Sunday 23 February 2014

Rubble n Shit #2

I've been toying with the idea of blogging my old fanzines for a while, but was a little concerned about having to confront my teenage self and how much I would cringe over stuff I wrote almost 15 years ago. I never kept a diary as a kid, but in many ways opening the pages of these old zines is like opening a teenage diary, with thoughts, hopes and dreams all laid bare. They're the only document of what my best friend and I were getting up to as 17-year-olds and the bands we were obsessed with at the time.  

It was largely through reading Amanda's zine Paranoy over at Cite Something - go have a read, it's awesome - that gave me the courage to finally say 'ahh fuck it, let's all have a giggle at the teenage me'. So, here in most of its glory - I've only censored a couple of bits - is issue two of Rubble n Shit, written and compiled around 2000.

Apologies for the terrible spelling and grammar. Jeez, you wouldn't think I'd go on to study journalism...










Dog Toffee drummer Mem (second left) went on to drum for Ghost of a Thousand.

Bobby H's answer to what he'd do if he ruled the world made me howl with laughter.




This was during our King Adora stalking days, 
which went on for about two years.

Ahh, the Midgey Fest...
I was actually a teenage genius.





'Rocks like a bastard'
Obviously our favourite phrase in 2000




'why you need that special limited edition 
clear vinyl when you already have it on CD anyway...'
Some things never change.



This is my bedroom wall. 
Sometimes I can't believe the things my parents let me get away with.

Saturday 1 February 2014

Adventures in Manchester

Sometimes I'm quite good at blogging and sometimes I'm really not. My adventure in Manchester was way back in November, but a combination of Christmas, a hectic social calendar and oldness meant I never got round to writing it up. But I did some cool stuff, so I still think it's worth sharing.

My love affair with Manchester began in the summer of '99. My best friend and I found ourselves bored one Saturday and set about persuading her parents to drive us all the way to Manchester for some free all day music festival. In an unlikely turn of events, they said yes and it was largely down to this impromptu day out that we a) started a fanzine and b) regularly headed to Manchester for gigs - two hobbies that consumed most of our teenage years.

It was 2009 when I last visited the city, so when I was unable to get London standing tickets for the Pixies it was something of a silver lining when I bagged them for the Manc show. I was glad to see that not much has changed, but a little dismayed to discover that the MEN Arena has become the Phones 4 U Arena. That's got to be the shittest venue name ever.


Pixies at O2 Apollo

The Pixies were so bloody good they made it onto my top five gigs of 2013 list. I wrote about it in My Year in Music post, so I won't bang on about it too much again. It was a very special show though and even before the band came on you could tell it would be, the atmosphere was just electric. I thought it was awesome there was such a broad age range too, teenagers right up to 60-somethings from what I saw, all dancing and jumping around together.

It's expensive going to gigs in other cities, but the fact they played 39 songs in two hours meant I really got my money's worth. And they made me feel like a teenager again, which is a feeling you really can't buy.

Oh and a little music fact for you, Morrissey and Johnny Marr of The Smiths first met in the foyer of the Manchester Apollo.



The Pixies doing their thing

After seeing Kerbdog at The Garage in late 2012,
Danny Lad and I started a new post-gig game we
like to call the selfie gig review.
The aim of the game is to sum up the gig in one photo.
Luckily it doesn't show up how sweaty we are.

Salford Zine Library

I got into reading music zines during my early teens and went on to start my own when I was about 16, so they hold a very special place in my heart and I have a huge amount of respect for anyone who makes one. I love reading about other people's adventures in music, why they love a band, what they're listening to, the gigs they've been to. I even modelled the style of both of my blogs on my old zine, well as best I could with my limited capabilities. Apart from the purple bits of course. You can't do that with a photocopier.

I'd always wanted to visit the Salford Zine Library, so I'd set aside a good few hours for browsing. The library itself is a quiet little room tucked away at the back of the Nexus Art Cafe and since it's free to visit there really is no excuse for not popping in and having a read.

So many zines, so little time!

I was amazed by the volume and variety of zines lining the shelves and for a few minutes I just stared at them wondering where to start, but once I started reading I just couldn't put them down.

Yes, that is a zine titled 'Sheep Breeders and Fanciers' you spy there.


There were two zines that really stood out for me. The first was Drink in the Sunshine, which was a special issue subtitled '8 Gigs I Never Went To' and goes onto to explain how the writer got into the bands and the reasons why he couldn't make it to the gigs. There were some really great stories in there and judging by the bands and years mentioned - plus the Symposium inspired name - I'm guessing he's a similar age to me. It also got me thinking about the gigs I missed out on for various reasons: At The Drive-In, Feeder, King Adora. The second one I couldn't put down was Sticky Sounds, which features mixtapes, urbexing and the writer's experiences of mental health issues.



Making notes, well more of a zine shopping list really.

After about three hours in the library I could no longer feel my feet - it was very cold in that little room - so it was time to call it a day and head home. I was sad to leave, as there were so many zines I didn't get a chance to look through and I could easily have filled a couple of tote bags with the ones I liked.













I left the library feeling inspired and wanting to race home to get the scissors and Pritt Stick out. I want to get back into writing a zine, but I think I have too much going on at the mo to give it the love and attention it deserves. These things are a real labour of love; you have to come up with the content, write it, print the stories out, cut them up, stick them down, get it printed, fold it, post it. I can't help wondering how many hours of my teens I spent painstakingly cutting up strips of paper and sticking them onto the page. In some ways blogging feels too easy sometimes, you just write it and press 'publish'. So why has it taken me nearly three months to get this post written?!

Anyway, once I got home I looked up Sticky Sounds and discovered that the writer was planning to put together a one-off Manics zine and was looking for contributions. I thought it was a great idea and filled in a questionnaire for her on Manics fandom and what the band means to me. The zine should be out soon and I can't wait to read other fans' thoughts on the band and how they've been influenced by them.


Record shops

With it being so close to Christmas and having just bought tickets for another London gig (Rocket From the Crypt at the KOKO, expensive trip but worth every penny) I was mainly window shopping, but there's still fun to be had from flicking through the racks.

Vinyl Exchange is definitely a must-visit, with its two floors of second-hand records, CDs and DVDs you never know what you might find. They've got a good range of stuff and their selection of punk 7 inches is definitely worth a nose through, but I was busy getting all doe-eyed over a 'Death to the Pixies' 10" box set. Sadly I had to leave it behind - it was £50 - but it's now on my ever-growing list of wants.

It was then on to Piccadilly Records, which is great for new stuff. They stock a lot of records, although I didn't find a designated punk/hardcore section, and CDs, plus some books and zines too, and their staff are really friendly.

I only had one album on my shopping list: 'Punk 45: Kill the Hippies! Kill Yourself! The American Nation Destroys its Young. Underground Punk in the United States of America. Vol 1. 1973 - 1980'. It's not an album title that rolls off the tongue easily, but I knew from the name that it was something very special indeed. It's a 21 track compilation which aims to celebrate largely unknown American punk bands who were overshadowed by their New York counterparts. The Randoms capture that sense of injustice perfectly on the track 'Let's Get Rid of New York', while The Normals sound like New Orleans' answer to The Ramones. If you like your punk and want some new (old) bands to get excited about, this album is definitely one to pick up.

The next album in the series also sounds like a gem: 'Punk 45: There is No Such Thing as Society. Get a Job, Get a Car, Get a Bed, Get Drunk! Underground Punk and Post-Punk in the UK 1977 - 81. Vol 2'. It's already got my vote for Best Album Title of 2014.

Clampdown Records and Vinyl Revival are worthy of a nose if you're on a second-hand vinyl hunt and a poke around Afflecks Palace is highly recommended if you have a few hours to spare. An emporium for misfits, Afflecks is the place to go for band t-shirts, vintage clothing, jewellery, records, retro games, retro toys and cool baking stuff.