Body Modification, Tattoo, Taboo, Piercing, Scarification, Splitting, Pain; Paperback Book - Ex Used condition
"Modern Primitives" is easily THE best book that explores contemporary body modification. The book has hundreds of pictures, wonderful in-depth interviews with important figures and tons of other great content. Though it focuses primarily on those in the world of body modification today, it also refers back to the origins and meanings in past and present cultures.
The interviews are relevant, interesting and very readable. You could sit down and read the text like a novel or you could simply refer to them for reference as necessary.
The best part is that this book takes an approach that will speak to those reading for personal reasons *and* those reading for academic interest. "Modern Primitives" is entertainly while still highly intellectual. The text is not sensationalistic like many are; it does not set out to shock the reader or obscenely glorify body ritual -- but simply to educate and inform.
Garage, Punk, Psych, Pop, Nuggets, Boxset, Spanish, South America, Mexico; 4xCD and Hardcover Book
4 CD's housed in a wonderful hardbound book with full color scans, photos and authoritative text of "Latin American" 60's punk, pop and psychedelia". It's title is something of a misnomer as there are actually quite a few tracks by Spanish 60's bands as well (Los Salvajes, Los Bravos, Los Sirex etc). Regardless, it's an amazing collection of a variety stuff in Spanish from the 1960's from carbon copy British invasion covers, to Latin American Sonics impersonators to way out acid eating full blown psychedelia it's a delight from start to finish (with lots of amusing radio/TV commercials in Spanish from the 60's thrown in). "Nuggets II" scratched the surface on this genre with a few inclusions, this set digs up the treasure chest!
Blaxploitation, Exploitation, Provocative, Culture, Underground, Cult; Paperback Book - Ex Used condition
James's own baadasssss 'tude hasn't backpedaled a bit since he gave the world a hotfoot in his first novel, Negrophobia, four years ago. Now, in step with the pop African American icons of the '70s he celebrates in this crass but wickedly funny survey/memoir, the author struts and jives his way through an energetic hodgepodge of interviews, reminiscences and original fiction. The offerings here range from the essay "The Blackman's Guide to White Women with the Amazing Power of Voodoo" through a high-toned interview with blaxploitation goddess Pam Grier to James's musings on the influence on his life of books by Iceberg Slim, author of Pimp. The numerous sidebars alone, which offer capsule reviews and/or plot summaries of scores of blaxploitation films from Shaft to Cleopatra Jones and The Black Gestapo, make this a classic of psychotronic scholarship. James's 'tude grates at times?for example, his insistence on calling whites "whytes"?but his apparent aim is to provoke more than denigrate, and he incorporates the work of several white artists, most prominently that of cartoonist Ralph Bakshi, into his raucous mix. Given its subject, this eclectic, iconoclastic, profusely illustrated work is just as it should be: a savvy, smirking toss of a black gauntlet at white middle-class values and culture.
Weird, Obscure, Outsider, Psychedelic, Music, Underground, Forgotten; Paperback Book, Steve Albini - Ex Used condition
For nearly twenty years, the much-beloved music magazine Roctober has featured work by some of the best underground cartoonists, exhaustive examinations of made-up genres such as “robot rock,” and an ongoing exploration of everything Sammy Davis Jr. ever sang, said, or did. But the heart of the magazine has always been the lengthy conversations with overlooked or forgotten artists. Flying Saucers Rock ’n’ Roll gathers the most compelling of these interviews. Eccentric, important artists—including the rockabilly icon Billy Lee Riley, the jazz musician and activist Oscar Brown Jr., the “Outlaw Country” singer David Allan Coe, and the pioneer rock ’n’ roll group the Treniers—give the most in-depth interviews of their lengthy careers. Obscure musicians, such as the Armenian-language novelty artist Guy Chookoorian and the frustrated interstellar glam act Zolar X, reveal fascinating lives lived at rock’s margins. Roctober’s legendarily dedicated writers convey telling anecdotes in the fervent, captivating prose that has long been appreciated by music enthusiasts. Along with the entertaining interviews, Flying Saucers Rock ’n’ Roll features more than sixty images from the pages of Roctober and ten illustrations created for the book by the underground rock ’n’ roll artist King Merinuk. Intoduction by Steve Albini
Gainsbourg, French, Jazz, Pop, Playboy; Paperback Book - VG Used condition (Light creasing in covers)
In this, the first English biography to capture Gainsbourg in all his contradiction and gleeful outrageousness, Simmons tells the fascinating story of the Gallic star. Drawing on hours of new interviews with his intimates-among them Jane Birkin, Sly & Robbie, Marianne Faithfull, and celebrated producer Philippe Lerichomme-Simmons describes in crackling prose the scope of Gainsbourg's achievement while doing full justice to his complicated emotional life. Simmons's work will stand as the definitive take on a dizzying genius.
Eccentric, Underground, Psychedelic, Outsider, Oddities, Cult; Paperback Book (does not contain CD) - Ex Used condition
This book explores the evolution of 19 intriguing artists bred by the unique 1960s music scene, and traces the musical and cultural threads that gave birth to their electrifying innovations. From folk-rockers to blue- and brown-eyed soulsters to rock satirists and beyond, acclaimed rock author Unterberger uncovers the lives and music of the key visionaries in a mesmerizing decade, including: The Pretty Things, Tim Buckley, Arthur Brown, The Fugs, Bobby Fuller, The Bonzo Dog Band, Fred Neil, The Beau Brummels and many more. Includes cool photos throughout, and audio samples highlighting the sounds of some of the featured artists.
Mondo, Shockumentary, Mixtape, Gore, Real Footage, Disturbing; Zine + 3 DVD-R set - New
Mondo Mysterium is a monthly published U.S. zine showcasing marginalized mondo films (and the occasional shockumentary or other fellow traveler) that been somewhat neglected (which will mean they have never had a DVD release, or at least not the particular version) and are deserving of recognition for their contribution to the genre. Each month, the zine comes with three curated DVD-R's of obscure and unreleased mondo films from the Mondo Mysterium collection archive, complete with essays about the selected films.
The three DVD-R titles included with in Mondo Mysterium Vol 2 are the esoteric mondo film 'Il piacere e il mistero' (1964); one of the more obscure US shockumentaries, 'The Underbelly of America' (1998); and finally something extra special: 'Death Fest' (ca. 1996), a '90s homebrewed gore mixtape.
Derek Bailey, John Zorn, Steve Lacy, Max Roach, Evan Parker, Imrovised Music, Improv, Jazz, Experimental; Paperback Book - VG Used condition (book has some discoloration and creases/dog ears)
Derek Bailey's Improvisation, originally published in 1980, and here updated and extended with new interviews and photographs, is the first book to deal with the nature of improvisation in all its forms--Indian music, flamenco, baroque, organ music, rock, jazz, contemporary, and "free" music. By drawing on conversations with some of today's seminal improvisers--including John Zorn, Jerry Garcia, Steve Howe, Steve Lacy, Lionel Salter, Earle Brown, Paco Peña, Max Roach, Evan Parker, and Ronnie Scott--Bailey offers a clear-eyed view of the breathtaking spectrum of possibilities inherent in improvisational practice, while underpinning its importance as the basis for all music-making.
Sun Ra, Afro-futurism, Jazz, Free Jazz, Psychedelic, Historic, Documentary, Avant-garde; Paperback Book (314 pages) 2020 - New
Sun Ra (1914–93) was one of the most wildly prolific and unfailingly eccentric figures in the history of music. Renowned for extravagant performances in which his Arkestra appeared in neo-Egyptian garb, the keyboardist and bandleader also espoused an interstellar cosmology that claimed the planet Saturn as his true home. In Sun Ra’s Chicago, William Sites brings this visionary musician back to earth—specifically to the city’s South Side, where from 1946 to 1961 he lived and relaunched his career. The postwar South Side was a hotbed of unorthodox religious and cultural activism: Afrocentric philosophies flourished, storefront prophets sold “dream-book bibles,” and Elijah Muhammad was building the Nation of Islam. It was also an unruly musical crossroads where the man then known as Sonny Blount drew from an array of intellectual and musical sources—from radical nationalism, revisionist Christianity, and science fiction to jazz, blues, Latin dance music, and pop exotica—to construct a philosophy and performance style that imagined a new identity and future for African Americans. Sun Ra’s Chicago shows that late twentieth-century Afrofuturism emerged from a deep, utopian engagement with the city—and that by excavating the postwar black experience of Sun Ra’s South Side milieu, we can come to see the possibilities of urban life in new ways.
Geelong, Rock 'n roll, Bored, Powdermonkeys, Magic Dirt, Warped, Radio Birdman; Huge Limited Edition, Signed, Numbered Hardcover Book - New
Celebrating BORED! and the Geelong/ Melbourne independent music scene from 1977 onwards. Cover to cover full of never seen photos, flyers and memories of some of the most influential local and international acts that graced the stage of the dingiest venues of Geelong. These are limited, signed and numbered copies, containing reprinted flyers, badges, lanyard and 7" Dirty Lovers 'Shanty Tramp' single, all beautifully boxed and presented. At 678 pages, this book is Fucking massive!.....And heavy!! ..... This is an incredible item, a real credit to Author/Compiler Maree Robertson......
Darby Crash, The Germs, LA Punk, Los Angeles, Punk, Adam Parfrey; Paperback Book - Ex Used condition
Lexicon Devil provides a powerful, unflinching look at the life and times of Darby Crash of The Germs, using first person accounts to tell the story. And a tragic, but exciting story it is. The reader gets a first-hand look at Punk’s west coast birth, its ascendancy, and decline. All this is embodied in the story of Darby Crash, a man (or kid, really, dying young at 22, not even close to the 27 Club) of great vision, recklessness, and inner torment. Darby Crash is neither sainted nor vilified, a tough balance to strike. At the end, one is struck with a sense of the lost potentials, the regrets of friends and acquaintances that wish they had done more to save him.
"Lexicon Devil is, pure and simple, the finest volume on punk to have seen the light of print. (Yes, folks: that includes Please Kill Me.) Great book!"—Richard Meltzer
Rare, Home Made Tattoos, Art, Tattoos, DIY, Australia, Underground, Out Of Print; Paperback Book - Ex Used condition
Long out of print and a rare find, Home Made Tattoos Rule is a collection of photographs of home made tattoos. The images cover tattooed people, tattooists' tools and tattooing in action. The collection of tattoos published in this book brings together various aesthetics, styles and techniques of home made tattoos ranging for the cute and naïve to the bold and the ugly. Stepping out of the standard patterns of the tattoo shop and with no bookings, no waiting and no payment required, it's easy to see the appeal of DIY tattooing.
