Books — New Arrivals — Books   New Arrivals Last Two Days 1st Time at DGA  

A great overview of exotic music in all its forms – not just the familiar American variant of the postwar years, but also a strong look at Italian exotica too! The book was originally penned in Italian, and has a good ear for the kind of unusual soundtrack and sound library material that... read more

A guide to essential Old School Rap & Hip Hop from team at the indespensible All Music Guide – featuring more than 500 music reviews of important records by Grandmaster Flash, Run-DMC, NWA, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy and so much more – plus reviews on soul and funk LPs... read more

A great look at one of the more modern sides of our fair city – a beautiful book that focuses on the Lake Shore Drive apartments of architect Mies Van Der Rohe! Mies had a huge influence on the city's look in the postwar years – and some of his most striking creations are a set of... read more

A range of essays on the music, influence, and cultural significance of the late John Coltrane – easily one of the key forces to have shaped our taste here at Dusty Groove! The book offers a number of differing perspectives, some with an academic tone, some a bit more political – and... read more

An absorbing biography of one legendary French singer Edith Piaf – one of the most alluring voices of the past century – and superbly written by Carolyn Burke! Edith Piaf lived as fascinating of a life as any international icon we can think of – musical or otherwise – and... read more

One of the most heartbreaking stories we've ever read from Daniel Clowes – penned with a sense of pathos we never would have expected during his Ghost World years! The book has a great format – long sideways, like a newspaper comic strip – and Clowes' pages alternate between... read more

A heavily detailed story of the great Nina Simone – her really unique place in music and American society – with a strong focus on the boundaries she broke and bridges she burned! Author Nadine Cohodas wrote a previous book on Dinah Washington, and does an even better job here with... read more

Vintage images from Japanese movie posters – almost all of them hand-painted for the local market, and quite different than more famous images that circulated worldwide! The work here often has a warm, painterly quality – which really personalizes the presentation of the films,... read more

Cultural historian Alice Echols explores the massive shifts in American culture during and as impacted by the disco era – not only in fashion and record sales – but the racial, sexual and behavioral landscape at large! Echols is a biographer and historian, but she's also former disco... read more

A remarkable collection of a half century of writings on James Brown – from a Variety piece way back in 1959 up to a Rolling Stone profile from 2006 – edited by Nelson George & Alan Leeds and featuring work items from trades, newspaper and magazine profiles, select liner notes and... read more

The story of the Creole Band – the 7-piece group that took to touring the US in the 1910s – and thusly introduced a lot of people to the pioneering strains of New Orleans-style jazz to heck of a lot people for the very first time – and planting seeds for much of the jazz music to... read more

The life story of Buddy Guy – one of the the key blues figures to come out of our Windy City home! David Ritz helps shape the story, but the book is definitely in Buddy's own words – which vividly paint a picture of both the Chicago scene, and the growing global world that began to... read more

The sensational early 70s document of the big city pimp culture by writer Susan Hall & photgrapher Bob Adelman! It features fascinating interviews with "professional gentleman of leisure" Silky and his "wives" – and filled with jaw dropping b&w photography. A... read more

A wonderful tribute to the Impulse Records label – one that's put together with as much graphic sensitivity as you'll find on the company's album covers of the 60s! The book is incredibly well researched – both from archival material and over 50 interviews with artists and producers... read more

An amazing little book, and one hell of a lifelong research project – a huge volume that documents deep details about the American underground of vanity, or "private" press records – obscure pieces of wax that were usually just pressed up by an artist for their own pleasure... read more

A book we can really get behind – partly because we're a groovy local retailer, just like the ones featured in the pictures! The volume is exactly what's promised in the title – a beautiful look at storefronts in Brooklyn – from local grocery stores, to mom and pop neighborhood... read more

Some of the greatest albums in rock and roll are those that were never released – including some that finally saw the light of day after decades, like the Beach Boys' Smile! This book really gets at that fact beautifully – showing how, although never issued, some of these key creative... read more

A massive book on the music of Bob Marley and The Wailers – written in collaboration with Aston Barrett and other group members – and offering up a huge amount of detail that we haven't seen in other Marley biographies! The style is great – and offers up loads of personal... read more

A thick, photo heavy book dedicated to the greats of Latin rock – from the creative firestorm that burst from the 60s San Franisco Haight scene, up to Santana's surprise commercial juggernaut Supernatural in the late 90s. The book goes far deeper Santana, though, with reminiscences from a... read more

A surprisingly beautiful book from Patti Smith – her memoirs of her years with Robert Mapplethorpe, told with an even more sensitive voice than we might have expected from her music! The book has earned Patti a whole new range of appreciation – and for good reason too – and in... read more

A really unique look at The Velvet Underground – a book that traces their late 60s experience and existence at a day-by-day level – offering up crucial dates in their career with very vivid happenings, and lots of photos and images too! The book is way way more than a diary – as... read more

Not just the "why" of jazz, but the "who", "how", and "when" as well – all laid out in a really unique format by jazz critic Kevin Whitehead! The book is roughly chronological, based on the history of jazz – but the approach is quite unusual... read more