I realized several years back that y'know, Houston had a goodly number of zine-type things floating 'round out there, and yet people in general knew next to nothing about most of them (much less read 'em). So, I made it my mission to find out what cool zines and magazines existed 'round here, and I've tried to put whatever info I could up here on this page. If you or somebody you know's got a zine, feel free to let me know about that, too, and I'll list whatever I get (e-mail "gaijin" at "spacecityrock.com", or send me a copy if you're feeling generous: Space City Rock, P.O. Box 541010, Houston, TX. 77254). We've tried to thin the herd a bit, by the way, and have shifted the zines we think are defunct, dead, etc., off to the Back Issues Pile. Zine people aren't notoriously communicative, though, necessarily, so if you see something up here that you know is no more, let me know, eh?
ARCADE ZINE DISTRO:
4115 Still Glade Ln. Kingwood, TX. 77345 "ArcadeDistro" at "gmail dot com" MySpace page
Not a zine, per se, but a zine distro, which I generally find to be almost cooler. They're still starting out, it looks like, but they've got a bunch of stuff in stock, a lot of which I've never heard of; they're not all music-related, but I think I seriously need to get a hold of these folks. Just by title alone, I'm really wanting to see what the hell The Art and Science of Billboard Improvement, Monsters In Our Heavens, & The Juniper are about... And hey, if you've got a zine of your own and are looking to get it seen outside of your circle of high school friends, give these folks an 'email about being part of the distro. [10/26/2008]
CASE:
"info" at "casezine dot com"
Ran across this one fairly randomly, and I have to say, it's pretty cool. It's mostly focused on art, but the Case crew hits on music, too -- interviews with Henry Rollins, GZA, The Faint, Sage Francis, & Girl Talk mashed in between profiles of taggers, street artists, & whatever the heck else. They mostly touch on hip-hop/electro stuff, music-wise, but hell, that doesn't get enough local coverage anyway. It's pretty dense, no filler, and the layout's out-and-out beautiful to look at. I'm envious, seriously. [10/24/2008]
Man, I love this one. Not much in the way of words, it's true -- Ditch Water the first-ever photo zine I've seen in this city, and in an age of all-electronic-ness it's a breath of freakin' old-school fresh air. See, this is a real photo zine, with all of local photog/scene queen Rosa Guerrero's revealing scene, band, and general random people photos lovingly copied (printed?) onto each page. Admittedly, the format makes it a little difficult to see some of the details of the photos, but even still, it's a fascinating "read," especially for somebody like me who doesn't get to meet fellow scene folks in person all that often.
The Ditch Water empire's small right now, but it's growing -- Rosa's already started a companion record label to the 'zine. She's got two issues out so far, and both are super-duper limited edition (50 copies, I think, of issue #2?). Definitely pick 'em up at Sound Exchange if you can... [10/26/2008]
This one's pretty unique; ran across it at the 2008 Zine Fest deal at The Shady Tavern and was immediately impressed as hell. It's teeny-tiny (literally only 8 pages, including the cover), but very nicely done, laid out well & a hell of a lot more legible than a ton of zines out there, but the best part is that it's pretty much the only film zine I've ever seen in this city. Editor Francis Colo & his crew write intelligently and critically about films of all types, from the big-namers to intriguing-sounding movies I've never even heard of. The Film Monitor folks are also ridiculously prolific -- since they started in February of this year, they've put out an issue for every month except March. Highly recommended. [10/26/2008]
FREE PRESS HOUSTON:
Man...those crazy FPH folks make me jealous (not to mention lazy & slow). In the now-several years it's been around, the Free Press Houston has grown from a hearts-in-the-right-place local Public News-style B&W music/etc. paper into a full-on local music media juggernaut. They cover a wide range of stuff, everything from shows to food to video games to politics, and they get better with each issue I can find (it's not yet available everywhere in the city, unfortunately). Plus, they've been cranking out cool local events & shows, including the thankfully-resurrected "Westheimer Block Party" (ahem -- Festival!). And now, with the help of some talented writing folk, they've expanded to take over the online realm, as well. Seriously, these people deserve an award for keeping The Scene alive... [10/25/2008]
GIANT STEPS:
4329 1/2 Leeland Houston, TX. 77023 "passionateyouththing" at "yahoo dot com" $3 (Microcosm Publishing)
I've been seriously missing a good personal zine, I have to say -- there've been only a few I've ever run across that were really, really cool, and this one's climbing its way into that list. It helps that the guy behind the zine is Kirke Campbell of local proto-punk-pop band Teenage Kicks (among other local bands), and he's a very, very nice guy; I got to buy the zine directly from him at the Zine Fest, actually.
There've been several issues, apparently, but I only picked up #1, which seems to've taken Kirke a while to put together. It's obviously a labor of love, with some nice, thoughtful pieces about Kirke's life, the paths he's taken -- he's a damn good writer, really, engaging and interesting, making me want to dig deeper into the essays. Of course, Kirke's not the only writer in here. There's at least one piece by Emmalee Conner, plus a soul-baring comic by Aaron Asshat, and they're both cool, but it's stuff like the back-and-forth meta-conversation between a person who used to play in a beloved DIY band and a person who used to be (and still kind of is) a fan. Cool shit.
Not sure if Kirke's still doing this, especially since he's been going in all different directions the past few years. I think he said the zine wasn't really happening anymore when we chatted briefly at the Zine Fest, so take that for what it's worth. Whatever might happen with it, you can order your own copies of at least a couple of issues of Giant Steps from Microcosm Publishing; slap down a couple of bucks and enjoy. [10/27/2008]
HOUSTON PUNK:
William Cloninger 814 Alhambra Sugar Land, TX. 77478 "wilcloninger" at "yahoo dot com" $2.00
Gotta love a straight-up save-the-scene punk zine, and Houston Punk is just that. For as rough & raw as it is, the zine's creators (which apparently sometimes includes Room 101's Roburt Reynolds, who contributed tips on playing shows in Chicago in one of the issues I've picked up) make some smart points about the media and the nature of the scene, and they've definitely got their hearts in the right place. These guys aren't so much on the interviews & reviews, but the essays and informational stuff they do is interesting... [10/26/2008]
Only seen one issue so far (from October '07), and it appears to be the first, judging by the introductory manifestos from zine authors Ema & Sara. It's a small-ish zine, but it makes me nostalgic for the Good Old Days of Zinedom, back when it was all cut-and-paste and the main aim seemed to be to proudly wave the flag of punk no matter what... I Am Relevant is pretty much a nouveau riot grrl zine, with impassioned musings on feminism & the meaning of punk, plus reviews of local shows. Nice to see this type of zine coming back around again. [10/25/2008]
MADE IN USA:
$2.98 (Sound Exchange)
Okay, so I have no idea what the fuck this zine's about. Hell, I'm not even sure the name's Made In USA -- for the longest time, I thought it was actually called Fail, since that's what it says on the cover in super-repeated ransom-note letters. The only issue I've ever seen doesn't really have any "content," so to speak, just 60 or so pages of collage art, all clippings from various places and scattered notebook writings that don't mean much to me, at least. Intriguing, definitely, but there's no telling if there'll ever be another... [10/25/2008]
Yeah, yeah -- so, My Table doesn't have a damn thing to do with music; so what? Few people who live here even notice it, but Houston has some of the best restaurants in the whole country, and some of the really good ones are rarely crowded and even fairly cheap. Don't believe it? Well, check out this mag and see (although, from what I remember, it's a little pricey for a local magazine). Nicely-done, all focused on the best eating establishments in town, and well worth a look. [3/26/2000]
NANO FICTION:
"NANOFictionMag" at "gmail dot com"
Haven't been able to check out a hard copy of this one out yet, but it sounds pretty neat -- it's apparently a real-live literary journal, but unlike a lot of the ones I've seen, it's a nonprofit, run by a bunch of University of Houston undergrads. The zine's apparently available at both the Brazos Bookstore and Domy, two of my favorite places in this city, so hit 'em up if you're interested. [10/26/2008]
002HOUSTON: 2345 Navigation, Suite 210
Houston, TX. 77003 (713) 223-5333 FAX: (713) 223-4884 "letters at 002mag.com" Free
002houston started out, I think, as an "advertising supplement" of the city's lone "big" newspaper, the Chronicle, but it's grown & expanded over the past several years. The magazine initially focused on downtown (and was called 002: The Downtown Magazine) and on swanky-type stuff for "the elite" to do here in Houston, but these days they seem to aim a bit more broadly -- they cover art, music (heck, they interviewed CSS a while back), food, technology, the whole ball of wax. Slick & glossy, and probably not for everyone, but they sometimes cover some cool stuff. [10/25/2008]
PUBLIC NEWS: "editor at publicnewsonline dot com"
Ah, the PN. I can still remember the first time I ever read it, way back when I'd just started college - it was my first exposure to nipple rings, music columns, and hot-sex ads. Pretty damn cool. Unfortunately, due to some poor business sense, the original PN went under and had all its assets bought by the Houston Press. Several PN staffers went on to form The Houston Other, but then that went away, too. Damn shame on both counts.
Of course, in this city everything old is new again. I heard a couple of years ago that the Public News was coming back, and while I haven't found a real-live copy of it myself (it's apparently concentrating on the "Metro North Houston" area now, and I'm in the SW 'hood), I've been told that yes, it does exist. Good to hear it... [10/26/2008]
RAGE MAGAZINE:
5900 Fairdale Ln,. Houston, TX. 77057 (713) 953-RAGE FAX: (713) 954-RAGE
Yup, the "Richmond Area Guide to Entertainment," in-house rag of Richmond Strip kingpin Dennis Lange. And surprise, surprise - guess how many of the bands in the magazine are bands Dennis manages? Anyway, as magazines covering local music go, it's not great - but that may reflect my bias against the cover-happy, party-friendly bands that usually play the young-collegiate-person-lovin' Strip clubs (no, not that kind of "strip club," you sick little monkey, you). On the plus side, this does have club listings for all over Houston, not just the Strip, and well, it's free. What do you want for nothing? By the way, I don't really mean to be that down on the Strip or Dennis Lange - or the mag - it's just that it's not my thing, eh? If you like it, go for it... Be warned, though, that I'm not entirely sure this one still exists; the address still looks valid, but you never know. [8/16/98]
TRIBEZA:
P.O. Box 571940 Houston, TX. 77257 (713) 622-4711 Fax: (877) TRIBEZA "info" at "tribeza dot com"
THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY:
"admin" at "anus.com"
Not completely sure this is still around, but it was in existence at least up to 2004, so I'm leaving it here for now. The Undiscovered Country's this dark, kinda morbid lit/music-zine, run by 2 guys named L. B. Noire and S. R. Prozak, is a pretty bizarre experience. Includes stuff like "Stoner Adventures," reviews of all kinds of death-metal (and heavier) bands, strange poetry, and ruminations on the end of the world. Note, by the way, that at least one of the editors (L. B. Noire, I believe), moved up to Austin a while - I'm told S. R. Prozak got sick of L.A. already and has moved back to similarly-smog-clad Houston. [10/29/2008]
WORSHIP GUITARS:
"rmedina" at "worshipguitars.org"
Don't have a real-world address for this one, but that's okay, 'cause I think this is a web-only 'zine. It's a combination zine/record label, actually, run by Ramon Medina (who plays in The Linus Pauling Quartet and used to do the KTRU Local Show before Justin Crane), he's got some neat interview & articles up there, like chats with Dunlavy, Dave Dove, Olivia Tremor Control, & the like. These days, though, Ramon's writing pretty much exclusively for the Free Press (see above), so I dunno how often he's updating the site. [10/29/2008]
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