Books — Recently Added

Way more than just a simple book of record cover images – and instead a love letter to the sound and style of the disco generation – put together from classic album artwork, and augmented by thoughtful musings by the author! The book features full color reproductions of over 250 album ... Book

A surprisingly insightful Richard Pryor biography from interesting pair of biographers – brothrers David and Joe Henry! David Henry is a screenwriter, his brother Joe Henry is from the music world – known for his own artful singer-songwriter work, and especially his production work, ... Book

The world of vice never looked so beautiful before – spun out over hundreds of pages filled with vintage images from advertisements for cigarettes and booze! The book is as lovely inside as it is on the cover – filled with a huge array of well-chosen images, all in color throughout ... Book

A beautiful look at a legendary Times Square watering hole – the Terminal Bar, located right next to a strip show at the corner of 41st Street and 8th Avenue – home to a countless stream of colorful characters, and also photographer Sheldon Nadelman! From his spot behind the bar, ... Book

The continuing genius of Planet Comics – one of the first-ever comics devoted entirely to science fiction stories – still going strong here in the early 50s! Unlike some of its contemporaries during the stretch, Planet never got too creepy or too exploitative – but did use the ... Book

A fantastic volume of work from one of the first science fiction comics ever – a publication that picked up right where the sci-fi pulps left off – although with artwork that was a lot more stunning! This volume presents great late 40s material from Planet Comics – from a time ... Book

The continuing genius of Planet Comics – one of the first-ever comics devoted entirely to science fiction stories – still going strong here in the early 50s! Unlike some of its contemporaries during the stretch, Planet never got too creepy or too exploitative – but did use the ... Book

An overstuffed edition of the Goldmine Jazz Price Guide – filled with great information! First off – forget the prices in this one, because we hate price guides, and we don't suggest that they actually have any correspondence to the real world – because people buy records at all ... Book

Way more than just another book about The Who – as this lavish, oversized volume is filled with beautiful vintage images – and is done in collaboration with Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend! The pair have provided lots of unusual photos and rare images – which make the whole book ... Book

A very detailed look at Arsenio Rodriguez – the Cuban legend who was a key part of the development of Latin music in both Havana and New York! The volume is quite well-researched, and looks at Arsenio with a lot more information than we've ever seen – in chapters that almost feel like ... Book

A pretty great look at the birth of rock and roll – one that starts way earlier than most other histories, and then gets into a year-by-year format of chapters during the crucial moments! Ed Ward's not above leaning on the bigger names, but also does a good job of pulling out smaller strands ... Book

A beautiful book on one of our favorite instruments ever – the irreplaceable Fender Rhodes keyboard – source of some of the most sublime sounds ever! The book's a counterpart to the wonderful documentary of the same name – and features a bonus blu-ray DVD of the film – plus ... Book

Louvin Brother Charlie tells the tale of his famous duo with brother Ira – a match that was almost a Cain and Abel of country music – given that Charlie and Ira Louvin sometimes sat at opposite moral poles on the spectrum! The story's as tragic as any of the best early songs by the ... Book

A really cool look at albums that never happened – planned projects that were almost produced, but which fell apart at some point in the creative process – leading to a surprisingly large legacy of lost albums by some of rock music's biggest stars! Sure, everyone knows a few of these ... Book

An incredible document of the legendary Mingering Mike – the self-styled 70s soul superstar who never recorded any music, but created a huge body of work on hand-drawn record sleeves and 45s! Mike's story has been told briefly before in Wax Poetics, but this book really gets to the full ... Book

Fantastic film posters from the legendary Saul Bass – a book that features each image on oversized pages – each of which is heavy cardboard, so that the whole thing's like a special folio of 20 different posters! You might know the image on the cover – Bass' famous poster for The ... Book

A very cool book – and way different than you might expect from the title – as the discography doesn't only focus on contemporary ambient albums, but instead traces a history of moody sounds from the late 50s onwards! The publication is one of the most interesting Japanese ... Book

We're ultra-proud to be Chicagoans – and one of the many things that makes is proud is The Chicago Defender – our city's famous African-American newspaper, easily one of the best and most important in a long legacy of progressive 20th Century publications! This very hefty book tells ... Book

Bernard Sumner's had a hell of a run in music – a founding member of both Joy Division and New Order, and an important force on the British music scene for decades – all of which makes for quite a story in this personal memoir! Amidst his bandmates, Sumner is sometimes the subtle one ... Book

A fascinating look at the small-but-fervent world of the 78rpm collector – a musical underground that represents the first real step forward for vinyl culture (even though the format's not technically vinyl) – and which has remained surprisingly strong well into the 21st Century! ... Book