Backbeat Books, Music & Gifts

06/14/2026

It's Sunday which means we're back with our weekly book and vinyl series, A Nice Pair. Today we're featuring the book Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd by Nick Mason with the latest Pink Floyd album 8-Tracks.

Nick Mason’s Inside Out is a reflective chronicle of Pink Floyd’s journey, shaped by his presence as the only member to have been part of the band throughout 50 years of existence. He recounts the group’s formative experimentation, Syd Barrett’s brief but defining brilliance and the later years of creative strain with his characteristic dry wit and honesty.

Released last week, Pink Floyd's 8-Tracks features eight essential classics selected from the band's 1971-1979 era. The track list includes the instantly recognizable hits Money, Wish You Were Here, Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2, Time and Comfortably Numb, alongside earlier cuts in One Of These Days and Wot’s…Uh The Deal, as well as an exclusive full version of Pigs On The Wing, previously available only on the 1977 Animals 8-Track cartridge release. We currently carry the Limited Edition on blue vinyl.

06/07/2026

It's Sunday which means we're back with A Nice Pair, our weekly book and vinyl series. As we celebrate Pride here in Perth, we figured David Bowie would be a great feature so we're pairing the book Biographic Bowie by Liz Flavell with his album Aladdin Sane.

Biographic Bowie is part of the Biographic series by publisher Ammonite Press. The series presents a new way of looking at artists and thinkers through infographics. This particular book takes a comprehensive look at David Bowie's life and death, his achievements, fashion, relationships and inspirations. It's a nice switch from the typical musician memoir and presents a good range of lesser-known facts about this cultural icon. For example, did you know that Bowie once considered becoming a monk? That a plane he was travelling on once was struck by lightning? That he was at one point the president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men? That he was an avid reader, sometimes reading a book a day? These quick facts are further enhanced with additional context and the aforementioned infographics, making it easily digestible in a fun but informative format.

Aladdin Sane was Bowie's sixth studio album and features one of the most iconic images of him. It's the first album he wrote after achieving stardom and features a predominantly glam rock sound with an edge. It features hits such as The Jean Jeanie and Drive-In Saturday.

05/31/2026

It's Sunday which means it's time once again for A Nice Pair - our series where we pair up books and vinyl. Today we're featuring the biography George Michael: The Life 1963-2016 by Emily Hebert with George Michael's album Faith.

One half of the duo Wham! and later on, a successful much-desired solo career, George Michael grew up dreaming of stardom. Raised within a conservative religious family, he remained closeted throughout a large part of his career and unfortunately found himself caught up in various scandals that threatened his success in the States. Plagued by heartbreak after losing his first lover to AIDS and his mother to cancer, he fell into depression and drug addiction and tragically lost his life on Christmas Day in 2016. This thoughtful memoir examines his extraordinary life and is full of Michael's own opinions, thoughts and observations.

Originally released in 1987, Faith is George Michael's first solo album as well as one of the best-selling albums of all time. Not only did he play various instruments, he also wrote and produced every track on the recording for Look at Your Hands, which he co-wrote with David Austin. A pop record infused with touches of R&B, funk, and soul, the tracks weave in deeply reflective lyrics. It landed four hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and picked up a variety of awards and accolades over the years. Hit songs include the title track as well as Father Figure and I Want Your S*x.

05/28/2026

We have to close at 4 pm today - sorry for any inconvenience!

05/24/2026

It's Sunday and we're back with A Nice Pair: our series of book and vinyl pairings. Today we're featuring the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson with the movie soundtrack.

So what's the book about? Basically drugs. Lots and lots of drugs. It's a wild ride that pokes fun at American culture and the whole idea of chasing the American Dream. Raoul Duke (a fictionalized version of Thompson) and his attorney Dr. Gonzo (based on activist Oscar Zeta Acosta) experience nonstop, drug‑fueled chaos on a road trip from LA to Las Vegas to cover the Mint 400 motorcycle race. Along the way, Thompson shows both how satirical and unsettling excess can be. It ends up being a standout piece of gonzo journalism and a classic of countercultural literature.

Reissued in 2019, the soundtrack is a mix of psychedelic rock, soul and blues that match the chaotic energy of the book and movie. It features tracks such as Combination of the Two by Big Brother & The Holding Company and White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane.

05/23/2026

Guess what? Backbeat turns 15 years old today! Back in '95, these two kids never could have predicted that years later, they'd move to a super cool small town and be running a record and bookstore together...

Started by Johnny Pigeau back in 2011, Backbeat became our own serendipitous fate two years later when we bought the business. Our lifelong love of music (one of Dan's first jobs was at Sam the Record Man) and books (Christine spent as much time at the library as she did at school) combined to make the perfect Backbeat mix.

Despite being two introverts, we love welcoming you in to dig around and browse! In such an online world, we think it's important to have a physical shop - one that we think of as our second home. We aim to make it a place where you can dig around and browse our shelves and not only find or order what you want, but also to maybe discover something unexpected or new to you while you're here.

It's our business but it's your store.

We owe Backbeat's success to you - all of our amazing regulars who keep supporting us year over year, who let others know we're here, and to all of the new people who continue to discover us. So a huge thank you goes out from us to you as we celebrate this milestone! We appreciate all of you.

05/21/2026

Hey Backbeaters! We’re back with another “Flippin’ Video” filled with some great used albums that we just put out in the recent arrivals.

Any questions? Drop us an email at [email protected]
We do not ship used records, these are available at our retail store in Perth, Ontario.

Time for another "Flippin' Video" featuring all the latest used vin...

05/10/2026

It's Sunday and we're back with A Nice Pair - our weekly book and vinyl series. Today we're pairing Lucinda Williams' memoir Don't Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You with her latest album World's Gone Wrong.

Don't Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You is the story of a fighter. Growing up in an unsteady home with early health challenges on top of it all, Lucinda Williams went against the grain and came out on top. Putting in the hard work to pursue her dream, it all paid off as she went from living room and high school performances to a sold-out Radio City Music Hall show. Inspiration for her lyrics include doomed love affairs and the gothic southern landscapes of the many different towns of her youth. She earned seventeen Grammy nominations and is known as one of the greatest and most influential songwriters of our time.

Released in January 2026, World's Gone Wrong is her sixteenth studio album. It features nine original songs composed by Williams, a cover of Bob Marley and the Wailers' So Much Trouble in the World and collaborations with Mavis Staples, Brittney Spencer and Norah Jones.

05/03/2026

It’s Sunday and we’re back with A Nice Pair - our series of book and vinyl pairings. Up today is the book The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides and the album The Virgin Suicides Redux by Air.

The book centers around the five reclusive and mysterious Lisbon sisters whose lives and deaths are obsessively pieced together by the neighbourhood boys who watched them from afar. It blends memory, mystery, and suburban decay to explore themes of isolation, adolescence and the unknowability of others.

The album is a renewed take on Air’s original Virgin Suicides soundtrack, rebuilt with a warmer analog mix and expanded with demos and rare material. It revisits the dreamy, melancholic soundscape of the film while offering a deeper, more immersive listening experience through restored audio and newly uncovered recordings.

04/26/2026

A big thank you to everyone who came out yesterday and bought books on Canadian Independent Bookstore Day! The winner of our prize draw is…Lilli S.! Lilli won our tote bag filled with a selection of Backbeat Recommended Reads. (Note: not the books pictured here so we don’t ruin the surprise, but these are books about bookstores and authors we currently have in stock that keep with the theme.)

Community support is what helps indie shops thrive and we truly appreciate every one of our customers. Thank you so much for supporting our shop - and others like us - year-round!