Akashic Books,U.S. – förlag

Jesse Malin is a 'gritty troubadour of the streets' (Rolling Stone) and 'fearless storyteller' (Uncut) who tours internationally, and collaborates with artists like Bruce Springsteen, Green Day, Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead, and Lucinda Williams. Malin went from playing CBGB at age thirteen to Madison Square Garden in his twenties. His first solo album, The Fine Art of Self Destruction, which was hailed as 'a masterpiece rising from the pain of a difficult youth' (Classic Rock), launched his long and successful solo career. ALMOST GROWN is a raw, honest, and often funny account of how a hyperactive kid from Queens made his dreams come true - and the hustlers, sweethearts, misfits, and lifelong friends he met along the way. With Malin as its streetwise narrator, the book has more in common with The Basketball Diaries or Just Kids than with the standard rock biography. Although music is at the core of Malin's soul, the memoir welcomes the reader into the tumultuous inner world of a boy from a broken home determined to create a life he could love. In 2023, Malin was struck with a rare spinal stroke that paralysed him from the waist down. The lifelong runner and vegetarian went public with this news - and his fierce resolve to walk again - in an interview with Rolling Stone. The story was picked up by the New York Times, People, CNN, Variety, the Los Angeles Times, and other outlets worldwide. The massive outpouring of love and support culminated in the release of Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin - twenty-eight artists, from Jack Antonoff to Bruce Springsteen, covering his songs to raise money for his recovery. On December 1 and 2, 2024, Malin gave his first public performances since his stroke, taking the stage for two sold-out concerts hosted by actors Michael Imperioli and Mary-Louise Parker at New York's Beacon Theatre. Malin's sold-out theatrical production, Silver Manhattan: A Musical Memoir of Survival, is debuting at the Gramercy Theatre in New York in September 2025.

Throughout his genre-defying career as one of the most innovative musicians of our time, iconoclastic guitar player Marc Ribot has consistently defied expectation at every turn. Here, in his first collection of writing, we see that same uncompromising sensibility at work as he playfully interrogates our assumptions about music, life, and death. Through essays, short stories, and the occasional unfilmable film 'mistreatment' that showcase the sheer range of his voice, Unstrung captures an artist whose versatility on the page rivals his dexterity onstage.

Just A Minor Threat is a book of Glen E. Friedman's most outstanding photographs of the Washington, DC, band Minor Threat, one of the most influential hardcore punk bands in music history. While the book offers Friedman's best-known photographs of the band, most of the pictures in this volume, shot in 1982 and '83, have never been seen before. The book has writing by Zack de la Rocha, Jello Biafra, Ian F. Svenonius, Alec MacKaye, and Jamie Shanahan. Friedman's own introduction explains how he initially met the band, and the lifelong friendships that grew from there. The first time Friedman made pictures of Minor Threat was in Southern California early in the summer of 1982, then later on their home turf of Washington, DC. At the end of that same year, he shot them at an 'explosive and uncontrollable' performance at CBGB in New York City. In addition to these, Just a Minor Threat also comprises very rare candid and posed photos of the band, including many from the same roll as the now classic 'Salad Days' image on the front steps of their 'Dischord House.'

For generations, the Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship's leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster, who they consider to be less than human. When the autopsy of Matilda's sovereign reveals a surprising link between his death and her mother's suicide some quarter-century before, Aster retraces her mother's footsteps. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer and sowing the seeds of civil war, Aster learns there may be a way off the ship if she's willing to fight for it.

We Are The Clash is a gripping tale of how the band - fractured by its Top 10 success - fought to reinvent and purify itself as George Orwell's 1984 loomed. This extraordinary effort crashed headlong into a wall of internal contradictions, personal tragedy, and rising right-wing power as personified by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. While the world teetered on the nuclear abyss, British miners waged a life-or-death strike, and tens of thousands died from US guns in Central America, The Clash launched a desperate last stand, shattering the band just as its controversial final album, Cut the Crap, was emerging.

"Headless is fearless, fun, and sometimes filthy . . . an alphabet soup of -delight in language. Eat up."—Alice Sebold"Brilliant. Wildly inventive, profane, and hilarious."—Bret Easton EllisThe author of the acclaimed cult classic Dear Dead Person ("refreshing, nauseating, hilarious"—Kirkus) returns with this long-awaited collection of brilliantly written and outrageously imaginative short stories.Benjamin Weissman is the author of Dear Dead Person (High Risk/Serpent’s Tail, 1995). He is a contributing editor to Bomb Magazine and writes regularly for the contemporary art magazines Parkett and Artforum. A painter and a professor at Art Center College of Design and Otis College of the Arts, he now lives in Los Angeles.

The Spirit of Ani is a captivating journey of intimate reflections with Ani DiFranco, a pathbreaking, highly original artist of our time. In this powerful collaborative work, the legendary folk-rock star and feminist icon is in conversation with author, artist, and cultural anthropologist Lauren Coyle Rosen. In these exchanges, Ani is remarkably open about her creativity, spirituality, personal experiences, and evolving consciousness. She is vulnerable and unapologetic, offering an unprecedented window into her fiercely prolific journeys. Expanding on themes from her best-selling memoir, Ani also offers fascinating reflections on contemporary popular culture - ranging from gender and queer politics, to the music industry in the virtual age, to climate change. The book includes previously unpublished photographs and journal entries, song-birth sheets, paintings, and the lyrics for some of her most treasured songs. The coauthors explore how Ani's music and art are profoundly tied to her experiences of the interconnectedness of all consciousness and tuning in to receive creative inspiration. Ani's striking openness produces a book that is both meditative and activating. This is a must-read for anyone intrigued by the dedication, intuition, and vision that drive Ani's lifelong journey of creating art that not only reflects, but also empowers, transforms, and heals.

Part of Akashic's acclaimed Noir series. Beirut is a city of contradiction and paradox. It is at once urban and rural, a city of violence and forgiveness, memory and forgetfulness.This short story collection is a part of a vibrant, living recovery of Beirut, effected through the literary visions of its authors. The stories here show the vast maze of the city that strictly can't be found in tourist brochures.

Rick Froberg was an accomplished artist and musician born in Southern California who spent most of his early creative years in San Diego before moving to New York, and then back to San Diego toward the end of his life. While juggling both of his creative outlets, he established a meaningful, urgent, vital, and powerful platform. Plenty for All: The Art of Rick Froberg represents the many chapters and layers of his visual art practice. All of the different bodies of work he made are examined in detail-presenting the viewer with a well-rounded survey of his life's work, mostly in chronological order. One of the most compelling and fascinating aspects of this volume is the physical progression of Froberg's line work and brushstroke, and his eventual adaptation to digital means. His artwork was often featured on the record covers of his own bands, as well as other groups he met on the road, and much of his early work also appeared on posters, flyers, ads, skateboard graphics, logos, and T-shirt designs, before eventually progressing to illustrations in magazines, books, and newspapers. Froberg's paintings, drawings, etchings, and prints were also shown at art exhibitions throughout his career. Plenty for All is the first look at his visual artwork in book form. It will be of great interest across the globe to his many fans (he played in a range of popular bands, including Pitchfork, Drive like Jehu, Hot Snakes, and Obits). Froberg's work has become very influential, and an inspiration to quite a large group of people in both the art and music worlds. He is sadly missed and mourned, but this volume will no doubt further his creative legacy. It includes short essays by curator Rich Jacobs and musician/ artist Sohrab Habibion.

Alice Coltrane (1937 2007) was a composer, master of various musical instruments, improviser, spiritual leader, and wife of John Coltrane. Throughout her adult life, she worked within and combined a broad range of musical genres, including gospel, R&B, bebop, free jazz, Indian devotional song, and Western art music. She recorded more than twenty full-length albums for Impulse and Warner Bros. Her music speaks to her experiences as a child playing for church congregations in Detroit; the transcendent and mind-bending avant-garde improvisations she performed with her husband John Coltrane; and her religious pilgrimages to India. When Monument Eternal was originally published in 1977, Alice Coltrane was living in Southern California and had recently become a swami, building and nurturing an alternative spiritual community. In these pages, she says that the book is 'based upon the soul's realizations in Absolute Consciousness and its spiritual relationships with the Supreme One.' Monument Eternal offers deep insight into Coltrane's tremendous musical output, and shines a light on her transformation from Alice McLeod, Detroit church organist and bebopper, to sage thought leader Swami Turiyasangitananda. It also reflects the extraordinary fluidity of American religious customs in the mid and late twentieth century. Akashic's long-awaited reissue of Monument Eternal will include a new introduction from a notable writer.

BASKETBALL ON NEW YORK CITY'S 700+ OUTDOOR COURTS was bubbling during the seventies and eighties and coincided with the birth of hip-hop and sneaker culture. Bobbito Garcia came of age during this era and caught an uncontrollable fever to be a ballplayer, witnessing firsthand the gumbo of sports, music, and fashion in the local parks. The game influenced his style, language, movement, creative thought, and, in a personal manner, his well-being. He couldn't go anywhere without a ball in his hand, practice shorts under his pants, and kicks on his feet, ready for action at any point, any day (including his first job interview). In the 1990s, Bobbito became a world-famous hip-hop radio host as well as the progenitor of sneaker journalism, but his world never stopped revolving around living and breathing at every local court he could find. Simultaneously, the outdoor basketball aesthetic emerged as a force in the sports/entertainment/footwear industry, a catalyst to market authenticity when a brand wanted to garner street credibility. Bobbito stood firmly at this cross section of subcultures, not only as a historian, photographer, writer, filmmaker, and active participant, but as a curator of the shift itself. Advertising legend John Jay, former global creative director at Wieden+Kennedy, called Garcia his 'cultural DJ' after they collaborated on Nike's groundbreaking 'NYC City Attack' ad campaign. The lifestyle of the park pickup player, now exposed, went on to impact the world, and the ripple effect could even be seen on the hardwood floors of the NBA. In 2013, the New York Times referred to Bobbito as 'an ardent ambassador for New York City street basketball.' This book is an intimate view into his life as a ballplayer, announcer, and performer. It doubles as a profound document for the unspoken folklore and history of the outdoor game, while speaking volumes to the roots of Garcia's favorite pastime - putting up jumpers and getting busy with the rock in his hands. In his words: Basketball is a religion. The park is my church...

Depeche Mode has been delighting fans all over the world for decades. From the first gigs in smoke-filled pubs in front of a dozen spectators to sold-out world tours in front of millions of fans - the enormous success of the band is due in large part to their incomparable live performances. Following the critically-acclaimed Depeche Mode: Monument, Dennis Burmeister and Sascha Lange present another visually stunning book focused on the band's live shows which continue to enthrall millions of people across the globe. Depeche Mode: Live traces the band's growth from 1980 to 2023 and includes a plethora of previously unpublished photos, unseen material, and exclusive interviews.

FROM A WAYWARD CALIFORNIA GIRL growing up in the heart of the porn-born San Fernando Valley, Gina Gershon found herself on a journey that has been anything but traditional. Along the way, she had to learn how to spot the toxic types-in both her personal life and her career-and figure out how to dodge, outsmart, or hustle her way through. From the Valley to the slums of Beverly Hills to New York City, she was confronted with shady characters and sketchy situations, all the while fighting to protect her autonomy as a woman and as an actress with a decidedly unconventional path. AlphaPussy is a collection of true stories that explore themes of experience, survival, and the art of figuring it out as you go. They include strange encounters with celebrities and film directors such as Paul Verhoeven, Tom Cruise, Sharon Stone, Prince, Jennifer Tilly, Sylvester Stallone, David Mamet, Bob Fosse, and so many others. Often hilarious, usually cautionary, and almost always wrapped in absurdity, Gershon's tales explore how she found herself through bad decisions, awkward moments, and cringe-worthy encounters that somehow gave rise to survival skills. Gershon stresses that while it can be important to listen to others, it's more important to listen to oneself. To trust your gut. In a world full of bullies, predators, and people trying to tell her who she was, or who she should be, it was crucial for Gershon to become an AlphaPussy: a woman who navigates through this perilous jungle of a world with personal agency and responsibility.

EVER WONDER WHAT GOES ON IN THE MIND OF A DOG? Buster: A Dog is the story of one dog's lifelong journey, as told by Buster himself. Buster, a strong and proud boxer, spends his early days with a loving family in a public housing complex in Washington, DC. Abruptly, he is taken away by an abusive, alcoholic man, plunging Buster into a challenging, nightmarish existence. Over the course of his life, he will experience homelessness, tragedy, a harrowing stay in a kill shelter, and acts of kindness, including his adoption by an older gentleman grieving the death of his wife. At his peak, Buster lives with a young marijuana dealer who runs a profitable but dangerous business in the city. Along the way, Buster befriends other dogs and witnesses the best and worst aspects of humanity. As the seasons change, and change again, he begins to understand the finality of existence and in turn learns to appreciate the gift of life.

Amsterdam is a very welcome, if long overdue, instalment in the Akashic Noir Series.

A cookbook inspired by the food of Ziggy's upbringing in the household of Bob and Rita Marley. As the oldest son of Bob and Rita Marley, Ziggy was raised with both traditional Jamaican food and the more natural and healthy 'ital' food of the family's Rastafari culture. The approximately 50 recipes included in the book, inspired by Ziggy's youth and accompanied by beautiful full-colour photos, are contributed by Ziggy Marley, Karen Marley, Orly Marley, as well as celebrity chefs Bruce Sherman, Ben Ford and Ricardo A. Rodriguez.

FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS uniquely features almost every single Glen E. Friedman photograph of the Bad Brains, considered by many music fans to be the greatest and most influential American punk rock band of all time. The photographs are from 1981 and 1982, when the band was at its most fiery musical heights. The book also includes an introduction by Friedman, a preface by HR (singer of Bad Brains), and an afterword by Zack de la Rocha (singer of Rage Against the Machine). Some of these photographs will be recognised as iconic shots that have graced album, book, and magazine covers, while most of them have never been seen before. In his introduction to the volume, Friedman writes, 'They were outsiders in the scenes they infiltrated and soon thereafter influenced The Bad Brains were all Black! They showed other punk musicians that in fact you could be an incredible musician and be PUNK at the same time.' Indeed, many bands beyond the realm of punk cite the Bad Brains as a seminal influence, including Beastie Boys, Living Colour, Jane's Addiction, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, to name just a few. The artistry of Friedman's Bad Brains photographs is unparalleled, and music lovers the world over will feast on Fearless Vampire Killers.

WE'VE GOT A BIGGER PROBLEM NOW is the next in the incredible series of Glen E. Friedman's books of photographs that he has released from his archives over the last five years. The subject this time is Dead Kennedys, the infamous punk band that has inspired and politicized generations since they released their first record in 1979. Dead Kennedys's debut was the first punk album to top the music charts after the 1977 punk explosion in the UK, and stateside the name alone threw them into the forefront of controversy. Their outspoken lead singer Jello Biafra's unique voice, political satirizing, and animated performances made them a must-see. From 1980-1982, Friedman photographed the band in Los Angeles, which had the largest punk scene in the country. Dead Kennedys were one of the earliest bands he photographed, while he was still making photos for SkateBoarder magazine. Friedman was using colour film almost exclusively at this point, not yet realizing that there were no publications that covered punk music that printed in colour; the underground periodicals of the time, which were few and far between, were only able to print in black-and-white. We've Got a Bigger Problem Now offers many never-before-seen photographs, along with iconic classics of Dead Kennedys previously published over the years. The book includes text from artist Shepard Fairey, musician Zack de la Rocha, and Jello Biafra himself!

These are the stories and images of a time that not only inspired a generation but changed the face of the sport forever. This volume has been described as 'the DogTown textbook' and an indispensable companion piece to the Sony Pictures Classics film Dogtown and Z-Boys. Now spanning 1975 1985 and beyond, the first section of the book includes the best of the DogTown articles written and photographed by C.R. Stecyk III as they originally appeared in SkateBoarder Magazine. The second half compiles hundreds of skate images from the archives of Glen E. Friedman - many of which appear in the movie. (Stecyk and Friedman acted as executive producers and advisors for the film.)