.......:::::::zines:::::::.......
applecore #14 (a6 - 50p)
the usual rantin’ and ravin’ on a load of subjects including: Community Spirit, Treehouses, Rabbits, Dreams, Ruby Weddings, The Weakerthans, and much much more
black lesbian president #4 (a5 - £1.50)
this zine just gets thicker and better. clear, concise layouts, microscopic font for extra room, great band interviews (this one has acers in Lemuria plus others and a write-up on The Fest 6, which makes me jealous and more determined to go this year. The usual patter of zines and record reviews finishes it off nicely too
blurt #2: picking scabs (a6 - £1)
one long love story about 5 years of living in kutztown, pennsylvania, usa: going to college, falling in love, breaking up, obsessing, reveling with friends, and attempting to seperate the people from the places.
blurt #4/gullible #27 (a4/5 - £1)
with a subtitle like 'drunk stories', it's amazing how lew doesn't come across as a dickhead when telling his tales. instead you get his sweet, literary twist to tales that you would never want to live, but in his words, it's almost appealing! Chris Terry writes Gullible like he's talking to his old buddy - sharing tips, trading stories, drawing comic strips, and also no stranger to the literary spin on a simple experience of the week.
blurt #5: cosmic shit (a6 - £1)
The gut wrenching moments of this issue are accidentally decapitating a bird as a small child, running out of beer at his going away party, and discovering that discount herbals can't help you remember forgotten memories. This is some microcosmic shit!
brainscan #21: irreconciliable differences (a5 - £2)
Alex Wrekk writes in raw and powerful detail about her marriage to a man named J who dominates the relationship and systematically chips away at her self-esteem until she feels like a big zero, like she's the one who is crazy
brainscan #22: a practical body modification (a5 - £2)
an informative look at the history and procedure of IUD (Intra Uterine Devices - a form of birth control) in a clinical sense, as well as a person account from exploration to procedure to afterwards
jeffrey brown: clumsy (a5 - £5)
the bittersweet story of a year-long, long-distance relationship, told through snippets of everyday life, drawn in a simple and elegantly awkward style that heightens the emotional impact and leaves you reminiscing about your own past love affairs. It also has a lot of sex
jeffrey brown: every girl is the end of the world for me (a6ish - £4)
detailing the day-by-day events of three week run in with five girls. Watch and be mesmerized by an ex coming back into the picture, a growing but poorly chosen crush, musings on the way friends come and go in life, and a realization that the end is never really the end
jeffrey brown: be a man (a5 - £2.50)
Jeffrey Brown's own self-parody of his "ultra-sensitive" graphic novel, Clumsy. A heaping of in-your-face male chauvinism, over-the-top machismo, and self-involved gratification.
checkered past #13 (a5 - £1)
personal zine with journal entries and a dabbling of non-fiction
dinosaur vs. robot #1 (a6 - 50p)
goofy, funny comics - "everyday for 30 days I drew a comic about something amusing or interesting that crossed my mind"
dinosaur vs. robot #2 (a6 - 50p)
more of the same
doris #22 (a5 - 75p)
This is one of the finest personal zines, a benchmark. there is a serious political background and idealogy next to cute little scribbly cartoons about her life which talks a lot about sex and abortion issues and for every story she tells about her friends there is an article about baking a cake and some subtle references to anarchism.
hanging like a hex #18 (a4 - £3)
18th and final issue of Hanging Like A Hex, this was three years in the making and features interviews with Paint it Black and Cursed, the editor's top 100 records of all time and other writings and ramblings on the demise of his job at a disability workshop. it's a hefty, glossy-covered bastard too, hence the high price.
if destroyed still true #2 (a5 - 50p)
in her own words, it's a zine about "loss: break-up and bereavement. It's about hitch-hiking to a funeral, figuring out how to spend time right after losing somebody, and learning how to cope."
if destroyed still true #3 (a5 - 50p)
again, in her own words; "bereavement as time goes on, family, identity, travel, and abusive relationships".
initonit #21 (a5 – 50p)
interviews with thrashers To What End? and short rants on animal testing, horror fanaticism and many more plus yer reviews
initonit #22/thirsk first split (a5 -50p)
more of concise and visceral rants spanning animal rights, xmas, transport woes and such with some interviews with the brilliant omerta and burnsubvertdestroy. cut 'n' paste mayhem on the flip side with many columns and some words with homebrew and the lovely russ substance.
initonit #23 (a5 - 50p)
talks with active slaughter, after the last sky and a great steven larder drawing sandwiched between reviews and the rants. is it me or is this issue more angry and visceral than previous? still great, mind.
last hours #12 (a4 - £1.50)
articles on coca-cola, medics in palestine, the proposed dams in iceland, edible wild plants, diy wine, the planet dying and with interviews with the plot to blow up the eiffel tower, rainer maria, the levellers and a great one with barney from sonic boom six
last hours #13 (a4 - £2.50)
you know the score now; brimming with columns, reviews, ads, stencils and diy tips - now with a fancy spine and glossy pages! a comic theme with interviews with al burian, alan martin, nate powell, this bike is a pipe bomb, gogol bordello and articles on the matilda social centre, france in revolt and the zine symposium.
last hours #14 (a4 - £2.50)
ghost mice, the steal and david graeber and king blues and others. marv of gadgie zine takes us on an epic tour of zines in years gone by and some french teenagers highlights the plight of the young affected by the proposed employment law changes in france.
last hours #15 (a4 - £2.50)
Propagandhi, Strike Anywhere, an anti-facist involved in the 1936 Spanish civil war, Defiance Ohio, SSS, Dauntless Elite, Adequate Seven, articles on how anarcho punk compilations have defined the punk scene, a No Borders comic, report backs on Sack Parliament, invading a carbon neutral company and picketing army recruitment centres.
misery and gin #1 (a5 - 30p)
a quick cut 'n' paste adventure from sheffield; music reviews, an interview with fucked up (fill in the blanks!) and some writings.
misery and gin #2 (a5 - 30p)
less music and more talking in this one.
morgenmuffel #16 (a5 - 80p)
one person's life, spanning ecology, feminsim, protests, cooking, boozing, and cooking, all told through via comics!
morgenmuffel bits & pieces (a5 - 40p)
a stop-gap between issues, a collection of bits not included in previous zines.
most punks are total arseholes (a5 - 50p)
pro-working class anarcho punk zine, crammed so full of stuff that there's little white space to spare!
perfect mixtape segue #2: brutal honest tea (a6 - 50p)
touching, honest scribbles about drinking iced tea, social awkwardness, the various life paths and whether or not people really think their decisions through or feel pressured to do certain things.
the rag #2 (a4 - £2.50)
Now with glossy finish, this is still bubbling with feminist essays and articles on mental health, abortion in their native Ireland, and diy gig organising.
rum lad #3 (a5 - £1.50)
not only playing in great bands like patient zero and gramercy riffs, but he's a decent little illustrator too, as each page in this zine exhibits with it's vast cityscapes or party scenes. each page hand-drawn with a segment of prose attached.
spiderplant #11 (a5 - 50p)
comics and personal stories
telegram ma'am #10 (a6 - £1)
telegram ma'am #12/culture slut #12 (a6 - £1)
mostly-chronological records of significant events in Maranda’s life, shooting off on interesting tangents and always themed with a specific letter to stave off writer's block with feminism and mental health aspects enthreaded within each.
uk zine yearbook 2007 (a5 - £2)
one page each for the country's best zine authors! contributors include ploppy pants, sweetshop syndicate, you can't say no to hope, rum lad, bald cactus, initonit, computers are turned off for a reason, oscar's eye, last hours, black lesbian president, drink the sunshine, morganmuffel and loads loads more!
zine directory: version 0.1 (a5 - £1.50)
should be renamed 'what zine?', this is a very thorough and well researched guide to zines and distros here and across the pond. with contact details, passing mentions on style and subject and promises of further updates, this is the perfect way to dive in without trawling myspace or shitty internet forums.
.......:::::::music:::::::.......
an owl of XjusticeX/it's broken! split tape (14 tracks - £1)
10 tracks of fast powerviolence-influenced hardcore from an owl of xjusticex on one side and 4 tracks of gritty stop-start melodic punk from it's broken! on the other!
andrew jackson jihad/ghost mice split cd (16 tracks - £3)
acousticy folk
archives cd (3 tracks - £1)
post rock/screamo, like funeral diner mixed with isis
paul baribeau : grand ledge cd/10" (9 tracks - £3)
paul baribeau : s/t cd (14 tracks - £3)
one man, one guitar singing songs that are way too honest and personal
cold ones 7" (5 tracks - £3)
fast, honest hardcore
die hoffnung : love songs (12 tracks - £3)
'i hate myself' members playing noodly, drawn out but no less desperate rock
ghostlimb : idiot cd/lp (11 tracks - £5)
graf orlock members playing fast hardcore with thrash and grind elements
graf orlock : destination time yesterday 12" (blue) (15 tracks - £6)
graf orlock : destination time tomorrow cd/10" (8 tracks - £5)
graf orlock/greyskull split lp (£6)
fast, techy metal with an abundance of movie samples, all housed in wonderful packaging.
gramercy riffs cd (3 tracks - £1)
super fast nottingham hardcore
halo fauna : durak cd (9 tracks - £3)
jangly, pop-tinged folk-punkish sort of like weakerthans
i hate myself : 3 songs 12" (3 tracks - £4)
probably my favourite band ever. fairly recent by their standards and they have, somehow, gotten better!
i hate myself : 10 songs cd (11 tracks - £6)
essential 90's emo, red raw with plenty of tearful screams.
jupiter lander 7" (3 tracks - £3)
lovely old-time emo (leeds)
michael jackson touchdown pass : cash, money, etc. (11 tracks - £3)
catchy, geeky pop
narwhal 7" (3 tracks - £2)
real screamy hardcore
petethepiratesquid : don't correct me if i'm wrong 12" (10 tracks - £5)
ranging from almost full on hardcore punk to passages of emo, held together with ace boy/girl vocals
run for your life #1 split 7" (4 tracks - £2
bottlenose dolphins - lightning bolt worship/falenizza horsepower - may contain traces of sonic youth/guns or knives - one-off man mental blues and folk (london)/cats and cats and cats - blissful, soaring violin-laced indie
run for your life #2 split 7" (6 tracks - £2)
shield your eyes, guns or knives, dark rat, for trucks, tom williams and twat trot tra la deliver a mixture of cacophonus noise and stubbed-toe blues. (from all over)
street smart cyclist : s/t 7" (3 tracks - £2.50)
probably the best braid rip-offs out there
tubelord cd-r (4 tracks - £1)
oddball indie, probably gonna be massive soon
what price, wonderland? : thirty with a wink 12" (11 songs - £5)
noisy emo punk, with a nod to old english bands like polaris and bob tilton with lashings of minutemen-esque post-punk
