Synopses & Reviews
UNCOMPROMISING IN TASTE, STYLE, AND SPIRIT, ALARM PROVIDES A GLIMPSE OF REAL, LIVING, BREATHING, INDEPENDENT CULTURE.
Since 1995, ALARM painstakingly searched out the most inspirational voices in underground music and art. Now, for the first time, ALARM proudly presents a new book-style magazine with double the content of any single issue that has come before. In the pages of ALARM 34, you will find scientists who moonlight as musicians and musicians who dabble in science; reports on the newest faces in the tour van as well as “lifers” with decades of music in their wake and no sign of slowing down; bands that sparkle in the limelight, and others that would prefer to remain unseen; instruments made out of boxes, rock tours that run on vegetable oil, and concerts enjoyed everywhere from the smallest of basements to the largest venues in the world.
Founded in 1995 by independent publisher Chris Force, ALARM has
stood for 15 years as a bastion of freethinking music and art,
unconstrained by the mainstream marketplace.
From our headquarters in a small Chicago office, along with a cast of
contributing writers spread across the country, we listen to thousands of
CDs, view hundreds of gallery openings, and attend lectures and live
concerts in order to present inspirational artists who are fueled by an
honest and contagious obsession with their art.
ALARM’s pages are filled with an eclectic range of musicians (Brooklyn
rappers, heavy-metal Japanese-American shamisen masters, Norwegian
jazz-prog experimentalists, Nigerian Afrobeat dissidents), visual
artists (California graffiti artists, train-hopping hobo craftsmen, concert
poster printmakers), and underground books (urban art and culture,
anti-war quotes, Russian propaganda posters). Inside, you will discover
artists that you won’t find anywhere else—and that is because you also
won’t find any investors, corporate influences, or boundaries.
In this age of media deregulation and conglomeration, independently
owned magazines are ever more important in maintaining a vibrant and
stimulating culture and a free society. They’re also increasingly
threatened. With airwaves awash in pop princesses, focus-grouped songs,
vapid DJs, and computer-selected tunes, independent music is reliant
upon college radio stations, friendly venues, small record stores, and
publications like ALARM to connect with listeners. Independent music
and arts journalism gives emerging artists the coverage that they need to
provide the public with innovative, exciting, and challenging work that
is the lifeblood of a healthy society.
ALARM’s continued success depends on its readers—you.
Review
“ALARM succeeds over the online portals—and the coffee-table mags fronting for event planners—because they eschew elitism for inclusion. Everything from the writing to the art to the physical design is inviting. The participants genuinely want to share their discoveries with enthusiasm, as opposed to keeping them buried under a veneer of smug hipster fronting.”
JASON PETTIGREW, ALTERNATIVE PRESS
“I don’t look at or read much music press, because quite frankly, most of it bores me to tears. However, I gotta say the writing is original in ALARM.”
MIKE PATTON, FAITH NO MORE
“Most music journalism is boring and bland. You see articles on the same bands saying the same things. That is why I find ALARM so refreshing. They cover bands that are not necessarily topping the charts, but musicians that are making cool and interesting music. We need more ALARMs!”
GREG WERCKMAN, CO-FOUNDER, IPECAC RECORDINGS
Synopsis
ALARM 39 presents the vivid crossroads of music and color over 200+ pages. In this issue, readers will find sections on polychromatic cover art, homogenous stage attire, race and complexion, the symbolism of hue-based album themes, colorful band names and styles, audible color, and synesthesia.
Synopsis
The relationship between music and art has become so intertwined that it can be hard to imagine one outside the context of the other. And of their countless unions, we often are ironically drawn to both the most colorful and the most dreadful—the most radiant and luminous and the most dark and fear inspiring, whether those characteristics stem from audio, visuals, or personality.
Chromatic presents the vivid crossroads of music and color over 200+ pages. In this issue, readers will find sections on:
· vibrant stage attire and set design, including monochromatic uniforms, body paint, and light shows as employed by Ratatat, Chrome Hoof, and Blue Man Group;
· musicians with dazzling polychromatic cover art, including Lightning Bolt, Squarepusher, and John Zorn’s exotica sextet;
· the symbolism of hue-based album themes, featuring works by Chicago Underground Duo, Michael Torke, and Nathan Bell;
· legendary composers with synesthesia, the involuntary intersection of senses, examining the work of Leonard Bernstein, Duke Ellington, and György Ligeti as well as modern musicians with the condition;
· audible color, representing timbre, “blue notes,” the chromatic scale, and the Pythagorean Theory.
The combined result is our most exciting and aesthetically versatile effort. No matter one’s tastes, Chromatic is sure to stimulate and inspire—while introducing readers to the best and most daring musicians and artists of our time.
Synopsis
In the pages of ALARM 34, you will find scientists who moonlight as musicians and musicians who dabble in science; reports on the newest faces in the tour van as well as “lifers” with decades of music in their wake and no sign of slowing down; bands that sparkle in the limelight, and others that would prefer to remain unseen; instruments made out of boxes, rock tours that run on vegetable oil, and concerts enjoyed everywhere from the smallest of basements to the largest venues in the world.
About the Author
Chris Force
With glue sticks and X-acto knives, Chris Force made his first music magazine in 1995 to support young, contemporary, and independent bands. Originally sold out of his backpack in front of rock concerts, Force's books and magazines on music and underground art can now be found around the world. He is now onto his third storage locker and sixth iPod, all crammed with great music.
Scott Morrow
Scott Morrow is the music editor at ALARM Press and author of the popular "This Week's Best Albums column on AlarmPress.com. A champion of independent, genre-bending musicians, he enjoys metal, classical, electronica, jazz and hip hop. Ask him about his long-procrastinated IDM/rock project called It Came from the Skies!
Table of Contents
Columns
Shortcuts
An Albatross
Benoit Pioulard
Cigar-box guitars
Brazilian Girls
Pit er Pat
These Arms are Snakes
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Vivian Girls
Helms Alee
O'Death
The Small Stakes
Yo Majesty
Young Widows
The Patrón Tequila Express
Take-Away Shows
The Art of Screaming
Fucked Up
Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
Love is All
Yacht
Moon and Moon
Impure Wilhelmina
Trash Talk
Mercury Rev
Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
Boutique guitar effects
Crime in Choir
Nick Cave
Stage-lighting design
Green touring
DIY venues
The Bad Plus
Serena Maneesh
Music reviews