London’s record shop scene is at its most vital and buoyant point since the 1990s, following a resurgence of interest in vinyl over recent years. Tom Greig, who has immersed himself in the world of London’s record shops for close to two decades, profiles and tells the story of 60 distinctive independent record stores, selling both new and used vinyl. Vinyl London is at once a practical guide, featuring maps, addresses, opening times and stock information, and an attractive visual celebration of London’s record shops. The book is organized geographically, and contains the following chapters; Soho; North; East; South; West; Suburbs; Markets; Vinyl Cafes. Also in the series: Art London ISBN 9781788840385 London Peculiars ISBN 9781851499182

Exploring the dos and don’ts of sustainable corporate innovation, this book explains the most frequently made mistakes and highlights the most common pitfalls in the innovation process. To remain successful, organizations must be able to respond effectively to the fast pace of change or even stay one step ahead of it. To make this possible, it is crucial to look at the future in the right way. This means embracing uncertainty, seizing opportunities and recognizing threats in good time. Through the author’s insightful and knowledgeable text, you will gain greater insight into the technological evolutions of the next 10 years and discover how this insight can be turned into a concrete approach that will build future-proof and successfully innovating companies and organisations.

In Why Now? Michael Humblet teaches you how to create the right pitch to maximize your impact and speed up the conversion of prospects into customers. Learn how to tailor sales and closing techniques to the needs of your prospects to formulate the ultimate sales pitch. Humblet’s phone rings: ‘Michael, people are interested in our product, and we write scores of offers but take-up is poor. What are we doing wrong?’ Humblet’s reply is invariably: ‘Why should a customer buy from you today? Why now?’ Sales pitches will fail if this fundamental issue is not addressed, a problem Humblet encounters in 90% of his client companies. They know how to identify prospects, but they do not have a compeling story, tailored to individual prospects. Humblet’s clients want to know how to speed up the sales process and close more deals. Humblet tells you how in Why Now? Having optimised more than 500 sales pitches, in Why Now? Humblet shares the five elements needed to turn prospects into customers. With case studies and before and after examples, Why Now?  gives you a blueprint for how to best describe your offer in a sales pitch, website, brochure or sales offer and gives you proven tools to close deals. You will learn how to create the ultimate sales flow. It’s closing time! 

Will Ukraine ever be an EU member? Why don’t we have a European army yet? Does crisis make the EU stronger? The European Union has great influence on the lives of its citizens. That situation can prove to be controversial. Decisions made by the EU often lead to misunderstanding and resentment. Aside from these controversies, it is clear that the Union today, is the result of a myriad of choices by policy makers throughout the years. A better understanding of these choices and of the recent history of the EU allows us to better grasp its impact, and offers insight into why certain subjects are harder to place. Why Europe? offers a historical as well as thematical insight into the development of the European Union. Drawing from six questions that put main events, key figures as well as the defining moments of the past 70 years in the foreground, this book lays out the essence of European integration.

Exploring the dos and don’ts of sustainable corporate innovation, this book explains the most frequently made mistakes and highlights the most common pitfalls in the innovation process. To remain successful, organizations must be able to respond effectively to the fast pace of change or even stay one step ahead of it. To make this possible, it is crucial to look at the future in the right way. This means embracing uncertainty, seizing opportunities and recognizing threats in good time. Through the author’s insightful and knowledgeable text, you will gain greater insight into the technological evolutions of the next 10 years and discover how this insight can be turned into a concrete approach that will build future-proof and successfully innovating companies and organisations.

Will Ukraine ever be an EU member? Why don’t we have a European army yet? Does crisis make the EU stronger? The European Union has great influence on the lives of its citizens. That situation can prove to be controversial. Decisions made by the EU often lead to misunderstanding and resentment. Aside from these controversies, it is clear that the Union today, is the result of a myriad of choices by policymakers throughout the years. A better understanding of these choices and of the recent history of the EU allows us to better grasp its impact, and offers insight into why certain subjects are harder to place. This revised and updated edition of Why Europe? offers a historical as well as thematical insight into the development of the European Union. Drawing from six questions that put main events, key figures as well as the defining moments of the past 70 years in the foreground, this book lays out the essence of European integration.

Data is not the new oil – it is the oxygen of your organization. Why Data Wins unravels why so many data initiatives fail and shows how managers can achieve success by turning data into strategic insights. It offers a practical guide to building a data-driven culture, introducing innovative and practical tools such as the 6V Compass™ and the Black Box Canvas™, while tracing the history of data through to modern applications such as data mesh and AI. Free from heavy technical jargon, it combines inspiring stories, case studies and concrete strategies for leaders across sectors. A must-read for executives who want to make their organization data-excellent and future-proof.

Will Ukraine ever be an EU member? Why don’t we have a European army yet? Does crisis make the EU stronger? The European Union has great influence on the lives of its citizens. That situation can prove to be controversial. Decisions made by the EU often lead to misunderstanding and resentment. Aside from these controversies, it is clear that the Union today, is the result of a myriad of choices by policymakers throughout the years. A better understanding of these choices and of the recent history of the EU allows us to better grasp its impact, and offers insight into why certain subjects are harder to place. This revised and updated edition of Why Europe? offers a historical as well as thematical insight into the development of the European Union. Drawing from six questions that put main events, key figures as well as the defining moments of the past 70 years in the foreground, this book lays out the essence of European integration.

Pressing Matters explains the fundamental debates in wine, from terroir, production and farming, to tasting, wine’s cultural significance and the economic value of wine. By focusing on wine through the prism of the key fights within each topic, the book presents readers with a story that includes the messiness, human fragility and disagreement about core principles that so often gets skipped at the outset of wine knowledge. The book fairly showcases all sides of the most important debates in wine today, giving the available evidence as well as commenting on what we don’t know. Aimed at those just starting on their wine journey, Pressing Matters is a lively and thoroughly researched history of all the key current wine controversies, written by an author with wine making in his blood, who knows the wine business from the inside.
– Lays out the key current wine controversies in a way that is easily accessible for the non-scientist and those new to wine literature.
– Examines the evidence from experts on both sides of each argument to allow readers to make up their own minds on current hot topics in wine.
– Goes behind the label to explain the buzz words, trends and wine speak used by the wine media.
– Helps readers see clearly today’s bigger wine picture in order to make better informed wine-buying decisions.
– Author is active within the wine scene in California and beyond, and a popular speaker at wine events.

First publication about the widely discussed films of Rinus Van de Velde

Rinus Van de Velde (b. 1983) is one of the most talked-about contemporary artists. Since 2019, this artistic all-rounder has added the medium of film to his wide-ranging oeuvre of drawings, installations and ceramics. This publication provides insight into how his amazing films and the beautiful handmade sets are created.

In The Villagers the viewer enters Van de Velde’s world. An important role is played by the 17 life-size cardboard sets on which he worked for two years. Narrative evolved into a more abstract form of expression in La Ruta Natural. For this second film, which follows a surreal road trip, Van de Velde had a mask made resembling his face. His most recent film, A Life in a Day, is introspective and shows the inner workings of the artist. The result is an intimate and pure voyage of discovery in which Van de Velde analyses himself from a distance. Through impersonations, constructed lies, and appropriations, he comes closer to uncovering the truth about his own identity and artistry.

Numerous stills, drawings, sculptures, props, studio and exhibition views bring Van de Velde’s films to life in this impressive book, for which author Timon Karl Kaleyta wrote the texts.

Films will be published together with a vinyl pressing of Joachim Badenhorst’s films’ soundtracks.

Text in English, French and Dutch.

Hi-Fi Horizons is the definitive visual tour of the fast growing listening bar movement. Spaces that trade thumping dance floors for velvet seats, sculpted speakers and reverent communal listening. From Tokyo’s historic jazz kissa to Dante’s Hi Fi in Miami, Zurich’s Kasheme, Honeycomb Hi Fi, Barcelona’s Curtis and Mexico City’s Café de Nadie, it gathers photographs of glowing turntables and rapt audiences. Curated and narrated by London DJ and tastemaker Killian “Don Grizz” Radtke, it traces vinyl focused sessions and intimate rooms that fuse design, cocktails and hospitality, giving people a reason to leave the house.

Perfect for readers of Dust & Grooves, Hi-Fi Horizons lists the curtain on the curators, DJs and designers redefining nightlife. No longer the preserve of “audiophiles,” these Hi-Fi havens lure diners, crate diggers and night owls alike, delivering club quality sound without the crush. Featuring 200 colour images, venue spotlights and insider commentary, it invites readers to slow down and rediscover music at its best. 

London teemed with top-rated singers and musicians during the ’60s and ’70s, whether they were squatting, playing gigs or investing in multi-million pound mansions. Follow McCartney and co. to the quiet flat on Green Street that was their refuge before the Beatlemaniacs sought them out. Wind back time to when Loog Oldham locked Mick and Keith in their flat and demanded they compose a song. From the zany to the tragic – it was in St Mary Abbot’s Hospital, Kensington where Jimi Hendrix was pronounced dead – this is a guidebook like no other, a pilgrimage dedicated to the rock ‘n’ roll greats. Also in the series: Vinyl London ISBN 9781788840156, Art London ISBN 9781788840385, and London Peculiars ISBN 9781851499182.

“When one is tired of London, one is tired of life.” – Samuel Johnson London has long been a center of the literary world. From Shakespeare to Amis, Byron to Blake, Plath, Thomas, Christie and Rowling; many of the greatest names in literature have made this metropolis their home. Writers’ London guides the reader through homes, bookshops, pubs and cemeteries, in search of where literary greats loved and lost, drank and died. Discover the Islington building where Joe Orton was murdered by his lover, the Soho pub where Dylan Thomas left his manuscript, the Chelsea hotel where Oscar Wilde was arrested, and the Bank of England where Kenneth Graham was shot at (and missed) three times. Gathering hundreds of famous and less-well-known anecdotes, this meticulously researched volume will entertain any lover of literature. Also in the series: Vinyl London ISBN 9781788840156 Rock ‘n’ Roll London ISBN 9781788840163 Art London ISBN 9781788840385 London Peculiars ISBN 9781851499182

Organizations today face complex and fast-moving challenges. Many are navigating uncertainty and growing pressure to change from within and from the world around them. Signs of disconnection show up everywhere: between people and purpose, brand and behavior, profit and planet. While the world speeds up, many companies feel the weight of transformation without a clear path forward. This book is for leaders who recognize that tension and want to respond. Leaders who care about doing the right thing, making real impact, and bringing more coherence to how their organization thinks, acts, and feels. At the heart of this journey are two guiding tools: the Coherence Compass™ and the Transformational Spiral. The compass helps leaders and teams spot the cracks, misalignments between purpose, behavior, culture, and spaces and turn them into levers for meaningful change. The spiral walks you through a participative journey, connecting Human Transformation to Interior Transformation, because that’s where the real magic happens: when people and spaces evolve together to bring strategy and values to life. This is a practical and personal guide to help you make the invisible visible, reconnect what truly matters, and build an organization that is not only future-fit, but meaningful to work for and worth believing in.

Materials+: Creative Products focuses on original design ideas. It features wall clocks made from old vinyl records, comic books used as plant pots, vases made from sticks of dynamite, waste baskets constructed from sheets of recycled newspaper, lampshades made from eggshells, ornaments made from matchsticks; the materials used to make many of the products are not typically associated with the product, resulting in exceptionally creative designs. This innovative book offers access to many unique designs and is an excellent source of inspiration.

“Dennis Tyfus appears like a punk-blasted sprite bursting from his pantaloons, a charmed creature’s tongue lolloping the golden inspirations both fresh and world-weary amid the gallery of noise freaks and intellectual elites.” – Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth

The practice of Antwerp-based artist Dennis Tyfus (b. 1979) encompasses a wide range of artistic media, including drawings, sculptures, installations, videos, magazines, books, music, vinyl records, tattoos, his own radio show, concerts and performances. In his oeuvre, everything flows into everything else, without a fixed definition, beginning or end. In doing so, he draws heavily on the work of artists such as Dieter Roth, Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw and Wim T. Schippers. By combining elements from his personal psyche with various aspects of high and low culture and approaching them on an equal footing, Tyfus creates a universe in which the personal, the everyday and the uncanny come together. This book brings together a wide selection from his oeuvre.
This publication accompanies the exhibition Don’t Tell Me Not to Tell You What to Do at de Warande, Turnhout, Belgium from 30 April to 13 August 2023.
With text contributions by Helena Kritis, curator at WIELS contemporary art centre in Brussels, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and artist Steven Warwick.

Text in English and Dutch.

Mr. Rossi | Papik Rossi, the renowned skateboarder, contributes to Drago’s 36 Chambers series, exhibiting the cutting-edge of contemporary Roman counterculture. His images, shrouded in monochrome with luminous yellow highlights, stunningly capture the spontaneity of the streets and the magic of Trastevere, the Roman neighborhood that Rossi calls home. This neighborhood is also home to the ‘funkhouse’, Rossi’s nest and creative factory that inspires the vibrant imagery showcased in this book. The so-called King of the Roman streets is known for his skateboarding, music, street photography and the clothing brand, Trustever. He has worked on some of Rome’s most notable exhibitions such as Mania at Termini station and 30% Acrilico at the Museum of Rome in Trastevere. He has also held the position of director at the ‘Cuattro’ gallery in Rome where he worked on a series of extraordinary initiatives such as the production of the book Just Push the Button, with clothing brands Slam Jam, Stussy and Carhartt.

“It amazes me that after all these years and countless books, the scope of subject matter on The Beatles is so amazingly large that writers always find a new angle. This book does that in a very unique and clever way. It’s a must for every Beatles fan.” – Billy J. Kramer

“…It’s a magical mystery tour through the band’s life and times.”  —Yahoo Entertainment The It-List

“Part biography and part map to the stars, The Beatles: Fab Four Cities is your “Ticket to Ride” and walk in the footsteps of John, Paul, George and Ringo. It’s the next best thing to actually driving their car…”—Nina Violi, Capitol File. and Gotham magazine

“While the book can be used as a handy tour guide filled with addresses, maps and photos, it also makes for great reading.”  —Steve Matteo, The Vinyl District

“But now comes a “magic carpet volume” for Beatles fans that blends travel guide with historical reference in an expanded study of The Beatles’ homes, schools, pubs, venues, and important historic sites…”  —Jude Southerland Kessler, Culture Sonar

John Lennon said: “We were born in Liverpool, but we grew up in Hamburg.”
To paraphrase Lennon, we could say that: “The Beatles were born in Liverpool, grew up in Hamburg, reached maturity in London, and immortality in New York.”
Four cities. Four stars. The Fab Four – the Beatles – are revered the world over, but it is in these urban centres that their legacy shines brightest. Liverpool: where the band graduated from church halls, leaving their initial line-up as ‘The Quarrymen’ far behind. Hamburg: where their raucous stage act was honed; where arrests earned them a more notorious celebrity reputation, but they became a true emblem of rock ‘n’ roll. London: where The Beatles produced Sgt Pepper, and home to the iconic album cover for Abbey Road. And New York: the city that became John Lennon’s home, where their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show announced them to 73 million Americans.
The Beatles: Fab Four Cities invites the reader on a cosmopolitan trek across continents, tracing the Beatles’ rise to fame from one metropolis to the next. Flush with timelines, stories, trivia, the numerous links and connections between the cities and both pop cultural and local history, this is a travel guide like no other.

Architecture Asia, as the official journal of the Architects Regional Council Asia, aims to provide a forum, not only for presenting Asian phenomena and their characteristics to the world, but also for understanding diversity and multiculturalism within Asia from a global perspective.

This issue discusses the topic of globalization and locality through four essays and eleven projects. The essays attempt to observe the tension between the different forces of globalization, which is being widely debated as a distinguishing trend, and also highlight globalization’s impact on local architecture, as well as the various efforts being taken to ensure local identity and distinctive locality in architecture design. The projects, accompanied with full-color photos and text descriptions, demonstrate the many successful attempts in developing design concepts and methods to cope with the globalization trend while maintaining locality. These essays and projects are carefully selected to represent diversity in project locations, and includes locations such as Thailand, India, Japan, and China.

Our Colonial Inheritance explores the complex ways in which slavery and colonialism continue to shape the present, and examines the many entanglements of colonial knowledge systems and infrastructures with our everyday lives. This publication comes at a time when important conversations are happening about the role that the colonial past has played in shaping our society, and how we can engage with this past in the present. The use of the term “inheritance” in the title is a conscious choice, used to provoke what in our view is a different kind of relationship to the past. Throughout the publication, the authors interrogate what it means to inherit the (infra)structures of the colonial past, its categories, its relations and even its objects, and how we can deal with such bequests.

In the year of the bicentenary of John Ruskin’s birth, Suzanne Fagence Cooper documents the astonishing revival of interest in Ruskin’s ideas and values. In his own day, he was revered as a pioneering art critic – champion of J M W Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites – as well as an artist, educator and campaigner. However, by the mid-20th century, his views seemed outmoded, relegated to the footnotes of historical debate. The Ruskin Revival: 1969-2019 celebrates the re-engagement with his radical world-view. Beginning with a conference held in 1969 at Ruskin’s last home, Brantwood in the Lake District, this study charts the renewed fascination with his biography, as well as Ruskin’s role in reshaping discussions about the environment, criticism and arts education. It also documents the afterlife of Ruskin’s letters and paintings, through exhibitions and catalogs. The struggle to secure his inheritance – both his archive in the Ruskin Library at Lancaster University, and his home at Brantwood – makes a fitting last chapter to the tale. Whether we see him as a prophet, teacher, philanthropist or artist, Ruskin’s life and work seem to have become more urgent, 200 years after his birth.

Architecture Asia, as the official journal of the Architects Regional Council Asia, aims to provide a forum, not only for presenting Asian phenomena and their characteristics to the world, but also for understanding diversity and multiculturalism within Asia from a global perspective.

This issue reveals how old buildings can be updated to realize innovation through renovation, and features three essays and eleven projects that elaborate this perspective. The three essays discuss regenerative architecture in Pakistan that create contemporary examples of traditional architecture, the revitalization of old buildings in Hong Kong, China for heritage conservation—along the concept of updating the “hardware” and “software” of the building—and the sharing and regeneration of historical heritage spaces in old towns in Xiamen, China. The 11 projects, accompanied with full-color photos and text descriptions, highlight architectural works that showcase the theme of renovation and innovation across projects that include a house, library, chapel, and clinic, to reveal how these buildings embody sustainability and innovation, and re-energize cities.