Electronic music zines

The Lounge General Discussion
#21

It’s almost, ironic how it seems so much easier to find music today than in the 90’s but i buy and enjoy way less music than i ever did and i think it’s hugely down to fact it feels as though it’s constantly rammed down my throat.

The music landscape today, at times, often reminds more in keeping with the sugary part of the 80’s commercial pop scene, than any underground 90’s electronic scene.

For me a huge part of the appeal was and still is, finding and experience something alternative to what is easily accessible. It is raw, more genuine, and more often than not, it’s refreshingly individual, even within genres that seemingly worked in some kind of hidden agreement of sound, bpm etc although perhaps this is the early signs of being more accessible.

DJ mag, Mixmag and similar all seemed enjoyed by and targeted towards the commercial end of things, despite claiming an underground magazine.

The Wire, has always been a bit of a strong voice in shaping dialog around electronic music, and i gotta say most people i spoke to around the 90’s really felt frustrated by The Wire. I wonder if it’s based on the assumption it seemingly comes from a sense of wealth, prestige, privilege etc and the underground world talks a very different language. Of course it covers a great deal other stuff, but I mention this by comparison to the cheaply printed zine, is already living in the dirt. I could buy The Wire in Martins or Smiths…seems something off there.

Anyway, I’m not wanting to piss on The Wire, it is what it is, just basically in agreement and interest with comments around understanding the landscape as it seems now, to what it represented in a previous era I’m familiar with, and what we have arguably been thrown into at such speed, we are looking back, wondering what we missed and can use to shape something in a near future.

I think @heretical_audio says it well, calling out the money part. It’s easy to just look past this as it’s in almost f**king everything, but we shouldn’t as it’s a huge, if not the main reason stuff is as it seems. I mean the Tesco delivery guy told me he wanted to be a Dj a few days ago, and that’s probably the 5th time i have heard something like that from a Tesco worker, that certainly didn’t happen in the 90’s. It was more like “holly shit!!! You listen to Aphex??? No way!!! That’s crazy!!! What are the chances!!! You listen to Autechre?” “Who are they?”

3 Likes
#22

Haven’t read it but it looks the part of ‘proper zine’.

2 Likes
#23

at first sight looks intriguing in its graphic design…

2 Likes
#24

Yeah! I think I might order one up and see what gives.

1 Like
#25

One last thing I will say on the matter is that there is no longer free speech. If you think you have that, you just haven’t reached the end of your rope. All magazines/publishers I’ve encountered have a certain leaning to agendas I can’t and don’t need to talk about on here. Millions of us out there w/o a voice because a small minority control what is allowed to be said on the internet and the ‘media’. This makes it less of an incentive to do things out in the open. I would not be able to JUST have a music zine, it would have to have some idealogical flavor to it, unfortunately it’s not the MSM flavor fear porn disinfo of the month.
there you go…

1 Like
#26

This is great to see, nice recommendation. :black_heart:

#27

Not read these myself, but probably worth a look … module focus I think

https://waveformmagazine.com

https://modul8magazine.limitedrun.com

2 Likes
#28

I liked the poetic techno reviews from bleed in de: bug and the layout. Edit, well i also liked the chaotic frontpage magazine

#29

Picked up a copy of Tape Op recently when I was at a Barnes & Noble. If you like reading about peoples’ creative process there are tons of good interviews and a handful of gear reviews. It has a lot of flavor as a magazine - the issue I picked up had wood planes on the front and a mini-essay about an old Japanese book “The Unknown Craftsman”.

I get Sound On Sound in the post. There’s usually plenty of gear reviews, as you’d expect, interviews with producers or artists, and some interesting hands-on articles too. There was a cool recent feature about trying to replicate the sound of a Constance Demby record by locating the different patches she used. There’s DAW tips too, but Live often gets a miss there, so that is less useful for me.

I have a couple of issues of Waveform around here. Again, lots of gear reviews and interviews, but with more of a modular focus. They also seem to regularly do DIY kits. Worth picking one up if you are at Patchwerks or somewhere else that carries it.

I like having things to read offline as it is easier on my eyes and attention span, so it’s great to have some options still in print form. Having said that, you’ll find plenty to read on http://www.muzines.co.uk/, if you like vintage synths, general synthesis technique, electronics DIY projects, or interviews with people active in the 1980s. They’re all articles from old UK music mags. Some of the articles go into more technical detail than you would see in today’s SOS - I found a great in-depth series on the Fairlight. All good retro fun.

3 Likes
#30

Me also, but for a different reason. I just couldn’t find most of the stuff talked about, even when visiting larger Canadian or US cities. It was like reading about music on Mars. I’d use each issue to guide my acquisitions, and then when the year-end top 100 came out, I’d have about two of them, and have heard of two more. Number five would be something only given out at one gig in Leeds.

But seeing it mentioned here reminded me to go look at their Web presence, which was nonexistent earlier. They have some stuff publicly accessible, and more music mentioned is now accessible on BC and YT. I listened to their top 50 selected tracks of the year, and to all of their #1 album, “¡Ay!” by Lucrecia Dalt, which I really liked. However, I got the same vibes from the site. Maybe it’s just me, but I doubt I’ll go back often.

2 Likes
#31

Usually when writing politics I am using an anonymous moniker so it is not easy to reach me :wink:

1 Like
#32

Interesting point of view, as I am writing from a very different geographical area and from a different cultural time (i read the Wire since 2020). The day I started to be aware of their articles was after they published an interviews+podcast from a Belgian artist, C-Drik, that I know myself since he was involved in some of the concerts organised by my collective. It was quiet surprising because he is really coming from the Berlin underground and their coverage of his activity was kind of unexpected. Therefore, since this, I appreciate their online contribution but, as you said, there is some kind of distance between my attitude towards music, art and theirs.

1 Like
#33

Disco pogo is by the same guys that did Jockey Slut in the 90’s I think, used to love that magazine

Also fact now issue paper mag twice a year I think

1 Like
#34

Forgot this one :smile_cat:

In the early 90’s there was another techno zine in London, it was photocopied and distributed in certain record shops like Fatcat etc. I can’t remember the name of it, but it was pretty good, it might have been called Hardware, maybe.

There was also Magic Feet zine from Nottingham I think, I remember seeing that back in the early 90’s.

2 Likes
#35

https://neural.it/

#36

This is great to hear.

Of course it is just a point of view, and everything is different for everyone, so as I say not wanting to piss on The Wire or anything, and I haven’t read their stuff in a long time, although when I speak to people and did yesterday funnily enough, it seems largely the same as it was, which is fine of course, you know everyone has different needs at different points, but yeah I guess the idea that it is unexpected to be in The Wire, probably gives us a clue to as to how things might work in those kind of situations. Why shouldn’t they be in The Wire?

At the end of the day The Wire is just one voice, and clearly a prominent one, but it’s great to compare that to zines and smaller publications.

It’s great that C-Drik was picked up by The Wire though, assuming that was desirable of course. Feels there is lots to learn with that interaction for sure.

#37

Interesting one, they are also producer of DIY eurorack modules, sadly they are based in USA,

#38

Sadly?

#39

sadly for european Elektronauts, don’t like to pay customs :wink:

2 Likes
#40

Aha! That would indeed suck.