"DJs by Lopez" - Book Review

Available now on AAPPL

DJs by Lopez - Book Review image Club DJs are the rock-stars of the 21st Century. This book is a collection of photographs of and brief personal comments by some of the best-known, biggest names in the modern global dance music industry.

Lopez, a professional photographer since 1993, has worked in the music industry for 4 years as in-house photographer for one of the major labels. His contacts together with the celebrity status of the subjects themselves ensured a high level of publicity for this book, the first definitive body of work on the world of dance. A selection of work from the book was exhibited for 3 months at London’s National Portrait Gallery in 2003.

All the photos in this book are personal, taken away from the dance floor. Lopez has managed to capture the true spirit and personality of his subjects.

Since my early pre-raving days of hardcore tape collecting and an over-enthusiast eye for flyers, mags, and just about anything other dance music memorabilia - in the event that one day, my dream of owning my own Dance Music Museum may finally become reality... I remember how surprised and made up I was when I first laid my hands on those early rave mags, seeing some of the faces behind names on the flyers and tapes I'd studied in awe for so long. After a fairly lengthy study at the University of Life, still to this day, its near-on impossible to know the physical identity of all the major music artists that influence us each weekend - we can but try, nevertheless.

Many magazines have come and gone, webzines are springing up everyday but pictures of your superstar and upcoming DJs will never cease to capture the spirits of dedicated fans around the world. Mr Lopez has certainly taps in to that with his unique style of photography, mixing personas, colours and lights like the DJs mix their sets. Superbly.... Here's a couple of my faves featuring Danny Rampling & DJ Sassy!

Danny Rampling by Lopez DJ Sassy by Lopez - damn!

Obviously with anyone's account of the world's top 100 DJs there will be many more who feel certain names should feature, most of the artists are certainly UK and possibly European clubbing house-hold names but some of the legendary US pioneers (as well as our own Paul Oakenfold) are noticeably AWOL.

Despite this fact and the grammatical error in the book's title (no apostrophe in DJs), this is one of my favourite club-related books we've received here, aside from the fact it's mainly full of pictures - nice and easy viewing any time of day or night. The DJs positively glow in Lopez's presence and their individual, often quirky comments shed an extra dimension of light on the usually darkened silhouettes of clubland.

An after-club book for reading, not just skinning-up on!

"DJs By Lopez" is published by AAPPL and is available in two formats, one a chunky, stylish paperback with deep flaps (ISBN 1-904332-04-8 Price £9.95/US $14.95/Can $23.95), the other a large-format 12-inch square hardback with jacket - looks like a vinyl album in a sleeve, (ISBN 1-904332-05-6 Price £30 / US $45/ Can $69.95). Available from super cool some bookshops or e-mail info@aappl.com or visit the Amazon website below.

INCLUDING:
Goldie, Todd Terry, Gilles Peterson, Carl Cox, Nicky Holloway, Danny Rampling (as above), CJ Mak, Moonface, Danny Howells, Smoking Jo, Armand van Helden, DJ Heaven, Dave Angel, Bobby & Steve, Dr Bob Jones, John Pleased Women, Mark Moore, Nigel Ben, Diesel, Nick Manassa, Robbie Rivera, Jeremy Healy, John Graham, Chris Liberator, Princess Julia, Billy Nasty, DJ Disciple, Jimmy Van M, Mark Lewis, Alan Thompson, Roy the Roach, Satoshi Tommie, Matt Cassar, Benjamin Diamond, DJ Jonathan, James Holden, Alfredo, DJ Fink, James Zabiela, DJ Yoda, DJ A la Fu, Estefan, Coldcut, Amon Tobin, DJ Swerve, Scratch Perverts, MJ Cole, DJ Cam, DJ Suga, DJ Sassy (as above), Dodge, ED Case, YoungBlood, Semtex, Dave Lee (aka Joey Negro), Fatboy Slim, Grooverider, Boy George, Talvin Singh, Norman Jay, Fergie, Lisa Loud, Adam F, Alex P, Trevor Nelson, X-Press 2, Anne Savage and many more...