One area of DIY media that I intend to explore more fully in this blog are "zines" ... usually low-tech self published magazines of varying content.
Zines have been around as long as the printing press. In the modern sense, zines arose on a number of fronts during the 1950s and 60s when inexpensive reproduction methods became more widely available to everyday people: poetry / literary magazines became more widely published thanks to Beat Generation writers; civil rights and political zines sprung up during the 1960s; music zines pressed into the forefront as the VietNam War rolled toward US pullout and punk/radical politics zines were all the rage shortly thereafter. Concurrently, very personal zines evolved that focus on a writer's experiences & reflections sometimes enhanced with fiction or poetry mixed in.
My favorite place to order zines is from Parcell Press at www.parcellpress.com. Taylor is a writer/publisher of a fantastic zine called Cultor-Sore. Taylor also runs a zine distribution service. The website is easy to navigate, informative, and includes a decent variety of zines. I have found Taylor to be very personable and highly recommend both his zine and the distro service.
Review of Cultor Sore #16: Taylor draws the reader into Cultor-Sore #16 immediately with his engaging writing style. This issue is written entirely by Taylor and is filled with reflections, vignettes and stories from his life. He says in the introduction “Everything in this zine is real. When I step away from this paper I can really hear my neighbor yelling at his dog. I really can suck into my lungs the salty gusts of wind that drive up from home. I really do worry a lot, celebrate a lot, miss people I love, and think about them endlessly. I really am me, and I really am here.” Every page in Cultor-Sore crackles with energy because Taylor’s writing is evocative and descriptive. He also includes interesting zine and music reviews. Order this issue from Parcell Press and prepare to be immersed.
Please stay tuned for more postings on zines, shortwave radio, pirate radio, my humble radio projects, musical excursions, and other forms of enlightenment!
