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Before you read a single solitary word inside Sound Collector its sheer visual presence pulls you in. Maroon in hue and sporting the image of a blurred
guitar, it immediately lets you know you’re in for something totally different -- no corporate SPIN bullshit here. When I say different I mean that in the most positive
sense of the word: what you hold in your sweaty paws is something uniquely interesting and thought provoking, elements which are sorely lacking in the majority
of music magazines these days. But mostly I like Sound Collector because it strives so hard to be different from all those other zines currently flooding your local
newsstand. And thankfully, it succeeds.
You won’t find another insipid interview with J. Robbins here; instead you’ll find an in-depth conversation with long-ignored jazzman David S. Ware. And in
place of that bratty Get Up Kids review you’ll find intriguing interviews with San Francisco’s pop champions Beulah, proto-punkers U.S. Maple and last but
certainly not least a wonderful chat with Pere Ubu frontman/lyricist David Thomas. There is also the "Pictorial History of Microphones" which unfortunately does
not include the Realistic Two-way stereo mic that we so often discuss here at Splendid. Also worth is Bill Myers’ dissertation-of-sorts on Captain Beefheart, of
particular interest to me because of my father’s infatuation with their seminal Trout Mask Replica album. Likewise the hilariously sarcastic "Robot Poetry
Radio", which features a great story augmented with several amusing haiku-styled rants, my favorite of which is:
SUV asshole
driving through spring’s warm
caress
he has the air on
Certainly not a zine for SUV assholes, Sound Collector is a breath of fresh air, succeeding in separating itself from the glut of no-frills, poorly designed
writing-about-the-same-emo-bands zines currently in circulation. To end, I’d like to share a haiku of my own:
Emo zine loser
listening to Bright Eyes
will never have
any clue as to what Sound Collector has waiting inside
[Uhh, Jason, that last line is about 14 syllables too long! -- Ed.]
Which I suppose is good for the rest of us.
Reviewed by Jason Jackowiak
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Splendid
Attn: "&" Dept.
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