It's a good introduction to their albums for new fans.

Well, this has really put me off Twiglets and KitKats, but I'm glad it has. Highly engrossing, even through the grim bits. Some of the lobbying info and sheer obfuscation by food companies is astounding too.

A strange and colourful book I think I bought from bookartbookshop based on the intriguing cover.

This was a fascinating and detailed insight into the independent music ecosystem before much of it was assimilated into music business, alongside many amusing anecdotes and quotes about those behind the scenes. The overview of the early indie label distribution system in the UK was of particular interest to me and I felt the author managed to link a lot of the well-known "small" labels together in an admirable and engaging manner tinged with humour, even through the grim bits (no mean feat considering just how many labels and bands are included).

These books are like catnip to me. If you love retro design and styling, this is a fantastic reference book that gives an overview of different areas of advertising and beautiful spreads of pop culture objects.

Still breaks my heart reading it.

Highly entertaining and informative with page after page of incredible vintage advertising and ephemera assortments displayed in vivid colour. The Cussons soap with puppet packaging and mention of wagon wheel measurements in 1954 were nice touches too.

Enjoyed the newer end of the collections on display and the groups that fall under the banner of "lowbrow" and "kitsch", such as the poodles and slot machines. Could've done without the profiles of rich people, which came off as kind of distasteful (although I appreciate I am reading this at a very different point in time).

A funny and touching biography of a musician who may or may not be self-sabotaging at points, but who you cannot help but root for.

Needed to read in several sittings but prompted me to look at the music that gets left at the sidelines whilst we celebrate those who've had easy access.

A warmly-written and insightful read into the flow and the chaos of hit-making studio production, featuring a list of songs you'll almost certainly know.

A book that seemed to openly mock its subject in a way that felt a little sleazy to me.

A well-written, detailed biography on a figure who loomed large over music production in the 1960s, which doesn't shy away from the ugliness of who he was as a person.

I ended up liking Thomas Dolby a little bit less after reading it.

An interesting read, but goes off on some niche tangents that perhaps took me away from the area I was interested in initially when I picked this up from Ryde Bookshop.

I think about this book on a regular basis and on the personal mythologies we build around the music we love. Beautifully written.

I felt like half of it was a brilliant, vivid painting of that particular period in New York, alongside the pursuit of trying to find meaningful connections via strange and curious objects and the other half reminded me of people I've met in my life that have irritated the shit out of me.

It's full of beautiful colour scans of retro crisp packets with a very amusing intro. What more do you want?

Hopping between music projects some time ago, I watched a BBC documentary called Synth Britannia and felt a surge of excitement as to the direction of what I was doing at that time. I got the same feeling from reading this book, but with a greater heft of emotion. I'd already watched the associated film, A Film About Studio Electrophonique, but the book added another dimension. Highly recommend it.

Highly enjoyable and informative read which has introduced me to a wealth of amazing tracks.