2007 edition, featuring a new afterword by author Ashley Kahn. Kind Of Blue is the most popular straight-jazz album of all time, the one that even those people who don't really listen to jazz but want to seem smart, hip and cultured...
expand review can connect with. Even 45 years after its initial release in August 1959, it remains the standard-bearer for an entire culture, and continues to sell in the neighborhood of 100,000 copies a year. This book is part of a recent tendency in music-related publishing, the "making of" study of classic albums. No matter how many times you've heard this record, Ashley Kahn's thorough and impassioned excavation of the facts and details regarding its creation, and the context in which it was made, will fascinate and enlighten. Not a mean feat considering that everybody on the record except the drummer is now dead, as well as most of the CBS staffers and engineers who were present at those two historic sessions in March and April of 1959. The book studies each of the five tracks on Kind Of Blue in hair-splitting detail, and also provides an excellent perspective on the jazz and popular-music industries of the day. Rare, never-before-seen pictures that must be seen to be believed seal the deal. 230 pages. -greg caz
Not only is Band ID the cleanest and most comprehensive collection of music logos I've ever come across, it also made me stop and think for the first time about a number of things - things like the true relation between a...
expand review band's logo, its music and its identity, how a band's logo can endear or villify them to fans, and who the hell actually designed some of these things. This book's got it all, from the most forehead-slappingly obvious graphics (the immortal designs of bands like the Stones, Black Flag, Chicago, Motorhead, Yes, etc.) to the great lost/underappreciated logos of our time. The book is divided up by genre - Rock, Hair Bands, Heavy, Extra Heavy, Punk, Alternative, Pop, Hip-Hop, R&B, Country, Electronic, Reggae - and each logo has the year of design, record label and designer (where available) listed right underneath. Also includes interviews with Gerard Huerta, T42Design, Invisible Creature, Chris Bilheimer and more. See if you can spot all the dope logos by our 20 Jay neighbors at Morning Breath. Over 1,000 logos total. Hardcover; 419 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
Stop wondering what the work spaces of your favorite producers look like. Behind The Beat provides an exclusive look into the home studios, collections and equipment of some of the top music creators in the game. Checkout Madlib's Loop Digga Hideaway and...
expand review record collection; Shadow's records, equipment and favorite arcade machine; Automator's vintage gear collection, Premier's personal D&D studio, Numark's log cabin, and much, much more. RECOMMENDED. -the mgmnt
Judging by the cover, I wasn't expecting much here, maybe some 50s style mambo covers that you sometimes find in dollar bins. Those could come in handy for reference, but I was very surprised see that this book is much (much) more...
expand review than that. It starts with that aforementioned style of bright, semi cheesy covers, but it quickly moves into the tres cool latin jazz covers from the likes of Tjader, Mongo, and others. Then it explodes into the latin soul, boogaloo, dance section where you can checkout some of the rarest and most in demand records (which all happen to have standout covers, a definite correlation in Latin collecting circles). You get rare Fania, Tico, Cotique, Decco, plus a lot of smaller labels. I especially found the psychedelic-influenced covers to be both stunning and original. In the next section, the book blows off the binding with the Salsa (1970s-80) and latin rock (1960s-70s) sections withmore rarities, bunch of stuff I've only seen on the walls of Sound Library. The artwork here is quite memorable, and definitely an excellent resource for both the designer and collector. The book ends with a tasty Brazilian (love the cameltoe India cover), and a superfluous contemporary section (Kid Frost covers?), but even that can't taint this powerful little book. Full discography in the back. Softcover, over 200 pages. 7.75" x 7.75". -the mgmnt
This is an easy to understand reference/how to guide for using Cubase SX, for both PCs and Macs (although with a slight bias towards PC users). The instruction ranges from beginner to master level, with basic as well as advanced tips to...
expand review help you work better, smarter and faster. Topics covered include: getting started, setting up audio & MIDI, laying down tracks, mixing MIDI & audio, editing and manipulating tracks, organizing a project, mixing songs, plug-ins and VST instruments. 240 pages with full glossary. -mgmnt
Longtime radio DJ Dave The Spazz has compiled this meticulous overview of WFMU's LCD, their offbeat quasi-program guide that's been running since the mid-80s. Anyone in the Tri-State knows that WFMU is THE name in college radio, so very respected and always...
expand review playing the cool shit before the cool kids even know it. Here's the description from the back, which I can't disagree with: "WFMU is the coolest radio station around. Since the late 1960s, it has been the country's premier freeform radio station, playing a unique and spontaneous medley of everything from hand-cranked wax cylinders to punk rock to the most obscure underground music (hot-rod music, twee indiepop, schlock-a-billy, exotica, spoken word mish-mashes, to name a few). Its now-defunct program guide, LCD ("lowest common denominator"), twenty-six issues of which were published beginning back in 1986, championed WFMU's eclectic, oddball programming with satire, cultural news, essays, and artwork as visually wacky, intriguing, and provocative as the sounds heard on the radio. If you ever wanted to take a crazy, whirlwind tour of the cultural underground with its greatest superstars," take a look at this one. Includes a foreword by director Jim Jarmusch. 238 pages; B&W with color. -Chris Lemon-Red
One of the best record guides we've ever seen and we can't even read it! Double Standard is almost entirely written in Japanese, but this is definitely flavor of the month shit. Leather cover, bible format record/collection spotlights with contributions from some...
expand review of Japan's most famous producers and DJ's- Konishi Yasuharu (of Pizzicato Five fame), Kei Kobayashi (one of the old school rare groove/jazz dj's), Mitsuru Ogawa (the main man at the DMR record store), Eitetsu Takamiya (Flower Records and Little Big Bee), DJ Nori, Hibiki Tokiwa, Toshiyuki Goto, Takeshi Kubota, etc. There's more people and sections than you'd care to count, but it's basically a long catalogue of recommendations. Each record is represented with cover art or label scans, a review in Japanese, and the funniest record grading system (in english) based on things like bpm, usefulness, and degree of erection. It was all put together by Tatsuo Sunaga- owner of some of the deepest crates I know about, crazy dj/karate master (punching peoplin the-face for not paying attention when he's djing style, no joke), Organ Bar owner and one of THE tastemakers around. Get this in your next diggin' trip and be prepared for bankruptcy, sugarbear. 305 pages, 50 in color, highest recommendation. -Bogdan
Incredible. Freddy Fresh already had me with the first edition of "The Rap Records" thinking he was the ultimate database for hip-hop records, but with volume 2 he's really taken it to the limit. This revised 2nd edition is more than double...
expand review the size of the original (266 pages now 743 pages!) and features a shit ton more records (now expanded to include the mid-90's, British and foreign records) listed by label and way more full color label scans (at least 3 or 4 per page - over 2,500 total). Each release includes matrix numbers, year of release, and sometimes notes to tell different pressings apart. Freddy has even instituted a five star rating system of rarity for records that are particularly rare, and prices for records that catch loot. This is an invaluable resource for Djs, collectors, or anyone who has a passion for hip-hop. I don't care how much you think you know about rap records from '79-'9X, Freddy's gonna take you to school with this one. 743 pages, full color. Highly Recommended. -snackmaster
Are you new to the DJ game? Then you gotta know the rules (or at least the basics) of the hustle! Since its humble beginnings as "Disc Jockey," the role of the DJ has expanded to cover so many different facets that...
expand review it's really easily to get lost in how you fit into the whole spectrum. That's why the experts at Point Blank are here to act as a guiding light through the madness. From gear and technique, getting familiar with the record and advanced mixing to scratching and tricks, digital CD and even DVD DJ'ing (sorry no section on Serato). Once you get up to speed with that, then they give you the skinny on the business: music selection and records, the power structure of the DJ business, making demos, and producing records. Sure that's enough to fill an entire library of books, but remember this is an insightful starter that puts into perspective the entire game. Perfect for beginners and intermediate DJs with some advanced tips for even the seasoned pro. For the price it's a steal. 179 pages -C'mish
There are two reasons I am sitting here writing the review today well three actually. Hip Hop, Disco, and cause Jasper asked me to, cause, well cause I read the book already. If this shit (shit meaning djing, clubs, dance music, etc)...
expand review puts food on your table, you owe hip hop and you owe disco. We all know the stories of the South Bronx, Bam, Herc, Jay, Flash... old news to us. If I have to hear Caz bitch about getting ripped off for the lyrics to ÏRappers DelightÓ one more time I'm gonna shoot myself. But what about disco? Where is its story? Where are its heroes, whoÌs the Kool Herc of club land? The story told in this book is one I was already familiar with, searching the net for the past few years for interviews, charts, club histories, anything I could get my hands on to learn more about a music that was new to me. Now for the first time the complete history is told. If you read "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life," youÌll know the outline of this story. Beginning with David Mancuso's first loft party on February 14, 1970 and ending with The Garage picking up steam and getting ready to roll into the 80's, this book tells it all. The birth of mixing, the first cat to run clean doubles (not a hip hop dj), the sound systems, the first 12 inch singles, record pools and the beginning of club and street promotion. So many myths exposed and so many questions answered. The facts are here, and so are the characters. The show stealing Nicky Siano, David Mancuso, Larry Levan, Frankie Knuckles, Frank DeGrasso, Tee Scott, Steve Rubell and on and on. So many legends finally get their stories told. The contributors were very candid and it shows cause there's a definite lack of the grandstanding and posturing that is often found in hip hop history books. You really feel like you get the straight story here. Music was the force that drove it all and its story is told too, from ÏPoppa Was A Rolling StoneÓ to Cerrone, to the jazzier influences of the loft, this book lists many classic tracks. Like I said before, if this shit puts food or your table, if you want a pair of turntables, if you wanna open a club, shit if you even want to smell a 12inch single, you have to read this book. I get a little emotional about this shit, but shit man these guys are the reason we are all here today. This is a must own. ÒRoctakon -mgmnt
Beautiful oversized softcover (12" x 9.5") released by Soul Jazz as a companion to their comp series of the same name. 200+ pages of striking B&W photography, capturing just about every artist from this period (1978-1988) that one could imagine, plus tons...
expand review of quotes and first-person accounts from the people who lived it. Andy Warhol, Afrika Bambaataa, Steve Buscemi, Basquiat, ESG, Futura 2000, David Byrne, Keith Haring, James Chance, Laurie Anderson, Jim Jarmusch, Madonna, Michael Stipe, Diamanda Galas, LL Cool J, Tom Verlaine, John Zorn, Glenn Branca, William Burroughs -- they're all here and looking younger than you ever thought they were. (Okay, maybe not William Burroughs.) Nice coffee table material and certainly essential for anyone into NYC's artsy 80s and No Wave movement. -Larri Byrd
This book is a massive project which breaks down some of the most classic hip hop albums of the 80s. What makes it different than the handful of other books doing the same thing is that the majority of text here comes...
expand review straight from the artists' mouths. Coleman gives a little intro history for each album, but the focus here is on what the artists have to say, and he lets em rip. How it got made, who had the record that the sample came from, what shooting the video was like, who stole what, who farted in the corner of the studio, who really produced Paid In Full; all the shit you want to know. You get interviews with a big list of major players- De La Soul, Public Enemy, KRS, Ice-T, Schooly D, EPMD, Run-DMC, Slick Rick, Too $hort, Eric B & Rakim, The Jungle Brothers and more- all talking about their best LPs, song by song. And this isn't the usual bullshit interview stuff either, it feels like Coleman was really able to get them into the idea and people are spilling major beans on these pages. It's an amazing book, and a great contribution to the history of this music. 238 pages. -the mgmnt
What the? Get the fungool out of here. Ridiculoso. For the designer slash music nerd (current census: just under 10 million clones out there), this book is the once a year no-wipe dookie. Enough geeky build-up though, this book features obscure 60/70s...
expand review record covers from sound library collections: pop/exotica, experimental electronic, rare european jazz, and more. Chances are, you've never seen 99% of these covers, so opening this up is a definite fresh experience in the most literal sense (harder and harder to come by these days). The selections are quite spectacular, and lean on the 70s graphic/typographic style that pops Lab heads. Each page nails down the fact that we as a race, have already passed our graphic prime (cue Metallica "da-na-na-nah... sad but true.") . Full color, over 200 pages in fitting matte. Hardcover. Did I mention it comes with a CD featuring tracks from the book? Highly recommended. -mgmnt
What more do you need to know about this book? You get approximately 700 (yes 700!) 80s album covers. It's got everything from the obvious (Culture Club), to the uber faves (early Cure, man), to the cool (Gary Numan), to the rather...
expand review obscure. Really a no brainer, pick it up if you like this stuff. Softcover, over 250 pages. 7" x 7". -mgmnt
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