Black Dice & Jason Frank Rothernberg: Gore (Picturebox Books)

Underground rock darlings Black Dice just released their fourth album, Broken Ear Record from DFA/EMI. Music enthusiasts may consider this first book--an extension of their highly visual melange of sound, performance, and art, with a plastic flexi-record bound in--a fifth album, but it's something entirely new. The band grew out of the infamous Providence art and noise scene in the late 1990s, and has since drawn acclaim in New York and worldwide. Their longtime friend, the photographer Jason Frank Rothenberg, has been documenting their work. His images, often reworked and collaged by the band to illustrate their tastes and sensibilities, form the foundation of the book. In collaborating on Gore, the band's creative process paralleled its musical one, each member making use of different skills in individual contributions that informed and built on one another. The resulting mix of found images, photographs, collages, and altered documentation explores the full integration of their creative processes and offers a glimpse into daily life in the genesis of their sonic persona. Band member and rising artist Bjorn Copeland's psychedelia will draw particular attention, as will a flexi-picture disc featuring new music.