The second book in the 'Tube line' series, Central Line Series, documents the ambitious programme of temporary commissions that took place along the Central...... more

The second book in the 'Tube line' series, Central Line Series, documents the ambitious programme of temporary commissions that took place along the Central line from 2011 to 2012. The longest line on the London Underground network, the Central line opened in 1900 and has nearly quadrupled in size, now serving 49 stations and spanning 74 km (46 miles). The Central line's sheer size presents significant challenges for personal interaction amongst its 1,408 operational staff. Artworks in the Central Line Series take the theme of 'communication' as a starting point to explore ideas around interaction, engagement and exchange, in the context of the Central line, and specific locations along the line. Central Line Series includes projects by Michael Landy, whose Acts of Kindness, 2011, galvinised the city of London to share their experiences of kindness on the tube, and Ruth Ewan, Kerry Andrew, Evlynn Sharp and Laburnum Boat Club, who collaborated to produce A LOCK IS A GATE, 2011, a project involving young people from Hackney in the creation of an album of experimental songs, a book of drawings, posters and tube station artwork, as well as projects by Anna Barham, Alice Channer and Bob and Roberta Smith which further expored the ideas of communication and exchange on the Central line. Central Line Series includes a newly commissioned illustrated essay on the history of the Central line and an essay on the theme of communication and exchange. Each artwork in the series is represented by images and accompanied by an explanatory text, alongside supplementary material selected by the artist in order to enrich our understanding of the work.

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Tengalia, the DJ's DJ has always smashed down dance music's divisions by mixing whatever he pleases without losing a smidgeon of musical impact. So it's no...... more

Tengalia, the DJ's DJ has always smashed down dance music's divisions by mixing whatever he pleases without losing a smidgeon of musical impact. So it's no surprise that Global Underground: London, a double-CD mixed live in London isn't a fusty, dusty artefact full of novelty songs/tracks. Forever passionate about the music as well as his mixing, his choices are inspired by what really works on the dancefloor. Peace's Divison's "Tribal Funk" is wonderfully voracious and ATFC's "In and Out of My Life" sits just on the right side of "screaming diva" house. By concentrating on subbed out electro house in all it's sweeping orchestral glory, London rocks and soothes in equal measure. There are plenty of blueprints and uplifting twists such as Minimal Funk IV's epic "Definition of House" and Vegas Soul's teasingly groove-oriented "Junk Funk", but that's not all. Tengalia has split the CDs so each one leans towards either house or trance, but never to the detriment of the other. So for the most part, CD 2 is a sexy, blissfully escapist soundtrack and CD 1 above all else is super-funky house. If you own other Tengalia compilations than you already know what his mixes sound like--taut basslines, musical beats with a soulful edge and plenty of extended, glorious breakdowns. If you don't, then this occasionally ethereal, anthemic mix is both banging and astonishing. --Maxine Kabuubi

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"Poetry arrived/ in search of me" --Pablo NerudaLaunched in 1986 and now an established part of every London tube-traveller's experience, the Poems ...... more

"Poetry arrived/ in search of me" --Pablo NerudaLaunched in 1986 and now an established part of every London tube-traveller's experience, the Poems On The Underground project has proved a hugely successful attempt to introduce poetry into the city's public spaces and has since been taken up by many of the world's major cities as well as many smaller ones. Serendipitous and surprising, the encounter with poetry in the urban environment is often enlivening and provocative--a tribute to the enthusiasm of the editors. This new edition, twice as long as its predecessor, is partly organised around the current programme "1,000 years of English Poetry" but also contains poems "exchanged" with those chosen in other countries; the book thus contains an enormous range of verse from around the world and from past to present day, finding a place for the witty and the profound alike, for light verse as well as the serious or gnomic, for the popular and the more obscure. Some poets are represented by their most well-known pieces--Shelley's Ozymandias, Auden's Song (made famous by its inclusion in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral)--others by less familiar but no less potent poems. The current project also exhumes wonderful examples of early and middle English verse, an indication of the long and vital tradition of British poetry. Hopefully, future editions will find room for more poems in translation and more modern American verse (surely the most vital space for modern poetry in English).The almost haphazard nature of the selection--based on the principles of pleasure rather than dogma--result in a generous and happily democratic collection that is, paradoxically, a far stronger and more persuasive argument for the ongoing vitality of poetry than many more argumentative anthologies. The chance encounter with an affecting poem or unfamiliar poet is ample reason to invest in this book--where else would one find Elizabeth Barrett Browning, John Betjeman, Paul Celan, Spike Milligan, Emily Dickinson and Guillaume Apollinaire sharing space together? Last words to Christopher Logue: "Last night in London Airport / I saw a wooden bin/ labelled UNWANTED LITERATURE / IS TO BE PLACED HEREIN./ So I wrote a poem/ and popped it in." No longer so unwanted, thanks to this book. --Burhan Tufail

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"Poetry arrived/ in search of me" --Pablo NerudaLaunched in 1986 and now an established part of every London tube-traveller's experience, the Poems ...... more

"Poetry arrived/ in search of me" --Pablo NerudaLaunched in 1986 and now an established part of every London tube-traveller's experience, the Poems On The Underground project has proved a hugely successful attempt to introduce poetry into the city's public spaces and has since been taken up by many of the world's major cities as well as many smaller ones. Serendipitous and surprising, the encounter with poetry in the urban environment is often enlivening and provocative--a tribute to the enthusiasm of the editors. This new edition, twice as long as its predecessor, is partly organised around the current programme "1,000 years of English Poetry" but also contains poems "exchanged" with those chosen in other countries; the book thus contains an enormous range of verse from around the world and from past to present day, finding a place for the witty and the profound alike, for light verse as well as the serious or gnomic, for the popular and the more obscure. Some poets are represented by their most well-known pieces--Shelley's Ozymandias, Auden's Song (made famous by its inclusion in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral)--others by less familiar but no less potent poems. The current project also exhumes wonderful examples of early and middle English verse, an indication of the long and vital tradition of British poetry. Hopefully, future editions will find room for more poems in translation and more modern American verse (surely the most vital space for modern poetry in English).The almost haphazard nature of the selection--based on the principles of pleasure rather than dogma--result in a generous and happily democratic collection that is, paradoxically, a far stronger and more persuasive argument for the ongoing vitality of poetry than many more argumentative anthologies. The chance encounter with an affecting poem or unfamiliar poet is ample reason to invest in this book--where else would one find Elizabeth Barrett Browning, John Betjeman, Paul Celan, Spike Milligan, Emily Dickinson and Guillaume Apollinaire sharing space together? Last words to Christopher Logue: "Last night in London Airport / I saw a wooden bin/ labelled UNWANTED LITERATURE / IS TO BE PLACED HEREIN./ So I wrote a poem/ and popped it in." No longer so unwanted, thanks to this book. --Burhan Tufail

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BRAND NEW CD direct from Moon Ska record label BAY MUSIC will include a FREE Moon Ska CD with this item Unlike American single CD version of this album,...... more

BRAND NEW CD direct from Moon Ska record label BAY MUSIC will include a FREE Moon Ska CD with this item Unlike American single CD version of this album, this is the Moon Ska Europe 2CD set containing the complete 1998 London live performances and comes in a slipcase with picture disc CD's and a poster. Record label sales notes Classic and infamous TOASTERS gig recorded at the band`s two sell-out nights on the 17th and 18th August 1998 at London's Borderline Club. This is essentially a "Best Of" The Toasters live including amongst other things a special guest appearance from German Ska legend Dr. Ring Ding guesting on trombone. The album contains many of the band`s best known classics, including "East Side Beat," "Weekend In LA," "Shocker," "Matt Davis," "History Book," plus more recent tracks such as "I`m Running Through The World" and "Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down." None of the inter-song banter from lead singer Bucket and boys has been cut like the USA single disc version!!... So this package exclusively captures the true live atmosphere of the nights on this excellent quality recording. A total must-have Moon Ska and Toasters release!! Tracklisting Disc One INTRO - BUGGER OFF GIMMIE SOME LOVIN' I'M RUNNING THROUGH THE WORLD UNDERGROUND TOWN RUDE RUDE BABY PLOUGHSHARES FOR GUNS TALK IS CHEAP EAST SIDE BEAT VERSUS WEST HAM UNITED (Part 1) EAST SIDE BEAT (Part 2) HISTORY BOOK WEEKEND IN L.A. THE JACK RUBY WOYAH (Featuring DR. RING DING) Disc Two INTRO - SORRY WEST HAM FRANKENSKA FRIENDS RUN RUDY RUN TWO TONE ARMY DON'T LET THE BASTARDS GRIND YOU DOWN I WASN'T GONNA CALL YOU ANYWAY FIRE IN MY SOUL SHOCKER MONA DECISION AT MIDNIGHT MATT DAVIS

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"Poetry arrived/ in search of me" --Pablo NerudaLaunched in 1986 and now an established part of every London tube-traveller's experience, the Poems ...... more

"Poetry arrived/ in search of me" --Pablo NerudaLaunched in 1986 and now an established part of every London tube-traveller's experience, the Poems On The Underground project has proved a hugely successful attempt to introduce poetry into the city's public spaces and has since been taken up by many of the world's major cities as well as many smaller ones. Serendipitous and surprising, the encounter with poetry in the urban environment is often enlivening and provocative--a tribute to the enthusiasm of the editors. This new edition, twice as long as its predecessor, is partly organised around the current programme "1,000 years of English Poetry" but also contains poems "exchanged" with those chosen in other countries; the book thus contains an enormous range of verse from around the world and from past to present day, finding a place for the witty and the profound alike, for light verse as well as the serious or gnomic, for the popular and the more obscure. Some poets are represented by their most well-known pieces--Shelley's Ozymandias, Auden's Song (made famous by its inclusion in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral)--others by less familiar but no less potent poems. The current project also exhumes wonderful examples of early and middle English verse, an indication of the long and vital tradition of British poetry. Hopefully, future editions will find room for more poems in translation and more modern American verse (surely the most vital space for modern poetry in English).The almost haphazard nature of the selection--based on the principles of pleasure rather than dogma--result in a generous and happily democratic collection that is, paradoxically, a far stronger and more persuasive argument for the ongoing vitality of poetry than many more argumentative anthologies. The chance encounter with an affecting poem or unfamiliar poet is ample reason to invest in this book--where else would one find Elizabeth Barrett Browning, John Betjeman, Paul Celan, Spike Milligan, Emily Dickinson and Guillaume Apollinaire sharing space together? Last words to Christopher Logue: "Last night in London Airport / I saw a wooden bin/ labelled UNWANTED LITERATURE / IS TO BE PLACED HEREIN./ So I wrote a poem/ and popped it in." No longer so unwanted, thanks to this book. --Burhan Tufail

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The second book in the 'Tube line' series, Central Line Series, documents the ambitious programme of temporary commissions that took place along the Central...... more

The second book in the 'Tube line' series, Central Line Series, documents the ambitious programme of temporary commissions that took place along the Central line from 2011 to 2012. The longest line on the London Underground network, the Central line opened in 1900 and has nearly quadrupled in size, now serving 49 stations and spanning 74 km (46 miles). The Central line's sheer size presents significant challenges for personal interaction amongst its 1,408 operational staff. Artworks in the Central Line Series take the theme of 'communication' as a starting point to explore ideas around interaction, engagement and exchange, in the context of the Central line, and specific locations along the line. Central Line Series includes projects by Michael Landy, whose Acts of Kindness, 2011, galvinised the city of London to share their experiences of kindness on the tube, and Ruth Ewan, Kerry Andrew, Evlynn Sharp and Laburnum Boat Club, who collaborated to produce A LOCK IS A GATE, 2011, a project involving young people from Hackney in the creation of an album of experimental songs, a book of drawings, posters and tube station artwork, as well as projects by Anna Barham, Alice Channer and Bob and Roberta Smith which further expored the ideas of communication and exchange on the Central line. Central Line Series includes a newly commissioned illustrated essay on the history of the Central line and an essay on the theme of communication and exchange. Each artwork in the series is represented by images and accompanied by an explanatory text, alongside supplementary material selected by the artist in order to enrich our understanding of the work.

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BRAND NEW CD direct from Moon Ska record label BAY MUSIC will include a FREE Moon Ska CD with this item Unlike American single CD version of this album,...... more

BRAND NEW CD direct from Moon Ska record label BAY MUSIC will include a FREE Moon Ska CD with this item Unlike American single CD version of this album, this is the Moon Ska Europe 2CD set containing the complete 1998 London live performances and comes in a slipcase with picture disc CD's and a poster. Record label sales notes Classic and infamous TOASTERS gig recorded at the band`s two sell-out nights on the 17th and 18th August 1998 at London's Borderline Club. This is essentially a "Best Of" The Toasters live including amongst other things a special guest appearance from German Ska legend Dr. Ring Ding guesting on trombone. The album contains many of the band`s best known classics, including "East Side Beat," "Weekend In LA," "Shocker," "Matt Davis," "History Book," plus more recent tracks such as "I`m Running Through The World" and "Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down." None of the inter-song banter from lead singer Bucket and boys has been cut like the USA single disc version!!... So this package exclusively captures the true live atmosphere of the nights on this excellent quality recording. A total must-have Moon Ska and Toasters release!! Tracklisting Disc One INTRO - BUGGER OFF GIMMIE SOME LOVIN' I'M RUNNING THROUGH THE WORLD UNDERGROUND TOWN RUDE RUDE BABY PLOUGHSHARES FOR GUNS TALK IS CHEAP EAST SIDE BEAT VERSUS WEST HAM UNITED (Part 1) EAST SIDE BEAT (Part 2) HISTORY BOOK WEEKEND IN L.A. THE JACK RUBY WOYAH (Featuring DR. RING DING) Disc Two INTRO - SORRY WEST HAM FRANKENSKA FRIENDS RUN RUDY RUN TWO TONE ARMY DON'T LET THE BASTARDS GRIND YOU DOWN I WASN'T GONNA CALL YOU ANYWAY FIRE IN MY SOUL SHOCKER MONA DECISION AT MIDNIGHT MATT DAVIS

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London Is the Place for Me is a remarkable collection of the varied and irrepressible music that London's calypsonians were producing in the...... more

London Is the Place for Me is a remarkable collection of the varied and irrepressible music that London's calypsonians were producing in the first half of the 1950s. Lord Kitchener himself sings on nine of the 20 tracks while Lord Beginner has five and the rest are shared between Lord Invader, Mighty Terror, Young Tiger, the Lion and someone who bucked the trend by simply calling himself Timothy. Apart from the different voices what impresses most is the variety in both words and music. The best-known of these songs is surely Lord Beginner's "Victory Test Match" (...cricket, lovely cricket, at Lord's where you find it...) but the others cover subjects ranging from landladies and the Underground to independence in Africa, the colour problem, a hurricane in Jamaica and, very topically, the Coronation. The record also exhibits extraordinary musical skill. Such fine Caribbean jazz musicians as saxophonist Bertie King, trumpeter Cyril Blake and clarinettist Freddie Grant have ample opportunities to shine and on some tracks the music seems to foreshadow the Brazilian bossa nova's meeting with jazz a few years later or the joyous sound of the African Jazz Pioneers. Jazzmen with West Indian origins continue to flourish these days but this sort of wide-ranging approach to lyrics and their content seems to have died out. So this release is a timely reminder that (as Bob Dylan also demonstrated subsequently) there is more to life than romance and sex and can be much more to lyrics than the "love" and lust that preoccupies most commercial music. --Graham Colombé

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A Kiss in Rio Scented Candle by Jonathan Ward. Tasting note - "spice, like a kiss in the dark, the aroma takes you away, it wraps you up in velvet". Key notes...... more

A Kiss in Rio Scented Candle by Jonathan Ward. Tasting note - "spice, like a kiss in the dark, the aroma takes you away, it wraps you up in velvet". Key notes - Spice, Fruit & Sweet. Name - A Kiss in Rio, Weight - 241g, Burn time - 45 hours, Jar diameter - 8cm, Jar height - 10cm. Kiss in Rio is the darkest of the Jonathan Ward collective scents. An evocative blend of Cassis, Licorice, Pepper and complex woods combine to create a midnight sensuality of notes inspired by the underground dancing bars in Rio de Jeneiro. Kiss in Rio is an ideal complement for modern environments and its seductive aroma is one of our favourites. The Kiss in Rio scented candle is hand-poured using paraffin-free, clean-burning soy and beeswax and is housed in a hand-blown, Italian crystal glass. Ingredients - Blackcurrant, Cassis, Clove, Licorice, Pepper and Smoky Woods. Jonathan Ward candles are beautiful - the candles are hand-poured using paraffin-free, clean-burning soy and beeswax and are housed in a hand-blown, Italian crystal glass jar. The result is exquisite and the aromas are full and fragrant. Each candle has two wicks to ensure an even burn. The Jonathan Ward Collection is borne of a simple philosophy - to create luxurious home fragrance products from the inside out. Jonathan Ward focuses on using premium, raw materials so that all their products sing songs of quality. Jonathan Ward candles are made using traditional methods in their factory in London. "Each fragrance is a sophisticated blend of premium ingredients and scents, lovingly selected and expertly combined." All Jonathan Ward products are manufactured in-house at their factory in South London.

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Earl Zinger is the charming and cheeky alter ego of ex-Galliano star Rob Gallagher. A fictional character hailing from late 1940s America (hence the...... more

Earl Zinger is the charming and cheeky alter ego of ex-Galliano star Rob Gallagher. A fictional character hailing from late 1940s America (hence the appropriately kitsch title Put Your Phasers on Stun...), Zinger happens to have been conveniently located at the cutting edge of all of the major 20th-century musical developments, from jazz to reggae to rock & roll, soul, disco and, of course, dance music. Through his invented character, Gallagher is able to avoid trends and do exactly as he pleases. Subsequently, he turns in a sprawling, funny and defiantly original album that throws caution to the wind and indulges all of his whims as a producer, songwriter and lyricist. With South London mambo's, Camden skanks and tight, urban funk, Put Your Phasers... is endlessly witty and sharp and the music is tight no matter what style is conjured up. From the hilarious "Escape to Ibiza" to the deep dub rumbles of "Song 2Wo", this is a classy and thoroughly enjoyable romp through the mind of one of Britain's major underground talents.--Paul Sullivan

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The Dum Dum project behind Export Quality are producer and decks-pert Sean (DJ Cavo) Dinsmore, guitarist/sitar player/keyboardist and bassist Jason Goodrow, and...... more

The Dum Dum project behind Export Quality are producer and decks-pert Sean (DJ Cavo) Dinsmore, guitarist/sitar player/keyboardist and bassist Jason Goodrow, and percussionist/engineer Phil Painson, a trio of New Yorkers committed to mixing dope beats with Indian vibes. Export Quality is the band's second album with Dinsmore, a previous member of bands such as Ska crew The Toasters, reggae hip-hop heads Unity 2 and rock band Supercuz, remaining the principal powerhouse. On wax, DDP come up with a sound that is slightly different to many so-called UK Asian Underground artists. It's less song-based and sinuous than Nitin Sawhney for example, less epic and drum-&-bass-motivated than Talvin Singh and slightly less breaks-based than London indie label Swaraj. Dinsmore's tuff beats and chemical basslines carry a fairly tough downtempo/hip-hop feel and their torpor pulls constantly against the dense amalgams of Sitar, percussion, keys, tablas and vocals. There's a guitar-heavy rock drive apparent within the sound too which adds to a general aura of "heaviness" in places and anchors any rich Bollywood strings or sprightly Eastern motifs that might occur. It's ultimately a quite engaging sound that stands up well to close scrutiny but at times you find yourself wishing for a bit more levity and space. --Paul Sullivan

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A match made in avant-pop heaven: Kathy Acker, lesbian punk heiress to William Burroughs's edge-of-humanity literature, together with the Mekons, eclectic punk...... more

A match made in avant-pop heaven: Kathy Acker, lesbian punk heiress to William Burroughs's edge-of-humanity literature, together with the Mekons, eclectic punk survivors and underground music gods and goddesses. In a musical/literary pairing that easily beats the Burroughs/Cobain collab a few years back, Acker and the Mekons meet to produce what must be a first, a soundtrack to a novel. Pussy, King of the Pirates is an aural companion to Acker's novel of the same name, a typically brutal journey into a wonderland of oblivion where the real and imagined intermingle freely, and horror and obscenity live side by side with childhood fantasy and adventure. Though the record might make a bit more sense if you've read the novel, the Mekons do an exceptional job of conjuring musically what Acker attempts in words. Acker's recitations of book excerpts introduce each of Pussy's seven songs, which echo the writer's disjointed and cacophonous collage style by mixing samples from pirate radio ("Ange's Song As She Crawled Through London"), dub reggae ("The Song of the Dogs"), lesbian pirate shanties ("Ostracism's Song to Pussycat"), industrial noise ("Into the Strange"), and disco synth-pop ("Antigone Speaking of Herself"). Acker brings out the Mekons' savage female side--with Jon Langford's vocals taking a back seat to Sally Timms's singing and Susie Honeyman's shrill fiddle--while the Mekons bring Acker's lyrics into a new, sensual realm without compromising the power of her naked words. --Roni Sarig

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A pocket sized collection of more than 90 songs from throughout the 45+ year career of David Bowie. Presented in chord songbook format, with chord...... more

A pocket sized collection of more than 90 songs from throughout the 45+ year career of David Bowie. Presented in chord songbook format, with chord symbols, Guitar chord boxes and complete lyrics. Song List "Heroes" Absolute Beginners Alabama Song Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?) All The Madmen All The Young Dudes Always Crashing In The Same Car Andy Warhol Ashes To Ashes Baal's Hymn Be My Wife Blue Jean Boys Keep Swinging Candidate (alternate version) Can't Help Thinking About Me Cat People (Putting Out The Fire) Changes Chant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Family China Girl Cracked Actor Cygnet Committee D.J. Day In Day Out Dead Man Walking Diamond Dogs Drive-in Saturday Eight Line Poem Everyone Says 'Hi' Fame Fashion Five Years Golden Years Hallo Spaceboy I Have Not Been to Oxford Town In The Heat Of the Morning Joe The Lion John, I'm Only Dancing Jump They Say Kooks Lady Grinning Soul Lady Stardust Let's Dance Letter To Hermione Life On Mars? Little Wonder Look Back In Anger Love You Till Tuesday Loving The Alien Maid Of Bond Street Modern Love Moonage Daydream Never Let Me Down New Killer Star Nite Flights Oh! You Pretty Things Please Mr Gravedigger Queen Bitch Quicksand Rebel Rebel Rock 'N' Roll Suicide Seven Silly Boy Blue Slow Burn Sorrow Sound And Vision Space Oddity Starman Station To Station Strangers When We Meet Suffragette City The Buddha Of Suburbia The Jean Genie The Laughing Gnome The London Boys The Man Who Sold The World The Secret Life Of Arabia The Supermen The Width Of A Circle This Is Not America Thursday's Child Time Tvc15 Under Pressure Underground Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed Velvet Goldmine We Are The Dead Wild Is The Wind Young Americans Ziggy Stardust

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Earl Zinger is the charming and cheeky alter ego of ex-Galliano star Rob Gallagher. A fictional character hailing from late 1940s America (hence the...... more

Earl Zinger is the charming and cheeky alter ego of ex-Galliano star Rob Gallagher. A fictional character hailing from late 1940s America (hence the appropriately kitsch title Put Your Phasers on Stun...), Zinger happens to have been conveniently located at the cutting edge of all of the major 20th-century musical developments, from jazz to reggae to rock & roll, soul, disco and, of course, dance music. Through his invented character, Gallagher is able to avoid trends and do exactly as he pleases. Subsequently, he turns in a sprawling, funny and defiantly original album that throws caution to the wind and indulges all of his whims as a producer, songwriter and lyricist. With South London mambo's, Camden skanks and tight, urban funk, Put Your Phasers... is endlessly witty and sharp and the music is tight no matter what style is conjured up. From the hilarious "Escape to Ibiza" to the deep dub rumbles of "Song 2Wo", this is a classy and thoroughly enjoyable romp through the mind of one of Britain's major underground talents.--Paul Sullivan

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SPECIMEN'AZOIC',The gothic-godfathers and impresarios issue their 80's collected works.,The BATCAVE club opened in 1982,and synonymous with that groundbreaking...... more

SPECIMEN'AZOIC',The gothic-godfathers and impresarios issue their 80's collected works.,The BATCAVE club opened in 1982,and synonymous with that groundbreaking club were its founders SPECIMEN.  To get some gigs SPECIMEN started a club where they and their friends could hang out.  The BATCAVE soon became the underground cult place to be.  ,Draped in nets,with sculptures,mud-wrestling and weird events going on in numerous rooms,it was soon swarming with TV crews and journalists as well as clubbers and creative artists.  Soon a bidding war broke out for the club's Bolanesque horror-gothic glam hosts.  ,Signing to London Records,they spent lots of money on whims like the 'Batcave' compilation album 'Young Limbs and Numb Hymns' but issued just two singles,the success of the club being a distraction.  Those six tracks became a mini-LP 'Batastrophe' on Sire in the US and are included here on 'AZOIC',together with 12" versions of their later Flicknife single,some demos and two rare songs live.  ,'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' and 'Hex' are still cult faves in clubs today.  A new video-clip of 'Kiss Kiss...' can be seen on the 'In Goth Daze 2' DVD (Cherry Red). ,Guitarist Jon Klein went on to join Siouxsie & The Banshees,Johnny Slut and Ollie Wisdom are now both DJs.  Recently,a Specimen semi-reunion album has been issued on the US Metropolis Records and a 2-page feature in the current issue of USA's AMP magazine celebrates the band.    This CD uses the extended 12" versions of tracks,where they exist.,TRACKS: ,1. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (12") 2. Tell Tail 3. Beauty Of Poisin (12") 4. Hex (12") 5. Returning From A Journey (12") 6. Syria 7. Dead Man's Autochop 8. Stand Up Stand Out 9. Holes (12") 10. Lovers 11. Sharp Teeth Pretty Teeth 12. Azoic* (Live) 13. Wolverines* (Live) *previously unreleased   ,Stock photo. Factory Shrinkwrapped.

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A match made in avant-pop heaven: Kathy Acker, lesbian punk heiress to William Burroughs's edge-of-humanity literature, together with the Mekons, eclectic punk...... more

A match made in avant-pop heaven: Kathy Acker, lesbian punk heiress to William Burroughs's edge-of-humanity literature, together with the Mekons, eclectic punk survivors and underground music gods and goddesses. In a musical/literary pairing that easily beats the Burroughs/Cobain collab a few years back, Acker and the Mekons meet to produce what must be a first, a soundtrack to a novel. Pussy, King of the Pirates is an aural companion to Acker's novel of the same name, a typically brutal journey into a wonderland of oblivion where the real and imagined intermingle freely, and horror and obscenity live side by side with childhood fantasy and adventure. Though the record might make a bit more sense if you've read the novel, the Mekons do an exceptional job of conjuring musically what Acker attempts in words. Acker's recitations of book excerpts introduce each of Pussy's seven songs, which echo the writer's disjointed and cacophonous collage style by mixing samples from pirate radio ("Ange's Song As She Crawled Through London"), dub reggae ("The Song of the Dogs"), lesbian pirate shanties ("Ostracism's Song to Pussycat"), industrial noise ("Into the Strange"), and disco synth-pop ("Antigone Speaking of Herself"). Acker brings out the Mekons' savage female side--with Jon Langford's vocals taking a back seat to Sally Timms's singing and Susie Honeyman's shrill fiddle--while the Mekons bring Acker's lyrics into a new, sensual realm without compromising the power of her naked words. --Roni Sarig

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The Dum Dum project behind Export Quality are producer and decks-pert Sean (DJ Cavo) Dinsmore, guitarist/sitar player/keyboardist and bassist Jason Goodrow, and...... more

The Dum Dum project behind Export Quality are producer and decks-pert Sean (DJ Cavo) Dinsmore, guitarist/sitar player/keyboardist and bassist Jason Goodrow, and percussionist/engineer Phil Painson, a trio of New Yorkers committed to mixing dope beats with Indian vibes. Export Quality is the band's second album with Dinsmore, a previous member of bands such as Ska crew The Toasters, reggae hip-hop heads Unity 2 and rock band Supercuz, remaining the principal powerhouse. On wax, DDP come up with a sound that is slightly different to many so-called UK Asian Underground artists. It's less song-based and sinuous than Nitin Sawhney for example, less epic and drum-&-bass-motivated than Talvin Singh and slightly less breaks-based than London indie label Swaraj. Dinsmore's tuff beats and chemical basslines carry a fairly tough downtempo/hip-hop feel and their torpor pulls constantly against the dense amalgams of Sitar, percussion, keys, tablas and vocals. There's a guitar-heavy rock drive apparent within the sound too which adds to a general aura of "heaviness" in places and anchors any rich Bollywood strings or sprightly Eastern motifs that might occur. It's ultimately a quite engaging sound that stands up well to close scrutiny but at times you find yourself wishing for a bit more levity and space. --Paul Sullivan

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There's no doubting the ambitions of Through The Window Pane. Its makers, London's Guillemots might be able to trace their roots back to the indie...... more

There's no doubting the ambitions of Through The Window Pane. Its makers, London's Guillemots might be able to trace their roots back to the indie underground like so many, frontman Fyfe Dangerfield got his musical break when his former band recorded a John Peel session but this is a debut that owes nothing to angry abrasiveness or wilfully leftfield tactics. Diverse, subtle, and commendably understated see the opening "Little Bear", five minutes of near silence interrupted only by gentle strings, lounge piano, and Dangerfields soft, operatic vocal this is an album seemingly diametrically opposed to the voguish all-mouth, no-trousers school of modern indie. "Made-Up Love Song 43" combines tearful, emo-tinged balladry with sped-up vinyl wobble, heavenly vocal choirs, and distant accordion, while the spacey "A Samba In The Snowy Rain" confirms Guillemots luxuriate with the sort of progressive rock nous that should see their name mentioned next to the likes of Sigur Rós or Mew. It's not all bombastic "Blue Would Still Be Blue" is comparatively restrained, Dangerfield's impressive range hitched to spare keyboard blips. But as "Sao Paolo" builds from swinging piano ballad to horns-powered prog symphony over eleven fireworks-packed minutes, there's no denying that in the world of Guillemots, bigger is definitely better. -Louis Pattison

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A pocket sized collection of more than 90 songs from throughout the 45+ year career of David Bowie. Presented in chord songbook format, with chord...... more

A pocket sized collection of more than 90 songs from throughout the 45+ year career of David Bowie. Presented in chord songbook format, with chord symbols, Guitar chord boxes and complete lyrics. Song List "Heroes" Absolute Beginners Alabama Song Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?) All The Madmen All The Young Dudes Always Crashing In The Same Car Andy Warhol Ashes To Ashes Baal's Hymn Be My Wife Blue Jean Boys Keep Swinging Candidate (alternate version) Can't Help Thinking About Me Cat People (Putting Out The Fire) Changes Chant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Family China Girl Cracked Actor Cygnet Committee D.J. Day In Day Out Dead Man Walking Diamond Dogs Drive-in Saturday Eight Line Poem Everyone Says 'Hi' Fame Fashion Five Years Golden Years Hallo Spaceboy I Have Not Been to Oxford Town In The Heat Of the Morning Joe The Lion John, I'm Only Dancing Jump They Say Kooks Lady Grinning Soul Lady Stardust Let's Dance Letter To Hermione Life On Mars? Little Wonder Look Back In Anger Love You Till Tuesday Loving The Alien Maid Of Bond Street Modern Love Moonage Daydream Never Let Me Down New Killer Star Nite Flights Oh! You Pretty Things Please Mr Gravedigger Queen Bitch Quicksand Rebel Rebel Rock 'N' Roll Suicide Seven Silly Boy Blue Slow Burn Sorrow Sound And Vision Space Oddity Starman Station To Station Strangers When We Meet Suffragette City The Buddha Of Suburbia The Jean Genie The Laughing Gnome The London Boys The Man Who Sold The World The Secret Life Of Arabia The Supermen The Width Of A Circle This Is Not America Thursday's Child Time Tvc15 Under Pressure Underground Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed Velvet Goldmine We Are The Dead Wild Is The Wind Young Americans Ziggy Stardust

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