M-Brow and I worked out the details of a future book-swapping program last night, heretofore called Off the Radar (also known as the Book Assignment Scheme Toward A Robust Development (or BASTARD for short)). Since I don't read adventurously anymore (or really...at ALL anymore) and have very little to offer in the way of suggestions (which is fine, according to the inclusive BASTARD covenant), I've decided to create a list of...err...magazines.
Earlier this year, in an attempt to nurture my ill-advised journalism pretentions, I spent close to $300 (the same as the Sea Bag, coincidentally (or not)) on dozens and dozens of unfamiliar (to me) low- to mid-circulation culture magazines. I had my singular clip in Giant Robot and wanted to see what other like-minded publications might accept some whimsical spec prose from Sleepy E.
Although I got bogged down in the documentary and haven't queried any of these magazines, it was a wonderful couple of months slogging through these strange worlds. What a pleasure to read articles on fonts and architecture and video game design and city planning in Dubai.
Here is a list of my top ten favorite "new" magazines, listed in order. A disclaimer: Because a magazine is not included it does not mean I hate it. It could mean I still have never heard of it. Or it could mean I had already heard of it before the Orgy of Buying took place. It could mean many things. Please bear this in mind.
1. Cabinet Quarterly "A Quarterly of Art and Culture" -- a glossy squarish perfect-bound collection of intelligent, witty essays about folding things and fakery and science. Some articles from the current issue: "Hating Your Country (Instead of pretending you don't live there)", "Confections of Zeno (The Consequences of Carographic Fantasy)", "The Kingpin of Fakers," "A Matter of Degrees (The FBI on the trail of the world's most lucrative diploma mill)", "Utopia on Vinyl (The History of the industrial musical)".
2. Stop Smiling "The Magazine For High-Minded Lowlives" (!!!!!!!!!) -- Issue 19: Rebels + Outlaws issue: Christoper Hitchens, Terry Southern, Stanley Kubrick, William S. Burroughs, Mark Mothersbaugh, The Cardigans, Shermans March. Issue 22: The Downfall of American Publishing issue: Lewis Lapham, Saul Bellow, an oral history of Hunter S. Thompson, Curtis White (post Middle Mind).
3. Mastermind Quarterly (defunct, I think). I'm not sure what this is, but it's amazing. Topological subway map art, stamp art, close-up Chinese money art, recipe for Silly Putty, photography, a massive deconstruction of the "Matrix" trilogy, Washington DC monument proposal (the American Museum of slavery), a video game treatment, artwork of the Dark Continent from early explorers, graphic novel excerpts.
4. Swindle. Big. Quarterly, I think. Design and art-oriented. Issue#2: Mark Mothersbaugh and his mutant photography, Easy E, Dead Kennedys, Militant Mural Art, LA Roach Coaches.
5. Dazed and Confused. I got the Lyrics and Literature special, which was great. I don't know how they are normally. A letter from Neil LaBute. Good articles.
6. Colors Magazine. Benneton's surprsingly good culture magazine. Better, more lively than National Geographic with many more (shorter)--and more adventurous--articles. A truly bilingual magazine, printed in alternating English and Spanish columns.
7. Crimewave--hilarious black and white zine from Ypsilanti, Michigan. I enjoyed this very much.
8. Maisonneuve "Eclectic Curiosity" -- uneven but charming arts and pop culture magazine from Montreal: B-list dinosaurs, Are Clever T-shirts Ruining Our Society?, interview w/ Anthony Bourdain (Kitchen Confidential), Least Promising Names For a Relief Pitcher, fiction, memoir, horoscope. Lots and lots of short articles.
9. CMYK "Inspiring Visual Communication" -- Art and Design and Portfolio Work. Photography, Illustration, the art of marketing, font theory. Good visual candy.
10. Juxtapoz "Art and Culture Magazine" -- Not so unheard of, this one. Feels like Giant Robot, but for the hipster art crowd. Recommended.
2 comments:
How did you find these magazines? Where?
My last two non-mainstream magazine experiments were interesting, but with side issues. Violet, a magazine for hip families, had a nice look, but I couldn't imagine which parents of which families would actually buy it. Patricia Arquette on the cover (Juliette Binoche on this month's, but I'm not buying it). The other was Raygun, but a long time ago, and even back then, I could barely read the tiny, tiny print, which had the additional bonus (unreadability bonus, that is) of being printed on colored backgrounds, with creative columns. It was interesting, but too much work to read.
The last five I found at Borders. The first five I found at Skylight, my local alternative bookstore. Cabinet is highly recommended. They should have a website.
Post a Comment