SPENCER, Ewen. UKG.

(London): GOST, 2013. First edition. Hardcover. 28.75cm by 22cm. Unpaginated. Introduction by Mike Skinner (The Streets) and Essay by Jason Evans. Cool photographic documentation of the early days of the UK Garage phenomenon. The project began in the summer of 1998 when Spencer was working as nightlife photographer for Sleazenation magazine.  UK Garage (or UKG) is a genre of music that emerged from the UK in the early 1990’s. The term ‘garage’ to describe a genre of music originated in America, stemming from Larry Levan’s residence at the Paradise Garage club in New York.  In the early 1990’s, house and soul music began to cross over, forming a genre known as ‘speed garage’, originated by Todd “The God” Edwards, where he remixed soulful house records and incorporated more time-shifts and vocal samples than a usual house record. It wasn’t until DJ EZ played one of Edwards’ tracks at a club in Greenwich, South London, that the music began to really take off, and thus, UK garage was born.  Spencer was lucky enough to be a part of the UKG emergence within the UK, and documented many of the nights  A very good copy in pink boards with gilt lettering.