last weekend saw the manchester zinefest at urbis. the day was devoted to people who love making fanzines, be they about politics, art, poetry, prose, football or indeed (like us!) music. there was all sort of stuff going on, from workshops on how to introduce interesting styles of folding into your zine production through to a radical history walk around manchester city centre. indeed, pyt's hannah did go on this walk, and discovered all manner of interesting thing about the city we live in.
whilst hannah was on this walk i was sat in a discussion about the future of music zines. much of this discussion was focused on whether the popularity of the blog as a means of consuming music writing, and the direct access to the subject matter which the internet provides, is killing of the zine. whilst it is true that blogs give both the writer and reader a direct and instant oportunity to check out the music being discussed, which you can see from our own band of the week feature which includes a track by said artist, i personally feel that the fanzine is still a hugely important media - and will continue to be for music fans. this will probably come across as slightly pretentious, but a certain breed of music listeners can really be classed as fans, they actively seek out the music they want to listen too, rather than allowing it be handed to them on a plate and letting it wash over them. it is these people, who are often just as concerned with obtaining a physical representation of the music they love who will continue to pick up zines in record shops, read them on the bus home, and become enthused to check out the bands they have just learned about. taking an example from our last zine, how many people who read this or similar blogs would engage with the kind of music which was suggested by natasha of radio oh-la-la? the fanzine is a place to put forward some more specialist output to an audience who may not normally read it.
anyway, enough of my ramblings about music zines. the main part of the zinefest was a huge zine marketplace, where some of the country's best zine makers gathered to show of their handiwork, and trade ideas and fanzines. we had a chat with some really great people, on subjects as wide ranging as cctv, literature, twee pop, scary posters and cartoon animals. here is a brief snapshot of the zines we picked up, and where you can find out more!
attack! magazine - wes white was probably one of the nicest people i met all day, and we had a good natter about books and stuff. his zine is a 'call and response' style, with the theme being set down in the previous edition and then responses welcomed. i picked up issue 9, with the accompanying cd. i also grabbed the first chapter of wes' short story labours, which is really well put together. oh, and i also bought his volume the fifty-forth, which is kind of like a catalogue for an invented library. it reminded me a lot of richard brautigan's
the abortion: an historical romance 1966
mallard - this is a nice little zine with as yet unpublished comic book art and writing. i grabbed the december 07 issue which has some ace comic strips in it, including one really good one about a pair of chicks deciding to sack their dad when he returns to the nest with worms. this decision had been reached with the help of a faceless squirrel in a near by tree.
the rookie files - really simple collection of interview with people like josie long, christa conner and miss amp. i love the design, really reminds me of hastily put together history handouts at school.
read too much, wrote to little - which i forgot to buy. bad bad me. this zine was put together by a really nice brazilian girl called megssa, who was representing a huge swathe of zines under the collective monkier of brazilian nuts. there seemed to be some really interesting stuff, even if half of it was in portuguese!
you can't say no to hope /
drink the sunshine - firstly, two zines in one. read it one way up, you have a punk rock zine, which has some really cool stuff about leaves and bird boxes. flip it over and you get issue 9 of drink the sunshine zine, which is a basically a diary which is presented in a really nice comic-y style.
loiterers resistance movement - hosts of the afore mentioned radical history tour, these folks presented a collection of zine, tea bag and much more, wrapped up in a envelope produced from a road map. brilliantly produced, and hugely interested. hannah is far more qualified to talk about this psychogeography stuff, all i know is that i'm really interested in walking with no aim. the lrm are starting up their walks around manchester again tomorrow, i'm really excited about going on one.
mount pleasant - lucy and david from it's mount pleasant are well known to anyone who has seen an interesting gig poster in manchester. david is probably known well outside of this city for his work which was in the nme, but he's best known in my flat for the terrifying poster he once produced for an answering machine gig i put on. the brief - christmasy please. the poster - a terrifying brian wilson surrounded by three of the most hideous looking women ever. this has pride of place in my living room. the zines we picked up were a collection of artwork on quite beautiful paper, and a wonderful book of short stories of pyt favorite nick ainsworth, illustrated by lucy mount pleasant.
if i've missed anyone out i'm really sorry. the record i'm listening to has just finished, probably a good time to stop writing...
