White Rabbit Deep Cuts – serie

Foreword by James Murphy'Literally changed the course of my life' James MurphyWhen someone says, 'you have to know your history', this is it. A pop culture classic for over two decades, now fully refreshed and updated as part of White Rabbit's Deep Cuts series, Last Night a DJ Saved my Life 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. Whether musical outlaw, obsessive crate-digger or overpaid superstar, the DJ has been at the spinning centre of nightlife for a century, making parties wilder, pushing clubbers harder, and driving music into completely new shapes and styles.'The chapter on Larry Levan alone transformed me into wanting to be your favourite DJ' Questlove'We can't tell the story of dance music without speaking the names of Sharon White and Judy Weinstein, so I welcome this vital update' The Blessed Madonna

Foreword by Alan WarnerReissued as part of White Rabbit's Deep Cuts series, On Some Faraway Beach is the first and only ever comprehensive and authoritative biography of Brian Eno, the father of ambient music. Featuring interviews with many of his key collaborators over the years: from Bryan Ferry to David Byrne and Robert Wyatt, and first published in 2008, this edition has been fully revised and updated to cover Eno's life and creative output since, with brand new material and a new introduction by Alan Warner.'A book that sets new standards for rock biography' Guardian'This exceptionally well-written biography duly celebrated [Eno's] great achievements with Roxy, Bowie, Talking Heads and his own solo work in compelling detail' Uncut'[An] honourable, authorised attempt to do justice to a mind-bogglingly restless and prolific subject' Sunday Times

'David Katz's in-depth portrayal of his genius is to be commended and is an essential addition to any serious music fan's collection' David Rodigan MBE OD'For the complete picture of this musical genius you can't get better than David Katz's People Funny Boy - if you're into Scratch, it's essential' Don LettsArguably the most influential force in Jamaican music, Lee Perry brought Bob Marley to international stardom and has since collaborated with artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, The Clash and The Beastie Boys. The book delves behind the myth of Perry to give a fuller examination of his life and work through extensive interviews with family members, fellow artists, friends, lovers, enemies, as well as the man himself to present a complex portrait of a unique soul driven by unseen spiritual forces. This revised and expanded edition has been thoroughly updated and completely overhauled to render a more nuanced, accurate and accessible read, with new information on Perry's later years, including his Grammy Award, cessation of herb smoking and final passing, as well as previously unpublished information about his early life, his unique relationship with Marley, and his fabled Black Ark studio.

Foreword by Jacqueline CrooksSolid Foundation is the definitive history of Jamaica's holy music: reggae in all its forms, from the earliest ska and rock steady pioneers to the dancehall and reggae revival stars of the twenty-first century. Woven together into an engrossing narrative, this is an extensive history charting the progression and development of the music, with all the glorious highlights and the controversies and feuds in between. First published in 2003 and including interviews with over 200 of the genre's key artists, Solid Foundation has been revised and updated with abundant new material and a foreword by award-winning novelist, Jacqueline Crooks, reissued as part of White Rabbit's Deep Cuts series.'The definitive history of reggae told through exclusive interviews with the genre's greatest innovators' Sunday Herald'Solid Foundation goes the extra yard to become a defining text, with Katz interviewing virtually every survivor from the island's 60s and 70s music scenes . . . it is a necessary work' The Wire'Solid Foundation is a welcome addition to the narrow shelf of books that move beyond simplistic views of reggae' Record Collector

Foreword by Audrey GoldenHit So Hard is a memoir of renewal and hope; a window onto the 90s Seattle grunge scene, and a testament to the enduring power of the music Patty Schemel helped create as drummer in Hole with Courtney Love. With a brand new introduction by Audrey Golden to cast a new light on the book today, and published for the first time in the UK as part of White Rabbit's Deep Cuts series, Hit So Hard documents her life in the band, battle with addiction and descent into homelessness on the streets of LA; and her rewarding path to sobriety and happiness.'Though Hit So Hard is ultimately a deeply personal story, it's also the story of one of the most successful bands of the '90s: Hole . . . Schemel describes her years with the band with the same unflinching honesty and eye for telling detail that she brings to all parts of her life' LA Weekly'Not a book one should approach lightly or 'just' for the behind the scenes tales. If you want them, you'll certainly get them, but they're not why you should read . . . [Schemel's] voice is an engaging one throughout, honest but not tendentious, often vivid in her sense of exact detail' The Quietus

Available in this new hardback edition for the first time in decades, Sweet Soul Music was hailed by Newsweek on publication as 'a stunning chronicle.... a panoramic survey of a lost world [and] one of the best books ever written on American popular music'.Since then it has acquired the status of a classic. Pitchfork included it among its '50 Favourite Music Books of All Time,' the Daily Beast placed it on their 'Essential Civil Rights Reading List,' David Bowie named it one of his '100 Must-Read books', while noted author Ta Nehisi Coates, whose work chronicles the contemporary racial divide, called it 'one of the ten books I couldn't live without.'A gripping narrative that captures the tumult and sweep of a music that will forever be linked to the Civil Rights Movement which inspired it, (think of Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come') Sweet Soul Music provides intimate portraits of performers like Cooke, Ray Charles, James Brown, Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Al Green among others, whose passionate gospel-based music embodied the liberating energy of a nation in transition. Through rare interviews, Peter Guralnick tells the definitive story of the music and the musicians, bringing to it the same empathy and insight that has informed all of his other work.As Roddy Doyle writes in his introduction to this new edition: 'Sweet Soul Music delivers all that we love to read in a great, sprawling novel, and still manages to be richly informative, historically and musically precise; it's a work of high scholarship written by a born storyteller.'

Feel Like Going Home vividly brings to life such early blues masters as Muddy Waters , Skip James, and Howlin' Wolf, along with illuminating excursions into the blues-based rock 'n' roll of Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich, and the Sun Records label. With unique insight and unparalleled access, celebrated author Peter Guralnick (Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley) dramatically depicts the people, the songs, and the performances that forever changed not only the American music scene but America itself.With a brand-new introduction by David Keenan to cast new light on the book today, and published for the first time as part of White Rabbit's Deep Cuts series, Feel Like Going Home takes its place once again as a classic in the world of music literature.

'A formidable freestyle book that isn't straight biography but a mix of history, street-level investigative reporting, hagiography, Deep South sociology, music criticism, memoir and some fiery preaching' ROLLING STONEThe music of James Brown was almost a genre in its own right, and he was one of the biggest and most influential cultural figures of the twentieth century. But the singer known as the 'Hardest Working Man in Show Business' was also an immensely troubled, misunderstood and complicated man. Award-winning writer James McBride, himself a professional musician, has undertaken a journey of discovery in search of the 'real' James Brown, delving into the heartbreaking saga of Brown's childhood and destroyed estate, and uncovering the hidden history of Brown's early years.

'The definitive story' Q Magazine'I can't recommend this marvellous piece of work enough' Irvine WelshFrom its first publication in 1997, Altered State established itself as the definitive text on Ecstasy and dance culture. This new edition, reissued as part of White Rabbit's prestigious Deep Cuts series, sees Matthew Collin take a thrilling trip through the acid house Summer of Love and the rave scene's euphoric escalation as MDMA became a mass-market narcotic.Using a cast of memorable characters to track the origins of the scene and its signature drug through psychedelic subcults, underground gay discos and the Balearic paradise of Ibiza, Collin provides an anatomy of not only its ideologies and myths but also the criminal underside to the blissed-out image.Altered State illuminates the social history of the most spectacular youth movement of the twentieth century and its enduring impact on music, politics and popular culture.'For anyone who's ever lost themselves on some dark, dry ice-filled dancefloor . . . it's a book that conveys the very essence itself' Bethan Cole, i-D Magazine'Anyone who has played a small part in this unfolding story will want to read this book because it explains what they have lived through' Geoff Dyer, Independent'A fascinating history . . . Altered State keeps politics in the foreground even as it tells picaresque stories of rave promoters with suitcases of cash' Hari Kunzru, London Review of Books