A fantastic “personal history” of hiphop, written by someone who has been close to it. I prefer the early chapters because he’s such a close listener. The chapters about the Roots are less compelling, but if you’re a fan of any kind of rap music, you need this. He’s one of the good guys.

Okay @secondzeit.bsky.social , I made a thing…

Yesterday’s Record Store Day haul…

A superb book about a film that’s rightfully a cult classic. Colin McCabe is very good on the film’s frankly insane backstory and places it in context of what was going on in London. He’s also astute when it comes to how much of the film’s impact is down to Nic Roeg or Donald Cammell.

This could be their best album. Songs of hope, songs of heartbreak, songs about songs. Just magnificent waves of melody, robustly produced. The songs sound like they should. RIP Martin Phillipps, and thanks for this final document.

An essential read. Informative, meticulous and very funny, this book lays out the reasons why mega projects can succeed (e.g The Apollo project), how they fail (e.g The Montreal Olympics Stadium) and how failures can become successes (e.g The Sydney Opera House). Take notes! @jdeheij.bsky.social

Hey @craigmranapia.bsky.social @publicaddress.bsky.social , have you read this? Granted it’s not as personal or magisterial as “England’s Dreaming”, but it’s still a helluva read. Seriously researched and written, it’s all about how an entire society hid in plain sight and influenced everything.

Blasting this as I get ready for work. Certainly their peak alongside Let it Be, and by this stage, Westerberg really had a knack for empathetic songwriting that validated the outsiders. “Here Comes A Regular” is devastating.

Sure, the N*zis were jacked up on meth which had potency Walter White would envy. What’s surprising is how institutionalised it was and how Adolf was the biggest junkie of all. Written with forensic detail and pitchblack humour, but what meth did to the country is no laughing matter. Read this.

Playing this absolute jam of a record. Peak James Brown for sure. Goes well with cooking dinner too!