Velocity Press Vinyl & CDs

Notes: 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.

Notes: 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.

Notes: Jim Ottewill's exploration of UK club culture and the urban landscapes that have housed it returns in a newly remixed form. This extended version features a new chapter exploring hidden histories and untold stories within Birmingham's nocturnal scene to provide more insights into the past, present and future of electronic music culture.

Notes: The Icon Catalogue is a series of small A6 zines profiling 40 record labels in various dance music genres such as 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.

Pages: 44
Size: A6 (10.5cm x 14.8cm)
Binding: Staple bound
Print: Black & white
Authors: Chris Dexta & Alex Immerse

Notes: The Icon Catalogue is a series of small A6 zines profiling 40 record labels in various dance music genres such as 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.
Jungle Volume 1 features the likes of Dread, Legend, Moving Shadow, Rugged Vinyl, White House and many more.

Notes: UK Garage Volume 1 features the likes of Casa Trax, Groove Yard, Locked On, Social Circles, Swing City and many more.

Review: In 2021, the UK's most dedicated publisher of dance music-oriented oral histories, Velocity Press, unleashed Who Say Reload, a comprehensive look-in to the origins of drum n' bass in the 1990s - from its inception as an emerging trace of breakbeat hardcore by DJs such as Fabio & Grooverider, all the way through to latter-day incarnations such as jazzstep and techstep. The book is among the cream of many that have recently jostled for the pole position as 'the' book on drum n' bass. To cement their claim, now comes a new compilation of many of the seminal tracks to feature in the book's 'significant releases' segment. Volume one here, one part of two 12" records, features scene-defining bangers from the likes of Omni Trio, DJ Tamsin, Origin Unknown and Slipmatt.

Notes: 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.