Books

The story of scott walker & the walker brothers paperback 352 pages

Review: 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 colonizing 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.

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.

Book including information text, sample contracts, advertisement, brochure and resource information (238 pages, paperback, black & white)

Review: The Mobile DJ Handbook (second edition) continues to be an excellent guide for novice and experienced DJs looking to build a successful career as the owner-operator of a mobile disc jockey service. Complete with practical tips, expert advice and creative strategies, this book serves as the perfect guide on how to market and sell your services as well as develop and expand your business.

This book contains information on becoming a professional, securing booking, buying equipment and music and running party dances, contests and games. Included within the text are sample contracts, an advertisement and brochure, and resource information. The Mobile DJ Handbook is an essential reference guide which offers readers all the knowledge and inspiration needed to run a profitable enterprise.

Whether you're a DJ, engineer, producer or aspiring remixer, this comprehensive collection of dance music tips and interviews from Keyboard magazine in packed with production secrets you can use.

Review: The story behind the making of the album that signaled the descent of Sylvester Sly Stone Stewart into a haze of drug addiction and delirium is captivating enough for the cinema. In the spacious attic of a Beverly Hills mansion belonging to John and Michelle Phillips (of the Mamas and the Papas) during the fall of 1970, Sly Stone began recording his follow-up to 1969's Stand! the most popular album of his band's career.

Book provides answers to questions for Traktor newbies and covers features for experienced users via practically oriented approach and tutorials with explanations (374 pages, paperback, black & white)

paperback 397 pages

Review: With more than two thousand songs handpicked and organized by former Spin magazine writer and editor Sarah Lewitinn (aka Ultragrrrl), The Pocket DJ is the ultimate insider's reference guide for selecting music, downloading MP3s, and making all-purpose mixes for every occasion imaginable. Playlists include:

Essential genres: with crowd-pleasing dance mixes for indie rockers, headbangers, and hip-hop lovers alike

Essential artists: with the best songs by all the greats from the Beatles to Björk

Celebrity playlists: featuring Duran Duran, Smahing Pumpkins, Interpol, and Good Charlotte, among others

Other playlists: with tunes for working out, making out, or rocking out

Plus rock trivia, new music recommendations, DJing tips, Web resources, and more!

Deluxe 200 page (24x30cm) flexibound book featuring photographs from New York's house ballroom drag scene between 1989-1992

Review: This deluxe 200 page 24x30cm flexibound book features hundreds of
stunning photographs from the hidden world of New York's house
ballroom drag scene out of which came 'Voguing', the dance made
famous by Madonna.
Introductory text is by Tim Lawrence, author of two seminal music
books: 'Love Saves The Day: A History Of American Dance Music
Culture, 1970-79' and 'Hold On To Your Dreams: Arthur Russell And
The Downtown Music Scene, 1973-92'.
To coincide with the book, Soul Jazz Records will be releasing an
album of the same name in 2012, featuring Masters At Work, MFSB,
Junior Vasquez, Diana Ross, Armand Van Helden, Loose Joints, First
Choice and many more.
Photographer Chantal Regnault lived in New York between 1989-92,
photographing the scene at its height the dancers Willi Ninja, Jose
and Luis Xtravaganza (who all worked with Madonna) as well as
the legendary 'mothers' of the gay and transgender world - Avis
Pendavis, Peppa LaBeija, Carmen Xtravaganza, Dorian Corey, Paris
Dupree and more.
Voguing came out of the extraordinary house ballroom scene that
emerged in Harlem, New York in the 1980s where men competed
against one another for their dancing skills, the realness of their drag
and their ability to walk on a catwalk runway like a model.
Voguing erupted into the mainstream in 1990 when Madonna's song
'Vogue' became Number One in over 30 countries. The year before
Malcolm McClaren first brought voguing into the mainstream with his
song 'Deep In Vogue' featuring dancer Willi Ninja. In 1990 Jennie
Livingstone's film 'Paris Is Burning' documented the house ballroom
scene in its ascendant, the film a runaway success grossing over
$4,000,000.
As voguing entered into the mainstream the house ballrooms of
Harlem came downtown mixing with the downtown fashion crowd of
Manhattan, before the onslaught of the AIDS epidemic ravaged the
ballroom community.
These wild years of voguing and the house ballroom scene are vividly
captured at its height in hundreds of amazing, previously unpublished
photographs. A visual riot of fashion, gender, polysexuality and
subversive style, 'Voguing And The House Ballroom Scene Of New
York 1989-92' is also a fascinating document on sexuality and race.

238 page paperback book showcasing street artist Banksy's work

Review: Artistic genius, political activist, painter and decorator, mythic legend or notorious graffiti artist? The work of Banksy is unmistakable, except maybe when it's squatting in the Tate or New York's Metropolitan Museum. Banksy is responsible for decorating the streets, walls, bridges and zoos of towns and cites throughout the world. Witty and subversive, his stencils show monkeys with weapons of mass destruction, policeman with smiley faces, rats with drills and umbrellas. If you look hard enough, you'll find your own. His statements, incitements, ironies and epigrams are by turns intelligent and cheeky comments on everything from the monarchy and capitalism to the war in Iraq and farm animals. His identity remains unknown, but his work is prolific. Here's the best of his work in a fully illustrated colour volume - including brand material.

First published in December 2001, Brooklyn-born Wax Poetics hit newsstands with a new vision for music journalism. This anthology gathers the first five issues into a deluxe must-have hardbound edition. Colour, 238 pages.

From Jazz pioneers to Eugene McDaniels, Sun Ra and Joe Zawinul to influential hip-hop artists like DJ Premier and the Beastie Boys. Hardback, Colour, 231 pages.

Selection of rare strange and bizarre record covers, exploring an element of music culture behind (268 pages, paperback, 262 4-colour plates)

Review: A team of obsessive collectors has gathered together a unique and worldly selection of rare album covers that spins bizarre and mind-boggling narratives. Wax Poetics are not deciphering mysteries, only adding to their mythos. Every album cover tells a story and here Wax Poetics enter the world of the odd, obscure and outrageous. Some hint at the profound, via spiritual, supernatural, or chemical explorations, or speak of the prosaic wolrds of war, sex and comedy. And some are by far more interesting than the music itself.

The Cover Story Volume Two: Odd, Obscure, and Outrageous Album Art, the second installment in the Cover Story series from Wax Poetics Books, continues a graphic narration of the vibrant subculture of record collecting through the art of the album cover. This volume focuses specifically on strange and bizarre record covers, selected by the staff of Wax Poetics and major collectors of music's avant-garde.

The Cover Story series vividly explores an element of music culture that has withered with the advent of MP3 and digital downloading. Vinyl records tell their stories visually as much as they do aurally and the record cover, the eye candy for the music lover, speaks a language rooted in the environment and era of the music itself. The Cover Story Volume Two: Odd, Obscure, and Outrageous Album Art celebrates the products of music's most eclectic and eccentric figures, those whose artistic visions were so absurd and grandiose, they often extended beyond the boundaries of the recording and onto the album covers themselves.

Book showcasing over 100 paintings, hundreds of sketches and doodles, plus comments about the pieces written by Barnes (128 pages, hardback, colour)

Review: The What's Weird? is the debut book from David Barnes, the long-time cover artist for of Montreal. Over the past decade, Barnes has developed a cult following. Barnes' visual interpretations of the group's music has been manifested in the form of iconic album covers and theatrical live performances that feature skits along with elaborate stage sets and props.

The What's Weird? is the first collection of his work to appear in book format. In his true DIY style, David personally poured over hundreds of drawings and paintings spanning his career. He picked and placed each piece to create What's Weird?, a book showcasing over 100 paintings, hundreds of sketches and doodles, as well as funny, interesting, insightful comments about the pieces written by Barnes, all providing a glimpse into his mind and unique creative process.

The What's Weird? is released in conjunction with of Montreal's latest release, the thecontrollersphere mini album. It includes digital download of page-by-page artist commentary.

80 page book plus a free CD

Review: Produced with, and accreditied by Point Blank, this is the complete introduction to modern turntable techniques. A ten-lesson program demonstrates the best equipment, records, and the top ten DJs. Learn to beat-mix, drop-mix, switch tricks, fill tricks, spinback (rewind), back to back mix, and a capella mix for the coolest party sets. Get your wrists around the baby scratch, the scribble, and the chop. Mix with your CDs/MP3s, present a demo and get yourself out rocking parties before you know it. The CD is packed with demonstrations and examples of beats, skills, and tunes.

192 page paperback book + 7" single

Review: Yeti 13 is presented in a gatefold sleeve with artwork by Genevieve Castree and includes posters from Christchurch, NZ in the 1980s, oral history of the rock band Codeine, Gisele Prassinos, Ben Bush, Ilyas Ahmed, Sarah Meadows, David Moreno, Quentin Rowan, Josh Bayer, Mike Kelly tribute + 7" single (192 pages, paperback, colour).