Three one-of-a-kind books for music lovers

Obviously, here at the shop we love music, we love books and when the two worlds collide, it’s a match made in Backbeat heaven.

For those music superfans on your list, we have three very special and unique treasures that you won’t find at the big box stores:

1) First up is an amazing gift for your favourite rap/hip-hop connoisseur: “Houston Rap”. (Includes book & vinyl single by DJ Screw).

From the publisher:

“Houston Rap is an immersion into the everyday life of the Houston hip-hop community. This hardcover 272 page book features the photography of Peter Beste who spent 9 years documenting the culture alongside writer Lance Scott Walker. The book is edited by Johan Kugelberg who also worked with Peter on his previous book True Norwegian Black Metal (Vice) which to date has sold through 4 editions.

The Houston, Texas neighborhoods of Fifth Ward, Third Ward, and South Park have grown to be hallowed ground for modern hip hop culture, possessing self-contained celebrities, entrepreneurs, support networks, and a micro-economy of their own.

Houston Rap profiles noted artists such as Bun B of UGK, Z-Ro, Big Mike, K-Rino, Willie D of the Geto Boys, Lil’ Troy, and Paul Wall, alongside reflections on the lives of departed legends such as DJ Screw, Pimp C, and Big Hawk.

The book also features community leaders, rappers, producers, businessmen, and family members, all providing an astonishing and important insight into a great American cultural narrative.

“We edited the book as a 24 hour glimpse into the culture,” says Johan Kugelberg. “We take you from the projects to the studio to the strip club and back, all along with an on-going oral history narrative from the people of the culture.” “We see it as an immersion,” says Peter Beste. “The idea was always to provide an insight into the community of the arguably most powerful hip-hop scene in the world today.”

2) Do you have a drum machine fan in your life? If so, they’ll definitey appreciate the special coffee table book “Beat Box: A Drum Machine Obsession”. (Limited edition leatherette case contains: hard cover Beat Box book with 208 pages of detailed photos & drawings, download card with the sounds of drum machines featured in the book, cassette tape with beats from various drum machines featured in the book and 7″ vinyl record with the Roland TR-808 Beat to the Beastie Boys’ “Paul Revere” on the A Side and a “Reverse Loop” Version on the B-Side.)

From the Record Store Day website:

“Beat Box: A Drum Machine Obsession features 75 drum machines, with more than 200 photos and archival images.
Whether we are aware of it or not, the sound of drum machines has been woven into the fabric of popular music since the 1970s. Sly & The Family Stone, Blondie and Kraftwerk all benefitted from “Beat Boxes” on well-known hits, as did pop artists in the 1980s ranging from Madonna, Depeche Mode and Queen to Prince, Michael Jackson and Phil Collins. The relationship that these oft-misunderstood mystery machines have with hip-hop and electronic music runs even deeper, from Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys to New Order, Masters at Work, Moby and Kanye West. Three decades after he purchased his first Beat Box, producer and music industry veteran Joe Mansfield’s obsession with drum machines has finally spilled out of his recording studio and into the world at large. In Beat Box: A Drum Machine Obsession, Mansfield shares his deep love and respect for them on every page., This unique, one-of-a-kind book features gorgeous photos by Gary Land; captivating background and facts about each machine; archival advertisements; and interviews with master drum machine programmers and innovators including Davy DMX, Schoolly-D, Marshall Jefferson and Roger Linn. The range of drum machines covered spans three decades, from the late 1950s to the late 1980s.“

3) If you have a Widespread Panic uber-fan in your life, I’m sure they would love to add “Poster Children: The Art of Widespread Panic (1986-2013)” to their collection.

From Widespread Panic’s website:

“Widespread Panic has spent 25 years earning a reputation for amazing live shows. The band’s commitment to the live experience is not limited to the stage, but to visual artists across the country.

For years, the band has been dedicated to commissioning artists to create limited edition posters for their shows and they have archived all of these posters in their vault.

Every Widespread Panic fan would love the chance to dig through the bands poster archive, and with this book, they get the chance. Over 400 posters spanning their entire career are included in this 320 page hardcover book, including notes from Dave Schools and John Bell and from the poster artists, including: EMEK, Marq Spusta, Chuck Sperry and Jeff Wood.

Dave Schools, “These posters were another way for our fans to relive the show and commemorate a good time. In a way, they were like the gatefold record cover of the by-gone vinyl era – a visual interpretation for fans to look at while listening to our music.”

Again, these one-of-a-kind, limited-edition books aren’t just available anywhere…but now you know exactly where to find them!