A really cool project, and one that's even cooler than you might guess from the title – as the graphic novel is a very well-done exploration of key strands of electronic music – starting with the early years, moving through disco, Chicago House, Detroit Techno, and beyond – all with individual chapters that really do a great job of telling the story! At some level, the book is a bit like the hip hop history of Ed Piskor, but there's a different approach to storytelling too – as the scenes are interwoven with more personal, reflective elements – almost a Harvey Pekar quality at times, which really makes the narrative come alive. The artwork is great – mostly black and white, but with some color as things move to the 21st Century – and we're really pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable the book is, and especially proud of the way it handles Chicago. Harcover edition is 239 pages, with images throughout – and a smaller text section at the end. Book

Many years back, we always thought that David Byrne should have written a children's book – a volume to convey the best themes of some of the Talking Heads tunes to a younger, impressionable generation. And while that never actually happened, this beautiful edition of work released in conjunction with the American Utopia stage performance may be the next best thing – all sorts of lovely little illustrations from Maira Kalman, interspersed with text from Byrne from the performance – brought together in a volume that's as much a pleasure to flip through as the larger performance on stage. This isn't an attempt to capture the show in a book – but instead kind of a sidebar, almost a distillation of the ideas taken into a cool new format – served up in a hardcover volume, with full color illustrations throughout! Book

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From our perspective in the 21st Century, the film career of director David Lynch is the stuff of legend – long and loudly hailed – yet for the man himself, the road to success was a long one – and even along the way, Lynch struggled with countless creative difficulties and personal issues that sometimes made the path between thought and expression a very long one! Here, Lynch himself recounts a lot of those years of struggle, with plenty of help from co-writer Kristine McKenna – who weaves together all sorts of material from dozens of interviews with people in Lynch's life and career, both personal and professional – voices that are added to David's own to provide a very illuminating picture of the real world that's obscured by the cinematic image. Hardcover edition is 577 pages, with many black and white images throughout. Book

A book that documents a compelling intersection of creative activity – the ephemeral light sculptures of Anthony McCall, and a set of improvising soloists who accompanied their exhibition – all presented here in a well-done volume that may well be the only physical trace of the project! The book is filled with photos like the image on the cover – examples of the way that Anthony McCall will shape light in a space, in order to create a semblance of structure, but in ways that are impermanent and uncontainable – as is the music created for the installations, performed by artists who include David Grubbs, Susan Alcorn, Ben Vida, Tomeka Reid, Nat Wooley, Yoshi Wada, and others. All musicians are interviewed in the book, and Grubbs and McCall have a long conversation about their own creative relationship and years of working together. Book

The full story of one of the most important indie labels in the world of folk, roots, and acoustic music – an imprint who are maybe only second to Folkways Records fo the way they've not only preserved the past, but helped foster a new future as well! Rounder Records was begun as a labor of love in the Boston scene after the more popular folk boom of the 60s – and as the dust settled from the years of Kingston Trio and The Brothers Four, Rounder helped find a way forward for the more interesting, more important acoustic artists – while also opening the door to new sounds and styles along the way – a huge legacy that ended up including superstars as well as very obscure musicians and singers. The book has a great narrative drive, and really gets at the kind of enthusiasm that started the label and kept it going and growing for decades – tracing both its influence on other musical scenes, and the way that artists continued to help Rounder from ever falling into cliche. Hardcover edition is 196 pages, with some black and white images. Book

An album-by-album, song-by-song look at David Bowie in the 70s – in a book that almost offers up album reviews for each Bowie classic, but then breaks the albums down into songs – and has a lengthy passage on each! Some sections are the story behind the song, others deal more with the contents or lyrics, and others even just detail the recording process – as the author moves through all the albums of the decade – Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Pin Ups, Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Station To Station, Low, Heroes, Lodger, and Scary Monsters. And even if you think you know everything about Bowie, there's plenty of interesting tidbits along the way – in this hardcover volume that runs through 192 pages in length. Book

Beautiful black and white photographs of contemporary Cuba – most shot at a level that really gets at the timeless quality of life in the nation after the US and west have left it behind! The images are from both urban and rural locations, and do a great job of getting past some of the overdone shots we always see from Havana – in part because the black and white is a nice change from the oversaturated color that's usually used to portray Cuba, and also because the mix of non-Havana locations really opens the book up with a good sense of variety. The handsome art book is hardcover, with dozens of fantastic photographs, and a small bit of text. Book

A great bit of noir from the legendary David Goodis – a lesser-known gem that was penned in the 50s, and delivers the kind of tight, stark story that makes Goodis so great! The tale follows a down-and-out character who's not really a thug at heart – trying to get back in the green with one big scheme, yet ending up as most of Goodis' characters – as a victim of his own weakness. The book offers a great portrayal of the underbelly of the postwar years, see through the eye of a newcomer – and the slim volume delivers plenty in a very short space, like most of these Black Lizard classics. Softcover, 129 pages. Book