published on January 20, 2010 under zine reviews. No Comments
Since this is the first issue of Cometbus zine that I’m writing about, I feel I should give some background info on it.
Cometbus has been issued in one form or another for nearly 30 years now. Actually this is the 25th year anniversary issue and it came out in 2006. It is one of the first (if not the first) punk zines that escaped the standard band info, interviews, music reviews zine form and took a more personal direction. The author and creator of the zine is a guy who is known as Aaron Cometbus. A well recognized figure in the bay area punk scene, not only for his long run zine but also for his involvement in the punk scene, squat movement and also the numerous bands he has played for (most known as the drummer of Pinhead Gunpowder). He is self-described as a punk-anthropologist and if you read his zine you’ll realize why. If you want to find out more about Aaron Cometbus, I’ve put a bunch of links in the end of this post.
Now about this issue. As I said, this is the 50th issue and it marks the 25 years of the zine. The original idea about this issue (which took 3 years to be released due to serious burn-out), was to be exclusively a compilation of letters that Aaron had received from friends. Fortunately the idea was dropped and although this issue mainly consists of the aforementioned letters, there is some original writing from Aaron himself (and some from others) and also a bunch of interviews with band members.
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published on January 19, 2010 under news. No Comments
Yes, we’re back.
As some of you might have noticed, I haven’t updated the Words and Stuff site for nearly a year. Well, I’m gonna give it another try and update it more often from now on! As you have already noticed I’ve reconstructed the site and it is now a blog! The content is the same but as a blog, there are many new features like the ability to leave comments, send me messages and other nice stuff that are already added or will be added soon.
So from now on, I will try to add new content more often, I already have some reviews ready and I will be posting them soon. We now have a RSS feed so if you want to get all the updates without having to check the site, you can subscribe using your favorite feed reader. You may also subscribe via e-mail, just follow the link and put down your e-mail. Don’t worry, I will never share your e-mail with anyone or spam you, you’ll only get notices when new content is up. If you’re on twitter you can follow me at @dim_was. I will be letting you know about updates there too, along with other news.
Come back soon to check the new stuff or subscribe to be notified about it. I would love to hear from you, leave a comment under this (or any) post or use the contact form to send me a private message.
Thanks for visiting,
doesitmatter
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published on February 1, 2009 under show reviews. 6 Comments
I’ll shit you not, I went to this one to see Tragedy. How many people have the chance to see Tragedy play in a small pizza place! Quite a lot, if you live in Portland I guess but if you’re from Europe it’s definitely something new. Anyway, the small show room was quickly filled with about 100 or so punks and the show started at around 9.30.
First band to play was Lebanon, a rather new band from Portland with members of Hellshock (and ex-From Ashes Rise) which often share the stage with Tragedy. I wasn’t surprised and neither disappointed by their set. They play of course hardcore punk, but they’re not another Tragedy clone in any way, and I would say they sound kinda like Hellshock but not as metallic. I don’t know if they’ll have a record out anytime soon but if they do I’m definitely getting it.
Next one, oh yes, Tragedy! No introductions here, you should all know them already. Finally, after years of waiting, it was about time to see them live and it was amazing. The band was highly energetic and powerful with lots of fists thrown in the air and so was the crowd. Unfortunately they had some problems like electroshocking microphones, no vocals heard on the first track, some speaker wasn’t working and made the band stop to figure it out. But still, what a fucking show!!!
Next one was Extortion, coming from Australia to play their small set of powerviolence. Usually I can’t stand of powerviolence or fastcore but these guys weren’t bad. The crowd seemed to like them a lot so it’s all good.
Finally, Iron Lung, a duet band (guitar and drums) from Seattle. I guess you can put them under the powerviolence genre but they mix so many more hardcore sub-genres which makes them so unique. They mix ultra fast and slower parts in the most powerful way and they definitely won me and the rest of the crowd.
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published on February 1, 2009 under zine reviews. No Comments
Suze B. took a trip to Thailand and volunteered at a refugee camp at the Thai/Burmese border. She stayed there for 4 months, working and teaching with refugee tribe girls. Girls that have their human and political rights refused by both the military dictatorship in Burma and the Thai government who couldn’t care less and constantly mistreats Burmese refugees. But instead just teaching them english, Suze also tried to educate the girls on gender issues and feminism, something unknown to people on that part of the world. This zine contains writings from Suze during her time in Thailand, letters she sent back home, letters of the Burmese girls and also pictures and drawings. I have spent some time in both Thailand and Burma and I’ve witnessed how these people are treated, so this zine caught my eye immediately at the library. Nevertheless, it is a good read for everyone and a small introduction to the situation in the border through the eyes of Suze.
suzeb@riseup.net
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published on November 28, 2008 under show reviews. No Comments
One day after seeing the Corrupted, it was time for another down-tempo doom metal show. This time it was Samothrace from Kansas plus two local bands, Nux Vomica (originally from Baltimore) and Nanda Devi. The moment I arrived at the Know bar, I’ve heard Nux Vomica starting to play, so I hurried in. The show room is next to the bar room and although it’s just a small room with a few tables and chairs on the back and on the sides, it seems like a good place for small shows. A plus is that smoking and drinking inside the show space is allowed.
So as I entered the show room, about 40 or so people were there. Nux Vomica, had just started and as I was a little late, I thought I’ve missed the first band. The first thing I noticed on “stage” was the singer was pounding the percussions. I knew that these guys have a split 7” with Kakistocracy so I didn’t expect them to play that slow sludge/doom metal thing and they don’t. Amazing fast but depressing neocrust punk with lots of metal touches. Their set was so intense that I didn’t even feel like running to the next room to grab a beer! Truly amazing, please check them out, you won’t regret it.
After Nox Vomica it was Samothrace’s turn to play. Of course first we had to wait for the bands to change all the gear on stage, which I guess it’s after all a typical thing here and although it still seems strange to me, I’ll stop mentioning from now own and just take it for granted. So after the boring long break Samothrace start to play and that’s it.. welcome to yet another sorrowful nightmare. Dark, slow pace melodies and raw roaring vocals, all piling up inside you and by the end of the set you just want to scream to get rid the unbearable weight off your chest. Buy their album, simply as that!
The other band, Nanda Devi, apparently didn’t play in the beginning of the show, so I didn’t miss them and they played last. Unfortunately most of the people decided either to leave or to move to the bar room and stay there drinking. So Nanda Devi played for about 10-20 people that stayed to see them. Ok I don’t know what to write about this band. As far as I remember, on stage they sounded to me like, don’t laugh, fast hardcore or something that I didn’t really like. As I write these lines though, some weeks after the show, while listening their tracks on myspace they sound completely different, more down tempo and dark and also extremely interesting! Maybe they were in a bad night or maybe after Samothrace anything sounds ultra-fast or maybe I am just unable to write a simple review. Well the latter is for sure. I guess you should listen to them yourselves.
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Since this is the first issue of Cometbus zine that I’m writing about, I feel I should give some background info on it.
