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Books

Books

When we are not listening to music, we like to read about music. We work with Paul and his team at the fantastic City Books just up the road from us to apply our curated approach to an ever changing but choice selection of books about the music and musicians whose records we sell. Below are some of our current favourite books to inspire and inform your musical taste.

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Unapologetic Expression captures the radical spirit of a vital British musical movement

Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion

Born to Ugandan parents on the St Raphael's Estate in Neasden, north-west London, George has always been an ambitious storyteller. Influenced by his hometown, George started MCing , and eventually found his voice in poetry and with it an avenue for change.Track Record: Me, Music, and the War on B...

Track Record: Me, Music & the War on Blackness

George The Poet

1959 saw Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the other members of Miles's sextet come together to record the seminal jazz album of all time Kind of Blue. 3 Shades of Blue is a magnificent, blended biography on the meandering paths which led Miles, Coltrane and Evans to the mountaintop of...

3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans & The Lost Empire of Cool

When the Carpenters first toured Japan, a journalist mistakenly referred to Karen as the 'lead sister' of the band.

The story of Karen Carpenter

In this classic account of the new black music of the 1960s and 70s, celebrated photographer and jazz historian Val Wilmer tells the story of how a generation of revolutionary musicians established black music as the true vanguard of American culture.

As Serious as Your Life: Black Music and the Free Jazz Revolution 1957 - 1977

Who do you think you are? Are clothes important? Why are there so many pairs of broken glasses up here? From a Gold Star polycotton shirt to a pack of Wrigley's Extra, from his teenage attempts to write songs to the Sexy Laughs Fantastic Dirty Joke Book, this is the hard evidence of Jarvis's uniq...

Good Pop Bad Pop

What was it about Bob Marley that made him so popular in a world dominated by rock’n’roll? How is that he has not only remained the single most successful reggae artist ever, but has also become a shining beacon of radicalism and peace to generation after generation of fans across the globe? On M...

Bob Marley The Untold Story

Legendary drummer and founding member of The Doors John Densmore unpacks the intersection of art and commerce in this deeply principled middle finger to greed . . . In The Doors Unhinged, New York Times bestselling author and legendary Doors drummer John Densmore offers a powerful exploration of ...

The Doors Unhinged

FLIP THE SCRIPT showcases some of the best rappers currently making music in the UK.

Flip the Script: How Women Came to Rule Hip Hop

Dusty Springfield was one of our greatest pop singers. From 60s hits like ‘I Only Want To Be With You’, ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ and ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’ to her 80s collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys and beyond, she was a musical pioneer and the very essence of authentic white soul.

Dusty: The Classic Biography Revised and Updated

Excellent...Ratliff guides us through the thickets of the jazz scene with precision, delicacy and an absolute absence of polemic.

Coltrane - the story of a sound

The Rose That Grew from Concrete is a collection of poetry written between 1989 and 1991 by Tupac Shakur, published by Pocket Books through its MTV Books imprint. A preface was written by Shakur's mother Afeni Shakur, a foreword by Nikki Giovanni and an introduction by his manager, Leila Steinber...

Tupac Shakur - The Rose That Grew In Concrete

Pop music would be a different beast without the B-Side.

B-side: A Flipsided History of Pop

The first decades of the 21st century saw dramatic changes in the music industry as new technology transformed creation, communication, and consumption.

Bedroom Beats & B-Sides: Instrumental Hip Hop & Electronic Music at the Turn of the Century

The ultimate backstage pass: a photographic inside look at the making of the groundbreaking hip hop documentary Rhyme & Reason.

The Book of Rhyme and Reason: Photographs by Peter Spirer

Long considered England's favourite seaside getaway, Brighton its now more brilliant than ever before. This pithy guide will tell you everything you need to know (and nothing you don't) so you can avoid all the tourist traps and find the best of the city, from exceptional coffee and sustainable ...

An Opinionated Guide to Brighton (Capsule Records)

Yo! The Early Days of Hip-Hop 1982-84 is a new book published by Soul Jazz Books/Records that features 300+ pages of stunning photographs documenting the rise of hip hop in the early 1980s.

Yo! The Early Days of Hip-Hop 1982-84

Soul Jazz Records are proud to present this amazing collection of sleeves from the deepest, deepest jazz music ever - compiled by Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records).

Freedom, Rhythm and Sound: Revolutionary Jazz Cover Art 1960-78

Gilles Peterson, Stuart Baker

Paused in Cosmic Reflection is the definitive story of The Chemical Brothers. Told in the voices of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, with contributions from friends and collaborators, it is fully illustrated with 30 years of mind-bending visuals.

Chemical Brothers Paused in Cosmic Reflection BOOK

The Chemical Brothers with Robin Turner

Highlighting the pre-rave era, taking in the DJs, clubs and music that laid the groundwork on which a now global dance culture was built.

Greg Wilson's Discotheque Archives (signed)

Told in three parts, Too Much Too Young is the definitive story of a label that for a brief, bright burning moment, shaped British culture.

Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story Rude Boys, Racism and the Soundtrack of a Generation

Party Lines is a groundbreaking new history of UK dance music, exploring its pivotal role in the social, political and economic shifts on which modern Britain has been built.

Party Lines: Dance Music and The Making of Modern Britain

A raucous yet reflective look back at the evolution of the music press and the passionate rock and pop journalists who defined the music of the 20th century.

Totally Wired: The Rise and Fall of The Music Press

Miles: The Autobiography, like the man himself, holds nothing back.

Miles: The Autobiography

Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day and then ages out. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer.

The Creative Act: A Way of Being

Equal parts biography, musicology, and cultural history, Dilla Time chronicles the life and legacy of J Dilla, a musical genius who transformed the sound of popular music for the twenty-first century.

Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm

Books