BURNING BUILDING COMIX

BURNING BUILDING COMIX $19.95 jeffscomixs@gmail.com www.jeffscomics.com ///// This strange and beautiful comic book from Jeff Zwirek uses space in one of the most unique ways I’ve come across yet (see pic). His style is distinctly his own and as clean as a cue ball fresh out of the box without being minimalist or cold. This book is a series of panels, each row representing a different floor of an apartment building on fire. There is a lot going on in these rooms, and by the end of each floor you get to know the occupants pretty well. The stories range from the bizarre to the hilarious with a lot of subtle social commentary thrown in for good measure. This is a great book.

PILTDOWNLAD #4 “The Nasty Oh-Dear”

PILTDOWNLAD #4 “The Nasty Oh-Dear” POB 86714 LA, CA 90086/// www.kellydessaint.com//// The bulk of this zine is a deeply personal story about two kids dealing with the horrors of parental abuse. Kelly, the author, has a gift for engaging dialogue that skips subtlety in favor of a direct jugular attack. He gets to the point quickly and effectively. And although the story is terribly sad, he writes with a tone that seems to say, “Yea that totally sucked, whatever…move on” and doesn’t whine at all. Also contained within, an insightful story about how he got into zines, tales from a zine convention, and zine reviews. A compelling read through and through, Piltdownlad is destined for greatness.

INTERVIEW WITH DOUG PEACOCK

I listened to this last night and found it fascinating. Doug Peacock is one of my favorite authors & defenders of wild places. http://mtpr.org/post/doug-peacock-looks-shadow-sabertooth

DITHERING DOODLES 1-5

DITHERING DOODLES 1-5 259 E 700 S Salt Lake City, UT 84111 Premiumdelux@hotmail.com ////People with the mentality of a good natured 16-year old boy who suffers from ADHD will love this zine, and although it is written by someone in their 50s? (I suck at math and didn’t figure out exactly how old the author is) it still resonates as such. The artwork is pretty awesome and raw (lots of scribbled out mistakes). This fellow likes to doodle and illustrate stories from his past, all of which are super short and do not flow together in any way whatsoever throughout all five issues. This is a massive collection of very random thoughts and drawings that are not rude, or edgy, or political….they are not controversial, and do not offend anyone. Typically this does not satisfy my tastes in art at all. That being said, I quite enjoyed reading all of these zines.

TATER TOTTER #2

TATER TOTTER #2 WWW.KATEBERUBE.ETSY.COM /// This is a zine for kids. It’s has silly stories, and silly drawings that are made to be colored by the youthful reader. I loved the ‘Zoology’ section of animals that “Might” exist, the Grizzlysaurus rex being my favorite. It’s short and cute and I will be sure to give it to my son next year after he’s honed his coloring skills a bit more.

SANDRIDER

Bands and songs like this reaffirm everything that I love about Northwest rock

Faction of the Fox

Faction of the Fox//// Recently I got a small manila envelope in the mail with two buttons and three stickers in it…no letter, no instructions, no return address, nothing else. Two of the stickers said, “Faction of the Fox” on them. Aside from that phrase, I had nothing to go on. Should I put the stickers on my guitar? If I wore one of these buttons on my jacket would I get random dirty looks from graffiti kids with conflicting loyalties, or worse yet, laughed at by hipsters without hindsight? The whole thing kind of smelled of the “White Rabbit” scene from the Matrix. For days afterward I anxiously waited for leather-clad club kids to show up at my door and invite me to Spokane for some kind of techno-geek disco-fueled nerd orgy. Sadly, that didn’t happen. I simply ended up searching “Faction of the Fox” on the google and went to their website. The site is a series of unexplained, yet very entertaining video-collages from some very creative Chicagoans. The whole thing has a kind of Hosoi-era skate video recorded on an early to mid-80’s vhs-camcorder by someone obsessed with Cosby Show sweaters feel to it. All of these videos were entertaining, hilarious, and creative, however, there is no who, what, or why about them. Whatever this is, exists in a land far below the realms of Wikipedia and ironic hipsterism. It’s something worth checking out while not trying too hard to analyze it, and for this I am thankful.

The Invasion of Heaven

The Invasion of Heaven by Michael B. Koep // // $15.00 http://www.amazon.com/The-Invasion-Heaven-Newirth-Mythology/dp/0989393518 ///// This book is the first of a three part series written by my friend Michael Koep. He wrote it, designed it, did all the artwork, and published it…totally DIY. I don’t read a lot of novels and I don’t think I’ve ever read a psychological thriller, so this was kind of a new experience for me. I can’t help but be biased, dude’s a friend after all, but I think I can at least be honest. This is a really great book. Michael is an incredibly gifted wordsmith who doesn’t shy away from his talent yet remains accessible and unpretentious. And although I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the next one, it didn’t start out that way for me. This book took a while for me to sink my teeth into, 32 pages to be exact. There’s a lot going on in the beginning and without any reference points or understanding of the characters it took me a while to figure it out. Considering that this is the first of a three part series, that's a necessity. From page 33 on, however, I was hooked. The book is about a poet psychologist and a chain smoking, scotch drinking, music obsessed painter, both of whom may have access the hereafter (Heaven in this case) through their art. This is apparently a very powerful and dangerous thing. There are multiple groups at play trying to gain access and control of these two artists’ work, and they will do anything to meet those ends. Once these groups are revealed a whole lot of shootin’ and stabbin’ ensues. The book takes place primarily in Northern Idaho and Venice Italy. Michael’s descriptions of both places are not just beautiful, but also effective at bringing the reader closer to the story. I really got into this book and these characters, and like all good stories, I was sad when it was over. I need more hang time with Basil (the painter) dammit. Fortunately for me, there are two more books on the way.

THE SODA KILLERS#2

THE SODA KILLERS#2 $5 or Trade bnb@hotdogdayz.com/// This zine took a while to get to me due to the mailbox debacle of last spring. It kept getting sent back to the authors and they kept sending it back to me…keeping it in the various envelopes. I think it was wrapped in four returned envelopes when it finally got to me. Persistent Minnesotans. Good thing too, because I love this zine. This issue follows the same pattern of stories, pics, collage, and tons of recorded and live reviews. I really like reading these reviews, they are personal and you can tell that the person writing them knows a lot about the music being covered. The live reviews were it for me, Motley Crue, Poison, Anthrax, the Dwarves, Iceage, Midwest Hellfest. The writing takes you into the event, and walks you through all the hilarious and cool stuff happening off stage, as well as on stage. I like that.///

Previous review here: http://sddzine.blogspot.com/2012/01/soda-killers-1.html

Junk Zine #7

Junk Zine #7 $3 or Trade POB 950 Spokane, WA 99210//// This consists mostly of letters from readers and the author, James’s responses. That might sound boring to someone who doesn’t have any context for the wide variety of subject matter covered, but I found it fascinating. For some reason a lot of the people writing in are in prison. James has a very no-nonsense writing style that I dig and responds to every letter. For example, in responding to a person who refers to himself as a, “left-libertarian market socialist anarcho-communist agorist-mutualist in the Tuckerite-Richardian strain with a communist-anarchist tendency”, James writes, “You seem to be enamored of outré eclecticism for its own sake – you’re macho flashing all over the place” and later goes on to critique left-libertarian publications as, “little more than egotists, jockeying for ideological alpha male positions amongst themselves”. And that is why I found this zine so fascinating.

Xrisville #5

Xrisville #5 free xerisville@yahoo.ca/// Reading and reviewing Xrisville after just having read and reviewed The Filth is an experiment in what learned folks would call literary dichotomy. The Filth is raw, angry and in your face, while Xrisville is a very lighthearted and clever take on modern Canadian life. The author has a knack for graphic design and uses it to make funny fake advertisements and article statements that are present throughout the magazine. A lot of this issue is focused on the 2012 Mayan end of the world prophecy and his humorous take on that. This magazine is dripping with sarcasm like a rabid bull mastiff but most of the humor is

good natured and just plain silly (Canadians). Reads like a one person zine version of MAD Magazine, or CRACKED.