Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. Each volume in the series revisits and breaks down (in meticulous detail) a classic...
expand review album, giving up every piece of inside info you could want, from recording techniques to the inspirations behind the songs themselves. This volume features Belle & Sebastians wistful indie pop classic If You're Feeling Sinister, as written by Pitchfork associate editor Scott Plagenhoef. 105 pages. -Larri Byrd
More pocket-sized knowledge gems for dat azz! If you're a NYC/BK denizen (or resident of any metro area), we know you'll believe when we say how many times these books have saved us during that long wait on the train platform. There's...
expand review never been a better time to go back and learn more about the life and times of James Brown, what with the recent untimely passing of the Godfather of Soul. Noted music journalist Douglas Wolk (I seen you in that Jandek movie!) takes on the daunting task of breaking down JB's monumental live album, Live At The Apollo. He painstakingly breaks down the details of the show (both what you hear on the record and what you don't), revealing not only the musical but the social ramifications of JB's performance. (Remember, this was recorded in 1962, at the height of the Cold War.) Essential reading. 117 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
More pocket-sized knowledge gems for dat azz! If you're a NYC/BK denizen (or resident of any metro area), we know you'll believe when we say how many times these books have saved us during that long wait on the train platform. In...
expand review this volume, John Perry takes us through Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, track-by-track, via interviews with Hendrix contemporaries and loads of eyewitness accounts. You might think this album is "dad rock" or too ingrained in the national conscious to be important anymore… but you're wrong! You can never read enough about Jimi Hendrix, flat out. Get knowledged. 132 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
Part 9 of the 33 1/3 mini-book series that spotlights landmark albums. This one investigates the development and lasting effects of Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures (so hipster right now), here's the synopsis: "Joy Division's career has often been shrouded by myths. But...
expand review the truth is surprisingly simple: over a period of several months, Joy Division transformed themselves from run-of-the-mill punk wannabes into the creators of one of the most atmospheric, disturbing, and influential debut albums ever recorded. Chris Ott carefully picks apart fact from fiction to show how Unknown Pleasures came into being, and how it still resonates so strongly today." 117 pages. -the mgmnt
More pocket-sized knowledge gems for dat azz! If you're a NYC/BK denizen (or resident of any metro area), we know you'll believe when we say how many times these books have saved us during that long wait on the train platform. You...
expand review may not be an angst-ridden teenager anymore, but it doesn't mean you can't still appreciate Nirvana's In Utero. Gillian G. Gaar (or "G-Cubed," like her friends call her) breaks down the before, during and after of In Utero, detailing Nirvana's effort to "recapture their punk rock ethic." She leaves no stone unturned, even pointing out symbolism and meaning in the imagery-laden music videos from the album. Damn, these little books are addictive. 105 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
If you're even the slightest bit into indie rock, chances are you already hold the Pixies' monkey-covered opus in pretty high regard. Dudes in two-sizes-too-small tee-shirts have been arguing for years about which is better, Doolittle or Surfer Rosa. But guess what,...
expand review bitches - Doolittle got a book written about it! And by a real-deal pro-fesh-oh-nal critic, no less! Ben Sisario (of the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Village Voice, etc.) breaks down Doolittle track-by-track, and unlike some of these other fan fiction-style 33 1/3 books, Sisario often includes some insightful commentary from Black Francis himself. He even goes record shopping with ol' Frank in a Cadillac at one point, living out the dream of pimply 13-year old me. 121 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. Each volume in the series revisits and breaks down (in meticulous detail) a classic...
expand review album, giving up every piece of inside info you could want, from recording techniques to the inspirations behind the songs themselves. This volume features Radiohead's modern classic, OK Computer, as written by music professor Dai Griffiths. 123 pages. -Larri Byrd
For most of us Sly Stone's "There's A Riot Going On" is one of those essential crate staples that's an incredible listen from beginning to end (plug: for only $7 in the funk section!). But as this book reveals, there's was a...
expand review lot more going on behind "It's A Family Affair." There's A Riot was rejection of the pop formula of Sly's own "Dance To The Music," and was also indicative of the political climate and Sly's hazy drug addiction (which is very obvious throughout the album). The book does an excellent job in describing the scenes surrounding the album, as well as its effects with lots of anecdotes and links to present artists. The book ends with the complete lyrics set from the album. 132 pages. -the mgmnt
Daydream Nation is one of those albums a lot of people own just because they think they should – it pops up on "best of" lists all the time, gets praised by tons of critics and musicians and just has a generally...
expand review mysterious air about it. But it's also kind of imposing, and trying to decode what the hell Thurston Moore is talking about is just too taxing sometimes. Never fear: in this installment of the 33 1/3 series, Resonance magazine contributor Matthew Stearns breaks down the hype behind Sonic Youth's finest album, and he does it in the best way possible – track-by-track. Each of the album's 14 songs is assigned its own section, wherein Stearns attempts to decipher some of those stream-of-consciousness lyrics, expounds on the dense, epic style of the album and more. The best bits are the interviews with SY members interspersed throughout: my favorite revelation is that the album's overly-serious artwork was all a big joke by the band, who assigned themselves "symbolic rock identities" a la Led Zeppelin, used a "Heavy Metal-ish" typeface on the track listing and incorporated "a prog-style song trilogy" just to take the piss. Also includes a foreword from SY co-founder and guitarist Lee Ranaldo. 160 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
More pocket-sized knowledge gems for dat azz! If you're a NYC/BK denizen (or resident of any metro area), we know you'll believe when we say how many times these books have saved us during that long wait on the train platform. Neither...
expand review I nor the author of this book (the astute Zeth Lundy of PopMatters) really need to tell you what a classic album Songs In The Key Of Life is - in fact, you're probably already thinking of ordering this, aren't you? Folks are just drawn to Stevie, and Lundy does a solid job of explaining why here. (The fact that Lundy lists Mr. Wonder's stated objective as squeezing "life itself into vinyl grooves" says something.) There's a reason this record is in your dad's collection AND all your cool friends' collection. 150 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
1989: an all-time classic brit rock album, a mysterious band with overshadowing frontman, and an ecstasy crazed Manchester. Is there an easier setup for an intriguing story? Personally, this is one of my favorite albums from the time period, and I...
expand review was pretty excited to see something that could extend the experience (Second Coming just didn't cut it for most). In this edition of 33 1/3, author Alex Green sets up the book with some band history and Manchester's environment at the time. He then dedicates one chapter to each of the album's songs, almost like super-extended linear notes. For best results listen to the album while reading. 132 pages. -the mgmnt
More pocket-sized knowledge gems for dat azz! If you're a NYC/BK denizen (or resident of any metro area), we know you'll believe when we say how many times these books have saved us during that long wait on the train platform. Jim...
expand review Fusilli (who you may know from The Wall Street Journal or National Public Radio… or maybe not, if you're reading TTLab…) does an amazing job of debunking some of the many, many myths surrounding the Beach Boys' classic Pet Sounds album, while raising many more pertinent questions and delving deeper into the mind of Brian Wilson than most would dare to go. If you consider yourself an appreciator of pop music, you owe it to yourself to find out how one of the best albums of all time was made. Get to it! 121 pages. -Chris Lemon-Red
Part 5 of the 33 1/3 mini-book series that spotlights landmark albums. This one focuses on The Smiths' Meat Is Murder via a fiction story, here's the synopsis: "A Catholic high school near Boston in 1985. A time of suicides, gymnasium humiliations,...
expand review smoking for beginners, asthma attacks, and incendiary teenage infatuations. Infatuations with a girl (Allison), with a band (The Smiths) and with an album, Meat is Murder, that was so raw, so vivid and so melodic that you could cling to it like a lifeboat in a storm." 102 pages. -the mgmnt
Continuum's pocket-sized 33 1/3 series has been praised by everybody from the New York Times to Vice Magazine and consistently features some of the top music critics around. Each volume in the series revisits and breaks down (in meticulous detail) a classic...
expand review album, giving up every piece of inside info you could want, from recording techniques to the inspirations behind the songs themselves. This volume features the Andy Warhol-produced Velvet Underground & Nico album, written by Fort Apache Studios co-founder / co-owner Joe Harvard. 152 pages. -Larri Byrd
Take a trip to nostalga-ville and revisit all the vintage 80's toys your parents threw out or sold at their garage sale. There's something about the figures of the 80's... maybe it was the primitive state that video games were in that...
expand review caused manufacturers to put more research into the toys, but it seemed they were just so much fresher. I mean, have you checked out the detail on an old Optimus Prime lately? Nothing to date can even take out the genius design of Transformers, and their legacy is STILL going stronger than ever. For this book, 80's action figure expert John Marshall takes you back to all those ill toys you might've had (or definitely wanted), complete with full color photos, price guide (loose and in the package prices), and commentary. Shit is ridiculously thorough too. Lots of the most popular toy lines are fully covered like Transformers, G.I. Joe, Star Wars, MOTU, Thundercats, Go Bots, Secret Wars, TMNT, WWF Superstars (you know, the big rubber wrestlers), and Robotech, but many forgotten gems get the light shed on them once again like Battle Beasts, C.O.P.S., Advanced D&D, Dino-Riders, Centurions, Inhumanoids, SIlverHawks, and lots more. Softcover, 160 pages. -snackmaster
It's no secret that A Love Supreme is one of our favorite jazz albums (it's one of the few jazz albums we stock consistently). Here's my summation of the album in two words: timeless and powerful. Whatever, I won't bore you with...
expand review my deep personal feelings for this album, rather let the pros guide you through this masterpiece via the printed word (it lives!). The author here goes through the entire story: the story of its genesis, the creation process, and the aftermath. I've read a couple jazz books before, but I definitely found this one to be the most interesting because it focused on one album, rather an entire career (which usually means a lot of filler). In addition, the book is organized and formatted for easy, digestible reading with lots of photographs to illuminate the way. Softcover, 260 pages. -the mgmnt
The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records Book Favorite jazz label of all time? Easy, right? It's Blue Note... but is it? Impulse released my favorite jazz record of all time (A Love Supreme) and maintained a tighter visual...
expand review language throughout the years. This top notch book goes through the entire history of the label starting with the godfather, Creed Taylor, and moving its way through the various stages of jazz it helped promote. In addition, interspersed throughout the book, the author writes two page essays on approximately 40 Impulse albums from artist such as Ray Charles, Oliver Nelson, Freddie Hubbard, Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Charles Mingus, Ahmad Jamal, Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane and others (pretty impressive, huh?). Softcover, 338 pages, recommended if you ever admired an Impulse record. -the mgmnt
Amazing collection of photographs, essays, interviews, personal items and anything else you can imagine that's Elliott Smith-related. This is not your typical pricey hardcover book about a rock star who died too young, invariably released around the holidays... but then Elliott Smith...
expand review was not your typical musician. Autumn de Wilde's stunning photography captures a man adored by thousands and yet never fully comfortable in his own skin, while the interviews with Smith's closest acquaintances (including Beck, composer Jon Brion, Death Cab's Ben Gibbard & Chris Walla, producer Rob Schnapf, former bandmate Neil Gust, Joanna Bolme and many, many more) speak to what a true friend and sensitive soul the man was. Some artifacts - like a postcard scrawled in Smith's distinctive scribble script, begging a friend to come visit him - are enough to make you cry, while others - like Elliott making a duct tape beard over his real beard during a photo shoot - make you wonder why he had to check out so soon. The attached CD features 5 tracks recorded live in LA back in 1997, including some prime-era material: "Angeles," "Between The Bars," "Clementine" and two covers - Quasi's "Clouds" and Hank Williams Jr.'s "All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down." Highly recommended for Elliott Smith fans... or the Elliott Smith fan in your life this holiday season! (Ch-chiiing.) 225 pages. -Larri Byrd
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
Jazz lovers gotta check this personal collection of photos from Blue Note's co-founder, Francis Wolff. Of course you know the label and its legendary artists, but it's time to get deeper folks. Not only did Wolff start the label with Alfred Lion...
expand review after escaping Berlin and the Third Reich, they went on to produce such greats like Jimmy Smith, Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Grant Green, John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Art Blakey, and many more. Formerly a professional photographer, Wolff’s camera never stayed idle. During Blue Note's golden years he captured some of the label's most famous studio sessions, live jams and artists in their purest form. Some pictures show icons like Miles and Thelonious looking so young you'll hardly recognize them! And if that's not the real dope, sink your teeth into the stories behind the photos. Can't think of a better way to get 'em than straight from the source. Softcover, 176 pages, full color and B&W photos. -C'mish
This is a latest volume of the Blue Note album cover book series. Put together by the same duo that brought you the first 2 volumes, the Ultimate Collection is actually a reformatting of the first 2 volumes into a 7 x...
expand review 7" format with more than double the pages. The result is just as impressive, with the Reid Miles design and Francis Wolff photography sitting coolly on the pages. Around 400 covers, 287 pages. -mgmnt
Y'all know hip hop was born in the tough neighborhoods of the Bronx, but rarely is new material ever dug up to show what this exciting period in music and culture was really like. That's where Born In The Bronx comes in....
expand review Editor Johan Kugelburg has put together 100's of photos from Joe Conzo (widely considered hip-hop's first photographer), the improvisational flyers of Buddy Esquire, and tons of Polaroid pictures that have been buried in Bronx basements for decades to give a fresh and authentic look at the birth of hip hop. It's a first hand look at the culture in it's earliest stages - the parties, the flyers, the people, the style, etc. In addition, there are several personal write-ups from key figures from the time - from DJs and MCs like Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Caz, artists like Buddy Esquire and Mare 139, the inventor of the scratch Grandwizard Theodore, and dancers like Popmaster Fabel. Being that documentation from the time period is extremely rare and virtually impossible to find, this book serves as a truly valuable resource. Over 200 pages, hardcover. Know your roots. -snackmaster
Chris is the perfect anti-hero. He drinks, fucks, and write as much crass stuff as he wants and then gets paid for it. But is he a babbling brook? Hell no! He's more like a creek running through the sleaziest...
expand review parts of America polluted with enough dirt to raise the eyebrows of Larry Flynt, Big Brother, and Vice. In fact, he's the porn reviewer at Vice, and if you've ever read his section, you'll see it has nothing to do with the videos. Instead, every review is like a small piece to a never ending puzzle, which is Chris Nieratko's perverted and adventure-filled life. Overall, he may be brash but his writing is most creative and witty and you will get stuck reading(fans of Bukowski will love this). This book compiles all his reviews to make one helluva concentrated mix. Keep your mom away from this - it's potent stuff. -C'mish
If you've read every unauthorized bio, 33 1/3 novellette and band member Wikipedia page pertaining to the VU, All Yesterday's Parties might be your last hope for "fresh" Velvets material. Editor Clinton Heylin has rounded up every possibly piece of writing about...
expand review Warhol's supergroup from their contemporaries in the late 60s / early 70s; page after page of profiles, interviews and reviews from mainstream sources like the New York Times and legendary counterculture magazines such as Oz, Fusion and Crawdaddy. Hardcover; 278 pages. -Van Hammersly
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 straight up crack for anyone born in the 80's or just loves videogames and throwback stuff. Billy Galaxy does an exceptional job of compiling and presenting these artifacts of early electronic gaming history (pre-Nintendo). From the classic systems (Atari joints...
expand review to Colecovision and Intellivision), to the mega obscure and rare games and memorablilia, this book has got it covered. Obvious classics like Ms. Pac-Man and Space Invaders are in here as well - but with every alternative cover possible. But the real shit is in the obscurities like the world's first adult series of games by Play-Around (really though... Philly Flasher? Gigolo? Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em?), horror games like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween, and board games based on video games. Other weird finds include Pac-Men ramen noodles, Q-bert memorabilia, and the Pac-Kong cartridge, which i was hoping would be a cross between Donkey Kong and Pac-Man, but the cover shows some Robotech-esque robots. You can get stuck on the design of everything in here too - styles that are often mimicked and imitated in today's design world, but are presented here in their original context. Really, there's just too much shit to geek out on in here. 160 pages, including full price guide. Recommended. -snackmaster
Since the start of the huge Beautiful Losers show, the new folk revival of Margaret Kilgallen, Chris Johanssen, Clare Rojas, there has been an entire movement of skate culture and art culture merging. For many, the phenomenon may be confusing, but...
expand review seeing how skating is so visually oriented and how art is so expressive and challenging, the commonality is pretty evident. This book odes to the artists that helped the crossover and the ones being passed the torch. It covers over thirty of skateboarding's favorite artists including profiles on Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Joe Sorren, Jim Houser, Thomas Campbell, Thom Lessner, Mike Giant and many more. 128 pages, full color. -Cmish
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