A selection of new music and culture related books to add to your reading list
As we roll on into spring 2025, we realised it was high time to have a rummage around the shelves and get a fresh reading list together. As ever, a lot has been written about since we last did a round up of new books that focus on Electronic music and related culture. There’s been some great work released and published since.
Here’s a selection of books that have been published in relatively recent times to add to your reading list.
Aphex Twin – A Disco Pogo Tribute
Disco Pogo
Following a hugely successful Tribute to Daft Punk from the Disco Pogo fanzine crew. Like the Daft Punk edition, the team behind it have gone all in to unleash their next instalment in the series. Namely, a 274 page hardback book dedicated to the legendary electronic artist: Aphex Twin. All beautifully designed and printed of course. Considering the team’s long-standing relationship with Richard D. James over the last 3 decades via their former yet infamous publication – Jockey Slut. There’s a lot to admire in the book to say the least.
The book has been lovingly edited by Disco Pogo editor Jim Butler and features a wealth of interviews, essays and features from some of the best music journalists working today. And the result really speaks for itself, whether you’re a fan or not.
Featuring an iconic cover portrait of James – shot by Wolfgang Tillmans, along with a stack of other great pictures and images collected from throughout his career, from some of the best music photographers in the world. Not to mention input from the Aphex Twin fan website – the Lanner Chronicle – and serious contributions from Aphex’s logo designer Paul Nicholson, who was happy to open up his personal archives. Quite simply, this is a title well worth picking up for your collection as once they’re gone, they’re gone (you probably want to be aware of just how coveted Aphex memorabilia gets down the line).
Buy Aphex Twin – A Disco Pogo Tribute
Independent As F***: Underground Hip-Hop From 1995-2005
Ben Pedroche
A look back at what is now widely considered the golden 10 year era of Hip-Hop which spans from 1995 – 2005, Ben Pedroche celebrates the genre’s most important artists, record labels, 12” records and albums in this new book. Diving deep into the stories behind them, whilst also shining a light on plenty that has since been forgotten.
This well researched and curated book is a great guide to what’s now considered a special time in music history, and continues to inspire new waves of artists decades later.
A time when Hip-Hop received a much-needed shot in the arm from a determined and wildly creative generation. Who rallied against an increasingly formulaic and shallow world of mainstream rap – all spurred on by an equally complicit industry.
By releasing music on their own terms, independent artists took on a mission to reclaim their artistic freedom and wear it as a badge of honour. Making a lot of excellent music in the process from New York to Los Angeles, influencing the rest of the world in the process.
Buy Independent As F***: Underground Hip-Hop From 1995-2005
Dream Machines: Electronic Music in Britain From Doctor Who to Acid House
Matthew Colin
Cultural commentator and esteemed author of Altered State and Rave On, Matthew Colin returns with a whole new chapter and latest offering. Dream Machines tracks Electronic music’s evolution from early avant-garde experiments after World War Two, through psychedelia, art-rock and synth-pop, to dance music, sampling and Techno as we know it.
The book profiles sonic futurists and those who pioneered new styles, documenting the scenes and underground movements that have built Britain’s thrillingly diverse Electronic music culture during its formative years. Written through the lens of interviews with key players and a wealth of research, Dream Machines explores a diverse range of genres, charting how developments were shaped by changes in society as well as technology.
Buy Dream Machines: Electronic Music in Britain From Doctor Who to Acid House
James Hamilton’s Disco Pages 1975-1982
Super Weird Substance
A giant in both physical stature and reputation, James Hamilton may not be “renowned” in today’s world but he was once the single most influential UK dance music industry figure. Due to the sheer reach of his weekly Record Mirror column, that was required reading for any self-respecting British DJ at the time.
The book is as close-in as you can possibly get to the evolution of UK club culture, as it unfolded through the disco and jazz-funk years, and on into early electronic years of the 1980s.
As rave exploded, his influence and relevance waned by which point, dedicated dance music magazines that he’d helped inspire overtook the landscape. He died in 1996, a forgotten figure for the following generations of DJs, unaware of his contribution – his name absent from a history he did so much to help create.
The book includes over 5000 record reviews, from (then soon to be) classics to rare gems and curios – a comprehensive history of dance music in itself, complete with a multi-source index for quick off-the-shelf reference.
Buy James Hamilton’s Disco Pages 1975-1982
The Trial of Jonah
Justin Robertson
Justin Robertson weaves a comically breathless tale infused with dark humour and a keen appreciation of the absurd, in his 2nd novel to date. A story which is most definitely entertaining at the very least.
In parts loosely autobiographical, The Trial of Jonah captures the magic and wonder of art, music and word. Reflecting on how the creative process is really one protracted act of possession. Filtered through the prism of a fictitious character: Jonah Plantagenet, the world’s most celebrated DJ, prize-winning author, feted artist and arbiter of cultural fashion. History’s greatest criminal, he must now face his judgement…
