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A wonderful memoir from the glory days of the Italian soundtrack scene – penned by Franco De Gemini (aka "The Man With The Harmonica"), and filled with loads of color photos and images of albums! Franco's memoirs are often quite personal – at a level that sheds tremendous new light into the workings of the Italian scene back in these days, and filled with loads of great asides and stories that are as compelling as the historical details themselves. The book is heavy on text, but features many images in color – including a huge section in the back that offers cover images for dozens of classic albums on the Beat label! CD features 19 of the funkiest, grooviest tracks ever from Beat – titles by Armando Trovajoli, Franco Micalizzi, Alessandro Alessandroni, Roberto Pregadio, and many others – and the book is over 200 pages, softcover, and very nicely done! (Note: This is a second edition of the book From Beat To Beat – reprinted with a new title, and 24 more pages of material.)

A great overview of the sound of surf music on the west coast – a surprisingly detailed volume that really fills in a lot of gaps in our knowledge of the genre – which can often be a bit oblique, due to a lack of studio and session details on the original records! Kent Crowley traces the genre from the start – looking at pre-surf guitar styles, then focusing on the big waves of the scene as surf evolves strongly over the 60s – and even looks at some later manifestations of the style too. The book's got a nice batch of black and white photos in the middle, and is 256 pages, softcover.

The heady life and even hipper music of Sly Stone – told here by an author who managed to get Stone's participation on the project! The book focuses most strongly on Sly's rise to fame and key late 60s/early 70s years – a time when his records not only changed the face of soul music, but also had a pretty big influence on rock as well. Kaliss also follows Stone through some of his more obscure years, and captures him during his recent comeback moment, too – although we'll be the first to admit that the vintage bits are the most interesting. The book features introductions from Stone and George Clinton, plus a nice photo section in the middle. 210 pages, hardcover.

Stevie Wonder's classic albums as guided though a musicians lens, rather than only the the prism of popular culture – put together by London based musician, columnist and author Steve Lodder – who has worked with Carla Bley, George Russell and Paul McCartney to name a few! The book focuses on 5 classic albums in particular: Music Of The Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale and Songs In The Key Of Life. Paperback, 240 pages.

A beautiful book that documents the overlooked legacy of Brion Gysin – contemporary and collaborator of William S Burroughs and other important beat figures – but also an artist with a vision that goes way beyond that initial moment! The book brings together a wealth of images of Gysin's creations – his paintings, photos, printed work, and even instructions for building your own version of his legendary dream machine – alongside historical details on Brion and key moments of his life, plus reflections on his importance by John Giorno, Genesis P Orridge, and others. A hefty museum book – 196 pages, full color, and hardcover!

The excellent annual roundup of out-of-print issues of Shindig – plus a pair of previously unpublished articles from the groovy magazine for psyche, garage, prog, powerpop, soul, folk and more! Annual Number Three comes hardbound with cool, foil on black cover art – and items on Pretty Things, Flamin' Groovies, Kevin Ayers, The Scaffold, The Strawbs, Procession, Fire, Alice Cooper, The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, Procession, Green Beat, David Daltrey and more!

Amazing images galore – some classic covers from the Jamaican scene of the 60s and 70s, and lots more obscure images too – all presented in very vivid color, with a lot more clarity than any of the beat up original copies we have in our collection! The book really does full justice to the visual side of the reggae scene – and brings together a huge amount of covers we've never seen before, with others that look way more vibrant here than on a tiny CD reissue – presented in this record-shaped book that reminds us why albums always look so great in the racks! Most images are overflowing with color – really beautiful reproductions – and the oversized book is hardcover, and almost 240 pages overall.