Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Featured: Eadweard Muybridge


Eadweard Muybridge, The Human and Animal Locomotion Photographs
Hardcover

English photographer Eadweard Muybridge was a pioneer in visual studies of human and animal locomotion. In 1872, he famously helped settle a bet for former California governor Leland Stanford by photographing a galloping horse. Muybridge invented a complex system of electric shutter releases that captured freeze frames—proving conclusively, for the first time, that a galloping horse lifts all four hooves off the ground for a fraction of a second. For the next three decades, Muybridge continued his quest to fully catalog many aspects of human and animal movement, shooting hundreds of horses and other animals—and of nude or draped subjects engaged in various activities such as running, walking, boxing, fencing, and descending a staircase (the latter study inspired Marcel Duchamp’s famous 1912 painting).





This resplendent book traces the life and work of Muybridge, from his early thinking about anatomy and movement to his latest photographic experiments. The complete 781 plates of Muybridge’s groundbreaking Animal Locomotion (1887) are reproduced here. In addition, Muybridge’s handmade and extremely rare first illustrated album, The Attitudes of Animals in Motion (1881) is reproduced in its entirety. A detailed chronology by British researcher Stephen Herbert throws new light on one of the most important pioneers of photography.








This book, and thousands of others, can be purchased from:

Brickbat Books
709 South Fourth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147

215 592 1207

Open:
Tuesday: thru Saturday, 11am to 7pm
Sunday: 11am to 6pm
Closed Monday

Monday, January 30, 2012

Featured: Five Classics


Le Comte de Lautreamount, The Songs Of Maldoror
Illustrated by Salvador Dali
Paperback






Charles Baudelaire, Paris Spleen
Hardcover





Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, The Sufferings Of Young Werther
Hardcover





Alfred Jarry, The Exploits And Opinions Of Dr Faustroll, Pataphysician
Paperback




These books, and thousands of others, can be purchased from:

Brickbat Books
709 South Fourth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147

215 592 1207

Open:
Tuesday: thru Saturday, 11am to 7pm
Sunday: 11am to 6pm
Closed Monday

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Featured: Pre-War Blues, etc.


Sleepy John Estes, I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More
Double LP

"A retrospective of 24 songs recorded between 1929-1937 in Memphis, Chicago and NYC, when Tennessee native, Sleepy John Estes was at the height of his abilities. Despite the fact that Estes wasn't the fastest or most technical blues guitarists out there, his distinct and emotional vocals, and uniquely relaxed style more than compensates for this, making him one of the genre's true geniuses. Estes, in fact, perhaps because he wasn't a guitar virtuoso, usually preferred to play in a group setting, and on these recordings he is often accompanied by great players like 'Yank' Rachell on mandolin or Hammie Nixon on harmonica. He is also frequently accompanied by piano and sometimes second guitar. Estes is also well known for his lyrics which talked about places and people he knew. I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More contains all of his best songs, including blues favorites like 'The Girl I Love, She Got Long Curly Hair' (covered by Led Zeppelin), 'Drop Down Mama', 'Milk Cow Blues' (covered by The Kinks), and 'Someday Baby Blues' (covered by Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan)."





Frank Stokes, Downtown Blues
LP

"African American singer and guitar player who got his start playing on the streets of Memphis around the turn of the century. His enormous repertoire of early folk, blues, old time country and popular music, along with his influence on local musicians has made many point to him as the true father of Memphis blues. He began touring the South with a black face Medicine Show comedian in the 1910s where it is said he met and influenced Jimmie Rodgers, among others. He then moved to Tennessee where he began playing with musician Dan Sane with whom he made his first recordings as the 'Beale Street Sheiks' for Paramount in 1927. Throughout this period Stokes recorded a number of sides for Paramount and Victor until his old time style began to lose popularity with the record buying public."





Skip James, Jesus Is A Mighty Good Leader
LP

"Born in Bentonia, Mississippi in 1902, Skip James began recording for Paramount in Grafton, WI, in the 1930s after showcasing his unmistakable talent in a series of auditions in Jackson, Mississippi. Particularly interesting was his three finger picking technique, his high pitched voice and the rural blues tales that he put in music for a sub genre of blues that was later called the 'Bentonia school.' This LP includes some of his rarest early tunes from those lost 78 RPMs from the Grafton period."





Charlie Poole, Husband And Wife Were Angry One Night
LP

"Born in North Carolina in 1892, singer and banjo player Charlie Poole is often considered to be one of the grandfathers of bluegrass and modern country music. Poole recorded 60 songs during the 1920s for Columbia Records with his wildly popular North Carolina Ramblers, so this LP is a small sampling of some of his very best songs, many of which, like his first big hit for Columbia, 'Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues,' are blues standards. Although Poole died of an alcohol-induced heart failure at just 39 years old, he still had plenty of time to influence bluegrass greats like Bill Monroe, and more indirectly, Hank Williams and the folk singers of the 1960s. Although Poole wrote none of his own material, his genius lay in his unique ability to rework a song, by changing lyrics and tempo, to make it something entirely new. In fact, many fans bought his records just to see 'how Charlie did it.' His North Carolina Ramblers sold huge numbers of records for the time and Poole became one of the first country music stars."





Dock Boggs,When My Worldly Trials Are Over
LP

"Pioneering singer / banjo player Dock Boggs (b. 1898) got his start playing (while working) in the coal mines all over the poverty-stricken Appalachian region. His earliest recordings, a blend Appalachian old-time music and early blues, come from 1927-1929. During this time Boggs was fairly popular and able to make a living with his music, much to the dismay of his wife who, like many others at the time, considered secular music a sin. By 1930, however, the Great Depression had forced Boggs to pawn his banjo and go back to selling moonshine and working in the coal mines. This would have been the end of Boggs' career had he thankfully not been rediscovered by folk revivalist Mike Seeger in the 1960s and subsequently recorded some great records for Smithsonian Folkways. This record is comprised of some extremely rare alternate takes (recorded between 1927-1929) of some of his greatest songs."





Charley Patton, Electrically Recorded: Jesus Is A Dying-Bed Maker
LP

"12 tunes from Patton's 1929 recording sessions. Here the acknowledged 'King of the Delta blues' performs some of his finest spiritual blues, like the title track, and 'You're Gonna Need Somebody When You Die.' All tracks recorded in Grafton, WI, October 1929."
"Charley (a.k.a. Charlie) Patton was the most powerful blues recording artist of all time, considered by many to be the single most important figure in the history of traditional blues. He was a profound shaper and a giant figure in early Mississippi Delta music. The combined power of his vocal and guitar dynamics is unparalleled and he was the Delta's first blues celebrity."





These LPs and many more can be purchased from:

Brickbat Books
709 South Fourth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147

215 592 1207

Open:
Tuesday: thru Saturday, 11am to 7pm
Sunday: 11am to 6pm
Closed Monday

Featured: Two by Charlotte Zolotow


The Quarreling Book (illustrated by Arnold Lobel)
Hardcover





The Moon Was The Best (illustrated by Tana Hoban)
Hardcover





These books, and thousands of others, can be purchased from:

Brickbat Books
709 South Fourth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147

215 592 1207

Open:
Tuesday: thru Saturday, 11am to 7pm
Sunday: 11am to 6pm
Closed Monday

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Featured: Selected New Poetry


The Collected Poems Of Kenneth Koch
Hardcover




The Collected Poems Of Muriel Rukeyser
Hardcover




Jack Spicer, My Vocabulary Did This To Me
Hardcover




Selected Poems Of Paul Celan
Paperback




Gertrude Stein, Stanzas In Meditation
Paperback




Susan Howe, The Midnight
Paperback




Alice Notley, Grave Of Light: New And Selected Poems, 1970-2005
Hardcover





Vasko Popa, Complete Poems
Paperback





These books, and thousands of others, can be purchased from:

Brickbat Books
709 South Fourth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147

215 592 1207

Open:
Tuesday: thru Saturday, 11am to 7pm
Sunday: 11am to 6pm
Closed Monday

Friday, January 27, 2012

New Arrival: Rudolph Wurlitzer's Slow Fade


Rudolph Wurlitzer, Slow Fade
Signed Hardcover Edition

"Rudolph Wurlitzer's Slow Fade is now available for the first time in almost two decades. As the torch passes from the last generation of the 20th century to the young dudes of the current day, the relevance of Slow Fade is renewed. Through Rudy Wurlitzer's novelistic and screenwriting works, he explored themes of changing identities and the passing of generations. These themes, realized with poignancy in the pages of Slow Fade, which bids farewell to the traditions of the American mid-century in a sweeping, occasionally stumbling backwards glance, all while remaining bound firmly in 'the now' of the present-day of its writing, the early 1980s. Slow Fade is the portrait of a director of motion pictures; a man whose life has been devoted to manipulations of images on the screen, negotiations at the conference table, actors and technicians and even (and especially) with those closest to him. Nearing the end of his career, he tries to divest himself of illusions, to make peace with his demons and his past. The process is complex and at times seems to occur by committee. After his son Walker returns from a long spell in India, searching for his sister at his father's behest, father hires son to write a script about his experiences there, the only way the two men seem to be able to discuss their lives. As Wesley grapples with control over one final film project, Walker roams the American landscape with a disaffected roadie trying to make a new career for himself outside of his rock and roll experiences. The parallel wanderings of father and son are filled with debauched misadventures and spiritual blind alleys as they roam through a diverse geography ranging from the streets of Beverly Hills to the backcountry wastelands of northeastern Canada via a Mexican beach resort, New York's Russian Tea Room and the charnal grounds of India. Slow Fade is by turns spare and eloquent; dryly humorous and darkly savage, a deeply informed novel about the worlds of the movies and rock and roll, as well as a rowdy account of the cultural and generational pas de deux that occurred throughout the 1970s - as previously noted, a dance that must be attended by every generation."




This book, and thousands of others, can be purchased from:

Brickbat Books
709 South Fourth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147

215 592 1207

Open:
Tuesday: thru Saturday, 11am to 7pm
Sunday: 11am to 6pm
Closed Monday

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Event: Tonight: The National Writing Project


Brickbat will be closing at 6PM today to prepare for Brickbat Jr's appearance on The National Writing Project's radio program on the value of digital writing, tonight at 7PM.
Break a leg kid!


Listen to internet radio with NWP radio on Blog Talk Radio

Friday, January 6, 2012

Featured: Francesca Woodman



Francesca Woodman
Hardcover

"Artists who arrive fully formed at a young age always dazzle, and Francesca Woodman was one of the most gifted and dazzling artist prodigies in recent history. In 1972, the 13-year-old Woodman made a black-and-white photograph of herself sitting at the far end of a sofa in her home in Boulder, Colorado. Her face is obscured by her hair, light radiates from an unseen source behind her out at the viewer through her right hand. This photograph typifies much of what would characterize Woodman's work to come: a semi-obscured female form merging with or flailing against a somewhat bare and often dilapidated interior. In an oeuvre of around 800 photographs made in just nine years, Woodman performed her own body against the textures of wallpaper, door frame, baths and couches, radically extending the Surrealist photography of Man Ray, Hans Bellmer and Claude Cahun and creating a mood and language all her own. In the 30 years since her untimely death, Woodman has gained a following among successive generations of artists and photographers, a testament to her work's undeniable immediacy and enduring appeal Amid a renewed intensification of interest in Francesca Woodman, this volume is published for a major touring exhibition of her photographs and films at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim. Containing many previously unpublished photographs, it is the definitive Francesca Woodman monograph."









Francesca Woodman's Notebook
Boxed softcover notebook

"The American photographer Francesca Woodman (1958–1981) spent a brief portion of her childhood in the countryside around Florence, living with her parents in an old farm whose dilapidated interiors were later to influence the backdrops of her mesmerizing self-portraits. In 1977 she returned to Italy, studying in Rome on a year-long RISD honors program. During this tenure, Woodman found five tattered school exercise books, printed in 1906, side-stapled and inscribed in fine cursive penmanship with notes from physics lectures or poems in English and Italian. To these evocative objects, Woodman--already fully formed as the photographer we recognize and admire today--added her characteristic black-and-white photographs, either as small paper prints or as prints made on transparent film that allows the writing beneath to show through, further embellishing them with her own captions or remarks. This facsimile edition of one of these notebooks was selected for publication by Woodman’s mother and father as an artist’s book of particular beauty and revelatory content that provides unprecedented insight into the emphatically narrative logic of Woodman’s photography. Housed in a lightweight printed box, it includes an afterword by George Woodman, Francesca’s father, that contextualizes the work within the photographer’s artist’s book production."






These books, and thousands of others, can be purchased from:

Brickbat Books
709 South Fourth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147

215 592 1207

Open:
Tuesday: thru Saturday, 11am to 7pm
Sunday: 11am to 6pm
Closed Monday