Books & Magazines -- Recently Added  

The mighty second issue of one of the funkiest magazines around -- great reading that falls somewhere in a space between Straight No Chaser and Wax Poetics! This issue's got a special focus on international beats -- with features on the scenes in Glasgow, London, LA, and Amsterdam -- plus articles ...

The first issue of a magazine that's destined to be huge -- a publication that picks up the UK scene where Straight No Chaser left off -- but one that's also in funkier Wax Poetics territory too! The magazine's got the same size and great look of SNC, but covers territory that's even more wider-ran ...

A Silver Mt Zion graces the cover of the 51st issue of Signal To Noise -- representing the stylistically sprawling, ultra creative Montreal scene -- an apt flagship piece for one the best print journals of boundary busting, uncompromising music from around the globe! STN does a fine job here ...

Cooking along with a great set of classic soul articles -- all put together with the top-shelf look and all-color format we love in There's That Beat! This time around, the magazine takes a look at the productions of Jerry Ross, the music of Jimmy Radcliffe, and the Soul Records imprint of 60s ...

A magazine that's as wonderful to look at as it is a joy to read -- filled with great features on 60s and 70s soul, and packed with plenty of full-color pictures as well! This time round, heavy coverage is given to George Kerr, The Vibrations, and Soulville Records -- and there's also some great ...

Essential reading for any fan of classic soul -- and one of the few great soul magazines ever published on our side of the Atlantic Ocean! There's That Beat continue a top-shelf run here with features on The Dynamics, Willie Tee, Chicano Soul, Philadelphia Soul, and the Motown family of labels -- ...

Another amazing issue of this essential magazine for all fans of 60s soul -- a publication with graphics as great as its writing and choice of topics! This time around, there's great features on Loma Records, Dynovoice, and Gordy -- plus a huge story on producer Johnny Brantley -- the man behind ...

Shook's definitely shaking things up this time around -- really stepping strongly past its first two issues, with even more material than before! The range of articles is totally great -- features on The Young Disciples, Chaka Khan, Charles Burnette, Kid Creole, Hector Lavoe, and others -- as well ...

The second in the anthology project of the mighty Wax Poetics magazine -- Issues 6-10 of the deep funk, jazz, soul and hip hop journal of record -- an excellent run with pieces on 45 King, Eugene McDaniels, Sun Ra, Roy Ayers, Pete Rock, DJ Premier, Wilson Simonal, Eddie Bo, Oliver Sain, Willie ...

A great look at an under-exposed chapter of Sun Ra's life and talents -- his theoretical and political writings, presented here in a series of broadsheets and leaflets! Although Ra could sometimes be a bit mysterious and obtuse in his poetry and songs, these writings are far more direct -- often ...

A fascinating and straight up beautiful journey into the world of Sun Ra's early Chicago years with a focus on the visual -- a book full of amazing artifacts from Ra's El Saturn Records -- preliminary and finished sketches, album covers, used and unused artwork, production materials, show flyers ...

An incredible guide to sound library music around the world -- one that features artwork from countless different labels, brief notes on their history and output, and even a bonus CD of incredibly groovy music! The package is quite unique -- not really a discography, not really an art book -- but ...

Misty Lane take on the big and small names both this time around -- digging deep into 60s beat and garage -- and drawing strong lines towards manifestations of the genres in later decades! This issue hits the 160 page mark -- clear proof that Misty Lane is more of a book than a magazine -- ...

148 pages and counting -- glossy, heavy, and filled with great bits on a huge variety of garage and psyche groups -- plus a bonus CD as well! The Misty Lane crew dig deeper than ever this time around -- uncovering bits from the past we'd never heard before, and also casting new light on a few ...

A massive amount of stories, interviews, news, and reviews on all things garage, groovy, and gritty -- not just work from the 60s, but a few contemporary artists as well! Misty Lane is easily one of the best publications going for music like this -- and although it's often years between each issue ...

A huge 10th anniversary edition of this fantastic music magazine -- filled with more hip information than you'll find in most books! Artist features include The Spiders, Thingies, The End, Kennelmus, Beatstalkers, Homard Violet, Plato & The Philosophers, Rigor Mortis, Tura Santana, Illusions, ...

A well-done look at the No Wave movement of the late 70s New York scene -- one put together with the same simple, straightforward qualities of the music itself! The book's filled with images -- mostly in black and white, and with a visual vibrancy that really helps support Marc Masters' historical ...

One of the hippest record stores in the world gave birth to an equally hip label in the late 70s -- and since that day, Rough Trade's gone on to have an undeniable influence on the sound of modern music! This book looks strongly at the key years of the imprint -- the first decade of existence, in ...

Classic hip hop photography from Janette Beckman -- who shot many an old school and golden age master -- collected in this beautiful 144 page book! Brit Beckman actually got her start in the UK punk scene, and had the prescience to shoot as much of the nascent hip hop, b-boy and b-girl scene as ...

For y'all smart dumb cats -- Ghostface goes 'lit -- with a photo heavy book built out from the skits on his classic LPs! Few would dispute that Ghostface Killah is one of hip hop's greatest MCs -- and the World According To Pretty Toney adds another notch to his Ironman belt -- comic author for ...

An incredible document of the early years of hip hop -- a beautiful book of photographs by Jamel Shabazz, showing the New York scene at its best! The book features images taken by Shabazz between 1980 and 1989 -- all on the streets of New York, showing a range of people, scenes, and styles. Most ...

Club to festival-sized dancefloor kingpins Daft Punk, Kinks-genius Ray Davies, and pioneering photographer Elisabeth "Lee" Miller are the cover subjects for issue 36 of Stop Smiling -- the Expatriates issue! The Expat theme runs a little loosely, but it's an apt one for each of the above ...

DC's revolutionary Bad Brains and little known Memphis cat (cough) Elvis Presley rock the respective front and back covers of the Rock Issue -- the 30th from of the deep diggers at Wax Poetics! Wax Poetics, almost needless to say, does a really inspired job of chronicling the sprawling, soul ...

A great counterpart to the Sampling Dictionary -- one that offers up most of the same material, but in reverse! Like that volume, this one offers up a huge list of tracks that have been sampled by hip hop songs -- over 17,000 listings of different samples from the past few decades, presented in ...

An essential book for detail-oriented beatheads -- a "Sampling Dictionary", and one that spells out original samples used for thousands of hip hop tracks! The book's of Japanese origin, and it's done with a thoroughness that blows away previous efforts like this -- completely ...

A history and biography of the AACM by George E Lewis -- the jazz and cultural institution that includes legends and modern masters such as the Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Anthony Braxton, Muhal Richard Abrams, Henry Threadgill, Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Nicole Mitchell and many more -- including the ...

A great document not just of the Trojan label, but of Jamaican music from ska, through the rocksteady years, on to the golden age of reggae up through the present! This book is a concise little document of the Trojan imprint from its inception in 1968, and showcases the development of reggae ...

This time around, the magazine is heavy on Chicago soul -- including an interview with Marvin Junior of The Dells, a Betty Everett feature, and the mag's regular Chicago Soul feature! Other bits are all great too -- especially the trademark Soul Up North rundown of recently-unearthed rare records - ...

An amazing little book -- at a new low price -- and an essential guide to all things funky and groovy! For nearly a decade, Peter Wermelinger's been compiling information about rare 60s and 70s records on his well-trafficked website -- cover art, session details, catalog numbers, and all the key ...

Another one of those nice little Japanese discography books, this time taking a swing at Jamaican Ska records. As with other titles, it's all in Japanese, but features lots of great color reproductions of covers, as well as some label and catalog number information. The text is pretty inclusive, ...

An amazing reference for any fan of rare disco -- the first-ever book to look at the rare acetates, bootlegs, and medley vinyl from the 70s and 80s! The production level is amazing -- with full color images throughout, and a wealth of information on each title -- plus detailed additional features ...

A wonderful counterpart to the series of Japanese soundtrack CDs we've been stocking -- and a book that's filled with incredible images and a bonus CD of music! Although the book does have some details in English -- profiles of a few actresses and films in the Japanese "bad girl" genre ...

If you liked the first volume of this essential book, you'll love this revised edition -- because it's almost 3 times bigger, and stuffed with great new features! The book's a lifetime labor of love for Freddy Fresh -- an extensive discography that's got to be the most definitive book on early hip ...

The mighty Al Green graces the cover of Wax Poetics this time around -- in support of the issue's wonderful in-depth article on the man and his music -- plus an additional set of interviews with Questlove and James Poyser about the Lay It Down album! But lest you think the issue's an all-Al ...

Always essential reading from the Wax Poetics crew -- one of those magazines we wouldn't miss for anything, and which we proudly store on our shelves as if it were a book! And sure, they upped the price a few bucks this time around, but the journal is still a total bargain -- all color, filled ...

A big, beautiful tome to Wild Style -- the benchmark movie and chronicle of early hip hop culture -- from Charlie Ahearn, the writer/director himself! Wild Style -- The Sampler is a richly detailed book that goes into detail about the art of the projects that spawned the culture Wild Style ...

A great companion to John Manship's well-known soul 45 price guide -- in that it offers a complete listing for bootlegs of rare records -- which should help you determine whether or not your copy is an original! Manship's put a heck of a lot of effort into this volume -- and although it's somewhat ...

A great follow-up to Jazz Critique's first issue devoted to rare grooves from the Japanese scene -- done with over 100 pages of discographical information on rare Japanese albums -- including dates, players, and titles -- both for records by Japanese artists, and obscure sessions cut by Americans ...

Another great collection of classic album cover art from Princeton Architectural Press -- this one lovingly devoted to the past half century of the best work for Latin albums! This is easily one of our favorite books of album cover art we've ever come across, not just for the wealth of great work, ...

The South London soul scene gets its due on the cover -- and the funkier Leeds scene is featured as well -- in this great Brit-heavy issue of Straight No Chaser! As usual, the magazine's got its ear to the ground for up and coming grooves -- and is an essential link to some of the best bits going ...

Rza's looking plenty painterly on the cover of this issue -- but our real interest is held by the great features on Seu Jorge, Koop, and Amp Fiddler -- plus the jazzy stepping scene in Japan! As always, Chaser proves itself to be the best source for news on grooves that know no boundaries -- all ...

One of our favorite groups of the past few years grace the cover of SNC this go-round -- the mighty Soil & Pimp Sessions, the Japanese combo who are changing the face of jazz in the clubs! Other highlights include features on Mr Bongo, Billy Bang, Heritage Orchestra, and Robert Glasper -- plus ...

The lovely Jhelisa makes a long-awaited return -- and Straight No Chaser does a good job of reporting on her post-Katrina recording sessions! Other features include a report on the philosophy and culture of Brazil's AfroReggae scene, an article on Dusty Groove's favorite unpredictable genre-(re)fus ...