond Breakfast Show on XFM Scotland and as a columnist for the Daily Star.

Format:PLC Size:23.0 x 16.0 cm Extent:320 pp Illustrations:100 Publication date:6 October 2022 ISBN:9780500025918

Lennon and McCartney – Together Alone This is the definitive book on the solo recordings of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, two of popular music’s greatest writers and performers.

The story is told chronologically, starting with their first work outside The Beatles: McCartney’s soundtrack for The Family Way film and Lennon’s Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins with Yoko Ono. The book details Lennon and McCartney’s creative highs and lows in an authoritative, complete, and engagingly critical fashion. Information for collectors includes release dates, catalogue numbers, composer credits, recording personnel, recording studio, and producer credits, and there is a keyed index to help trace each song and the albums it appears on. Blaney’s perceptive style makes this a fascinating read as well as a work of reference, and the book includes illuminating archive quotes from Lennon, McCartney, and others. Together Alone tells the stories behind the songs of two giants of modern music. John Blaney is a passionate fan of The Beatles who brings to his writing the expertise and rigor of a professional historian. Born in Devon, England, he trained as a graphic designer before starting a career in music retail. He subsequently studied History of Art at Camberwell College of Arts and Goldsmith College (both in London) before taking up his present post as curator of a museum of technology. He is the author and publisher of previous books on both Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

Rick Ridgeway calculates that he’s spent over five years of his life sleeping in tents: “Small tents pitched in the world’s most remote regions.” Whether at elevation or raising a family at sea level, those years taught him, he writes, “to distinguish matters of consequence from matters of inconsequence.” Some of his adventures made news: the first American ascent of K2; the first traverse of Borneo; the first crossing on foot of a corner of Tibet so remote no outsider had ever seen it. Big as these trips were, Rick kept an eye out for the quiet surprises, like the butterflies he encounters at 23,000 feet on K2 or the furtive silhouettes of eared pheasants running wild in Tibet. What really comes alive in Life Lived Wild are his relationships with his fellow travelers, such as Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, The North Face founder Doug Tompkins, and filmmaker Jimmy Chin. Some companions don’t make the return journey. Rick treats them all with candor and straightforward tenderness. And through their commitments to protecting the wild places they shared, he discovers his own.

Patagonia Life Lived Wild - Details:

• hardcover
• 424 pages in color throughout with over 150 photos and maps
• published by Patagonia
• format: 15 x 23 cm
• printed in Canada on 100% recycled paper

Eine Kulturgeschichte des Fußballsounds Als die Fußballstadien während der Pandemie leer blieben, schalteten auch viele Fernsehzuschauer:innen nicht mehr ein. Ohne die Resonanz von den Rängen - die Gesänge, das Geraune und Gejubel - verlor das Geschehen auf dem Rasen schlagartig an Reiz. Nie war es offensichtlicher, dass der ganz spezielle Sound einen wesentlichen Teil der Faszination dieses Sports ausmacht. Fangesänge und professionell produzierte Hymnen verleihen dem Spiel nicht nur emotionale Tiefe und prägen die Fußballkultur, sie waren auch entscheidend für die Verwandlung des Sports in ein Unterhaltungsprodukt. So ist es nicht übertrieben zu sagen: Der Aufstieg des Fußballs zur populärsten Nebensache der Welt wäre undenkbar gewesen ohne die Musik, die ihn umgibt. Gunnar Leue hat den Sound des Fußballs als Fan in Stadien live erlebt und als Journalist und Autor beschrieben. Mit "You"ll Never Sing Alone" legt er eine umfassende Darstellung des Themas in all seinen Facetten vor. Unterhaltsam wie informativ erzählt das Buch die Geschichte der Fußballbegleitmusik von der Entstehung des modernen Fußballs im 19. Jahrhundert bis in die Gegenwart. Es schaut zurück auf die skurrilen und wenig bekannten Anfänge des Fansupports, auf erste singende Fußballstars, die Entstehung von Vereinshymnen und die Entwicklung der Ultraszene zu einer internationalen Jugendbewegung. Immer wieder stößt Leue auf den einzigartigen Zusammenhang von Fußball und Pop, der die Gesangskultur in den Stadien prägte und diverse Kommerzialisierungswellen seit den 1920ern auslöste. Entlang dieses Spannungsfelds geht das Buch den Fragen nach, die den Kern der Fußballkultur betreffen: Sind Stadien bedeutende Orte, an denen sämtliche Milieus einer gespaltenen Gesellschaft zueinanderkommen und gemeinsam singend agieren? Oder doch nur weitere Arenen des Entertainments, in denen sich passive Konsument:innen berieseln lassen? Mit einem Vorwort von Thees Uhlmann. Hardcover, farbig ca. 256 Seiten

Titelstory: Depeche Mode Anlässlich des neuen Albums „Memento Mori“ widmen wir uns auf 46 Seiten der Welt der Synthie-Pop-Pioniere Depeche Mode. Es gibt einen großen Vinyl-Guide zu Studioalben und Live-Bootlegs, dazu Interviews mit Sänger Dave Gahan, Bandentdecker und Mute-Gründer Daniel Miller und Stammdesigner Anton Corbijn. Zudem haben wir einem leidenschaftlichen Depeche-Mode-Fan einen Besuch abgestattet und blicken in Form von Historys auf die New-Romantics-Bewegung der frühen 80er und auf die Entwicklung der Remix-Kultur, die Depeche Mode geprägt haben.

Frauen und Vinyl Warum sind Frauen in der Vinyl-Welt immer noch Ausnahmeerscheinungen? Wir haben Sammlerinnen quer durchs Land interviewt und nach Antworten gesucht.

Coturn Ein neuer Plattenspieler setzt Maßstäbe für die mobile Wiedergabe. Der Weg dorthin war weit. Wir haben den Erfinder in seinem Atelier besucht.

Musik zum Lesen Von Pink Floyd über Prince bis Rory Gallagher: sechs aktuelle Bücher, in denen sich Schallplatten- und Musikfans verlieren können.

Master Class Frank Wonneberg widmet sich in der Reihe zu Albumklassikern „Surfer Rosa“, dem einflussreichen Debüt der Indierocker Pixies.

Enthüllt: Prince Die Ideen hinterm Cover von Prince’ „Around The World In A Day“, einem psychedelischen Meisterwerk, gestaltet von Doug Henders.

Soundtrack Of My Life Garbage-Sängerin Shirley Manson über „The Scream“ von Siouxsie And The Banshees

Weitere Themen der Ausgabe Praxistests zu Plattenspieler, Phono-Vorverstärker und Regallautsprecher, über 100 LP-Besprechungen auf 50 Seiten, die Rubrik „33 1 / 3 Cover“, News-Features, Dr. Mint, Vinyl-Vorschau, das Sleeveface des Monats und vieles mehr.

Highlights of our fifth VEHICULUM issue include…

PAUL WHITE… In this day and age, where everything and everyone is expected to be a disposable commodity, life is about performance only and not necessarily about permanence. It’s a shallow world ruled by limited shelf-life and the false hope of being obsolescent-immune. And the highly-detailed drawings of Australian artist Paul White capture the phased-out goods of that very process.

THE KRAGE LEGACY… Did you know that West-Berlin felt like the worldwide capital of Speed Boat racing in the 70s and 80s? Hans Georg Krage co-founded the MCR in 1973, and organized races on the upper and lower Havel river for the next two decades. His son Peer opened his impressive photo archive for this impressive (and speeding) trip down memory lane.

BODY KIDS… Photographer Bernardo Aviles Busch came across the Tokyo-based Lowrider scene rather accidentally. Luckily, he carried his trusted camera with him and captured the spectacle on the streets of late night Shibuya.

NEW YORK CHRONICLES … Brooklyn-based photographer Luc Kordas has managed to become an expert of dichotomy over the years. On the one hand he’s the creative mind behind the popular “You Live Only Twice“ travel blog, on the other hand he’s known as a street photographer who’s capturing the ever-bustling inner city life of NY.

- plus more visual stimulations and awesomeness from the likes of: Craig Steck III, Chris Labrooy, Kenton/Davey, Karl Hab, Ant Farm Collective, Tom Sachs, Jason Rhoades and many others.

- WHY Ebay... Every once in a while you get introduced to the work of an emerging artist that immediately makes you reflect on why you fell in love with graffiti, graphic design, fashion and getting inked in the first place. It is as if you suddenly got invited to observe things from an edge, wondering when and why you suddenly stopped to rethink - or think ahead - the many possibilities these mediums offer while admiring the audacity, presumed playful easiness and variety of ideas on display. And one of these artists goes by the capricious name of Why Ebay.

- Richard Kern... There are quite a few protagonists that portrayed the seedy underground of NYC in the 80s, and East Village-based Richard Kern certainly is one of the most prominent ones. As a filmmaker he was one of the driving forces behind the Cinema of Transgression, for which he explored hysteria, sex, drugs and violence through the punk rock lens - topics he committed to for a large part of his professional career as a photographer as well.

- Cali Thornhill Dewitt... Creating subversions of the American flag. Being a roadie for grunge royalty. Running a publishing house. Doing radio. Preparing for solo-exhibitions worldwide. Running a record label. Actually, the creative endeavors of celebrated artist Cali Thornhill DeWitt are too numerous to list, but it’s safe to state that the collaboration with Abloh and Kanye a few years back might have been the moment that catapulted his name into the mainstream consciousness once and for all.

- plus more elaborate features and visual awesomeness from the likes of: Marta Blue, Mark Mulroney, Clamm, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Icy & Sot, Dry Cleaning, Matt Hansel, Mike Osborne, Djinn and many others.

Published in 2005, The Void is a book that features a collection of photographs by Naoki Ishikawa. The photos illustrate the primeval forest on the North Island of New Zealand. It is a dense and deep forest that the indigenous Maori inherited as a sanctuary. A young Naoki Ishikawa trekked solo through these forests for a month and a half, taking pictures of what he saw as he went. Looking at the work 17 years ago, Mr. Ishikawa says, "What I was thinking at that time and what I think now hasn't changed at all."

From remote areas such as the Arctic Circle and the Himalayas to Japanese visiting gods and prehistoric cave paintings, Naoki Ishikawa has perceived the world with his own body and captured it in photographs. Mr. Ishikawa's first photo book The Void was released in 2005. The subject is a primeval forest where nature and humans have built a mature relationship. Now that interest in the global environment is increasing, Mr. Ishikawa's photographs and words give us a lot of awareness. To think about the future of the earth.

Dimensions: 34 x 27 cm; printed and bound in Japan.

Packed with almost 5,000 images, Logo-a-gogo is an inspirational visual history of the iconic brand identities created by design supremo Rian Hughes over the past 20 years. Case studies reveal the making of his famous comic book logos including Batman and Robin, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Captain America, Wolverine and those for his diverse range of other clients, from bands, artists and fashion retailers to international corporations. Preliminary sketches and alternative concepts appear alongside the final design, and Hughes is refreshingly candid about his experience of meeting briefs and finding creative solutions sharing insider stories on the highs and the lows, and giving invaluable tips for getting brand identity right. With an introduction by Grant Morrison, the Eisner award-winning comics writer and longtime Hughes collaborator, this is an amazing resource for designers, typographers, and comic book illustrators to draw on in brand identity and other graphic design projects.

Drawing from Pop art traditions, Kaws’s work straddles the line between fi ne art and popular culture, crossing the mediums of painting and sculpture, along with fashion, merchandise, vinyl toys, and, most recently, augmented reality. This book, made in close collaboration with the artist, features his most well-known works alongside sketches, preparatory drawings, and neverbefore- seen images of Kaws at work, revealing the meticulous process behind his iconic artworks. Accompanying a major retrospective exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, it captures the artist’s unique ability to reshape the ways we think about contemporary art and culture today. - Daniel Birnbaum is a contributing editor to Artforum, art critic, curator, and director of Acute Art, an art and technology laboratory in London. Eugenie Tsai is John and Barbara Vogelstein Senior Curator, Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum.

‘His work is universal, and it transcends the traditional market. It bridges fi ne art and commercial art, and that taps into a global, deep audience.’ – David Galperin, Sotheby’s New York ‘Kaws has gotten approval from an artworld establishment that he felt would never take his guerrilla act as its own.’ – Interview ‘Neither a fi ne artist who does commercial work, nor a commercial artist who does fi ne art, Kaws is decidedly both at once and emphatically neither as he refuses to parse those distinctions of high versus low.’ – Paper ‘There hasn’t been an artist over the last 25 years who exists in his own stratosphere, his own singular universe, quite like the artist we know as simply, Kaws. ... From toys to graffi ti, fi ne art to fashion, art collecting and public art that bridges American pop culture to an international audience, Kaws has defi ned an era where the artist can be whatever he or she wants to be without compromise.’ – Juxtapoz

Titelstory: Prince Unser Special beleuchtet das Lebenswerk des Pop-Pioniers und Ausnahmekünstlers mit einem besonderen Vinyl-Fokus. So erzählen wir die Geschichte rund um das neue Album „Welcome 2 America“, lassen Weggefährten zu Wort kommen und präsentieren sein Gesamtwerk an 39 Studioalben in einem großen Vinyl-Guide.

Posthume Alben The Doors, Jeff Buckley, Marvin Gaye: Wir präsentieren 14 Meisterwerke, die nach dem Tod der Künstler erschienen sind.

Bücher Lesevergnügen auf insgesamt 3.500 Seiten: Wir stellen 10 Neuerscheinungen vor, in denen sich Schallplatten- und Musikfans verlieren können.

Musikarchiv NRW Wir werfen im Musikarchiv NRW einen Blick auf 80 archivierte Jahre der Musik-Geschichte Nordrhein-Westfalens – und darüber hinaus.

Enthüllt: Oasis Wir beleuchten die Geheimnisse hinter dem Covermotiv von „Definitely Maybe“ – fotografiert von Michael Spencer Jones.

Ein Tag im Boxen-Labor Das Traditionsunternehmen aus Schwaben baut Lautsprecher der Extraklasse. Wir besuchen das Nubert-Hauptquartier.

Master Class Frank Wonneberg befasst sich in seiner Reihe zu großen Alben diesmal mit Back To Black, dem Neo-Soul-Klassiker von Amy Winehouse.

Soundtrack Of My Life Moby spricht über „Heroes“ von David Bowie.

Weitere Themen der Ausgabe Praxistests zu Plattenspielern, Tonabnehmer und Vorverstärker, über 90 LP-Besprechungen, die Rubrik „33 1/3 Cover“, News-Features, Dr. Mint, Vinyl-Vorschau, das Sleeveface des Monats und vieles mehr.

Written by former DJ/producer Harold Heath, Long Relationships: My Incredible Journey From Unknown DJ to Small-time DJ is a biographical account of a DJ career defined by a deep love of music and a shallow amount of success. It’s the first book to detail exactly what DJing is like for the 99% of DJs who never make it big. Covering electro, hip hop, rare groove, acid house, rave and the UK underground club scene, it’s a 30-odd year tale of a life lived in dance music. Long Relationships is full of tales of clubs, raves, warehouses, DJing, music, record production, record deals, low-level international travel, shady promoters, dodgy club security, magical dance floor moments and much more.

Graffiti for Beginners is an easy-to-follow introduction that presents you with the basics behind graffiti lettering. The two funky yet classic graffiti alphabets created by experienced graffiti artist Mega gives you the opportunity to learn a basic graffiti style, as well as a more advanced wild style. Each of the alphabet’s 26 letters has its own spread where the building blocks of the letter are carefully displayed next to the specified space for you to practice, along with illustrations of how the letters can be used in different words and names. In addition to the letters, you will find examples of characteristic elements used in graffiti such as 3D or shades to add depth to the letters, or arrows, stars, bubbles, highlights and shines to make the piece stand out. Graffiti for Beginners 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. Learning graffiti has never been easier or more fun! Graffiti for Beginners suits all ages and is a great tool for advertisers, home stylers, school teachers, kids and creative adults alike.

"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)"

GRRRLS BY LODOWNMAGAZINE
it’s not just a buzz. It’s for real this time. Slowly but steadily, it’s gonna happen. That thing called change. And it will be a predominantly female-centric one.
You shouldn’t expect any kind of elaborate superstructure in this very issue though. There is no men vs women and its implicit over-simplified presentation format of evil vs good - because reality proved itself to be a lot more complex than that. Instead, Lodown’s latest issue GRRRLS presents itself as a celebration of all the uncountable female talent out there that’s dedicating their craft to turn this planet into something more beautiful, smart, reflecting and overall rad again. That’s it, really. It’s a celebration of those individuals with an intact moral and intellectual compass. The days where girls have to be something other than themselves altogether are finally numbered.


Highlights of our GRRRLS issue include…

- SARAH MAPLE... Celebrated British artist Sarah Maples certainly is no stranger to challenging your beliefs about society, gender roles, religion, Internet culture, the art circuit, and whatnot - she smoked in a hijab, got beaten live on tape, transferred Disney-princesses into the academic world, and is pro-orgasm while wearing a burqa. What usually would be considered as being downright smart and deliciously provocative immediately got incredibly scandalized because Maple’s not only pro-feminist but of mixed Islamic background.

- MENTRIX... All it needs to snap out of the current state of ignorance is reminding ourselves that it’s actually quite simple to become bigger than we’ve been recently - greater in spirit and more courageous. And Berlin-based Samar Rad aka Mentrix could be just the right musical catalyst for bringing this endeavor into fruition. At this point, the multidisciplinary artist is far from being exhausted from fighting the good fight, even though she basically spent the last four years working on the accurate transition to introduce her artistic vision to the world - and the result is nothing less than breathtaking.

- SHAUNA TOOHEY... When the cultural landscape becomes a drag, it is high time to create a new narrative. Multidisciplinary artist, designer, The Changes member and mother, Shauna Toohey advocates living joyously through community engagement, inclusive creativity, collective wah-wah and a decent dose of subversive rupture. The status quo has no choice but to mutate. Toohey is all for making culture collective and (psy) active in the here and now, not stuck in yesterday’s rut, but brandishing future vision and grounded in today’s fun.

- COMPUTER GRRLS... The first computers were programmed by women, 75 years ago, and women wrote the software behind Neil Armstrong’s ‘giant leap for mankind’. Since then, IT has become ever more important and gradually turned into a field for nerds where women seem out of place altogether. But the tide is turning: a new wave of Computer Grrrls presents itself through a fantastic exhibition at Rotterdam’s MU, which highlighted the historical role women played in the development of computer science.

- plus more elaborate features and visual awesomeness from the likes of: Abigail Varney, Mia Haggi, Brijean, Agnes Denes, Karen Hackenberg, Midsoomar, Issy Wood, The Paranoyds, The Evolution of IT Girls and many others.

Vol 3 of the interviews series – Includes interviews with: DJ Hen Boogie & Izadoe from Bay Area crew The Dereliks, Izniz [Ghettolandz/The Madness/Burn UNI/Boom Bap Nation], Eddie Meeks Insane Cirkle & Southern Vanguard Radio , Charlie Dawk The Superstar from Da Phlayva/Langston, Joseph Caldwell from Lower Level, Supreme The Rudeboy aka DJ Supreme, Dope artwork by AzhqOne.

Themen Mint Nr. 36

Titelstory: Deep Purple Es existieren wohl nur wenige Bands, die so lange aktiv sind und zugleich so viele Besetzungswechsel hinter sich haben. Auf 40 Seiten widmet sich Mint deshalb zunächst jeder einzelnen „Mark“ der Hardrock-Pioniere, wie Deep-Purple-Fans die Besetzungen bezeichnen, sowie ihren wichtigsten Studio- und Livealben. In der „Master Class“ nimmt sich Frank Wonneberg in aller Ausführlichkeit Machine Head vor; das musikalisch einflussreichste Album der Band, während Fotograf Didi Zill, der die Briten über Jahrzehnte begleitete, für Mint sein riesiges Fotoarchiv geöffnet hat. Mint-Chefredakteur Dennis Plauk geht in „Enthüllt“ ausführlich auf das Cover der dritten, nach der Band benannten LP ein. Und nicht zuletzt stellen Sänger Ian Gillan, Schlagzeuger Ian Paice und Gitarrist Steve Morse die Soundtracks ihrer Leben vor.

Zuhause ist, wo die Plattensammlung steht Michael Reinboth, DJ und Chef des Labels Compost Records, gewährt Mint-Redakteur Florian Schneider einen umfassenden Einblick in seine Plattensammlung,

Signierte Schallplatten Mint-Autor Gerrit Terstiege erzählt von einem ganz speziellen Sammelgebiet, in dem er sich selbst rege betätigt: Vom Künstler selbst unterzeichnete Platten und Plattencover. Wie verifiziert man die Authentizität, welche signierte Platte ist die teuerste – und möchte man sie überhaupt besitzen?

Der Tütensammler Vinyl ist nicht der einzige Kunststoff, für den sich Roman Bühlmann begeistert. Seit 1980 sammelt der Schweizer Schallplatten – und fast genauso lange die Plastiktüten der Läden, in denen er sie kauft. Mint-Autor Florian Höhr besuchte Bühlmann in Schaffhausen und lernte eine Kunstform für sich kennen.

Musik-Bücher Fünfmal neuer Lesestoff zum Lieblingsthema. Vom Krautrock-Label Brain über eine Joy-Division-History, eine popkulturelle Chronik der 70er, eine Ringo-Starr-Biografie zu David Byrnes Abhandlung über die Wirkung von Musik.

Weitere Themen der Ausgabe Neue Boxen, Verstärker und Plattenspieler im Praxistest, über 90 LP-Besprechungen, die Rubrik „33 1/3 Cover“, News-Features, Vinyl-Vorschau, das Sleeveface des Monats und vieles mehr.

At the outset of summer in 1990, a Houston gangsta rap group called the Geto Boys was poised to debut its self-titled third album under the guidance of hip-hop guru Rick Rubin. What might have been a low-profile remix release from a little-known corner of the rap universe began to make headlines when the album's distributor refused to work with the group, citing its violent and depraved lyrics. When The Geto Boys was finally released, chain stores refused to stock it, concert promoters canceled the group's performances, and veteran rock critic Robert Christgau declared the group "sick motherfuckers."
One quarter of a century later the album is considered a hardcore classic, having left an immutable influence on gangsta rap, horrorcore, and the rise of Southern hip-hop.
Charting the rise of the Geto Boys from the earliest days of Houston's rap scene, Rolf Potts documents a moment in music history when hip-hop was beginning to replace rock as the transgressive sound of American youth. In creating an album that was both sonically innovative and unprecedentedly vulgar, the Geto Boys were accomplishing something that went beyond music. To paraphrase a sentiment from Don DeLillo, this group of young men from Houston's Fifth Ward ghetto had figured out the "language of being noticed" - which is, in the end, the only language America understands.

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.

Thomas Sweertvaegher’s photographs celebrate the unbreakable family of skaters and the thrills, spills and freedom of skating life.

At the age of twenty-nine, Sweertvaegher has spent most of his life on the road with friends, indulging his dual passions of photography and skating. Years of travelling the world – always on the move and often carrying nothing more than a camera and a skateboard – have yielded the photographs collected in this volume, where the skateboard remains a constant symbol of freedom, an extension of one’s identity and an enduring bond between friends.

Rolling on the margins of society, exploring the limits of life and his own young adulthood, Sweertvaegher captures whatever is happening around him during his travels. His shots take the reader on a journey, showing the highs and lows, bruises and stitches of skating and street life, and ultimately celebrating the beauty such a life can bring. While it captures Sweertvaegher’s odyssey from a highly personal perspective, The Journal of a Skateboarder is also a visual documentary of the skating world, and features key figures such as Axel Cruysberghs, Arto Saari, Dylan Rieder and Rodney Mullen.

Not only do scripts and alphabets form bridges between cultures, but their history and the stories they tell are the perfect springboard for calligraphic experimentation.

From India to Ethiopia, Tibet and beyond, Denise Lach has travelled widely in the world of script. Here, she documents complex and simple characters, playful shapes and vibrant colours, which she then translates into her own visual art. She demonstrates the exciting design possibilities offered by script: you can repeat, turn, mirror and rotate letters; you can also experiment with rhythms, contrasts, colours and line widths.

In addition to calligraphic techniques, Lach introduces examples from printmaking, fabric printing, collage making and digital techniques.

Brimming with beautifully photographed works of art – on paper, stone, fabric or ceramic material – Journeys in Calligraphy will take you to many surprising destinations.

Contents:

Early Writing
Ethiopia
Swahili
Kannada
Tibet
Burma
Runes
Malay
Other Journeys

192 pages, 26 x 23,5 cm, hardcover.

Oasis’s 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.

144 pages.

For our anniversary, we knew we had to do something special to please all the vinyl heads that supported us for the last ten years. So we approached the legendary Legend Bros and asked 'em to create a couple of designs dedicated to the dying species of vinyl diggers. As it turned out, it was a wise move in two different ways: First, we have a few very special exclusives to offer in our shop, and secondly, we are now able to cover our walls with a message that describes our lifestyles perfectly. 100 g/m² glossy paper; dimensions: 42,0 cm x 59.4 cm (DIN A2).