Art School - Adam Void

Art School

by Adam Void

Approx 21cm x 27cm, zine fold into 7cm x 10.5cm.

One page double sided b&w on orchid stock

$1

A visual mash-up, collage, cut & paste mini zine from prolific artist and zine maker Adam Void. It's a kind of cool little zine, and a perfect example of Adam's seemingly ceaseless creation and his view on art - specifically art school. 

In Adam's own words: 

"Well, not just any art school. It's a remix of illustrations from the 2018 School of the Alternative handbook. So more like art school in the woods with spraypaint, bears, and a bunch of weirdos."

I've reviewed a few of Adam's other zines in the past - which you can find here. I've always valued his work, so I'm excited to see Adam's new venture, a partnership with Chelsea Ragan, called Cut in the Fence. 

Cut in the Fence is a zine producer and distro with a focus on graffiti, underground, and folk art. Go visit the website and you'll see some great looking stuff - I've been sent a few more things for review, which will be posted soon. I also really think the pricing is set at a level that is accessible. For that reason, be aware that lot of Cut in the Fence publications are limited edition, so if you see something you like, don't hang around. 

Buy the Art School mini zine here: cutinthefence.com/product/art-school-adamvoid

www.cutinthefence.com



Review by Nathan Penlington

Break the Chain - Volume Three

A5, 36 pages

£3.23 (+ £4.03 p&p)

I’ve got a soft spot for Break the Chain. Nothing in its pages is relatable to my life – my knowledge of post-hardcore and post-punk music is shaky, I rarely share my political views and the closest I’ve ever gotten to Jacksonville, Florida is Canada. I am firmly outside of the target demographic.

I think the thing about this zine which resonates with me the most is its earnestness. Its cut-and-paste aesthetic is reminiscent of the early zines of the sixties and seventies, hastily photocopied, stapled and distributed while the pages were still warm. There’s a lot of heart in its pages.

The third issue offers more psychedelic artwork from Stacey Matchett, an intriguing artist who appears to have almost no online presence. Her drawings are as detailed and hypnotic as always, and they seem to be composed with a more definite sense of purpose than the pieces that have been included in previous issues.

There’s also work from an artist whose name I hadn’t heard before – Austin Redwood. His art is in total contrast to Matchett’s; serene paintings of trees and landscapes. This type of artwork in this type of zine is a surprise, but a welcome one.

In general, the band interviews are a fun read. Matt Sessions (creator of Break the Chain) has scored interviews with bands from across the Unite States, including Big Ups, Priests, UV-TV and Profit Prison. Each of the interviews are sufficiently engaging, but I can’t help but notice that most of the musicians’ answers to Sessions’ questions are astonishingly articulate, almost as if they’d had quite a lot of time to compose each response. It’s fair to say that the interviews are probably conducted long-distance, but I think this is an understandable trade-off for reaching bands outside of Jacksonville.

Sessions poses his trademark question to each of the bands: “What are you reading at the moment? Are there any books you’d recommend?” I’m still waiting for the day somebody reels off a reading list full of Andy McNab thrillers or Marian Keyes paperbacks, but the selection was as distinguished as always – titles by Joan Didion, Franz Kafka, Virginia Woolf and Arundhati Roy, amongst others. I guess artists appreciate art, no matter what the medium.

This volume is a solid instalment in the Break the Chain zine and it will be a pleasing read for fans of the first two volumes. It is interesting, impactful and illuminating – everything I’ve come to expect from this zine.

You can buy your copy of Volume Three of Break the Chain here.

Review by J.L. Corbett

More Snippets

More Snippets
by Will Conway

A7 zine fold from A4. Coloured print. 

£1.50

More Snippets by Will Conway is a pocket sized cut & paste zine with a healthy dose of wordplay. It's tough to review, not because I didn't enjoy it - I did - it's just hard to give a sense or sample of the contents without giving anything away. But think witty aphorisms with a poetic sensibility. My favourite is the bike one, you'll know it when you read it.


Buy your copy on Etsy for only £1.50: etsy.com/uk/listing/580032896/more-snippets-booklet-will-conway

And while you are there check out the rest of Will's zines (some of which are reviewed here).


Review by Nathan Penlington

Land Slide Dreams - Adam Void

Land Slide Dreams 

by Adam Void

Approx 21cm x 27cm, zine fold into 7cm x 10.5cm mini zine. 

$/£: trades encouraged

Another mini-zine by prolific artist and zine maker Adam Void, creator of the great Nirvana Rules and Misadventures & Musings from the Train Brain zines reviewed elsewhere on SZR. 

Landside Dreams opens out into a cut & paste collage that illustrates a handwritten text on the reverse side: 

These memories, brought back by a brief dream I awoke from just a moment before. The bed was just cold enough to not make it back. Sometimes you just can't make it back. 

Like the best kind of zines it's confessional and artful, drawing you in to another's vivid world. 


If you'd like a copy contact Adam at adam_void (at) yahoo (dot) com - trades are encouraged. If you ask nicely he might also send you some other goodies. 

Adam's been making zines since 2003. Check out his past publications page: adamvoid.com/index.php?/ongoing/publications - now THAT is a zine maker.



Review by Nathan Penlington

Misadventures & Musings from the Train Brain - Adam Void

Misadventures & Musings from the Train Brain

Adam Void, 2017

13cm x 18.5cm, 20 pages, cardboard cover, plus 8 small centre pages. 

$/£: trades encouraged

Post-industrial American folk culture has the mythology of the once great railway running straight through it. At once a symbol of power, exploitation and expansion, to those on the other side of the tracks the railway is also a symbol of subversion and freedom.

In Misadventures & Musings from the Train Brain Adam Void jumps the present day rails, and this is a catalogue of those journeys: the yearning for the vast expanse of landscape, the thrill and reality of riding open porches, the dust of experience. 

Adam's zines have a distinctive style, partly the result of the cut & paste of urgent typewriter. But the writing is compelling too, and brings to mind some of the early work of Cometbus - I guess the wanderlust of this issue also helps contribute to that. 

The centre pages reproduce contemporary railroad graffiti - long part of hobo tradition - a firm nod to the history of a largely unacknowledged counter culture. This is a really well put together zine documenting perfect misadventures. 


If you'd like a copy contact Adam at adam_void (at) yahoo (dot) com - trades are encouraged. 

Adam's been making zines since 2003. If you want to make yourself drool and/or make yourself feel envious check out his past publications page: adamvoid.com/index.php?/ongoing/publications - now THAT is a zine maker.



Review by Nathan Penlington

Someone Stranger #5

Someone Stranger #5 - The Silent Pen Issue

by Zippity Zinedra

14cm x 22cm

$3.50

Someone Stranger is a zine by Zippity Zinedra - "a 45 yr old bald-headed Non-Binary Queer weird-o zinester". 

Issue #5 takes an unusual angle to the self produced, self edited, and self written zine - by hiring a ghostwriter. What makes it particularly unusual is that the ghost writer in question is ghosting themselves. 

The 'ghosting' idea is fun - and allows the fictional pieces to follow tangents, themes, and styles, outside the form of Zippity's usual writing. The stories include encounters with tumbleweed, how to fight a shadow, taking a trip on a flying windmill, and what to do with a personal chef. The zine is illustrated throughout in cut & paste style - the collages also contributing to the humour.

You can buy a copy of Someone Stranger #5 from Etsy - and while you are there pick up another zine or two - so you can check out Zippity's non-ghosted work too! 


etsy.com/shop/ZippityZinedraPress

Review by Nathan Penlington

In Loving Memory of the Spam Obituaries

In Loving Memory of the Spam Obituaries

by Russell Barker

50p

A5, black and white, 12 pages

Back in 2006, after a deluge of spam from purportedly from oddly named people – ie Manitoba M. Parsnip, Enthusing U. Ming, Halibut Showpiece – Russell (of Lunchtime For The Wild Youth fame) decided to do something using the emails. Rather than the common route of writing back in a ‘hilarious’ way, he took a more absurdist approach by writing obituaries with his wife for each name. Metaphorically killing them off as soon as possible.

The obituaries were posted on a blog under the pseudonym William Ridenhour, which soon caught the attention of other blogs, shared and linked, leading Russell to be interviewed on Canadian radio. The blog lasted only three months before they grew bored of writing it, but those entries have taken on a new life in this zine.

The zine is simply produced, but enlivened by illustrations by Russell and Helen’s daughter Robyn. It is silly, funny, and as absurd as you’d expect.

Death to spam! Buy a copy here https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/516095453/in-loving-memory-of-the-spam-obituaries

Review by Nathan Penlington.

Lunchtime For The Wild Youth – Issue 2: The Gigs

Lunchtime For The Wild Youth – Issue 2: The Gigs

by Russell Barker

£1

A5, black and white, 28 pages

The follow up to the first Lunchtime For The Wild Youth in which Russell revisited the records that sound tracked his teenage years. This time he documents the first 22 gigs he went to.

Issue 2 follows the precedent set in the first issue by again removing technology from the process of making the zine. The result is in keeping with fanzines of the 80s - written on a typewriter, produced on a photocopier, cut & paste, with facts less important than experience.

The contents of the zine are pieced together from a faulty and sometimes very specific memory and a gig book Russell kept for 8 years, in which he stuck tickets and documented every obscure support band. Like Issue 1 Russell’s enthusiasm for music energises each description, and it will have you scrabbling to Spotify to rediscover bands you’ve forgotten or check out bands you’ve never heard of.

Now where are those ticket stubs you couldn't bear to throw out?

Fill a lunchtime, buy a copy here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/502597924/lunchtime-for-the-wild-youth-issue-2-the

Review by Nathan Penlington.

Lunchtime For The Wild Youth

Lunchtime For The Wild Youth

by Russell Barker

£1

A5, black and white, 24 pages

The concept behind this zine is simple – Russell sets out to revisit albums that were loved in his teenage years, and not played since.

Russell’s enthusiasm for music is infectious. The zine will have those that were there at the time – in the mid to late 1980s - scrabbling to their shelves, storage units to dig out CDs and vinyl, or to eBay to re-buy their past.

And those who aren't quite old enough to remember will discover something new. It is a project born out of a love for the lost tangible joys of record buying – bunking off school to be the first in line at the local record shop on release day, the zines and community built through exchange and bootlegs.  But it is a zine that gains from being able to listen to almost any album in minutes through the magic of Spotify. Reading LFTWY had me compiling a list of albums and songs that sounded interesting and playing them as a kind of soundtrack to the zine.

Lunchtime For The Wild Youth is smartly executed - straddling the divide between youth and adulthood by removing technology from the process. The zine was written on a typewriter, produced on a photocopier, nothing fact checked using the internet.

The artwork, drawn by Russell's daughter Robyn is a charming addition, and a reminder that music has a power that transcends generations.

This is an infectious zine that will have you itching to do the same with your own wild youth.

Buy a copy here - https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/496577105/lunchtime-for-the-wild-youth

Review by Nathan Penlington.

Vice - Issue 5 & 6

Vice - Issue 5: Living Film & Issue 6: In the red

by Shayan Shafii 

16 pages, 6.5cm x 10.5 cm. B&W, stapled. 

$2 + postage

Vice is a great little pocket zine, with an old skool cut & paste style that is an aesthetic nod to the punk zines of the past.  

The content is a collection of music reviews, cartoons, stories, lyrics, images, and snapshots taken directly from experience. 

Issue #5 (October 2016) considers what happens when you experiment with sleep deprivation, what it's like working in a call centre, and the consequences of owning long living pets. 

The latest issue #6 (January 2017) examines the people riding Amtrak trains, plus poems and stories inspired by "the time for love, hate, and all kinds of intangible imbalances". 

In short Vice is a varied, interesting zine. And like the best kinds of zines - it fits in your pocket for those moments when rather than thoughtlessly scrolling through your phone, you can reach out and feel genuinely connected. 

To order contact: shayanshafii {at} gmail {dot} com

Check out details of past issues here: geocities.co.jp/shayanshafii/underground-society/vice.html


Review by Nathan Penlington.

I love you, Lieutenant #1-3

I love you, Lieutenant. #1-3 by Victoria Manifold. 

A5, 16 pages photocopied. Free.


A sweet cut & paste fanzine in the true sense - one with a fanatical devotion to everyone's favourite US TV detective: Columbo*.

Readers of I love you, Lieutenant post answers about Columbo and Victoria Manifold tries to answer them: 'Is Columbo magic?', 'Is Columbo lonely?', 'What does Columbo look for in a sofa?'. Plus bonus Columbo related recipes, and gratuitous Columbo imagery. What is not to like. 

You can get your hands on a copy by asking nicely: 

Tweet @VManifold  or email victoriamanifold@gmail.com

Visit victoriamanifold.tumblr.com for more of Victoria's interests and makings. 

Review by Nathan Penlington


*(A side note is relevant here - I was a very sickly kid, and between the ages of 11 and 13 I spent a large portion of my time being unable to do much but watch daytime TV between hospital visits. In those days daytime telly in the UK mainly consisted of Neighbours, and reruns of defunct American detective shows: Kojak, Ironside, The Six Million Dollar Man, Hawaii Five-O, Cagney & Lacey, The Magician, and yes, the best of them all - Columbo. The result is I have absurd expectations about the people that live next door, a good knowledge of diverse crime techniques that don't work, and a fondness for the man in crumpled raincoat.)