Why Be Something That You're Not

'Why Be Something That You're Not: Detroit Hardcore 1979-1985' by Tony Rettman, which recounts when the Motor City was a musical hub, and we're not talking about the Motown sound. When the city was suffering through a cultural, social and physical meltdown and the Romantics were the most visible musical export, suburban skaters, a grade school teacher and census clerk took to the streets to begin one of the first hardcore punk scenes in the country. Rettman's book takes a hard look at that scene and he answered some of our most pivotal questions. Read more here!

via Noisecreep

Lord of the Logos

Fans of underground black metal music call Christophe Szpajdel the Lord of the Logos. Through his use of unusual aesthetic influences, Szpajdel has brought a new dynamic into the gothic visuality of heavy metal. He has not only succeeded in leaving his own visual mark on this music, but has expanded the canon of forms it uses. The book is done in the style of a black prayerbook, an appropriate choice for an artist whose fans in the black metal community worship him as the Lord of the Logos.

via DailyWhatNot

Krautrock: Cosmic Rock And Its Legacy

The late 1960's in West Germany was a period of profound breakthroughs, upheavals and reversals. communes were spreading, protests organised throughout the entire country, the desire to begin everything anew permeating the young. Out of this climate, a music scene exploded that would forever change the face of western rock; at times anarchic, at others mystical, and utopian, it pushed rock beyond any known limits.

Such legendary bands as Can, Faust, Neu!, Cluster, Harmonia, Kraftwerk and Ash Ra Tempel were at the height of their creative powers. From the relentless drum beating of Amon Düül I, to the eastern tinged mysticism of Popol Vuh and the sonic assaults of Conrad Schnitzler, Krautrock: Cosmic Rock And Its Legacy traces the history of this complex and eschewing definition phenomenon.

Illustrated with concert photos, posters, record cover art and other rare and previously unseen visual material, this book is the ultimate tour-de-force of a movement whose influence and impact is still being felt today.

Home Made Tattoos Rule

Home Made Tattoos Rule by Thomas Jeppe, is a 96-page photographic tribute to both the art and the philosophy behind home-made inking. It features all walks of life from mums to musicians, punks to painters and designers to dockers. View more pages here.

Mushroom Magick

For centuries hallucinogenic mushrooms have participated in a sublime relationship with humankind, thanks to their psychoactive chemicals that shift and modify the human mind. Arik Roper's exquisite painted portraits of magic mushrooms illustrate more than 90 of the known hallucinogenic species from around the world. He captures their powerful auras, adding to a tradition of Mushroom art that stretches back more than 400 years. This beautifully designed and profusely illustrated mushroom bible will appeal to nature lovers, mushroom hunters, and enthusiasts of all things psychedelic. You can purchase it here.




As you might know, Arik Roper is a visionary artist known for his CD covers (High on Fire/Sleep & many more), posters, and animation. See his entire work here.

They Tell No Tales

Found some awesome used, rare and out-of-print books at Brick Lane. Love it!

Romance

Chis Craymer, a London born photographer, captures special/raw moments by enlisting the help of real life couples who have a strong sense of personal style and individuality in his book called Romance. Enjoy the entire pics here.

The Story Of The Slits

The Slits were ahead of their time, they created some unique hybrids - dub reggae and pop-punk, African rhythms, funk and free jazz - they were dismissed as being unable to play. And that infamous debut album cover, with the band appearing topless and mud-daubed, prompted further misreadings of the first ladies of punk. Author Zoë Street Howe speaks to The Slits themselves, to former manager Don Letts, mentor and PIL guitarist Keith Levene and many other friends and colleagues to discover exactly how The Slits phenomenon came about and to celebrate the legacy of a seminal band long overdue its rightful acclaim. Too long seen as a note in the margin of the history of rock, The Slits at last get a fair hearing.
Hits shelves in the UK in July 2009! Published by Omnibus Press.

Skins & Punks

Skins and Punks by Gavin Watson, a series of intimate photographs of punk and skinhead gangs from the 1980s.

Still Loving Youth By S.C.A.N.D.A.L.

So here’s S.C.A.N.D.A.L. , a sub-division of UNKL347 and also a small multi-disciplinary studio, which dabbles in various creative areas, including print matter, design, video, photography, exhibitions and more besides. Still Loving Youth is one of their main projects, published every three months.

Still Loving Youth (SLY) can be described as a multi-format medium of life, music, movie/video, fashion and art. SLY offers a forum, discourse or collaboration for works by both famous, unknown and emerging artists from around the world, as well as personalities, fashion designers, musicians and other institutions (governmental, Non-Governmental Organization, Industrial Company). The collaborators produce their personal interpretations on a theme, thus giving unparalleled freedom to push SLY’s original format. The first edition of Still Loving Youth is now available and ready to spread a little colour, some stories and thoughts. More info here!

Vans: Birth of Icons

The long-awaited Vans: Birth of Icons book is finally hit store shelves on the first week of June 09. Watch the video here.

Collete Launches The Selby Shop

The Selby Show at colette will be up from March 30th until May 2nd 2009. It will include paintings, photos and written interviews with people from around the world including Los Angeles, New York, Mexico, London, Sydney and Paris. The Selby Paris book is being produced for colette and will be released April 2009 at the opening of The Selby Paris show. This book is limited to 250 copies. The spines of each book are hand painted red white and blue. All the books are signed and numbered by The Selby. The world premiere of The Selby's first film will also occur at this show, it is entitled "Down Under Book Porn". More info here.

PAMbook

PAMbook is an independent publisher based in Melbourne, publishing artists and photographers whose work intersects with the world of P.A.M.

PAMbook001 No Still Eye Deer, co-published with Paris fashion boutique Colette, released a series of what now consists of 20 titles containing contributions from an array of reputable artists. PAMbooks showcase some of the world’s finest artists and photographers within a concise A5 format volume. Forming part of the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival's 2009 Cultural Program, PAMbook will exhibit the photography archive of these collectable books.

Thursday March 19 - March 31, 2009
10am - 6pm
Someday/Metropolis Bookstore
Level 3, 252 Swanston Street
Melbourne

Via The Daily Pedestrian

The Bowery Boys!

BOWERY BOYS Book by Photographer KEIICHI NITTA, this 120-page bookwill be out on April 15th from O.H.W.O.W. With a style very similar to his mentor Terry Richardson, photographer Keiichi Nitta is set to release a new photography book with the creative direction of Aaron Bondaroff and Al Moran, the photos give us a look at “eroticism, sexuality, beauty, decay and everything in between”, through the eyes of Keiichi Nitta.



Big thanks to GLOB!

Punk Rock Fun Time Activity Book

Now, you can help Siouxsie Sioux apply her makeup and draw Henry Rollins’ tattoos. Aye Jay, creator of the Gangsta Rap Coloring Book and the Heavy Metal Fun Time Activity Book, takes on punk with mosh-worthy results. This activity book will challenge kids and adults alike with word searches and drawing games, or just sharpen your crayons and color legends of punk’s past and present!