Metropolis carries a specialist range of books focusing on the areas of art, graphic design, architecture, photography, fashion and textiles, popular culture, film, music and the performing arts.
Rad Rides: The Best BMX Bikes of all Time
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In cycling | By Metropolis
Rad Rides: The Best BMX Bikes of all Time
Intercity, Gavin Lucas & Stuart Robinson
Laurence King 9781856697262 pb
Rad Rides is the most in-depth exploration of the world of BMX bikes through their riders and the culture that surrounds them. The introduction explains and contextualizes the birth of BMX culture and where it is now, while the main body features bikes ranging from those that are well worn through years of riding to beautiful, sculptural works of art – gleaming, built but never ridden keepsakes.
The featured bikes are organized decade by decade and are BMXs drawn from the best collections in the world. There are also in-depth details of specifications and interviews with some of the collectors, many of whom have had their bikes exclusively shot for the book. This is the indispensable companion for anyone who loves the BMX.
Price: $AU 37.95
Danish Porn
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In erotica | By Metropolis
Danish Porn
Jon Nordstrom
Nordstromsforlag 9788799315031 hc
Nordstromsforlag, the publisher of Danish Tattooing, now releases Danish Porn – 100 years of ‘sin’, 13 handpicked stories, 332 pages. A compilation that – were it a record – would contain both rock, jazz and classical music, played out on the best paper, written by the nicest people and wrapped in the most beautiful graphics. A look into the history of porn in Denmark with sinful images accompanied by short texts, the way we want you to experience it.
Price: $AU 95.00
This Land is Your Land: Woody Guthrie and The Journey of An American Folk Song
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In music | By Metropolis
This Land is Your Land: Woody Guthrie and The Journey of An American Folk Song
Robert Santelli
Running Press 9780762443284 hc
Timed to coincide with the “Woody at 100″ birthday celebration hosted by the Guthrie Archives and the Grammy Museum (of which Santelli is Executive Director), this in-depth look at Woody Guthrie’s iconic folksong digs into the song’s history and mythology, seeking to explain its persistent appeal. Santelli (The Big Book of Blues) is quick to point out that there’s much more to the tune (originally titled God Blessed America) than the patriotic platitudes many Americans associate with it; it’s a song by turns poetic and inspiring, but also highly critical of the distribution of wealth and opportunities in the U.S., an aspect of the number that frequently leads to abridged versions that suit the player’s need. Indeed, extended versions of the lyrics suggest that Guthrie was concerned with “why, where, and for whom the song was being sung,” a notion that only emphasizes the folksinger’s reputation as being a man of and for the people. While Santelli does cover the evolution of the American folk movement as well as a basic biography of Guthrie, all roads lead to This Land is Your Land. Those interested in Americana and the folk movement will likely get the most out of Santelli’s attention to detail, with specifics on recording dates, the specter of Senator Joseph McCarthy, and Guthrie’s tremendous influence on Bob Dylana but it’s the song, known to millions, that sings throughout this compelling story.
Price: $AU 28.00
Retromania
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In music | By Metropolis
Retromania
Simon Reynolds
Faber & Faber 9780452298088 pb
The first book to make sense of 21st Century pop, Retromania explores rock’s nostalgia industry of revivals, reissues, reunions and remakes, and argues that there has never before been a culture so obsessed with its own immediate past. Pulling together parallel threads from music, fashion, art, and new media, Simon Reynolds confronts a central paradox of our era: from iPods to YouTube, we’re empowered by mind-blowing technology, but too often it’s used as a time machine or as a tool to shuffle and rearrange music from yesterday. We live in the digital future but we’re mesmerized by our analogue past.
Price: $AU 23.95
Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In music | By Metropolis
Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped
Dean Budnick & Josh Baron
Plume 9780452298088 pb
Your favourite band has just announced their nationwide tour. Should you pay to join their fan club and get in on the pre-sale? No, you decide to wait. But the on-sale date arrives, and the site is jammed. You can’t get on-and the concert is sold out in six minutes. What happened? What now?Music journalists Dean Budnick and Josh Baron chronicle the behind-the-scenes history of the modern concert industry. Filled with entertaining rock-and-roll anecdotes about The Rolling Stones, The Grateful Dead, Pearl Jam, and more-and charting the emergence of players like Ticketmaster, StubHub, Live Nation, and Outbox-Ticket Masters will transfix every concertgoer who wonders just where the price of admission really goes. This edition has an updated epilogue that covers recent industry developments.
Price: $AU 23.95
Jazz Covers
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In music | By Metropolis
Jazz Covers
Taschen 25 9783836524063 2 volume slipcase
Jazz LP covers from the 1940s to 1990s
This volume features a broad selection of jazz record covers, from the 1940s through the decline of LP production in the early 1990s. Each cover is accompanied by with a fact sheet listing performer and album name, art director, photographer, illustrator, year, label, and more. Special features for jazz lovers include a top-10 favorite records list by leading jazz DJs King Britt, Michael McFadden, Gilles Peterson, Andre Torres, and Rainer Truby, as well as interviews with legendary jazz personalities Rudy Van Gelder (sound engineer that recorded for many labels such as Blue Note, Impulse!, and Prestige), Creed Taylor (founder of many labels and one of the best jazz producers ever, credited also for bringing bossa nova to the US and fusing it with jazz), Michael Cuscuna (Blue Note jazz producer and catalogue researcher, responsible for its most successful re-editions), Bob Ciano (designer at the CTI Label, founded in the ’70s by Creed Taylor, and one of the greatest cover designers ever), and Ashley Kahn (writer, critic, and journalist for jazz whose books include A Love Supreme, Kind of Blue, and The House That Trane Built).
Price: $AU 85.00
Threads: Contemporary Textiles and the Social Fabric
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In textiles | By Metropolis
Threads: Contemporary Textiles and the Social Fabric
Ruth McDougall
Queensland Art Gallery 9781921503283 pb
Carrying important personal and cultural narratives, textiles have long been an integral part of the world’s social fabric. This beautifully illustrated publication Threads: Contemporary Textiles and the Social Fabric explores the rich and diverse nature of contemporary textile practice across the Asia Pacific region, including barkcloth and embroidery, quilting, looping and weaving, and profiles works by over 70 artists, collectives and studios drawn from the Queensland Art Gallery’s Collection. Lead essays by exhibition curator Ruth McDougall, Associate Curator, Asian and Pacific Art, and anthropologist Dr Graeme Were, are complemented by a series of shorter texts which consider the ways contemporary textiles continue to play a significant role in fabricating social life.
Price: $AU 50.00
From Picasso to Koons: The Artist as Jeweller
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In jewellery | By Metropolis
From Picasso to Koons: The Artist as Jeweller
Diane Venet ed.
Skira 9788857211565 hc
Numerous leading artists of the 20th century showed an interest in jewellery, often through love of a woman, or for their daughters. Despite the opening of art from the 1910s onwards to the abstract and conceptual, they happily bridged the gap that seemed to be deepening between art and craftsmanship. The jewels exert a fascination in part because they bear the trace of the relationship between the creator and the recipient of the work who, in wearing it, offers this to the view of all. The shift from the function of muse to that of support for the work aims to reveal all the aspects of the support a loved woman can offer the artist: collector, interlocutor, inspirer. More, these jewels frequently accompany the evolution of the artists plastic style, especially focused because of the change of scale. The collection of Diane Venet, which she regularly exhibits as in the New York show in the early autumn of 2011 is set out like a veritable intimate museum, narrating a specific history of art.
Price: $AU 90.00
Bob Recine: Alchemy of Beauty
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In hair & make-up | By Metropolis
Bob Recine: Alchemy of Beauty
Damiani 9788862082129 hc
The man behind some of the most avant-garde hairdos and head dresses worn by Lady Gaga, Recine has taken hair styling to incredibly creative heights-often literally, as he propels the braids and locks of his subjects into gravity-defying contours, augmenting them with sculptural gestures such as clumps of headphones or sunglasses, tendrils of Play-Doh and complex meshes of wire or cellophane. Starting out as an artist, Recine secured a project creating hairstyles and head ornaments for the windows of Henri Bendel. His designs caught the eye of world-renowned hair stylist Jean Louis David, who offered him the opportunity to travel to Paris and hone his craft; four years later, Recine returned to New York, armed with a portfolio of innovative stylings for top photographers and magazines. Today Recine is a legend among A-list celebrities, having worked with Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlize Theron, Naomi Watts, Angelina Jolie, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Kate Hudson, Renee Zellweger, Uma Thurman, Nicole Kidman and Tilda Swinton. His talents have even returned him circuitously to the world of fine art, for his extensive collaborations with Vanessa Beecroft. Alchemy of Beauty gathers original artwork by Recine, from sketches, collages and paintings to previously published and unpublished editorial images of his extraordinary sculpture and headdresses. Art direction for the volume is by Fabien Baron.
Price: $AU 80.00
Store Windows 17
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In interiors - commercial | By Metropolis
Store Windows 17
Martin Pegler
RSD Publishing 9780982612842 hc
The displays shown in Store Windows 17 have been chosen based on their creativity, idea value and cost effectiveness. Perceptive comments provide the reader with an understanding of what makes the display effective and practical suggestion provide insights on how the ideas can be scaled down and adapted for little or no cost.
Price: $AU 55.00
Hotel Dream Rooms: New Interiors Experience
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In interiors - commercial | By Metropolis
Hotel Dream Rooms: New Interiors Experience
Santi Trivino
Monsa 9788415223467 pb
A selection of hotel rooms from around the world that indulge every visitor’s dreams. Some of the most popular themes include a tribute to cinema, fairy-tale castles, an Avengers rooms and rooms which artists can use as a studio.
Price: $AU 50.00
Up on the Roof: New York’s Hidden Skyline Spaces
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In architecture | By Metropolis
Up on the Roof: New York’s Hidden Skyline Spaces
Alex Maclean
Princeton Architectural Press 9781616890506 hc
Pilot and photographer Alex MacLean has flown his plane over large areas of the United States, documenting the landscape from beautiful agricultural patterns to geometric city grids. In his new book, he directs his lens at the rooftops of New York City, showing the great complexity and life of the roofs of New York’s buildings. Depicting not only the city’s famous water towers, but pools, tennis courts, gardens, sunbathers, art, and restaurants up in the air, MacLean’s powerful images give readers a glimpse of a part of the city that usually remains hidden. His photographs leave little doubt about New York City’s “green” potential and the belief that improved outdoor spaces above lead to more livable cities below. Maps and captions help the reader to easily locate the photographs, and an essay by Robert Campbell puts MacLean’s work into context. Whether you are new to the city native born, this fascinating look at hidden New York will be a revelation.
Price: $AU 77.50