This is the 50th blog post. So, time for something a little different.
An aside before I start: while I was always hoping to have a blog post per week, when it became obvious it would be me, on my own, writing these things, I had to be realistic and so posts became more like once a month. They’re fun to write but it’s time consuming amongst all the other things I have to do in my life.
However, the blog also has a distinct purpose, which is to highlight music I think is deserving of wider attention. That’s it. The blog isn’t there to do much else. Although as the owner of said blog, I suppose I could change things. I choose not to and I have nothing to justify that decision, it just is!
Instead, I am going to be doing something a little different. A one-time-only event (for now) which is to produce a small zine. It’s a thing you can hold in your hands as I’ll be making a small selection of these by hand at A3 size folded down to A6, with something a little extra for you to make with your own hands. Maybe 5 or 10 of them, so properly limited. Then I’ll pop the written bit online as a PDF download a month or two after publication, which you can print at home on A4 and fold down to A7 (that’s a quarter of an A4 page).
Why am I doing this?
I had a lot of fun making The Experimental Pop Zine for the vinyl release of the The Experimental Pop Band’s The Tracksuit Trilogy. That was what spurred me on to make some more. Not all the time, and not for profit. Postage charges will apply because postage is expensive these days, but to be honest even if I never send one off that’s okay. I’m doing the zine for myself first and foremost.
They may become a now-and-again thing. They may not. They may include other people’s words, and they may only contain my own words. Right now, it’s just a thing to scratch a creative itch.
Anyway, what I can say is that I’ve started plotting out what will be in this zine. I’ve started to pull together some art direction ideas.
Now I’ve said it out loud on this blog I will have to follow up and actually make it. That’s how these things work, right?
What will the zine be about?
I have a list of albums, singles and EPs that I’ve not really stated publicly that I’d love to release. In some instances I’ve been in touch with some of the artists and conversations are ongoing. In many cases it’s not knowing if anyone else knows the album or artist, or would also want a copy on vinyl. So it’s also a way of seeing what resonates, or doesn’t.
Think of it like a set of tiny blog posts about some amazing albums, singles and EPs that are yet to find themselves imprinted on to a plastic – or bio-plastic – disc.
I’m doing everything I can to change that. Perhaps 2026 will be the year?