Keith Morris
My Damage: The Story of a Punk Rock Survivor
Da Capo Press (2017)
Keith Morris is one of the remaining original punk rock figures that is still going and has never really ceased to have an impact on what is widely perceived to be punk and hardcore at large. With a career spanning over four decades as the frontman of genre coining outfits not Circle Jerks, Black Flag and more recently OFF, he … Read more
Lenny Kravitz
Let Love Rule
Hachette Publishing (2020)
Sometimes one thinks you got what an artist is about, even if his oeuvre only was only on the periphery of your radar, then upon further inspection and stripping away the superficial mainstream appeal, it becomes apparent that there is much more to it than meets the eye, which prompts one to revisit the respective oeuvre. Case in point: Lenny … Read more
Mark Lanegan
I Am the Wolf
Da Capo Press (2017)
I came late to the party when it comes to Mark Lanegan and his career. It was him opening for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in 2013 and I was instantly overcome with the feeling that I have missed out on an intriguing man and his works. Delving into his oeuvre and myriad of collaborations, among which the ones … Read more
Mark Lanegan
Sing Backwards and Weep
hachette Book Group (2020)
“If I was honest, there was nothing but shame in the way I lived my life. I was nothing if not an abject failure, a fucking shitbag liar, a junkie loser if ever there was one”.Sing Backwards and Weep, the memoir of musician Mark Lanegan is a raw, honest portrayal of addiction with not a hint of poetry or hyperbole … Read more
Mark Mordue
Boy on Fire - The Young Nick Cave
Harper Collins (2020)
One cannot exactly claim that Nick Cave’s life and his oeuvre at large are being disregarded – au contraire, the interpretations and coverage of his emissions of the man, the myth, the legend is manifold. All the more interesting it is when a book emerges that tackles the life of Nick Cave through the deliberate effort of grinding a new … Read more
Max Brzezinski
Vinyl Age: A Guide to Record Collecting Now
Hachette Publishing (2020)
Carolina Soul Records should ring a bell with anyone seriously into collecting vinyl as it is one the largest record sellers both in the third dimension as well as online along with having cultivated its own radio show and a far reaching social media presence.Vinyl Age sheds light on how the record collecting game has changed since the advent of … Read more
Mike "McBeardo" McPadden
Heavy Metal Movies
Independent (2014)
According to Mike "McBeardo" McPadden's Heavy Metal Movies, Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey"profoundly influenced" a yet-to-be-named Black Sabbath. Fifty pages later on in the book, and the reader learns about the night in 1969 in Birmingham, England when Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward were getting ready to take the stage as blues rock band Earth and … Read more
Nat’s What I Reckon
Life: What Nat to Do A hot take on the advice you never asked for
Penguin Publishing (2022)
Nat’s What I Reckon wears many hats – ranging from having established himself firmly on the firmament of successful content creating YouTubers, accomplished musician with a penchant for the heavier side of things, comedian, chef and mental health advocate, who is very outspoken not merely about his disdain for packaged foods but also topics like toxic masculinity. Confronting his battles … Read more
Nick Cave
The Complete Lyrics 1978–2022
Penguin Publishing (2022)
The staying power of music is partly due to how timeless the lyrics are as they capture confused or illicit passions and channel love, lust, rage, desperation and everything in between. Ideally, lyrics are like paintings as colorful images are painted with language, altering and changing whatever preconceived notions the listener might have. One of the finest contemporary songwriters is … Read more
Nik Bärtsch
Listening, Music, Movement, Mind
Lars Müller Publishers (2021)
Based in Zürich, Switzerland, the acclaimed publishing house of Lars Müller is the manifestation of his love for books. Over the last eighteen years, a plethora of carefully curated and edited publications have been published, zeroing in on specialist areas in the realms of society, design, photography, architecture and art, all of which reflect Müller’s eclectic fields of interest. The … Read more
NOFX
NOFX: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories
Da Capo Press (2017)
NOFX: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories is a comprehensive autobiography from one of the world’s most prominent punk bands that worked its way up. New aficionados as well as die-hard long time followers will discover new and interesting facts via the stories of counterfeiting, murder, terminal illness, suicide, addiction, riots, bondage, the Yakuza, and drinking urine and the other fetishes … Read more
Oasis
Knebworth – Two Nights That Will Live Forever
Cassell Publishing (2021)
Indulging in the seductive lies of nostalgia often means that rough edges are taken from the brittle pages of the good old days, especially when it comes to stories emanating from the realm of rock’n roll and the self-congratulatory celebrations of each generations’ hey-days. However, no matter if you hold Oasis in high esteem or not, it was quite something … Read more
Oasis
Supersonic: The Complete, Authorised & Unabridged Interviews
Hachette Publishing (2021)
Despite having parted way more than twelve years ago, Oasis and the way they have diligently and borderline religiously channelled their Beatles worship continues to be one of the most influential British bands of all time. No matter if you were into what was labelled “Cool Britannia” in the 1990s or do not dig them, chances are that you do … Read more
Patrick Mackie
Mozart in Motion - His Work and His World in Pieces
Allen & Unwin (2021)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is widely portrayed as a self-contained musical genius, a prodigy that effortlessly managed to pump out an endless array of masterworks. What makes Patrick Mackie’s book on Mozart an intriguing piece of the literary canon of Mozart is that it offers insight on his worldly dealings, his writing process, the rehearsals, negotiations, travels, et cetera. Mozart in … Read more
Paul Brannigan
Eruption: The Eddie Van Halen Story
Faber Publishing (2021)
I for one have always found it puzzling how anyone into rock music could not harbour at least a weak spot of appreciation for the charm of the unicum that was Van Halen as from late seventies until the mid-80ies they almost single-handedly restored hard rock to where it belonged, courtesy of David Lee Roth’s charisma and the virtuosic talent … Read more
Paul Morley
From Manchester with Love: The Life and Opinions of Tony Wilson
Allen & Unwin Publishing (2021)
Tony Wilson was known for many things, e.g. being TV presenter, enfant terrible, entrepreneur, founder of the immensely successful Factory Records label and essentially an inspiring cultural catalyst and trailblazer at the centre of a myriad of creative networks, without whom genre-coining bands like Joy Division, Happy Mondays and New Order would have not had a veritable launchpad. Needless to … Read more
Radiohead
Kid A Mnesia: A Book of Radiohead Artwork
Canongate Books (2021)
Kid A was Radiohead’s fourth studio album, following the wildly successful OK Computer full-length, the wake of which found Thom Yorke and gang in a state that led them down a path culminating in a willingness to diverge from traditional rock music – not only musically but also as far as packaging and artwork is concerned, the latter of which … Read more
Raymond Pettibon
A Pen of all Work
Phaidon (2017)
Chances are that if you are remotely into underground culture, you will have quite a few records, shirts or other things adorned with artwork by Raymond Pettibon.For nigh to thirty years, Raymond Pettibon has been creating art that not only comments but has become an integral part of American culture and its implications. With a view from a unique angle, Pettibon … Read more
