ISBN: 978-1-913231-61-3
David Kane explores the evolution of UK Rap.
Cover art by Trevor Jackson whose own history in UK Rap is something worth exploring.

In July 2019, eleven years after Jay-Z became the first hip-hop artist to headline Glastonbury, Stormzy became the first English rapper to follow suit. Wearing a customised stab-proof vest designed by Banksy, the South London rapper delivered an explosive performance and finished by thanking the “legends for paving the way,” name-checking Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, and Giggs. Despite how unlikely it seemed for decades, UK rap was now firmly a part of pop music and the greater hip-hop canon.

Rich, nuanced, and often misunderstood, the history of UK rap is a story of music that refused to stand still. Factoring in socioeconomics, gender, identity, music industry disruption, and innovation, What Do You Call It? charts the artform’s first four decades, beginning when rap landed on our island in the early 1980s. Shaped by sound system culture, inspired by punk, and accelerated by rave, it has evolved from Britcore, UK hip-hop, and trip-hop of the late twentieth century to garage, grime, and drill.

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.


“A long overdue exploration of rap music in the UK and its longstanding – albeit overlooked – legacy and influence. In an era when UK rappers dominate the charts, star in major movies and TV shows and front huge advertising campaigns for multi-national corporations, Kane traces back the arduous journey from maligned sub-culture to celebrated mascot of neoliberal capitalism.” Jehst

“David Kane writes with a deft touch and possesses a disarming and deeply insightful interview style. Sparking life, humour, and sorrow across every page of more than three decades of UK rap history.” Charlie Dark MBE

“Kane builds bridges in a rich musical universe full of heroes and villains—and plot twists. With an inimitable style, he merges culture high and low to bring new meaning to the music. What Do You Call It? is a landmark tome for UK rap music.” Brian DiGenti, Wax Poetics

“A mind rich in ideas” Stanley Ledbetter, The New Yorker More

ISBN: 978-1-913231-67-5

How You Make Me Feel: The Life & Legacy of Marcus Intalex is a tribute to the late, great producer/DJ and a genre-transcending story of passion, creativity and timeless underground music. It has unprecedented insider access to his life and legacy with interviews with Goldie, Calibre, DJ Flight, Doc Scott, Mark XTC and many more. It’s also visually captivating, packed with over 100 rare photos, artwork, and memorabilia. More

ISBN: 978-1-913231-66-8
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.

Originally published in 2021 as a Kickstarter campaign, this second edition features a complete redesign, hardback cover and essays from Blackdown, Charlie Dark MBE, Emma Warren and others. The book is 24cm x 17cm, and the 224 pages are printed on heavyweight paper with a hardback cover. More

ISBN:9781913231699

The Icon Catalogue is a series of small A6 zines profiling 40 record labels in various dance music genres such as Techno, Drum & Bass, Jungle, UK Garage and Dubstep. From the most important labels responsible for the scene’s foundations to rare, hard-to-find imprints now defunct, plus a few heavy-hitting newcomers.

House Volume 1 features the likes of Trax, Music For Freaks, Sound Pak, Vulture Music and many more. More

ISBN: 978-1-913231-74-3

1994 was a year of fervent resistance against the encroaching Criminal Justice Act in the UK. Amidst the clamour of dissent, three historic demonstrations echoed through the streets of London, challenging the very fabric of authority and transforming the nature of peaceful protest, forever.

Through the lens of Matt Smith (Exist To Resist), witness the raw energy and unity of the protests that shook the capital. Each image in this zine is a testament to the power of the people, capturing not just moments frozen in time, but the spirit of a generation refusing to accept oppressive legislation.

Pages: 68
Size: A5 (21cm x 14.8cm)
Binding: Staple bound
Print: Black & white
Front cover design: Tom Booth Woodger
Interior design: Jez Tucker More

ISBN: 978-1-913231-55-2

The Radio Phonics Laboratory by Justin Patrick Moore is the story of how electronic music came to be, told through the lens of the telecommunications scientists and composers who helped give birth to the bleeps and blips that have captured the imagination of musicians and dedicated listeners around the world.

Featuring the likes of Leon Theremin, Hedy Lamarr, Max Matthews, Hal 9000, Robert Moog, Wendy Carlos, Claude Shannon, Halim El-Dabh, Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Henry, Francois Bayle, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Milton Babbitt, Daphne Oram, Delia Derbyshire, Edgar Varese & Laurie Spiegel.

Quotes
“From telegraphy to the airwaves, by way of Hedy Lamarr and Doctor Who, listening to Hal 9000 sing to us whilst a Clockwork Orange unravels the past and present, Moore spirits us on an expansive trip across the twentieth century of sonic discovery. The joys of electrical discovery are unravelled page by page.”
Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner

“Embark on an odyssey through the harmonious realms of Justin Patrick Moore’s Radio Phonics Laboratory echoing the resonances of innovation and discovery. Witness the mesmerising fusion of telecommunications and musical evolution as it weaves a sonic tapestry, a testament to the boundless creativity within the electronic realm. A compelling pilgrimage for those attuned to the avant-garde rhythms of technological alchemy.”
Nigel Ayers (Nocturnal Emissions)

“In this captivating exploration of electronic music, Justin Patrick Moore unveils its evolution as guided by telecommunication technology, spotlighting the enigmatic laboratories of early experimenters who shaped the sound of 20th century music. A must-read for electronic musicians & sound artists alike—this book will undoubtedly find a prominent place on their bookshelves.”
Kim Cascone More

ISBN: 978-1-913231-68-2

UK Hardcore Volume 1 features the likes of Basement Records, Dark Horse, Liquid Wax, Satin Storm, Symphony Sounds, Tone Def and many more. More

ISBN: 978-1-913231-50-7
Format: Paperback Book

Having failed at rapping, what’s next for an endlessly passionate rap nerd? In this sequel to the acclaimed memoir Wiggaz With Attitude, it turns out what’s next is a sometimes controversial career in rap journalism.

Write Lines: Adventures in Rap Journalism tells the tale of hip-hop writing from the inside. From death threats to interviewing Lauryn Hill while she’s in the shower. From calling Jay-Z a c*** to his face, to letting a notorious rapper sleep in his bath, it’s a hilarious, anecdote-studded tale that takes in hip-hop's first-ever magazine and lifts the lid on rivalries, squabbles and how music journalism really works.

Brutally honest, and endlessly opinionated, this story is also a love letter to hip-hop as it changed seismically through the decades. Write Lines charts those changes from the front line through encounters with many of the greats of rap: Chuck D, Missy Elliott, RZA, Eminem, Jazzy Jeff and Gang Starr among them. This is an unfiltered tale of hip-hop that is both heartfelt and scabrously funny.

“With its relatable take on growing up in the 80s, Andrew Emery’s Wiggaz With Attitude marked his card as a vivid memoirist. He might have failed as a wannabe rapper, but the music he loved gained multitudes from his work for Hip-Hop Connection. A pivotal force in the magazine’s 90s/00s heyday, never short of a telling opinion or four, Andrew set a high bar for its other writers to reach. Write Lines is a transportive account of his many travails in that murky world. Packed with eye-watering encounters and witty asides, his compulsive, self-deprecating and brutally honest reflections will resonate widely and change perspectives on rap journalism forever.” - Andy Cowan, HHC Editor & Publisher, author of B-Side: A Flipsided History of Pop. More

Format: Paperback Book
ISBN: 978-1-913231-48-4

Let the Music Play: How R&B Fell in Love with 80s Synths is the overlooked story of how R&B, disco and funk were transformed by the explosion of music tech in the era of ghetto blasters and Ronald Reagan. It traces how pioneers like Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock inspired a new generation of black musicians and producers to reinvent music with a whole new set of rules.

From superstars like Prince and Sade to production geniuses like Kashif and Jam & Lewis, it tells the fascinating stories of the artists involved and how they made some of the best-loved records of the era – creating a blueprint for music today. More

Format: Hardback Book, 27.2cm x 29.4cm
ISBN: 978-1-913231-44-6

Egostrip Book 1 is a beautifully designed collection of Dan Lish’s stunning character illustrations from the world of hip hop and beyond. There are 138 illustrations of pioneering artists from hip hop’s golden era, such as De La Soul, Madlib, DJ Premier, Mobb Deep, Nas, Cypress Hill, J.Period, J Dilla, Kool Keith, MF DOOM, The Roots, Biggie Smalls, A Tribe Called Quest, Biz Markie and The Beastie Boys.

The book is 27.2cm x 29.4cm, and the 160 pages are printed and bound on heavyweight 130gsm paper with a hardback cover. It’s also available as a limited edition 20cm square art print (see left for design). More

Paperback Book, ISBN: 978-1-913231-15-6
The first up to date, post-pandemic, no-borders era book to cover Berlin’s role as an electronic music and cultural capital. Coming To Berlin breaks the tradition of Berlin’s perception as techno ground zero and shows the true diversity and richness that make up the city. Written by a former Londoner who made Berlin his home, the book captures nuances and details of living in Berlin that will be immediately relatable to fellow Berliners yet at the same time captures the city’s creative, free-living essence to anyone with a curiosity for Berlin and a love of electronic music. More

ISBN: 978-1-913231-56-9
Recommended Retail Price: £7.00 / 8,5€

Following on from his 2021 book, Synthesizer Evolution: From Analogue to Digital (and Back), Oli Freke returns with a Synthesizer Evolution A6 zine series.

The invention of the synthesizer in the 1960s changed musical culture and music production forever, giving musicians whole new worlds of sound to play with. Vintage Synths celebrates that invention and its subsequent history by picking out 46 of the most influential, important or most interesting synths from 1939 – 1998. They represent the introduction of a new technology, had a particular impact, or maybe even formed the basis of entirely new genres.

Explore the most legendary synthesizers ever created, including the Minimoog, ARP 2600, Yamaha DX7, Roland Jupiter 8 and more, with detailed descriptions and the stories behind their development. More

ISBN: 978-1-913231-57-6
Recommended Retail Price: £7.00 / 8,5€

Following on from his 2021 book, Synthesizer Evolution: From Analogue to Digital (and Back), Oli Freke returns with a Synthesizer Evolution A6 zine series.

Drum machines and samplers have something of a shared history and this zine celebrates their invention and by picking out 46 of the most influential, important or most interesting synths from 1949 – 1996. Explore the most legendary drum machines and samplers ever created, including the Roland TR-808, Roland TR-909, Akai S1000, Fairlight CMI, Akai MPC60 and more, with detailed descriptions and the stories behind their development. More

ISBN: 978-1-913231-35-4

Written by Spiral Tribe’s co-founder and visual artist, Mark Angelo Harrison, A Darker Electricity charts the infamous sound system’s nomadic journey and the rapid escalation of their popularity – and notoriety.

From small squat-scene parties in early 90s London to enormous warehouse raves and free festivals. The undercover police operation against them. The record deal with Youth. The creation of their community recording studio. The government stitch-up and their prosecution. The escape to Europe and the start of the teknival scene… More

ISBN: 978-1-913231-45-3
Recommended Retail Price: £7.00 / 8,5€

Drum & Bass Volume 1 features the likes of Metalheadz, Symmetry, Sofa Sound, Prototype, Commercial Suicide and many more More

ISBN: 9781913231330
Format: Paperback Deluxe Coffee Table Book: 480 pages in full colour on heavyweight 150 gsm paper.
RRP: £40 / 46€

After picking up a camera in 2006 to shoot events at London superclub Fabric, Sarah Ginn started her journey of documenting the dance music scene. With exclusive, behind-the-scenes access at the likes of Fabric, Ultra Festival, Boomtown, Glastonbury, Outlook, Printworks, Creamfields and Hospitality, Sarah captured the sights of UK rave and
dance culture in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.

Super Sharp Shooter is a carefully curated selection of over 800 photographs from Sarah’s extensive archives, many never before seen. Spanning drum & bass, dubstep, house and techno, the book showcases festivals, clubs, press shots and record covers, providing an unsurpassed document of electronic music in a colourful celebration of beats and bass.

This deluxe book features artists like Andy C, Skream, Chase & Status, Shy FX, Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim, Goldie, Chemical Brothers, Jon Hopkins, Sub Focus, DJ Zinc, Ben UFO, Craig Richards, Erol Alkan, Miss Kitten, Dusky and many more. Also contained is Sarah’s essay,

The Feedback Loop Theory. A demonstration of how music affects time and energy and makes it a magic entity. Set in colour order to reflect the visible light spectrum, this gorgeous book is a must-have for all music and photography enthusiasts. It has 480 pages in full colour on heavyweight 150 gsm paper. It's available as a book only and as a bundle with an exclusive A2 poster.

“‘I’m looking forward to publishing this book because these actually are my only memories!Research shows that when you take photos it actually affects the way you remember things. So on that note, I hope you all enjoy my crazy spectral journey into sound, the many sights of the rave and everything in between.” - Sarah Ginn More

Repress!

In the summer of 1989, when Trip City was first released with a soundtrack by A Guy Called Gerald, there had been no other British novel like it. This was the down and dirty side of London nightclubs, dance music and the kind of hallucinogenic drug sub-culture that hadn’t really been explored since Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Maybe this is why Trip City is still known as “the acid house novel” and an underground literary landmark. More

ISBN: 978-1-913231-34-7
Format: Paperback Book
RRP: £14.99 / 17.49€

Written by veteran journalist Shawn Reynaldo, First Floor is a weekly newsletter that focuses on electronic music, along with the culture and industry that surround it. Over the course of just a few years, it’s become one of electronic music’s most influential platforms, routinely putting many of the genre’s thorniest issues under the microscope while reckoning with changes in the culture during a time of profound transformation.

A collection of Reynaldo’s most thought-provoking essays, First Floor Volume 1 provides a nuanced, wide-ranging look at contemporary electronic music culture, with a particular focus on systemic issues that often go undiscussed.

Topics covered included the evolving nature of electronic music fandom and artistry, value shifts brought on by the current changing of the generational guard, the shortcomings of the modern music press and the growing gap between electronic music’s foundational rhetoric and the genre’s present-day norms.

Incorporating both pieces originally published in the newsletter (all of which have been updated) and exclusive new material from Reynaldo himself, the book also features a foreword by veteran artist and 3024 label founder Martyn. More

Tracklisting
A1 Zeta Reticula - Dial That Number
A2 LUZ1E - Data Motions
A3 Serge Geyzel - I Don’t Know You, But I Know The Symptoms
B1 Ufaze - Non-Stop Overstimulation
B2 Vertical67 - Tear Down Those Walls
B3 Aura Nox - I Should’ve Known

Sales Note
The first record in a new series of VA releases from Mechatronica, Constellations Vol. 1 features Zeta Reticula, LUZ1E, Serge Geyzel, Aura Nox, Vertical67 and Ufaze. More

Snippets for A2 & B2 will be shared in the next weeks.

Objekt launches his new label, Kapsela, with a 10-year anniversary reissue of his lauded production ‘Ganzfeld’. An ambitious, evocative electro/IDM epic with cavernous drums and a riotously funky bass solo, Ganzfeld was initially released in 2014 on Leisure System as the B-side of Hypnagogia, a split EP with Detroit electro pioneers Dopplereffekt. It quickly garnered critical acclaim (including Track Of The Year by Resident Advisor) and amassed a cult following despite clocking in at 147bpm, a relatively unwieldy tempo for most DJs at the time. Given the seismic shifts in tempo and genre that have taken place in the 10 years since and the emergence of a new generation of producers with whom Ganzfeld’s influence has resonated, 2024 seemed like the perfect moment for a re-release.

Commissioning remixes for the first time, Objekt enlists Djrum, who delivers a jaw-dropping 10-minute rendition which weaves through multiple genres and tempos with the cinematic flair of a short film score. Milan’s Piezo contributes a taut, prickly interpretation that builds tension at 80bpm before exploding into a cathartic double-time closer. Finally, US ambient artist Ulla fully deconstructs the original into a serene, undulating lullaby.

The vinyl comes with a free lossless download.

Mastered by Beau at Ten Eight Seven

Artwork by Brodie Kaman More

Repress coming soon!
Skee Mask’s endless search and fascination for fresh music, weed and burgers channeled into his own vision of sound. Enjoy the ride through his second album, a detailed experimental universe of a young dedicated hustler.
More

Essex-based Nasty Rhythm is a raver from the good old days who turned his hand to making music a few years back during UKs lockdowns, causing a minor sensation on youtube after uploading his very first track. The raving spirit shines through brightly here, capturing the vibe of 1992 hardcore like lightning in a bottle on the 2 original A side tracks. Backed with pumped up remixes from The DJ Producer and Rognvald the whole EP provides a breakneck trip along the hardcore continuum. More

Repress should land soon!
Just a continuation of things that have been done before and that will be done in the future. The plan is that there is no plan and the story goes on! 18 tracks about distinct moods, patterns and the pure joy of creation itself. More

Dean Josiah Cover AKA Info's Sault collective has been one of the success stories of the last few years - a hard-to-pigeonhole outfit that manages to knock out inspired albums at a rate of knots. Their latest full-length, '11', is another brilliant and must-check excursion. Largely lo-fi, languid and laidback, it delivers a particularly loose and lo-fi take on soul - blessed with their usual nods to Afrobeat and soundsystem culture - whose instrumentation is deliberately sparse and laidback (think bass guitar, drums and guitar). The results are rarely less than impeccable, with the collective's vocals (both female and male singers feature) rising above vintage-sounding grooves and arrangements that variously doff a cap to Sly Stone, Cymande and - on the drowsy, warming and synth-sporting 'Higher' - the more tactile end of British 80s soul. More

We’ve always been careful not to call Balmat an ambient label, because we like having the freedom to move, to drift, to morph. But with our 11th release, we turn our ears—proudly, blissfully—to a strain of ambient at its most timeless. The appropriately titled Dreams & Whispers comes from Warsaw’s Bartosz Kruczynski, who has recorded under a number of guises, Earth Trax, as well as his own name. Over the years, he’s touched upon deep house, breakbeats, acid, techno, electro, IDM, and more; often, the throughline running through a given album is simply the refusal to remain in any one place for long—well, that, and his unusually nuanced ear for harmony and texture.

Those qualities come to the fore on Dreams & Whispers, which might be the most focused encapsulation of Kruczynski’s atmospheric sensibilities to date.. Across 14 stripped-down tracks for shimmer and pulse, Kruczynski evokes overlapping styles in ambient—warm vibraphones, taut arps, massing strings, lonesome delay chains —but always with his own twist. Fitting the album’s title, the album is loosely divided into two distinct moods: The A-side, “Dreams,” is charged with subtle movement, rhythms spreading out like rings around skipped stones, while the B-side, “Whispers,” plunges into a zone of shadows and hush. The two complementary moods flow into one another like the faces of a Moebius strip, yielding an album that’s intuitively shaped and rich in emotion. More

The discography of the phantom Gruppo Sound exceeds over thirty titles published in an undefined time frame between the Eighties and the Nineties. However, there is very little information about this curious pseudonym. it is possible to find a library music album by Gruppo Sound inside the Canopo, Deneb, Flower, Monosound Records and Teams catalogues, all managed by Flipper Music publishing group, but both the creators and the musicians have never been the same. Gruppo Sound is only a collective name, maybe to identify a certain number of 'new' productions characterized by an electronic background And, not by chance, the author of “New York City” is a single artist, the multi-instrumentalist Gabriele Ducros. Son of the prolific composer Remigio Ducros, he first followed his footsteps in the field of music libraries and soundtracks and then become the author of many tracks for television commercials of a certain relevance, winning some international awards.

“Some of these tracks may have been associated with a pornographic film. Others were, however, made as brief comments for a theatrical show, perhaps never made”, remembers Gabriele Ducros. What unites the thirteen pieces is the same musical language, which derives from a widespread funk and jazz matrix. Both genres are thus declined through a different approach and taste, in line with the fusion trends of the time, when the early synthesizers were used by few artists. A handful of electric guitar notes for a 'urban' mood, the acoustic ones from a dreamy morning awakening. Electronic keyboards to arouse a sense of nostalgia in the listener, while flute and saxophone always punctuate different atmospheres. A computer melody, a theme for children and a sophisticated ode to the fusion sound of the Big Apple, perhaps true source of ispiration of the work. “New York City” is not a concept album, but one of the best cross-sections of Gabriele Ducros' great creativity. More

Kon AKA King of Nothing, mastermind behind many brilliant multitrack edits unleashes 2 brilliant mashup gems. 'Soul Bright' featuring Madonna’s beaming Lucky Star vocals blended over Saucy Lady’s 'Soul Amplified' instrumentation pulled from her 2021 Delirious EP, and 'Watchin’', Rockwell meets Saucy Lady mashup.

The Rockwell vocals adds to that intoxicating Mtume- like harmonies originally set by producer Yuki 'U-KEY' Kanesaka on The Garden, a track that was also released off of Saucy Lady's Delirious record that just got a tasty rework. Already dance floor tested and audience- approved with guaranteed dippin' quality. More