1. The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club
Peter Hook
As young and naive musicians, the members of New Order were thrilled when their record label Factory opened a club. Yet as their career escalated, they toured the world and had top ten hits, their royalties were being ploughed into the Hacienda and they were only being paid £20 per week. Peter Hook looked back at that exciting and hilarious time to write HACIENDA. All the main characters appear - Tony Wilson, Barney, Shaun Ryder - and Hook tells it like it was - a rollercoaster of success, money, confusion and true faith.
2. Grime Kids
DJ Target
DJ Target grew up in Bow under the shadow of Canary Wharf, with money looming close on the skyline. The 'Godfather of Grime' Wiley and Dizzee Rascal first met each other in his bedroom. A movement that permeates deep into British culture and beyond. Household names were borne out of those housing estates, and the music industry now jumps to the beat of their gritty reality rather than the tune of glossy aspiration. Grime has shaken the world and Target is revealing its explosive and expansive journey in full, using his own unique insight and drawing on the input of grime's greatest names.
3. Rave New World: Confessions of a Raving Reporter
Kirk Field
As a humble barman at the M25 Orbital raves, Kirk Field witnessed the moment acid house exploded. Inspired by media lies to start writing the truth about what he saw unfolding, Kirk became a 'raving' reporter for the clubbers' bible Mixmag, covering the historic parties from the inside and sending sweat-soaked dispatches from distant dancefloors as the scene expanded across Europe and beyond.
4. Party Lines: Dance Music and the Making of Modern Britain
Ed Gillet
Taking in the Victorian moralism of the Thatcher years, the far-reaching restrictions of the Criminal Justice Act in 1994, and the resurgence of illegal raves during the Covid-19 pandemic, Party Lines charts an ongoing conflict, fought in basement clubs, abandoned warehouses and sunlit fields, between the revolutionary potential of communal sound and the reactionary impulses of the British establishment. Brought to life with stunning clarity and depth, this is social and cultural history at its most immersive, vital and shocking.
5. Inner City Pressure: The Story of Grime
Dan Hancox
Beginning at the start of the new millennium in the council estates of inner London, Inner City Pressure tells the full story of grime, Britain’s most exciting musical revolution since punk. Against seemingly insurmountable odds, grime’s teenage pioneers sent out a signal from the pirate radio aerials and crumbling estates of London’s poorest boroughs that would, 15 years later, resonate as the universal sound of youthful rebellion, as big in the suburbs as in the inner city.
6. Bass, Mids, Tops: An Oral History of Sound System Culture
Joe Muggs
An oral history of the UK's soundsystem culture, featuring interviews with Dubmaster Dennis Bovell, Skream, Youth, Norman Jay MBE, Adrian Sherwood, Mala, and other
7. Drumz of the South: The Dubstep Years 2004-2007
Georgina
Cooke
Drumz Of The South: The Dubstep Years (2004-2007) is the first photography book to present the early days of dubstep in detail. It features over 200 photographs by Georgina Cook from events and radio stations such as FWD>> at Plastic People, DMZ and Rinse FM, plus pioneering producers, DJs and MCs like Burial, Skream and Benga, Mala & Coki, Loefah and Sgt Pokes, Plastician, Kode9, Hatcha & Crazy D, Skepta and Wiley.
8. Dreaming in Yellow: The story of DIY Sound System
Mark
"Harry"
Harrison
Emerging from Nottingham in the summer of 1989, the DiY Collective were one of the first house sound systems in the UK. Merging the anarchic lineage of the free festival scene, the cultural and political anger of bands like Crass with the new, irresistible electronic pulse of acid house, they bridged the idealistic void left by the moral implosion of the commercial rave scene.Dreaming in Yellow is an attempt to distil the story of DiY s tumultuous existence and the remarkably eclectic, outrageous and occasionalsly deranged story of them doing it themselves.
9. Spirit Behind the Lens: The Making of a Hip-Hop Photographer
Eddie
Otchere
Spirit Behind the Lens unveils, for the first time, the extraordinary career of Eddie Otchere, one of hip-hop’s most iconic and enigmatic photographers. Through personal memoirs and a rich archive of mostly unseen photographs, Otchere offers an unparalleled insider’s view of Black youth culture in Britain over the last three decades.
10. Rave New World 2 :
Planes, Trains & Amphetamines: Clubbing Holiday Confessions
Kirk Field
Rave may be the middle word in travel, but when raving reporter Kirk Field created the world’s first holiday company catering exclusively to clubbers, the Rave New World threw everything it could at him: 9/11, volcanic ash clouds, suspicious customs officers, avalanches, North Sea storms, pandemics, fraudulent accountants, and the ghost of Michael Jackson.
11. How You Make Me Feel: The Life and Legacy of Marcus Intalex
Sherif Dhaimish & Mark O'Donnell
Marcus Intalex was a key drum & bass producer/DJ until his untimely death in 2017 and How You Make Me Feel is a kaleidoscopic celebration of his trailblazing life and career. From emerging as a DJ on the rave scene in Burnley to surviving 'Gunchester' and taking his era-defining D&B from Manchester to the world, before effortlessly switching to techno under his Trevino moniker, he was at the bleeding edge of club culture for nearly three decades.
12. Close The App, Make The Ting
Elijah
Close The App, Make The Ting is a collection of ideas shared by Elijah that began in July 2021, as the Covid 19 lockdowns were ending in the UK. They started as simple notes questioning what the music and creative scenes would look like after being shut down for 18 months shared regularly on Instagram, then developed into a multimedia project that spanned visual installations, an album with grime MC Jammz, a club night and a lecture series that toured the world.
13. phatmedia presents UK Rave Flyers 1988-1989
UK Rave Flyers 1988-1989 is a deluxe coffee table book showcasing original flyers from the breakthrough years of UK acid house. Sourced from the phatmedia archive and beyond, it captures the raw energy of a scene that exploded from underground parties into a national movement.
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14. Don't Call Me Urban! The Time Of Grime
Simon Wheatley
Spanning 12 years Don't Call Me Urban! is a fascinating photographic portrayal of underground music culture and social alienation. Capturing the era when London's inner-city youth found an authentic voice, Simon Wheatley's incisive eye goes into the raw environment from which the new stars of British popular music, such as Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder have emerged.
15. Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey
Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton
When someone says, 'You have to know your history...' this is it.Last Night a DJ ... is the whole unruly story of dance music in one volume. It recreates the dancefloors that made history, conjuring their atmosphere with loving detail and bringing you the voices of the DJs and clubbers at their heart - from grime, garage, house, hip hop and disco, to techno, soul, reggae, rock'n'roll, and EDM.
16. LIFESTYLES OF THE POOR, RICH & FAMOUS BOOK
Sports Banger
Sports Banger: Lifestyles of the Poor, Rich and Famous tells the story of the first ten years of the irreverent brand, from its foundation in 2013 to the present day. It charts the rise of the brand from an underground bootlegging operation to an all-inclusive, internationally recognized DIY fashion house, record label and socially conscious satirist in the mould of a modern-day Hogarth.
17. It's a London Thing: How Rare Groove, Acid House and Jungle Remapped the City
Caspar Melville
This book is a record of the Black music culture that emerged in post-colonial London at the end of the twentieth century; the people who made it, the racial and spatial politics of its development and change, and the part it played in founding London’s precious, embattled multiculture.
18. Renegade Snares: The Resistance And Resilience Of Drum & Bass
Ben Murphy & Carl Loben
Renegade Snares is the definitive book on Drum & Bass.Pieced together using original interviews conducted with all the scenes main players, it traces the history of Jungle/ Drum & Bass. From its early roots in soundsystem culture and rave music right through to the present day. With its hyper\-speed breakbeats, warping bass pressure, and vast spectrum of sounds, Drum & Bass quick spawned a whole new movement in youth culture
19. Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk
Dan Sicko
When it was originally published in 1999, Techno Rebels became the definitive text on a hard-to-define but vital genre of music. Author Dan Sicko demystified techno’s characteristics, influences, and origins and argued that although techno enjoyed its most widespread popularity in Europe, its birthplace and most important incubator was Detroit. In this revised and updated edition, Sicko expands on Detroit’s role in the birth of techno and takes readers on an insider’s tour of techno’s past, present, and future in an enjoyable account filled with firsthand anecdotes, interviews, and artist profiles.
20. I Thought I Heard You Speak: Women at Factory Records
Audrey Golden
The untold history of Factory Records is one of women's work at nearly every turn: recording music, playing live gigs, running the label behind the scenes, managing and promoting bands, designing record sleeves, making films and music videos, pioneering sound technology, DJing, and running one of the most chaotic clubs on the planet, The Haçienda.
21. Dance Or Die: A History of Hardcore
Holly Dicker
Hardcore is revolutionary and underground - and a mass marketed phenomenon that refuses to die, because hardcore will never die. Its symbols have been tattooed onto millions of bodies, and its relics passed down through generations. This book tracks those outsider youth who banded together en masse, as a crew, to party in protest, on ecstasy, in rage and escape, as a nighttime community, more family than family, who need this hard, loud, fast/slow, aggressive, noisy (occasionally silly) kickdrum and breakbeat music to connect with people, to survive the world, and get through the week. Hardcore: Either you're in, or you're out. And if you're in, you're in all the way, diehard and dancing to the death. Dance or Die!
22. Who Say Reload: The Stories Behind the Classic Drum & Bass Records of the 90s
Paul Tezulli & Eddie Otchere
Who Say Reload is an oral history of the records that defined jungle/drum n bass straight from the original sources. The likes of Goldie, DJ Hype, Roni Size, Andy C, 4 Hero and many more talk about the influences, environment, equipment, samples, beats and surprises that went into making each classic record.
23. Lost Dreams
Simon Wheatley
Lost Dreams by Simon Wheatley is a bittersweet documentation of the streets and tower blocks from where grime music first emerged, Lost Dreams remembers that time when pirate radio was a furtive experience, when youth club’s were the genre’s underground, and when raw and abrasive lyrics reflected life for young people on East London’s council estates.
24. Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass Music
Matt Anniss
The previously untold story of British dance music’s first sub-bass revolution, tracing the origins, development, impact and influence of bleep techno, and the subsequent musical styles it inspired, on UK club culture.
Originally published in 2019, it has now been revised, updated and expanded. Errors have been corrected, some chapters have been expanded, analysis has been added and further footnotes have been included to include even more information and citations.
25. A Darker Electricity: The Origins of the Spiral Tribe Sound System
Mark Angelo Harrison
At the time, it was unclear why the UK government targeted the Spiral Tribe travelling sound system. Even after arresting many key members and launching one of Britain's biggest court cases against them. As Spiral Tribe's co-founder and visual artist (or as the Crown Prosecutor described him, 'the criminal ringleader' who'd helped 'mastermind' Britain's 'biggest ever illegal rave' at Castlemorton), Mark Angelo Harrison has a unique perspective to tell their inside story. He vividly charts their nomadic journey and the rapid escalation of their popularity - and notoriety.
26. Out Of Space : How UK Cities Shaped Rave Culture
Jim Ottewill
Since the dawn of time, humans have had the urge to come together and move to music. It may have started in caves but these days it happens in clubs often found in the shady corners of our towns and cities. Or at least it did until these places began to march to the beat of property developers rather than DJs. In London in the five years to 2016, half of the clubs were lost while a further quarter have been removed in the devastation of Covid. So what now? At this critical moment, 'Out of Space' plots a course through the spaces and unlikely locations club culture has found a home. From Glasgow to Margate via Manchester, Sheffield and unlikely dance music meccas such as Coalville and Todmorden, it maps the key cities and towns where electronic music has thrived, it currently dances and the spaces it might be headed to next.
27. Hold Tight: Black Masculinity, Millennials and the Meaning of Grime
Jeffrey Boakye
Lost Dreams by Simon Wheatley is a bittersweet documentation of the streets and tower blocks from where grime music first emerged, Lost Dreams remembers that time when pirate radio was a furtive experience, when youth club’s were the genre’s underground, and when raw and abrasive lyrics reflected life for young people on East London’s council estates.
28. Grime: Documenting The Scenes Rise & Reign
Roony Keefe
Starting as a fan armed with a handy cam in the early 00s, Roony's RiskyRoadz series captured a new energy which blew up with YouTube, cementing him as an integral part of the genre's visual identity. GRIME is a portal into this gritty, authentic world, offering an exclusive front-row seat to modern history: the personalities, the tracksuits, the tunes, the social context – and the reality of a revolution that shaped a generation.
29. Section 63: Underground & Unmasted - Documenting Underground London Raves
Yushy
In Section 63, photographer Yushy documents the growing hunger for the DIY spirit of dance music. Embedding himself with various crews across London, he gained their trust and friendship, stepping into their world and their fight to reclaim forgotten spaces to play music for the people just for a night.
30. Love Saves The Day
Tim Lawrence
Opening with David Mancuso's seminal “Love Saves the Day” Valentine's party, Tim Lawrence tells the definitive story of American dance music culture in the 1970s—from its subterranean roots in NoHo and Hell’s Kitchen to its gaudy blossoming in midtown Manhattan to its wildfire transmission through America’s suburbs and urban hotspots such as Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Newark, and Miami.
31. Revolution, The History of Turntable Design
Gideon Schwartz
Written by Schwartz, author of Hi-Fi: The History of High-End Audio Design, who is an audio design expert and passionate about analog music, this book includes 300 illustrations from the world of turntables, from affordable to high-end, and everything in between. An essential addition to the bookshelf for analog natives and those new to the vinyl revival as well as music and design lovers.
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32. Sound System: The Political of Music
Dave Randall
Sound System is the story of one musician's journey to discover what makes music so powerful. Dave Randall uses his insider's knowledge of the industry to shed light on the secrets of celebrity, commodification and culture.
33. What Do You Call It?
David Kane
Through cultural theory, historical research, and original interviews with key figures and collaborators in the UK rap scene, from pioneers like Malcolm McLaren, Soul II Soul, Tricky, Roots Manuva, and Roll Deep to modern artists like Dave, CASISDEAD, Little Simz, Loyle Carner, and Skengdo x AM, adds a rich human dimension to the UK rap story — one that helped change British music and culture forever.
34. Rave Flyers Bundle
Counterprint Books
A collection of Rave Flyers from around the world. Bundle contains eight books.
35. Hypnotised: A Journey Through Trance Music 1990-2005
Arjan Rietveld
Trance has been the flagship for electronic music across the globe during the nineties and early zeroes. The sound’s trademark optimistic and euphoric aspects has brought some of the most compelling musical pieces of its time, and undoubtedly had a significant influence on future electronic music to come.
36. Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music
Paul Bradshaw
The story of Black British music is a five-hundred-year journey from the court of King Henry VIII to the ‘Ends’ of South London; from Africa to the Caribbean to the UK and back; from subterranean shebeens and church halls to royal command performances and sold-out stadiums; and from outsider influence to domestic chart domination. It is a story that grapples with the slave trade, the prejudice of unwelcoming institutions and the bias of ignorance while ultimately celebrating the creativity and perseverance of the pioneers and today’s digital age innovators.
37. fabric: The Fully Illustrated History Of The Famous London Club
fabric captures the journey of a small group of enthusiasts who, rebelling against the commercialisation of the rave scene, converted a derelict meat store in an unfashionable part of London into a venue that remains a cathedral for undiluted dance music with a global following.
Featuring stories about the club's birth, struggles and successes, as well as rare photography and iconic artwork, and an oral history by Joe Muggs featuring over one hundred testimonies from the legendary DJs associated with fabric, this is a celebration of the colossal impact fabric has had on club culture over the last quarter of a century. Above all, it's a story about the misfits and visionaries who made it happen, the curators and resident DJs who have kept it true to its roots, and the experiences of clubbers on the dancefloor.
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38. Centreforce: House Music All Night Long
Matt Trollop
Brilliant read, first hand account of one of the most famous Pirate stations in the UK. From the nascent underground house scene in East London to going live years later on DAB. Filled with great stories and anecdotes from the owners and DJs.
39. King of Clubs: Sex, Drugs and Thugs - The One Nation Story
Terry Turbo
From humble beginnings working in a McDonalds fast food restaurant to handing out flyers and selling rave tickets within the UK rave scene, he built up the country's biggest dance music empire, starting and running One Nation, Dreamscape, Rave Nation and Garage Nation - for a decade, he played host to more than 25,000 clubbers every week, all over the World.King of Clubs: Sex, Drugs and Thugs is Terry's no-holds barred tale of the sex, drugs and violence that became part of his everyday life.
40. The Story of The Streets
Mike Skinner
'This book is going to try and get as close as possible to the full story of what informed the noise of The Streets. Obviously that's something I should be fairly well-qualified to know about, and I'm going to be as honest as the publisher's lawyers will allow.'