Search results for ""rough trade""

A Rough Trade Book of the YearThe Sunday Times bestsellerThe much-anticipated first book from Black Sabbath bassist Geezer ButlerWith over 70 million records sold, heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath are one of the most influential bands of all time. From the very beginning, Geezer Butler was at the heart of their success. He named the group, provided the bass behind their distinctive sound and wrote the lyrics that resonated so powerfully with fans around the world.At long last, Geezer is ready to tell his side of the Sabbath story, from early days as a scrappy blues quartet through to the many lineup changes, the record-breaking tours and the international hell-raising with Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward.Featuring Geezer's candid reflections on his working-class childhood in Luftwaffe-battered Birmingham, his almost-life as an accountant and his fascination with horror, religion and the occult, Into the Void reveals the softer side of the heavy metal legend, while holding not

Read more less

A ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR'A joy to read' Guardian'I loved this book' Irvine Welsh 'What a story! I adored it' Lauren LaverneAs a DJ and broadcaster on radio, tv and the live music scene, Annie has been an invigorating and necessarily disruptive force. She walked in the door at Radio One in 1970 as its first female broadcaster. Fifty years later she continues to be a DJ and tastemaker who commands the respect of artists, listeners and peers across the world.Hey Hi Hello tells the story of those early days at Radio One, the Ground Zero moment of punk and the arrival of acid house and the Second Summer of Love in the late 80s. Funny, warm and candid to a fault, including encounters with Bob Marley, Marc Bolan, The Beatles and interviews with Little Simz and Billie Eilish, this is a portrait of an artist without whom the past fifty years of British culture would have looked very different indeed.

Read more less

In 1979, from the basement of a London squat, the Raincoats reinvented what punk could be. They had a violin player. They came from Portugal, Spain, and England. Their anarchy was poetic. Working with the iconic Rough Trade Records at its radical beginnings, they were the first group of punk women to actively call themselves feminists. In this short book – the first on the Raincoats – author Jenn Pelly tells the story of the group’s audacious debut album, which Kurt Cobain once called “wonderfully classic scripture.” Pelly builds on rare archival materials and extensive interviews with members of the Raincoats, Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Hole, Scritti Politti, Gang of Four, and more. She draws formal inspiration from the collage-like The Raincoats itself to explore this album’s magic, vulnerability, and strength.

Read more less

LIBRO DEL AÑO según Rough Trade y ResidentENTRE LOS MEJORES LIBROS DEL AÑO SEGÚN Rolling Stone, Mojo y Sunday TimesLas aclamadas memorias de Miki Berenyi de Lush, o los altibajos contados con una honestidad brutal de una superviviente del britpop de los 90.Hija de padres ausentes y bohemios, Miki Berenyi sufrió desde muy joven los frecuentes traslados y la oscura presencia de una abuela maltratadora, lo que acabaría desembocando en diversos trastornos. El camino para salir de este agujero fue la música. Junto con su amiga de la universidad Emma Anderson formó Lush, grupo que grabó desde finales de los 80 varios discos para el prestigioso sello 4AD entre el shoegaze y el britpop y alumbró algunos himnos del pop británico, pero que desapareció de manera fulminante tras el suicidio del batería Chris Acland en 1996.En sus memorias, Berenyi revive las agotadoras giras, las sesiones de grabación y la locura de la industria musical de los 90 en Gran Bretaña, y documenta el emoci

Read more less

A ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEARWayne Kramer, legendary guitarist and co-founder of quintessential Detroit proto-punk legends The MC5, tells his story in The Hard Stuff.'As gripping as it is sobering.'THE TIMES'Voyerustically dramatic.'NEW YORK TIMES'Eye-opening.'GUARDIAN'One of rock's most engaging and readable memoirs.'ROLLING STONE'Inspiring and redempetive.'UNCUT'An endearing read.'MOJOLed by legendary guitarist Wayne Kramer, The MC5 was a reflection of the times: exciting, sexy, violent, out of control - assuring their time in the spotlight would be short-lived.Kramer's story is a revolutionary one, but it is also the deeply personal struggle of an addict and an artist. From the glory days of Detroit to the junk-sick streets of the East Village, from Key West to Nashville and sunny Los Angeles, in and out of prison and on and off of drugs, his is the classic journeyman narrative, but with a twist: he's here to remind us that revolution is always an option.

Read more less

A SUNDAY TIMES, ROUGH TRADE, ROLLING STONE, MOJO AND UNCUT BOOK OF THE YEARLONGLISTED FOR THE PENDERYN MUSIC BOOK PRIZENew York, 2001. 9/11 plunges the US into a state of war and political volatility-and heralds the rebirth of the city's rock scene. As the old-guard music industry crumbles, a group of iconoclastic bands suddenly become the voice of a generation desperately in need of an anthem.In this fascinating and vibrant oral history, acclaimed journalist Lizzy Goodman charts New York's explosive musical transformation in the early 2000s. Drawing on over 200 original interviews, Goodman follows the meteoric rise of the artists that revolutionised the cultural landscape and made Brooklyn the hipster capital of cool-including The Strokes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, Interpol, and Vampire Weekend.Joining the ranks of classics like Please Kill Me, Our Band Could Be Your Life, and Can't Stop Won't Stop, Meet Me in the Bathroom is the definitive account of an iconic era in rock-and-roll.

Read more less

A ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR"To flip through the book is to be immersed back in the glory days of Cool Britannia... and it's just as cool as you remember"GQRemember Britpop and the '90s through hundreds of its most striking images - with many seen here for the very first time. Taken by renowned photographer Kevin Cummins, chief photographer at the NME for more than a decade, the images in this book explore the rise and fall of Cool Britannia and all that came with it.Nostalgic, anarchic and featuring contributions from icons of the Britpop era including Noel Gallagher and Brett Anderson, While We Were Getting High is a seminal portrait of a decade like no other.Artists featured include:OasisBlurSuedePulpElasticaSupergrassThe CharlatansGeneSleeperKula ShakerEchobellyThe Bluetones...and many more

Read more less

A Guardian, Mojo and Rough Trade Book of the YearFifty years on from the psychedelic summer of love, acclaimed music writer Rob Chapman explores what was really going on during those heady times. In America he traces the multi-media history of the Light shows, Happenings, Be-Ins and Acid tests, and illustrates the thriving avant-garde scene that existed long before the Grateful Dead and the Fillmore Auditorium came into being.In the UK, he shows an entirely different history, never before explored in such breath-taking detail, where the sublime and the silly co-existed side by side in a peculiarly British take on flower power that drew inspiration as readily from fairy tales, fairgrounds and music halls, as it did from LSD. With a fascinating new perspective on the role of the Beatles, Psychedelia and Other Colours documents a cultural phenomenon, in psychedelia's seminal text.

Read more less

A ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022WITH A FOREWORD BY ROBERT SMITHThe definitive collection of renowned photographer Tom Sheehan's images of The Cure – with photographs seen here for the very first time.Spanning three decades, more than 20 sessions and hundreds of images, Tom Sheehan's photographs of The Cure are a breathtaking visual chronicle of the most important alternative rock band in the world.Encompassing early portraits, epic live shows, studio sessions and snatched moments on tour around the world, Sheehan's photographs capture the band's journey from cult heroes to global rock stars. Many of the images published in this brand new book have never been seen anywhere before now.Beautifully presented in a cloth-bound hardback and featuring a new, original four-part biography by acclaimed author Simon Goddard, this is the ultimate collection of Sheehan's work, indispensable to any fan of The Cure.

Read more less

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER"Mark Lanegan-primitive, brutal, and apocalyptic. What's not to love?" NICK CAVE"A stoned cold classic" IAN RANKIN'Mark Lanegan writes like he sings, from the pained heart of a damaged soul with brutal honesty' BOBBY GILLESPIE"Powerfully written and brutally, frighteningly honest" LUCINDA WILLIAMSA ROUGH TRADE AND MOJO BOOK OF THE YEARFrom the back of the van to the front of the bar, from the hotel room to the emergency room, Mark Lanegan takes us back to the sinister, needle-ridden streets of Seattle, to an alternative music scene that was simultaneously bursting with creativity and saturated with drugs. He tracks the tumultuous rise and fall of Screaming Trees, from a brawling, acid-rock bar band to world-famous festival favourites with an enduring legacy, and tells of his own personal struggles with addiction, culminating in homelessness, petty crime, and the tragic deaths of his closest friends.Gritty, gripping and unflinchingly raw, SING BACKWARDS AND WEEP is about a man who learned how to drag himself from the wreckage, dust off the ashes, and keep living and creating.'The most brutally honest rock memoir imaginable' DAILY TELEGRAPH

Read more less

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES, GRAMMY-NOMINATED BESTSELLERA SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, ROLLING STONE, AND ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR A panoramic experience that tells the story of Beastie Boys, a book as unique as the band itself-by band members AD-ROCK and Mike D, with contributions from Amy Poehler, Colson Whitehead, Spike Jonze, Wes Anderson, Luc Sante, and more.THE INSPIRATION FOR THE 5-TIME EMMY NOMINATED, SPIKE JONZE-DIRECTED BEASTIE BOYS STORY'One of the greatest music books ever published.'MAX PORTERFormed as a New York City hardcore band in 1981, Beastie Boys struck an unlikely path to global hip hop superstardom. Here is their story, told for the first time in the words of the band. Adam "AD-ROCK" Horovitz and Michael "Mike D" Diamond offer revealing and very funny accounts of their transition from teenage punks to budding rappers; their early collaboration with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin; the almost impossible-to-fathom overnight success of their debut studio album Licensed to Ill; that album's messy fallout; their break with Def Jam, move to Los Angeles, and rebirth as musicians and social activists, with the genre-defying masterpiece Paul's Boutique. For more than twenty years, this band has had a wide-ranging and lasting influence on popular culture.With a style as distinctive and eclectic as a Beastie Boys album, Beastie Boys Book upends the typical music memoir. Alongside the band narrative you will find rare photos, original illustrations, a cookbook by chef Roy Choi, a graphic novel, a map of Beastie Boys' New York, mixtape playlists, pieces by guest contributors, and many more surprises. 'Memoir, graphic novel, cookbook, photo-journal, love letter, elegy: this vast, unwieldy, marvellous book, narrated, like the band's songs, scatter-gun style by the two surviving Beastie Boys, is as original, uncategorisable and attention-grabbing as their music.'SUNDAY TIMES (BOOK OF THE YEAR)'Wide-ranging and unorthodox . . . [a] treat . . . insightful about the group's shifting music and are expert yarn-spinners, homing in on telling vignettes rather than doling out a straightforward history . . . shot through with yearning and melanchonly.'GUARDIAN (BOOK OF THE YEAR)'Here is their story, told for the first time in the words of the ban With a style as distinctive and eclectic as a Beastie Boys album, Beastie Boys Book upends the typical music memoir . . . Our clear winner for Book of the Year.'ROUGH TRADE (BOOK OF THE YEAR)'The Beasties didn't play by the rules during their career, and this memoir by surviving members Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz doesn't either . . . hiliarious, at times heartwarming.'ROLLING STONE (BOOK OF THE YEAR)

Read more less

The SUNDAY TIMES Top Ten Bestseller#1 Book of the Year, UNCUT#1 Book of the Year, ROUGH TRADEBook of the Year, MOJOOver the course of two albums and some legendary gigs, Joy Division became the most successful and exciting underground band of their generation. Then, on the brink of a tour to America, Ian Curtis took his own life.In This Searing Light, the Sun and Everything Else, Jon Savage has assembled three decades' worth of interviews with the principal players in the Joy Division story to create an intimate, candid and definitive account of the band. It is the story of how a group of young men can galvanise a generation of fans, artists and musicians with four chords and three-and-a-half minutes of music. And it is the story of how illness and inner demons can rob the world of a shamanic lead singer and visionary lyricist.

Read more less

'If you look at all the people involved - Ivo, Tony Wilson, McGee, Geoff Travis, myself - nobody had a clue about running a record company, and that was the best thing about it.' Daniel Miller, Mute RecordsOne of the most tangible aftershocks of punk was its prompt to individuals: do it yourself. A generation was inspired, and often with no planning or business sense, in bedrooms, record-shop back offices and sheds, labels such as Factory, Rough Trade, Mute, Beggars Banquet, 4AD, Creation, Warp and Domino began. From humble beginnings, some of the most influential artists were allowed to thrive: Orange Juice, New Order, Depeche Mode, Happy Mondays, The Smiths, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Aphex Twin, Teenage Fanclub, The Arctic Monkeys. How Soon Is Now? is a landmark survey of the artists, the labels, and the mavericks behind them who had the vision and bloody-mindedness to turn the music world on its head.

Read more less

Once conduits to new music, frequently bypassing the corporate music industry in ways now done more easily via the Internet, record stores championed the most local of economic enterprises, allowing social mobility to well up from them in unexpected ways. Record stores speak volumes about our relationship to shopping, capitalism, and art. This book takes a comprehensive look at what individual record stores meant to individual people, but also what they meant to communities, to musical genres, and to society in general. What was their role in shaping social practices, aesthetic tastes, and even, loosely put, ideologies? From women-owned and independent record stores, to Reggae record shops in London, to Rough Trade in Paris, this book takes on a global and interdisciplinary approach to evaluating record stores. It collects stories and memories, and facts about a variety of local stores that not only re-centers the record store as a marketplace of ideas, but also explore and celebrate a neglected personal history of many lives.

Read more less

A Rough Trade Book of the Year 'From lists to experiences and stories, there are no rules. A good song is a good song whoever writes it and however the writing happens.'Over the past three decades, Tim Burgess has cultivated a lyrical style that is equal parts searing, elusive and raw. Brimming with nods to an eclectic array of influences, from French chanson to East Coast rap, his words provide vivid snapshots of modern life, its highs and lows, and the things we do to get by.For the first time Tim's collected lyrics are accompanied by his revealing commentary, featuring backstage anecdotes, advice on how to conjure up the music muse, poignant reflections - and insight into a very idiosyncratic songwriting process.One Two Another chronicles the evolution of Tim's songwriting and reveals the method behind the madness.'Tim Burgess is a crusader and vinyl's epic voyager. He knows why pop's art, a culture and a cure. Learn and listen. He knows good things' Johnny Marr'You can't feel blue around Tim. He makes you feel happy, not just about music but about life. Even the most cynical of souls (mine) become infected by his gorgeous energy. Plus he gives good vinyl' Sharon Horgan

Read more less

SUNDAY TIMES MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023MOJO BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023A ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023AN UNCUT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023A VARIETY MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023One of the few indisputable geniuses of pop music, Sly Stone is a trailblazer who created a new kind of music, mixing Black and white, male and female, funk and rock; penned some of the most iconic anthems of the 1960s and 70s, from Everyday People to Family Affair; and electrified audiences with a persona and stage presence that set a lasting standard for pop culture performance. Yet he has also been a cautionary tale, known as much for how he dropped out of sight as for what put him in the spotlight in the first place. As much as people know the music, the man remains a mystery. In Thank You, his much-anticipated memoir, he''s finally ready to share his story - a story that many thought he''d never have the chance t

Read more less

COWBOYS AND INDIES is the story of the 'record men' - the mavericks and moguls who have shaped the music industry from the first sound machines of the 1850s through to today's digital streams. Men like John Hammond, who discovered Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen; Sam Phillips and Berry Gordy, founders of the Sun and Motown labels; Chris Blackwell, who brought Bob Marley and reggae music into the mainstream; Geoff Travis who built Rough Trade and launched The Smiths; or genre-busting producer Rick Rubin, who recorded Run DMC, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Johnny Cash. Gareth Murphy has drawn on more than 100 interviews with music business legends, as well as extensive archive research, to bring us the behind-the-scenes stories of how music gets made and sold. He explains, too, how the industry undergoes regular seismic changes. We may think the digital revolution is a big deal, but in the 1920s the arrival of radio and the Wall Street Crash wiped out 95 per cent of record sales. But, as we all know, you can't stop the music ...

Read more less

THE TOP FIVE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA BOOK OF THE YEARROUGH TRADE, THE TIMES, ROLLING STONE, CLASH, MOJO, UNCUTThe memoir of international music icon Richard Thompson, co-founder of the legendary folk rock group Fairport Convention.'I encourage everyone to read this wonderful book.'ELVIS COSTELLO'Thompson could be said to be an English Dylan - only in some ways he's even better than that.'GUARDIAN Richard Thompson came of age during an extraordinary moment in 1960s Britain - as music began to reflect a great cultural awakening, the guitarist and songwriter co-founded Fairport Convention, ushering in the era of folk rock. An intimate memoir of personal discovery and creative intensity, Beeswing vividly captures the life of an international music icon in a world on the cusp of change'Gripping . . . A quiet joy of a memoir.'GUARDIAN'Thompson writes exceptionally well . . . If you love music in all its myriad forms, you'll love this book.'NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS'An intimate, revealing tome, Beeswing is the voice of a figure at the heart of the British counter-culture.'CLASH'Perceptive, lyrical, amiable and seemingly effortless . . . required reading.'CAUGHT BY THE RIVER

Read more less

A Rough Trade Book of the Year The much-anticipated first book from Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler With over 70 million records sold, heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath are one of the most influential bands of all time. From the very beginning, Geezer Butler was at the heart of their success. He named the group, provided the bass behind their distinctive sound and wrote the lyrics that resonated so powerfully with fans around the world. At long last, Geezer is ready to tell his side of the Sabbath story, from early days as a scrappy blues quartet through to the many lineup changes, the record-breaking tours and the international hell-raising with Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward. Featuring Geezer’s candid reflections on his working-class childhood in Luftwaffe-battered Birmingham, his almost-life as an accountant and his fascination with horror, religion and the occult, Into the Void reveals the softer side of the heavy metal legend, while holding nothing back. Like Geezer’s bass lines and the story of Black Sabbath themselves, Into the Void is original, dramatic and one hell of a ride.

Read more less

'Hungry Beat is the story of an all-too-brief era where the short-circuiting of that industry seemed viable. But hell, the times were luminous as was the music these artists made. The songs and many of the players remain, and here they tell their story and lick their wounds' Ian RankinThe immense cultural contribution made by two maverick Scottish independent music labels, Fast Product and Postcard, cannot be underestimated. Bob Last and Hilary Morrison in Edinburgh, followed by Alan Horne and Edwyn Collins in Glasgow helped to create a confidence in being Scottish that hitherto had not existed in pop music (or the arts in general in Scotland). Their fierce independent spirit stamped a mark of quality and intelligence on everything they achieved, as did their role in the emergence of regional independent labels and cultural agitators, such as Rough Trade, Factory and Zoo.Hungry Beat is a definitive oral history of these labels and the Scottish post-punk period. Covering the period 1977-1984, and built on interviews for Grant McPhee's Big Gold Dream film with Last, Hilary Morrison, Paul Morley and members of The Human League, Scars, The Mekons, Fire Engines, Josef K, Aztec Camera, The Go-Betweens and The Bluebells, Hungry Beat offers a comprehensive overview of one of the most important periods of Scottish cultural output and the two labels that changed the landscape of British music.

Read more less

These are hymns and elegies; protest songs and battle cries as Jones speaks to and for the disaffected: 'We are the tapestry / The crackling cracks of modernity / Dislocated desperations stitched together / By the disparate verses of our skin / I write therefore we exist / We exist therefore i write / And from this page this scream.' In this new anniversary edition some of the poems - like his popular, ever-evolving 'the guerilla tapestry' - have been reworked for 2021, taking in the contemporary concerns of Brexit, Extinction Rebellion, Black Lives Matter, Yes Cymru, food banks, asylum seekers and zero hour workers. 28 new poems turn their gaze to the personal, covering grief and loss, broken trust and marriage, betrayal and forgiveness, haunted by ghosts of both the living and the dead. An inventory of scars where love once lived. fuse / fracture also includes a selection of poems from his other publications over the past two decades: Darkness is Where the Stars Are (Cinnamon Press, 2008), The Aspirations of Poverty (Red Poets Press, 2017) and My Bright Shadow (Rough Trade Books, 2020) as well as some of his lyrics from James Dean Bradfield's recent album Even in Exile (BMG Music Publishing, 2020

Read more less

THE LOUDER THAN WAR #1 BOOK OF THE YEARA ROUGH TRADE, THE TIMES, MOJO, UNCUT, THE HERALD BOOK OF THE YEARThis is not a book about a rock band. This is not even a book about Mark E Smith. This is a book about The Fall group - or more precisely, their world. 'To 50,000 Fall Fans: please buy this inspired & inspiring, profound & provocative, beautiful & bonkers Book of Revelations.'DAVID PEACE'Mind blowing . . . there is so much to enjoy in this brilliant book.'TIM BURGESS'A container sized treasure trove . . . I strongly advise you to buy it.'MAXINE PEAKE'The most wonderful, unashamedly intellectual, pretentious, ridiculous, exciting hymn to this incredible group.'ANDY MILLER, BACKLISTEDOver a prolific forty-year career, the Fall created a world that was influential, idiosyncratic and fiercely original - and defied simple categorisation.Their frontman and lyricist Mark E. Smith spun opaque tales that resisted conventional understanding; the Fall's worldview was an education in its own right. Who wouldn't want to be armed with a working knowledge of M. R. James, shipping-dock procedures, contemporary dance, Manchester City and Can? The group inspired and shaped the lives of those who listened to and tried to make sense of their work.Bringing together previously unseen artwork, rare ephemera and handwritten material, alongside essays by a slate of fans, EXCAVATE! is a vivid, definitive record - an illumination of the dark corners of the Fall's wonderful and frightening world.

Read more less

A Rough Trade Book of the Year 'From lists to experiences and stories, there are no rules. A good song is a good song whoever writes it and however the writing happens.'Over the past three decades, Tim Burgess has cultivated a lyrical style that is equal parts searing, elusive and raw. Brimming with nods to an eclectic array of influences, from French chanson to East Coast rap, his words provide vivid snapshots of modern life, its highs and lows, and the things we do to get by.For the first time Tim's collected lyrics are accompanied by his revealing commentary, featuring backstage anecdotes, advice on how to conjure up the music muse, poignant reflections - and insight into a very idiosyncratic songwriting process.One Two Another chronicles the evolution of Tim's songwriting and reveals the method behind the madness.'Tim Burgess is a crusader and vinyl's epic voyager. He knows why pop's art, a culture and a cure. Learn and listen. He knows good things' Johnny Marr'You can't feel blue around Tim. He makes you feel happy, not just about music but about life. Even the most cynical of souls (mine) become infected by his gorgeous energy. Plus he gives good vinyl' Sharon Horgan

Read more less

A Rough Trade Book of the Year 2022 Some of the most beautiful, era-defining music has been co-composed by Karl Bartos. 'The Robots', 'Computer Love', 'Neon Lights', 'Tour De France' and Kraftwerk's 1982 number one single 'The Model' all contain his deft musical touch. For the first time, in The Sound of the Machine, Bartos speaks candidly and with wit and humour about his life in Kraftwerk, a band widely acknowledged as being one of the most important in modern music. In The Sound of the Machine, Karl vividly recalls what it was like to be in the Kling Klang studios during recording, describing the process and perfectly capturing the joy and passion of three people composing and recording. Now, with a successful solo career of 30 years, Karl Bartos recalls his post-war childhood, the amazement he felt on first hearing The Beatles, his first bands, his parallel career as a musician and teacher, his years with Kraftwerk, and his hopes and fears for today's musical culture. 'Full and frank disclosure of life in the world's most influential electronic band... Karl Bartos' enjoyable tome.' Record Collector, 4* 'A full-blooded insider's account of life inside the Kling Klang studio. This is a must read for the robots' fans.' Prog Magazine 'Funny, cultured, detailed.' Classic Rock, 8/10

Read more less

High Desert is a psychedelic journal of end-times and an ode to the American Southwest. Exploring such key events as the First Red Scare, the Tulsa Race Massacre and the West Coast’s wildfire epidemic, Naffis-Sahely’s reflections on class, race, and nationalism chart the region’s hidden histories from the Spanish Colonial Era to the recent pandemic. The poems in High Desert also revel in their rootlessness, as the author shifts his gaze outside of the US, travelling from Venice and Florence to Chittagong and St Petersburg, tackling our turbulent times and the depths of its problems in searing, extraordinary poems of witness and vision. High Desert is André Naffis-Sahely’s second collection, following his debut The Promised Land: Poems from Itinerant Life (Penguin Books, 2017), a gathering of portraits of promised lands and those who go in search of them: travellers, labourers, dreamers; the hopeful and the dispossessed. It includes poems from his recent pamphlet The Other Side of Nowhere (Rough Trade Books, 2019). All his collections present poetry as reportage, as much an act of memory as of sinuous, clear-eyed vision. André Naffis-Sahely is a poet, editor and translator, and editor of Poetry London. He is a Visiting Teaching Fellow at the Manchester Writing School in the UK, and a Lecturer at University of California, Davis, in the US.

Read more less

A ROUGH TRADE, MOJO, UNCUT & LOUDER THAN WAR BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR THE RALPH J. GLEASON MUSIC BOOK AWARDA redemptive, myth-shattering biography of one of the twentieth century's most underestimated creative and artistic forces.'Here is the Odyssey of Nico . . . a scholarly and detailed chronicle of this brilliant artist, who was spurned and tortured for her trouble.'IGGY POP'At last, a comprehensive and compelling book about Nico.'VIV ALBERTINE'Absorbs from start to finish.'OBSERVERThe real story of Nico is one of determination, self-destruction and belief in one's artistic vision, at any cost . . .You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone is an empowering reappraisal of an underappreciated icon. Drawing upon new interviews and rare archival material Bickerdike defies the sexist casting of Nico's life as the tragedy of a beautiful woman losing her youth and fame, and instead cements her legacy as one of the most vital artists of her generation.'Gripping.' THE TIMES'[This] book gets closer to understanding Nico than most.' GUARDIAN'Deserves to sit with the great biographies.' RECORD COLLECTOR'A compassionate portrait of a musician whose artistry has often been overlooked.' MOJO'Valuable . . . Bickerdike gives Nico her due as an artist.' THE SPECTATOR'Entertainingly written and insightful.' INDEPENDENT'The best music book you will read this year.' LOUDER THAN WAR

Read more less

Longlisted for the Penderyn Music Book PrizeAn Uncut Magazine Book of the YearA Rough Trade Book of the YearA Resident Book of the YearThe story of soul legend P.P. Arnold is one of musical highs, personal lows and extraordinary endurance.From her origins in powerhouse church gospel, the talented singer's performing career began at the age of just seventeen when she joined the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. But little did the young Ikette know that her world was about to be turned upside-down...Upon arriving in London in 1966 to support the Rolling Stones, the shy but vivacious teenager caught the eye of frontman Mick Jagger. He would persuade her to stay in the city and record as a solo artist, ultimately leading to a five-decade career working with everyone from Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, the Small Faces, Nick Drake and Barry Gibb to Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters, the KLF, Paul Weller and Primal Scream.However, it has been far from a gilded life for the soul superstar. After being forced into marriage upon becoming pregnant at the age of fifteen, Arnold went on to endure a string of devastating personal traumas. Yet the versatile musician survived it all and has continued to reinvent herself throughout the years -be that as a West End actress, a much-sought-after session singer or a renowned pop vocalist in her own right.Now, for the first time, P.P. Arnold shares her remarkable adventures. This is the long-awaited memoir of a true soul survivor.'Jaw-dropping.' - Mojo'Powerful.' - Woman's Hour'Explosive.' - Daily Mail

Read more less

Longlisted for the Penderyn Music Book PrizeAn Uncut Magazine Book of the Year A Rough Trade Book of the Year A Resident Book of the YearThe story of soul legend P.P. Arnold is one of musical highs, personal lows and extraordinary endurance.From her origins in powerhouse church gospel, the talented singer's performing career began at the age of just seventeen when she joined the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. But little did the young Ikette know that her world was about to be turned upside-down...Upon arriving in London in 1966 to support the Rolling Stones, the shy but vivacious teenager caught the eye of frontman Mick Jagger. He would persuade her to stay in the city and record as a solo artist, ultimately leading to a five-decade career working with everyone from Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, the Small Faces, Nick Drake and Barry Gibb to Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters, the KLF, Paul Weller and Primal Scream.However, it has been far from a gilded life for the soul superstar. After being forced into marriage upon becoming pregnant at the age of fifteen, Arnold went on to endure a string of devastating personal traumas. Yet the versatile musician survived it all and has continued to reinvent herself throughout the years -be that as a West End actress, a much-sought-after session singer or a renowned pop vocalist in her own right.Now, for the first time, P.P. Arnold shares her remarkable adventures. This is the long-awaited memoir of a true soul survivor. 'Jaw-dropping.' - Mojo'Powerful.' - Woman's Hour'Explosive.' - Daily Mail

Read more less

SUNDAY TIMES MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023MOJO BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023A ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023AN UNCUT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023A VARIETY MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023One of the few indisputable geniuses of pop music, Sly Stone is a trailblazer who created a new kind of music, mixing Black and white, male and female, funk and rock; penned some of the most iconic anthems of the 1960s and 70s, from "Everyday People" to "Family Affair"; and electrified audiences with a persona and stage presence that set a lasting standard for pop culture performance. Yet he has also been a cautionary tale, known as much for how he dropped out of sight as for what put him in the spotlight in the first place. As much as people know the music, the man remains a mystery. In Thank You, his much-anticipated memoir, he's finally ready to share his story - a story that many thought he'd never have the chance to tell. Written with Ben Greenman, who has written memoirs with George Clinton and Brian Wilson among others, Thank You will include a foreword by Questlove. The book was created in collaboration with Sly Stone's manager Arlene Hirschkowitz. "For as long as I can remember folks have been asking me to tell my story," says Stone. "I wasn't ready. I had to be in a new frame of mind to become Sylvester Stewart again to tell the true story of Sly Stone. It's been a wild ride and hopefully my fans enjoy it too."

Read more less

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA BOOK OF THE YEAR PICK IN THE TIMES: 'Captivating'A ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: 'In-depth and inspiring''Beautifully compiled ... the perfect festival experience' SUNDAY TIMESGlastonbury 50 is the authorised, behind-the-scenes, inside story of the music festival that has become a true global phenomenon. The story begins in 1970. The day after Jimi Hendrix's death... dairy farmer Michael Eavis invites revellers to his field in Somerset to attend a 'Pop, Folk & Blues' festival. Tickets are £1 each, enticing more than a thousand customers with the promise of music, dance, poetry, theatre, lights and spontaneous entertainment - as well as free milk from his own Worthy Farm cows.Fast forward through five tumultuous decades and the Eavis's vision now encompasses a gigantic 'city in the fields', with a total annual population nearing a quarter of a million. Tickets sell out within minutes, the show is beamed live to more than 40 countries around the globe, and over 3 million people are registered to attend. Meanwhile, the bill has expanded to include big name performers, artists and designers from every branch of the creative arts. Glastonbury Festival is now the largest outdoor green fields event in the world.In their own words, Michael and Emily Eavis reveal the stories behind the headlines, and celebrate 50 years of history in the Vale of Avalon. They're joined by a host of big-name contributors from the world of music - among them Adele, JAY-Z, Dolly Parton, Chris Martin, Noel Gallagher, Lars Ulrich and Guy Garvey. They're joined by artists - Stanley Donwood, Kurt Jackson and many more. Writers - Caitlin Moran, Lauren Laverne, Billy Bragg - and by a host of photographers, from Seventies icon Brian Walker to rock and roll legends Jill Furmanovsky and Greg Williams.Together they bring you the magic that makes Glastonbury, Glastonbury.

Read more less

THE TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLERA GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH, THE TIMES, IRISH TIMES, SUNDAY EXPRESS, ROUGH TRADE, MOJO, CLASH, ROLLING STONE, UNCUT BOOK OF THE YEARFrom award-winning musician and composer Warren Ellis comes the unexpected and inspiring story of a piece of chewing gum. FEATURING AN INTRODUCTION BY NICK CAVEI hadn't opened the towel that contained her gum since 2013. The last person to touch it was Nina Simone, her saliva and fingerprints unsullied. The idea that it was still in her towel was something I had drawn strength from. I thought each time I opened it some of Nina Simone's spirit would vanish. In many ways that thought was more important than the gum itself.On Thursday 1 July, 1999, Dr Nina Simone gave a rare performance as part of Nick Cave's Meltdown Festival. After the show, in a state of awe, Warren Ellis crept onto the stage, took Dr Simone's piece of chewed gum from the piano, wrapped it in her stage towel and put it in a Tower Records bag. The gum remained with him for twenty years; a sacred totem, his creative muse, a conduit that would eventually take Ellis back to his childhood and his relationship with found objects, growing in significance with every passing year.Nina Simone's Gum is about how something so small can form beautiful connections between people. It is a story about the meaning we place on things, on experiences, and how they become imbued with spirituality. It is a celebration of artistic process, friendship, understanding and love.'The year's most eccentric and joyful musical memoir.'DAILY TELEGRAPH (Books of the Year)'A meditation on art and value, connection and collaboration [...] Fantastic.'THE TIMES (Books of the Year)'One of the most strange, illuminating and wonderful 'music' books ever.'MOJO (Books of the Year)

Read more less

***A ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEARA LOUDER THAN WAR BOOK OF THE YEAR'Fascinating'-MOJO'As close as anyone was ever going to get to really understanding Pete Shelley'-UNCUT'The memoir that Pete Shelley never had a chance to write'-LOUDER THAN WAR'Lots of great stories... A fascinating insight.'-JOHN MAHER, Buzzcocks When Pete Shelley, lead singer of legendary punk band Buzzcocks, passed away in 2018 we lost the chance to hear one of music's brightest stars tell his story.Or so it seemed. Now, recordings have surfaced of a series of remarkable interviews in which Pete tells the story of his life, his band and his place at the beating heart of the punk explosion in fascinating detail.Recorded over a series of late-night calls with a close friend, the tapes hear Pete talk song-by-song through Buzzcocks releases to reveal the personal memories behind the music and the inspiration for masterpieces such as 'Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)' and 'What Do I Get?'. Published for the first time and with the blessing of Pete's estate, Ever Fallen In Love: The Lost Buzzcocks Tapes is a tribute to a founding member of punk and a chance to hear one of music's true visionaries tell his own story at last.'Perfectly executed, highly detailed, incredibly interesting.'-HENRY ROLLINS, Black Flag'Pete and Buzzcocks were there right from the beginning.'-BERNARD SUMNER, Joy Division, New Order'A true gentleman and a great artist and songwriter.'-PETER HOOK, Joy Division, New Order 'Shot through with self-doubt and mild regret, Pete Shelley's lovesick pop classics have a bittersweet charm that will forever speak to the young romantic'-JOHN COOPER CLARKE'Buzzcocks were the blue touchpaper for my love of music. Pure pop met punk and the result was perfection.'-TIM BURGESS, The Charlatans

Read more less

A Rough Trade Book of the Year'No one has captured the look of alternative UK music over the past half a century more tellingly than Kevin Cummins.' - Simon Armitage'Kevin Cummins is a true master in being able to capture the essence of music, the soul of the band. Whatever he does however he does it is a mystery to me but it's pure genius.' - Rankin'Few photographers had such a close connection to The Fall as Manchester-based Kevin Cummins, and his new book, Telling Stories, is a rich visual history of one of the city's most beloved and enduring bands.' - Record Collector Magazine 'Kevin has the uncanny ability of capturing the inner mood of musicians. Be it the dynamics within a pensive Joy Division, or the sense surrounding the fledgeling Fall that something special was around the corner for us all. Kevin's book is nothing less than a remarkable document of a bewildering and defiant anti-fashion movement born in Prestwich, north Manchester in the grimy mid-70s.' - Marc Riley'Capturing forty years of the band's career via his archive, the legendary photographer (whose recent book, Juvenes, documented the story of Joy Division) gives his take on the phenomenon of The Fall and the late, great Mark E. Smith.' - Vive le Rock Contains never-before-seen images.Foreword by Simon Armitage, Poet Laureate. From chaotic early gigs to their final years, NME photographer Kevin Cummins provides a definitive, unique perspective on cult favourites The Fall. In this stunning visual history spanning four decades, discover how and why they emerged as one of the most innovative, boundary-breaking bands in modern music.With a foreword by Poet Laureate and Fall fan Simon Armitage and an interview with Eleni Poulou, as well as never-before-seen images from Cummins' archive, this is the ultimate visual companion to The Fall.

Read more less

A ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEARA LOUDER THAN WAR BOOK OF THE YEAR'Fascinating'-MOJO'As close as anyone was ever going to get to really understanding Pete Shelley'-UNCUT'The memoir that Pete Shelley never had a chance to write'-LOUDER THAN WAR'Lots of great stories... A fascinating insight.'-JOHN MAHER, Buzzcocks When Pete Shelley, lead singer of legendary punk band Buzzcocks, passed away in 2018 we lost the chance to hear one of music's brightest stars tell his story. Or so it seemed.Now, recordings have surfaced of a series of remarkable interviews in which Pete tells the story of his life, his band and his place at the beating heart of the punk explosion in fascinating detail.Recorded over a series of late-night calls with a close friend, the tapes hear Pete talk song-by-song through Buzzcocks releases to reveal the personal memories behind the music and the inspiration for masterpieces such as 'Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)' and 'What Do I Get?'.Published for the first time and with the blessing of Pete's estate, Ever Fallen In Love: The Lost Buzzcocks Tapes is a tribute to a founding member of punk and a chance to hear one of music's true visionaries tell his own story at last.'Perfectly executed, highly detailed, incredibly interesting.'-HENRY ROLLINS, Black Flag'Shot through with self-doubt and mild regret, Pete Shelley's lovesick pop classics have a bittersweet charm that will forever speak to the young romantic'-JOHN COOPER CLARKE

Read more less

A ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023A GUARDIAN MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023The Cure are arguably the biggest alternative rock band in the world. Between 1985 and 2000 every album they released went to at least Gold in the UK, the US or both. In America they have earned four Platinum albums, and they are estimated to have sold 30 million albums worldwide. Their iconic status as elder statesmen of Alternative Rock remains undiminished - if anything, their tireless touring has ensured that it has grown with every passing year - and lead singer Robert Smith is an endlessly fascinating figure to successive generations of fans. The Cure's influence reverberates through genres including Emo, Goth, Industrial and Indie Rock.The book is an encyclopaedic A-Z of The Cure examining and riffing on miscellaneous trivia, biographies of the band members past and present, summaries of each album and selected songs, details of the band's various tours and films, and essays on broader topics such as their image, their politics and their influences. Playful, eccentric and irreverent - true to the spirit of the band itself - CUREPEDIA is a comprehensive biography of one of the biggest alternative rock bands in the world. The hardback edition features interior pages printed in red and black ink, a ribbon marker, and bespoke C-U-R-E letter endpapers specially designed by Andy Vella - celebrated artist and collaborator (as part of Parched Art) with The Cure on their album artwork for four decades.

Read more less

A Louder than War Book of the Year A Waterstones Book of the YearA Rough Trade Book of the YearA Resident Book of the Year 'All Ian Broudie's great gifts as a songwriter - melody, vulnerability, empathy, hope - turn out to be in his prose too. A lovely read' - DAVID BADDIEL'Full of heart and sparkling melancholy' - THE IFew musicians have lived a musical life as rich as the songwriter and producer Ian Broudie.From recording the glorious uplifting psychedelic pop of his band the Lightning Seeds to producing bands like Echo & the Bunnymen and the Fall, Ian has journeyed from the energy and potential of the 1970s punk scene to the madness of '90s indie - and out the other side.Throughout nearly fifty years of making music, he has had a front-row seat working with generations of fantastic musicians in the creation of countless groundbreaking records. In Tomorrow's Here Today, he reveals what he has learnt about creativity, how to work with musicians touched by genius and what it is like to stumble through an exploding industry without losing sight of your dreams.Along the way, Ian shares how he wrote the million-selling album Jollification and how - along with the comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner - he wrote and recorded the only single in chart history to reach number one in the UK on four separate occasions. 'Three Lions' has since become the undisputed unofficial anthem of English football, soundtracking heartbreaking defeats as well as the wondrous victories of the Lionesses.Following 2022's long-awaited Lightning Seeds comeback, Ian reflects on a life of cosmic adventures spent in thrall to the power of music.

Read more less

'You will love this book.' - RICHARD OSMAN Shortlisted for the Penderyn Music Book PrizeA Rough Trade Book of the YearA Resident Book of the YearA Monorail Book of the YearA Virgin Radio Book of the YearIn 1986, the NME released a cassette that would shape music for years to come. A collection of twenty-two independently signed guitar-based bands, C86 was the sound and ethos that defined a generation. It was also arguably the point at which 'indie' was born.But what happened next to all those musical dreamers?Some of the bands, like Primal Scream, went on to achieve global stardom; others, such as Half Man Half Biscuit and The Wedding Present, cultivated lifelong fanbases that still sustain their careers today. Then there were the rest - the ones who endured general indifference from the record-buying public and ultimately returned to civvy street.Now, thirty-five years on, journalist Nige Tassell tracks down the class of C86, unearthing members of all twenty-two bands and sharing the stories, both tragic and uplifting, of these long-lost musicians.Told with warmth, compassion and humour, this is a very human account of ambition, hope, varying degrees of talent and what happens after you give up on music - or, more accurately, after music gives up on you. It's a world populated by bike-shop owners, dance-music producers, record-store proprietors, ornithologists, driving instructors, solicitors, caricaturists and possibly even an Olympic sailor. And let's not forget the musician-turned-actor gainfully employed as Jeremy Irons' body double...More than simply the tale of the tape, Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids? is an exploration of C86's wide-reaching and often surprising legacy.

Read more less

First published in 1932, A Scarlet Pansy is an extraordinarily vivid and richly textured depiction of American queer life in the early twentieth century, tracing the coming-of-age of androgynous Fay Etrange. Born in small-town Pennsylvania and struggling with her difference, Fay eventually accepts her gender and sexual nonconformity and immerses herself in the fairy subculture of New York City. A self-proclaimed “oncer”—never tricking with same man twice—she immerses herself in the nightclubs, theaters, and street life of the city, cavorting with kindred spirits including female impersonators, streetwalkers, and hustlers as well as other fairies and connoisseurs of rough trade. While reveling in these exploits she becomes a successful banker and later attends medical school, where she receives training in obstetrics. There she also develops her life’s ambition to find a cure for gonorrhea, a disease supposedly “fastened on mankind as a penalty for enjoying love.” A Scarlet Pansy stands apart from similar fiction of its time—as well as that of the ensuing decades—by celebrating rather than pathologizing its effeminate and sexually adventurous protagonist. In this edition, republished for the first time in its original unexpurgated form, Robert J. Corber examines the way in which it flew in the face of other literature of the time in its treatment of gender expression and same-sex desire. He places the novel squarely within its social and cultural context of nearly a century ago while taking into account the book’s checkered publication history as well as the question of the novel’s unknown author. Much more than cultural artifact, A Scarlet Pansy remains a uniquely delightful and penetrating work of literature, resonating as much with present-day culture as it is illuminating of our understanding of queer history and challenging our notions of what makes a man a woman, and vice-versa.

Read more less

The story of how Toronto became a music mecca. From Yonge Street to Yorkville to Queen West to College, the neighbourhoods that housed Toronto’s music scenes. Featuring Syrinx, Rough Trade, Martha and the Muffins, Fifth Column, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, Rheostatics, Ghetto Concept, LAL, Broken Social Scene, and more! “Jonny Dovercourt, a tireless force in Toronto’s music scene, offers the widest-ranging view out there on how an Anglo-Saxon backwater terrified of people going to bars on Sundays transforms itself into a multicultural metropolis that raises up more than its share of beloved artists, from indie to hip-hop to the unclassifiable. His unique approach is to zoom in on the rooms where it’s happened – the live venues that come and too frequently go – as well as on the people who’ve devoted their lives and labours to collective creativity in a city that sometimes seems like it’d rather stick to banking. For locals, fans, and urban arts denizens anywhere, the essential Any Night of the Week is full of inspiration, discoveries, and cautionary tales.” —Carl Wilson, Slate music critic and author of Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste, one of Billboard’s ‘100 Greatest Music Books of All Time’ “Toronto has long been one of North America’s great music cities, but hasn’t got the same credit as L.A., Memphis, Nashville, and others. This book will go a long way towards proving Toronto’s place in the music universe.” —Alan Cross, host, the Ongoing History of New Music “The sweaty, thunderous exhilaration of being in a packed club, in collective thrall to a killer band, extends across generations, platforms, and genre preferences. With this essential book, Jonny has created something that's not just a time capsule, but a time machine.” —Sarah Liss, author of Army of Lovers

Read more less

'Hungry Beat is the story of an all-too-brief era where the short-circuiting of that industry seemed viable. But hell, the times were luminous as was the music these artists made. The songs and many of the players remain, and here they tell their story and lick their wounds' Ian RankinThe immense cultural contribution made by two maverick Scottish independent music labels, Fast Product and Postcard, cannot be underestimated. Bob Last and Hilary Morrison in Edinburgh, followed by Alan Horne and Edwyn Collins in Glasgow helped to create a confidence in being Scottish that hitherto had not existed in pop music (or the arts in general in Scotland). Their fierce independent spirit stamped a mark of quality and intelligence on everything they achieved, as did their role in the emergence of regional independent labels and cultural agitators, such as Rough Trade, Factory and Zoo.Hungry Beat is a definitive oral history of these labels and the Scottish post-punk period. Covering the period 1977-1984, the book begins with the Subway Sect and the Slits performance on the White Riot tour in Edinburgh and takes us through to Bob Last shepherding the Human League from experimental electronic artists on Fast Product to their triumphant number one single in the UK and USA, Don't You Want Me. Largely built on interviews for Grant McPhee's Big Gold Dream film with Last, Hilary Morrison, Paul Morley and members of The Human League, Scars, The Mekons, Fire Engines, Josef K, Aztec Camera, The Go-Betweens and The Bluebells, Hungry Beat offers a comprehensive overview of one of the most important periods of Scottish cultural output and the two labels that changed the landscape of British music.

Read more less

First published in 1932, A Scarlet Pansy is an extraordinarily vivid and richly textured depiction of American queer life in the early twentieth century, tracing the coming-of-age of androgynous Fay Etrange. Born in small-town Pennsylvania and struggling with her difference, Fay eventually accepts her gender and sexual nonconformity and immerses herself in the fairy subculture of New York City. A self-proclaimed “oncer”—never tricking with same man twice—she immerses herself in the nightclubs, theaters, and street life of the city, cavorting with kindred spirits including female impersonators, streetwalkers, and hustlers as well as other fairies and connoisseurs of rough trade. While reveling in these exploits she becomes a successful banker and later attends medical school, where she receives training in obstetrics. There she also develops her life’s ambition to find a cure for gonorrhea, a disease supposedly “fastened on mankind as a penalty for enjoying love.” A Scarlet Pansy stands apart from similar fiction of its time—as well as that of the ensuing decades—by celebrating rather than pathologizing its effeminate and sexually adventurous protagonist. In this edition, republished for the first time in its original unexpurgated form, Robert J. Corber examines the way in which it flew in the face of other literature of the time in its treatment of gender expression and same-sex desire. He places the novel squarely within its social and cultural context of nearly a century ago while taking into account the book’s checkered publication history as well as the question of the novel’s unknown author. Much more than cultural artifact, A Scarlet Pansy remains a uniquely delightful and penetrating work of literature, resonating as much with present-day culture as it is illuminating of our understanding of queer history and challenging our notions of what makes a man a woman, and vice-versa.

Read more less

WINNER OF THE FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST FIRST COLLECTIONChosen as a Book of the Year by New Statesman, Financial Times, Guardian, Observer, Rough Trade and the BBCShortlisted for the Rathbones Folio PrizeLonglisted for the Jhalak Prize'Restlessly inventive, brutally graceful, startlingly beautiful ... a landmark debut' Guardian'Oh my God, he's just stirring me. Destroying me' Michaela Coel'A poet of truth and rage, heartbreak and joy' Max Porter'Takes us into new literary territory ... impressive' Bernardine Evaristo, New Statesman (Books of the Year)'It's simply stunning. Every image is a revelation' Terrance HayesWhat is it like to grow up in a place where the same police officer who told your primary school class they were special stops and searches you at 13 because 'you fit the description of a man' - and where it is possible to walk two and a half miles through an estate of 1,444 homes without ever touching the ground?In Poor, Caleb Femi combines poetry and original photography to explore the trials, tribulations, dreams and joys of young Black boys in twenty-first century Peckham. He contemplates the ways in which they are informed by the built environment of concrete walls and gentrifying neighbourhoods that form their stage, writes a coded, near-mythical history of the personalities and sagas of his South London youth, and pays tribute to the rappers and artists who spoke to their lives.Above all, this is a tribute to the world that shaped a poet, and to the people forging difficult lives and finding magic within it. As Femi writes in one of the final poems of this book: 'I have never loved anything the way I love the endz.'

Read more less

'Shadowman is an emotional and powerful read, deeply honest and very personal, and at times made bearable only by Johnny Daukes' ability to find comedy in horrific circumstances. An astonishing piece of work' - David Quantick This is no ordinary autobiography. In 2003 Johnny Daukes acknowledged to himself and confessed to his younger brother that he had been sexually abused as a child. This was by a man in charge of a boys' club in Oxford, run by the Catholic organisation Opus Dei. In 1984 the abuser married their older sister and the couple went on to have ten children. In 1992 Johnny formed the band FIN and they released records, toured extensively and received a great deal of press and national airplay. He also went on to become a successful voice-over artist, screenwriter and director. Later in life Johnny came to realise that these projects – his lyrics, sketches and scripts – were in fact the documents, or records, of a life that had been corrupted. Shadowman is an extraordinary memoir about childhood abuse and one man's unwitting attempt to examine and understand the past through creativity and art. 'What a unique book Johnny Daukes' Shadowman is. On the surface it's memoir but at its heart it's a book that wrestles with big questions about pain, art, memory and love' - Mat Osman 'Johnny Daukes' compelling memoir navigates both darkness and exhilaration with intensity and painful candour but also joy and wit. This is a book that is often melancholy but never mawkish and at its heart is an affirming appetite for life.' - Stuart Maconie AUTHOR: Johnny Daukes is a writer, musician, film editor, voice artist. He was the singer/songwriter of 90s indie-band FIN, became a comedy writer with sketch shows on BBCR4 (Radio9 & The Scanner), BBC3TV (The Message) and voiced 16 series of C4's Eurotrash. He wrote and directed the 2011 feature film Acts of Godfrey (starring Simon Callow), released solo albums including Promise that was album of the week in The Sunday Times and Rough Trade. His sitcom Cracking Up ran for two series on BBCR4 and he has latterly cut feature films including Finding Your Feet, Fisherman's Friends and Settlers.

Read more less

A ROUGH TRADE, THE TIMES, CLASH BOOK OF THE YEARThe dramatic story of Solange: a musician and artist whose unconventional journey to international success was far more important than her family name. 'Why Solange Matters is a significant and sober treatise on popular music . . . This book is more than necessary.'THURSTON MOORE'The author's prose sparkles . . . This is a book about what freedom could look like for Black women.'CALEB AZUMAH NELSON, OBSERVER'Invigorating . . . much more than a dry thesis and at times something nearer to personal reverie.'IAN PENMAN, LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS'A love letter to quirkly black creatives . . . [Phillips'] vibrant writing reminds us how Solange lit "the flame of creativity" within many Black women.' gal-demGrowing up in the shadow of her superstar sister, Beyoncé, and defying an industry that attempted to bend her to its rigid image of a Black woman, Solange Knowles has become a pivotal musician and artist in her own right.In Why Solange Matters, Stephanie Phillips chronicles the creative journey of Solange, a beloved voice of the Black Lives Matter generation. A Black feminist punk musician herself, Phillips addresses not only the unpredictable trajectory of Solange's career but also how she and other Black women see themselves through the musician's repertoire. First, she traces Solange's progress through an inflexible industry, charting the artist's development up to 2016, when the release of her third album, A Seat at the Table, redefined her career. With this record and, then, When I Get Home (2019), Phillips describes how Solange has embraced activism, anger, Black womanhood and intergenerational trauma to inform her remarkable art.Why Solange Matters not only cements the subject in the pantheon of world-changing twenty-first-century musicians, it introduces its writer as an important new voice. MUSIC MATTERS: SHORT BOOKS ABOUT THE ARTISTS WE LOVE- Why Solange Matters by Stephanie Phillips- Why Marianne Faithfull Matters by Tanya Pearson- Why Karen Carpenter Matters by Karen Tongson

Read more less

A Sunday Times, Times, Irish Times and Mojo Book of the YearRough Trade #1 Book of the YearResident Music #1 Book of the Year'Were you there? Well this is as close as it gets! Thurston Moore's compelling and spirited account of the streets, the songs, the clothes, the clubs and the contenders! A sensitive and authentic testimony to Moore's life lived through art and music. Beats with the heart of a true artist and mutineer.' Viv Albertine'Downtown scientists rejoice! For Thurston Moore has unearthed the missing links, the sacred texts, the forgotten stories, and the secret maps of the lost golden age. This is history-scuffed, slightly bent, plenty noisy, and indispensable.' Colson WhiteheadA music-obsessed retrospective, beginning with his childhood epiphany of rock 'n' roll in the early 1960s into an infatuation with the subversive world of 1970s punk and no wave blasting forth from New York City - where he eventually runs off to join a band in 1978. By 1981 Moore would form the legendary and notorious experimental rock group Sonic Youth, who proceeded to record and tour relentlessly for almost 30 years, always progressing, always exploring.Along the way we meet a constellation of artists and musicians who colluded and collided with Sonic Youth including Velvet Underground, Stooges, Patti Smith, Television, Sex Pistols, Clash, Nirvana, Hole, Beastie Boys, Neil Young and a cavalcade of other musical visionaries, as well as figures from the art world - Jean Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Gerhard Richter.Simply put, Thurston Moore and Sonic Youth changed the sound of modern alternative rock music and opened the minds of a generation of artists to new possibilities within the form. This is essential reading.'I thoroughly enjoyed Thurston Moore's trip down the gauntlet of memory lane, dodging beer bottles and pools of blood as he balances the demands of art and survival. Plus I'm a sucker for anyone who name-checks Saccharine Trust. A raw, rollicking document.' Nell Zink

Read more less

The Times Art Book of the Year 2021 FINALIST FOR THE PLUTARCH AWARD 2022 ‘Must surely be the definitive life of Francis Bacon … A biography that no Bacon fan – or indeed foe – can afford to overlook … Mesmerising’ THE TIMES ‘A magnificent triumph … I was captivated by every line’ OBSERVER A decade in the making, based upon hundreds of interviews and extensive new material, Pulitzer Prize winners Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan have written a startlingly original portrait – rich, complex, and subtle – of a commanding modern figure. Bacon concealed many important aspects of his life. He described himself as an asthmatic child in Ireland with foxhunting parents and a tyrannical father, but he was also rescued by a series of formidable women – women who in this biography emerge in their own right. He was never just a dissolute young man but was also a passionate reader, largely self-taught. Early on, influenced by Eileen Gray, he became a hard-working and ambitious designer, a brief career explored here in detail for the first time. He dreamed of remaking the modern room. Bacon worked no less hard or ambitiously as a painter, at first with little success. Throughout the 1930s and early ’40s he suffered ongoing failures, growing isolated and often ill. His health issues throughout his life were far more significant than he revealed. Then came his astonishing breakthrough in 1944, with Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion. In the following decades, he emerged as one of the great iconoclasts and bon vivants of his time, a Wildean figure whom one friend called ‘a terrific grandee.’ Bacon was typically celebrated as a sexual adventurer who liked rough trade, but he never stopped longing for a serious committed relationship, however painful. He continued to make disturbing images of the strangeness within, but developed into a more varied artist than has been recognised, creating in particular an extraordinary series of self-portraits. He was an artist who believed in chance and paradox: the iconoclast eventually became an icon. This is a story, deeply researched and masterfully told, of a sickly boy who became one of the great figures of his time. The twentieth century does not know itself without Bacon.

Read more less

A ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEARCONCRETE ISLANDS NO. 1 BOOK OF THE YEAR'In a dizzying gyroscopic vortex of inner archeology, David Keenan sifts through spiraling past lives to unearth his provocative vision of the future. A colossus of imagination' LENNY KAYE'Visionary and prismatic, gloriously hallucinatory although grounded in the material, Monument Maker's grand sweep takes in distant historical subterrains, a shimmering summer of the present, the transient, the eternal, the profane, the divine' WENDY ERSKINE'I sometimes think David Keenan dreams aloud. His prose has the effortless enigmatic, unsettling quality of dream' EDNA O'BRIEN'A masterpiece' WILLIAM BASINSKIIs it possible for books to dream? For books to dream within books? Is there a literary subterranea that would facilitate ingress and exit points through these dreams? These are some of the questions posed by David Keenan's masterly fifth novel, Monument Maker, an epic romance of eternal summer and a descent, into history, into the horrors of the past; a novel with a sweep and range that runs from the siege of Khartoum and the conquest of Africa in the 19th century through the Second World War and up to the present day, where the memory of a single summer, and a love affair that took place across the cathedrals of Ile de France, unravels, as a secret initiatory cult is uncovered that has its roots in macabre experiments in cryptozoology in pre-war Europe. MONUMENT MAKER straddles genres while fully embracing none of them, a book within a book within a book that runs from hallucinatory historical epics through future-visioned histories of the world narrated by a horribly disfigured British soldier made prophetic by depths of suffering; books that interact with Keenan's earlier novels, including a return to the mythical post-punk Airdrie landscape of his now classic debut, THIS IS MEMORIAL DEVICE; whole histories of art and religion; books that are glorious choral appendices; bibliographies; imagined films; tape recorded interviews; building to a jubilant accumulation of registers, voices and rhythms that is truly Choral. Written over the course of 10 years, MONUMENT MAKER represents the apex of Keenan's project to create books that contain uncanny life and feel like living organisms. It is a meditation on art and religion, and on what it means to make monument; this great longing for something eternal, something that could fix moments in time, forever.

Read more less

THE TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLERA GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH, THE TIMES, IRISH TIMES, ROUGH TRADE, MOJO, CLASH, ROLLING STONE, UNCUT BOOK OF THE YEARFrom award-winning musician and composer Warren Ellis comes the unexpected and inspiring story of a piece of chewing gum. FEATURING AN INTRODUCTION BY NICK CAVE'Warren has turned this memento, snatched from his idol's piano in a moment of rapture, into a genuine religious artefact.'NICK CAVE'Such a mad, happy book about art and music and obsession. I'm so glad I got to read it. It made the world feel lighter.'NEIL GAIMAN'In praise of meaning-rich relics and magical things. Totally heartwarming project.'MAX PORTER'A unique study of a fan's devotion, of transcendence and of the artistic vocation - it's got depth and great warmth. It's a beautiful piece of work.'KEVIN BARRYI hadn't opened the towel that contained her gum since 2013. The last person to touch it was Nina Simone, her saliva and fingerprints unsullied. The idea that it was still in her towel was something I had drawn strength from. I thought each time I opened it some of Nina Simone's spirit would vanish. In many ways that thought was more important than the gum itself.On Thursday 1 July, 1999, Dr Nina Simone gave a rare performance as part of Nick Cave's Meltdown Festival. After the show, in a state of awe, Warren Ellis crept onto the stage, took Dr Simone's piece of chewed gum from the piano, wrapped it in her stage towel and put it in a Tower Records bag. The gum remained with him for twenty years; a sacred totem, his creative muse, a conduit that would eventually take Ellis back to his childhood and his relationship with found objects, growing in significance with every passing year.Nina Simone's Gum is about how something so small can form beautiful connections between people. It is a story about the meaning we place on things, on experiences, and how they become imbued with spirituality. It is a celebration of artistic process, friendship, understanding and love. 'This is such a beautiful f*@king book. Thank you, Warren. I highly recommend this motherf*@ker.'FLEA'A beautifully written book about the power of music and objects. I powered through it in two days.'COURTNEY BARNETT'A moving, inspiration insight into a beautiful mind.'JIM JARMUSCH'The year's most eccentric and joyful musical memoir.'DAILY TELEGRAPH (Books of the year)'[Nina Simone's Gum] is a metaphor for [Ellis'] creativity - the blossoming of a small idea into something bigger and bolder - but also a journey inside the impulsive, improvisatory mind of Warren Ellis, his passions, obsessions and superstitions.' OBSERVER'[A] beautiful, strikingly idiosyncratic book - part memoir, part essay, part conceptual art project, all testament to humans at their strangest and best . . . [Ellis] sees signifiance where others might not.'MOJO'A glorious piece of object fetishism . . . Marvel as Ellis' collection of eccentric personal mementos morphs into a celebration of the intangible wonder of music.'UNCUT'Wonderful.' THE TIMES'The most peculiar book I've ever read.' CRAIG BROWN, MAIL ON SUNDAY'Delightful . . . A joy from start to finish.' BIG ISSUE'A joyous work full of love, connection, creativity and gratitude.' THE SPECTATOR'Completely charming and joyful . . . glorious.' LA REVIEW OF BOOKS'Beautiful . . . remarkable.' NEW EUROPEAN

Read more less