Mote
This is an ambitious and damned fine new music zine receiving wide distribution in western Canada. The format is very much like Broken Pencil, with a colour glossy cover and newsprint inside, cleanly laid out and impressively written. Since most of the content is music, we get lots of page-long interviews with The Sadies, Rufus Wainwright and many more, a nice diary of the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle, plus the requisite album and live reviews. What’s particularly impressive about this zine is its range. There’s the obvious alt-rock and Canadiana content, but world music coverage is tackled as well as heavy metal, and their inclusion doesn’t seem the least bit contrived. They don’t just restrict themselves to music either, as solid features are provided about filmmaker Tom Bernier and artist Tessa Nunn, whose nude paintings are some of the best I’ve seen. As far as enterprise goes, editor Gabino Travassos and publisher Yellow Pencil Communications have really taken on a hell of a task — the circulation is 8000, the cover price is free, and they have planned regular publication. Well worth checking out, but you might want to send a buck or two when ordering to cover postage and help them out. (DF)