Robin Turner – författare

A ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023Paused in Cosmic Reflection is the definitive story of The Chemical Brothers. Told in the voices of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, with contributions from friends and collaborators, it is fully illustrated with 30 years of mind-bending visuals.

Inspired by George Orwell, Paul Moody and Robin Turner take a nostalgic road trip around Britain in search of the perfect pub. ''A deeply satisfying travelogue'' Stuart MaconieIn 1946, George Orwell, a man fond of a pint, wrote about his favourite pub, The Moon Under Water, in his EVENING STANDARD column. But it didn''t actually exist. It was Orwell''s vision of a perfect pub. Today, Wetherspoons have fourteen Moon Under Waters, and the nation is awash with identikit, high-street lounge bars competing for a dwindling clientele.Paul Moody and Robin Turner''s road trip around Britain, therefore, is not just a search for the perfect pub. It is a deeper investigation into what has happened to British pub culture, once the toast of the world. In fact, it is a search for a kind of life-force kindled by the British public, something the powers-that-be are forever trying to extinguish.Along the way, such luminaries as Pete Brown (''the King of Beer''), Tim Martin (Wetherspoon''s boss), Iain Sinclair, James Dean Bradfield and Paul Kingsnorth are consulted - along with a host of micro-brewers, landlords, politicians, bloggers and barroom philosophers. What emerges is a picture of the country as seen through a pint glass, a vision that goes to the heart of what it means to be British.

''Heavenly is more than a record label, it''s the absolute nectar of all that''s brilliant in the culture of these island. I love the shit out of them and everything they stand for.'' Irvine WelshBELIEVE IN MAGIC tells the story of Heavenly Recordings in thirty vignettes, photography and ephemera, all of which relate to landmark records, moments and characters in the label''s first three decades.A label responsible for creating satellite communities of fans around the world and at all the major festivals, Heavenly was set up by Jeff Barrett in 1990 after several years working for Factory and Creation as the acid house revolution was in full swing; early releases set the tone and tempo for the mood of the decade to come - their first single was produced by perhaps the most revered acid house DJ of them all, Andrew Weatherall; and this was quickly followed by era-defining singles from Saint Etienne, Flowered Up and Manic Street Preachers, music which perhaps captures the flavour of the early ''90s better than any other.Heavenly was always tuned to an aesthetic that was sensitive to the anarchic spirt of the times; defiantly eclectic with a radar set to taste and a never-ending commitment to discovering new talent. In 1994 they set up The Heavenly Sunday Social, which became one of the most influential and mythologised clubs in recent British history, where the Chemical Brothers - then the Dust Brothers - made their name. For thirteen weeks, it was the hottest nightclub on the planet. For 180 demented acolytes in a basement room below the Albany pub.Over nearly 200 releases in thirty years Heavenly have consistently produced some of the most exciting music across all genres, and this book collects rare artwork and wild anecdotal evidence into a celebration of a label that is one of the most beloved institutions on the independent landscape.BELIEVE IN MAGIC includes contributions from Manic Street Preachers, Beth Orton, Doves, Don Letts, Edwyn Collins, Confidence Man, Mark Lanegan, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard.