jimmy possession
(the radio shows)

the guy who invented fire
(the house band)

mailing list
search robots
latest reviews
fanzine reviews
review archive
live archive
interview archive
postcard CVs
links
mail us

 We don't like writing zine reviews because it's too easy to get all precious about Robots... and hence be petty about other people's work. However...

Aluminaut #1

From the makers of Uavhengig, Aluminaut orbits the edges of indie, skirting the black hole of mediocrity at the centre and exploring the interesting satellites on the fringes. In this issue, the debut, editor Abigail investigates Gnac, Portal, Kylie Tapes and Roisin Records, watches Add N to X, Tram, Bis, Brassy, GYBE (I keep thinking of Gaye Bykers on Acid when I see people write this) and Sebadoh and reviews around the same kind of area. Well-written, good-looking and balanced. We like it a lot and for a quid more you get a tape featuring space/drone types including Gnac, Portal, Bingo, yellow6 etc. 15 Kingsway Drive, Ilkley, LS29 9AG (£1, cheques to A. Skerrey)

Art Rocker #1, #2

Do you read The Wire and weep at the sterility, wonder where all the passion leaked away to, what's so appealing about a concerto for cheese grater and celery stick conducted by a taxidermy disaster on strong drugs and attended by three people because the venue is a disused coal cellar in South London? Do you buy the magazine regardless because there's not much alternative? I mean, Record Collector (very, very dry although full of information) or Mojo (easily the best of the bunch but still part of The Man's empire). You do? Then Art Rocker is for you (and you should check out Ptolemaic Terrascope as well.) Take a look at these titles, from issue 1, In Praise of Todd [Rundgren], The Power of the Band [MC5], Pronounced "Uurgh" [Faust] and Art & Warfare [Mt. Vernon Arts Lab]. Add several more of the same vintage and a Hefner tour diary extract, throw in a free cassette (a music fan's mix tape: one side Present, one side Past) and you've got a fanzine defined. A magazine written by and for fans. Don't waste it. www.fraff.com/artrocker c/o 43 Chute House, Stockwell Park Rd, London, SW9 0DW.

Boa #7

If I've got one complaint about Boa it's the infrequency with which it appears. No problems with the content---as usual, plenty of underground pop/space reviews and zines plus Hefner, Dr. Who themestress Delia Derbyshire and thrift-store shopping. Flat 2/L, 1011 Cathcart Rd, Mount Florida, Glasgow, G42 9XJ www.tinsel.demon.co.uk/boazine/ (50p+SAE)

Boa #8

Can't tell whether signing herself gaylex in the editorial is some kind of straight-edge gesture, a nod to the future or just a typo. Whichever, it doesn't really matter much except to signify that, with the lone signature, this issue of Boa is almost entirely the work of Madame Boa herself. And a tidy piece of work it is too: Printed Circuit pop in from across the corridor to reveal the method behind the madness, Boa's own Zurich muses on the possibility of being signed by someone else and the man behind Mount Vernon Arts Lab talks about nuclear bunkers. Around this a slew of reviews reveal a penchant for prose and a record collection that has been swelled in the last 12 months by many French records. Flat 2/L, 1011 Cathcart Rd, Glasgow, G42 9XJ www.tinsel.demon.co.uk/melodybar (£1 +SAE)

Brechdan Tywod #4

Advocating revolution rather than devolution, with a Tystion connection and an impeccable playlist mixing Cymru's finest with The Fall, Coldcut and Public Enemy, Brechdan Tywod looks fantastic but as it's almost entirely in Welsh I'll have to leave any comment on the content aside. The next issue promises a tape and, as music is the universal language *ahem*, that should remove some of the difficulty. 8 Penybanc, Tanerdy, Caerfyrddin, SA31 2HA

Brechdan Tywod #5

Crac, Zabriinski, Llwybr Llaethog, BomBoomBomb, Radio D and Trawsfyndydd Lo-Fi Liberation Front share this zine, written about half and half in Welsh and English. The English LL retrospective is splendid but BBB are strangely reticent about their motives for what seems to be an art (terrorist?) collective. Record and zine review are all in Welsh: "Swmpus a hanfodol" they said about Robots.. Sounds good, no? The free tape certainly does: Crac, LL, BBB, Kontra Baz, Zabrinski and, best of the lot, MC Sleifar and Rootstrain making their contribution to the canon of Apache break hip hop in a lo-fi fashion.8 Stryd Tywysog Leopold, Adamstown, Caerdydd, CF24 0HT brechdan_tywod@excite.com

Clean Shaven #3

However much we might all moan about the power that resides in King's Reach Tower and the way that mutual benefit rather than critical opinion seems to motivate much of the output from there these days, zines are no less prone to scratching one another's back. What do I make of the fact that Clean Shaven #3 contains 2 copies of a review of Robots.. #4? Obviously I say how great it is that this Organophile organ deserves full marks for its unbridled enthusiasm, its Hirameka, its Monsoon Bassoon, its Monkey Boy and Rothko and the untimely exhumation of Fruitbat from Carter USM. But what do I then say about the fact that Robots.. #4 is 18 months old and we moved from the address printed with the review about 18 months ago? Well, I say that the great problem with Clean Shaven #3 is that some of the content predates the dinosaurs... Quicker next time, please. 9 Beech Way, Oakdene Rd, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 1QG (£1 +SAE)

Cream of the Crop #5

Another packed issue, based in punk but plenty of other stuff too. Interviews with The Astronauts, Warser Gate, Thomas Owen Knight and The Mad Chihuahuas but best is the totally positive attitude. Free tape includes Venus Fly Trap, Warser Gate, The Vow, Newtown Grunt, Dag Morai, Doris and more. 13 Coronation St, Pontymister, Risca, Gwent, NP1 6BD (a quid +50p SAE)

Cream of the Crop #6

Another crammed issue of C of the C shuffles into existence and, thankfully, nothing much appears to have altered since the last. Still packed in unequal quantities with enthusiasm, typos, punk rock, lo-fi, psyche and a splash of zine reviewery. Interviews this time include Simon Wrest and Flitwick Records. 13 Coronation St, Pontymister, Risca, Gwent, NP11 6BD (£1 +SAE)

Crystal Blue Persuasion #3a

Like our "Why Start a Label?" feature (up to about 250 labels now), this issue of CBP concerns itself with the motivation behind your favourite independent labels. Starting from the premise that "major labels suck," a precis of the Simple Machines guide to putting out your own 7" is followed by around 30 labels' responses to a questionnaire. Includes K, Vinyl Solution, Shrimper, Smells Like, Shimmy Disc, Parasol and AmRep. Interesting for the same reason "Why Start A Label?" is. Rachel Sakry, Hampshire College, Box 1468 Amherst, MA 01002-5001, USA rsakry@hampshire.edu

The Exclusive #5

Notable for an interview with the amazing Teenbeat which spreads itself across two pages and is accompanied by the splendid, and occasionally scatological, doodlings of Adrian Shaw. Extensions of his microcosmic songs populated by intricately-observed everyday, yet somehow extraordinary, characters, the sketches set off the often tangential ramblings of the man. Elsewhere an assortment of the usual review suspects is speckled with a helping of interesting-sounding unknowns and Sid Abuse pops up to give us his version of the Rise of Abuse. 53 Birches Head Rd, Hanley, Stoke On Trent, ST1 6LH

The Exclusive #6

Some bog-standard indie fanzine content (Steve Lamacq is a tosser, apparently, Muse, numerous Beggars Banquet reviews) considerably enlivened by less standard fodder such as the Billy Childish hero-worship, Mr Wagstaff's off the beaten track demo reviews and a friendly (if sometimes over-generous) style. Also features Michael J Sheehey, Merz and local band Rima. (£1.70 chqs to M. Turner) 53 Birches Head Rd, Hanley, Stoke On Trent, ST1 6LH www.exclusive2.freeserve.co.uk

Fracture #6

PO Box 6523, Cardiff, CF3 9ZA I like this one, even if they didn't read much of the issue of Robots.. we sent them. It's free (but send A4 SAE) and dedicated to the furtherance of the punk movement in all its myriad fragments. Interviews with Imbalance, Wrench records, Pop Unknown and Spy Vs Spy, all well written, and a bunch of record, demo and zine reviews.

Gag Profile

Only covering music in a partial sort of way, Gag Profile is the progeny fo the now defunct DDDD. The content is mostly whatever it is that comes out of spleens when vented but delivered with considerably more aplomb, more many tentacled sprawling arguments and a lot less 6th form pseudo-angst than most. Topics include "that cunt" John Peel (several times), school stories/Kipling, censorship and Radio 2. c/o Marley's, Minstead, Lyndhurst, Hants, SO43 7FY. (a quid+SAE)

I Made This For You #1

Arty and pretentious and, frankly, not really there yet but on the way to developing a nicely distracted style. Essentially just two reviews written as if for a school essay on What I Did At The Weekend in a school for kids with attention disorders. Every other sentence detours from the main scheme to observe some aspect of the passing scenery (from the train) or the logo on a t-shirt (in the club). Right Angles. The rest of the zine is made up of pictures: a long exposure photo, an electronic schematic and a biro sketch. Issue 2, I suggest, will be better for a little more coherence. 3 Ackrells Hill, Littlehampton, Devon, TQ9 6LX (50p +SAE)

Jockrock #1

Something of a sister zine this one, written by our ace reporter Stuart McHugh, it's an extension of the Jockrock radio and web empire. Backed in B&W tartan you get all the Scottish music news that's fit to print---i.e. not Wet Wet Wet---including Frances McKee and Magoo interviewed, the Delgados live and vinyl diagnoses for Liminal, Cha Cha Cohen and pals. If it's a bit tatty-looking and lacking character, let's remember it's a debut issue and probably a better one than Robots.. was. www.vacant.demon.co.uk/jockrock/jockrock.html (50p+SAE)

Jockrock #2

A Velvet Underground spoof sleeve (replete with peelable battered Mars Bar) heralds the new and vastly improved Jockrock. Bigger this time around and with a better layout, it still covers Scottish indie (broad sense) bands and a few worthy foreigners with a truly horrid tartan accompaniment. Contents this time include Beta Band and Magnetic North Pole interviews and Jan from Spare Snare talking us through their recent compilation LP track-by-track. PO Box 13516, Linlithgow, EH49 6WB (80p+SAE)

Jockrock #3

Jockrock still looks grim due to the b&w tartan but the quality of the writing remains high even though they don't use [sniff] my reviews any more. As the name suggests, the 'Rock focuses on the Scottish music "scene" and it does so with a relish for genre encompassment. This issue sees Lone Cop (ex-Telstar Ponies) and The Delgados features along with stacks of live and record reviews and short chats with The High Fidelity and Belle and Sebastian. PO Box 13516, Linlithgow, EH49 6WB (80p+SAE)

A Key To The Social Club #2

I've got a feeling I called Mike, erstwhile editor of AKTTSC, a wanker when we met at The Butterflies of Love gig in Nottingham recently. Or did he call me a wanker? It was that kind of evening. Either way, we ended up with a Swap Shop situation: Noel, I'd like to trade a copy of Robots.. for A Key To The Social Club. Text-heavy, which I like in a zine, without ever being unreadable (either due to the printing or the crassness of the content), the zine has a nice and friendly feel which comes from the interaction of the 4 authors' (and members of The Static Waves) accounts of Leeds '99. Unfortunately, it also means that you're often reading a first-person account of listening to a band, listening to a record, going to the tent etc etc etc which can get a little tiring. Interviews with Stereolab and The Butterflies of Love. 5 St. Nicholas Way, Wigginton, York, YO32 2GW

Music For Girls #2

In a spirit of fanzine solidarity, I purchased this at the Southall Riot ROTA gig the other week. Glittery stars and free sweets should've given it away, though, as MFG is an unashamedly indie pop zine with bumper Baxendale interview, brief Heavenly retrospective and a write-up of the Winter Sprinter event in January. No record reviews, too many lists, too much white space, too many newspaper clippings, not enough pages. Other than that, I liked it. Simon White, 69 Camelot House, Camden Park Rd, London, NW1 9AS SINISTER@memo.royalsun.com (a quid +SAE)

Muuna Takeena #5

Over half of this one is dedicated to zine reviews, mostly English-speaking (written in English) but also many other (in, what looks like, their own languages.) The attitude is uncompromising---which is refreshing, there's no sycophantic dribbling here---but some of the criticisms reek of pot and kettle, for example, the layout of MT is very basic but it slags several zines for boring layout. Music reviews tend towards the punk/HC/goth end of things, plenty of names new to me. No interviews. Talvipaivanseisaus Prod, Timo Palonen, Oritie 4 C 24 FIN-01200 VANTAA FINLAND

Never Say Die #2.1

Red Krayola, Fluxus, The Residents' "Wormwood," Eno's Oblique Strategy cards and Ozit records along with brief bits on Performance and Dakota Suite makes up this, informative sister zine to prog/psyche pirate station Radio Never Say Die. PO Box 280, Waltham Cross, EN7 6ZR

No Frills

A more extreme version of Sphagnum Nagasaki (see elsewhere) without the musical content. Conspiracy theories in a cut-n-paste style, deconstructed advertising and general taking the piss is No Frills' business. And business is good. Picks: The FBI's email scanners, Neoism and Mead recipes. PO Box R420, Royal Exchange, 1225 NSW, Australia, sevenuy@hotmail.com

The Original Sin #23-27

Didier, it is well-known, pumps out issues of The Orginal Sin like there's no tomorrow. Reviews often point out that he seems to review everything he listens to and to like everything that he reviews. There's a lot of truth in that (he even abandoned his scoring system when it became apparent to him that nothing was scoring less than 6/10) but it's not remotely relevant when you realise one simple fact: that Didier is not a critic and his zine does not criticise. That's not to say there's no editorial policy (a complaint that's also been levelled at Robots..), just that the point at which it's invoked is when deciding which records get in, not which records to slag off. It's an often-rehearsed argument that without both positive and negative reviews the reader cannot form any idea of the poles of the reviewer's taste. But that's just not true. What is really required are common reference points, either good or bad. A hundred reviews of bands the reader has never heard of (50 positive and 50 negative) are useless for calibration purposes; likewise a zineful of abuse of soft targets or fawning praise for the current fashion.

TOS sees bands though rose-tinted spectacles, yes. But there's room for a zine that does so, even if at times the writing comes across as a little too desperate to please. At its best, TOS is an open forum for new bands to put their best faces to a receptive audience and, as such, performs a useful service, especially as it's free. The issues #23-27 feature interviews with the following (and more): Chicklet, Majestic Scene, Immediate, The Clears, Clan of Xymox and Flacco Rivera with hundreds of reviews to boot. Didier is also starting a dedicated Clan of Xymox zine, The Medusa Touch, and would like anyone interested in that to get in touch with him. Didier Becu, Jozef Guislainstraat 6, 9000 Gent, Belgium (The Original Sin is free, but send IRCs)

Paper Cut #1

Too many short, informational, interviews with Ganger, San Lorenzo, I'm Being Good, Los Planetos Del Agua and others with a longer Mogwai conversation should give you some idea of the guitar direction that Paper Cut is coming from. Too few (but well-written) reviews, a Pokemon crib sheet for us oldsters who don't understand the kids any more and a paint-by-numbers picture of Ant & Dec fill out the remainder. Flawed, but good. 24 Ashvale Place, Aberdeen, Scotland, AB10 6PX marcy@diskant.f9.co.uk (a quid +SAE)

Paper Cut #2

We were critical of the last issue's scanty reviews and the failing seems largely to have been remedied this time around. Larger investigations into the driving forces behind ..Trail of Dead, Tar and Rothko, a loving (rose-tinted) look back at Huggy Bear and a bunch of mostly guitar band reviews are propped up by a well-written zine review section and an All Tomorrow's Parties diary. Part the deux, much more than deux points. 24 Ashvale Place, Aberdeen, Scotland, AB10 6PX marcy@diskant.f9.co.uk (a quid +SAE)

Ptolemaic Terrascope #26

More psychenostalgia in the form of retrospective looks at The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, The Magic Band, The Doors (interview with Robby Krieger) and a stirling chat with Ray Davies. Reviews all sorts of weirdness in one enormous column from all sorts of places and times that you won't find elsewhere. I'm a latecomer, but a convert. 37 Sandridge Rd, Melksham, Wiltshire, SN12 7BQ ptolemy@terrascope.org

Ptolemaic Terrascope #27

It's tempting to think of the Terrascope as fixated with a paisley patterned poast, psychedelia being their stock-in-trade and cover art style of choice. But that would be to do them a disservice as their obsession is much wider, both musically and temporally, than that. In this issue we get the concluding part of the WCPAEB story, Windy and Carl, The Webb Bros and Skip Spence pieces along with a smorgasbord of sprightly 7" and detailed LP reviews covering space rcok, psyche, 60's (not quite) pop and Beefheartian clamour. Comes, as usual, with a CD. 37 Sandridge Rd, Melksham, Wiltshire, SN12 7BQ ptolemy@terrascope.org

Saccharine

Admirably diverse in content (just like Robots..): interviews with post-rockers Karamasov, French hipster Kid Loco, loony electronicists si-cut.db and Luke Vibert, indie Hefner, Clinic and Ash and several points between. Packed with interviews, in fact, to the detriment of the reviews: no singles at all and sparse (to the point of pointlessness at times) albums. Still, the plentiful interviews are generally interesting and the attitude is right. So, we like it. 38 Priestly Gardens, Romford, Essex, RM6 4SL jlm39@hermes.cam.ac.uk

The Satellite #2

More like Robots.. than either of us would probably like to admit, The Satellite is pretty much everything that I look for in a zine, with the added bonus of a free CD. In this issue the contents include Mogwai, Disco Inferno, Lakuna, The Make-Up and our good friend Nigel at Pickled Egg records. The taste is broad, the words are intelligent and the CD (Pop Off Tuesday, Longstone, Insects, Lightspeed, Gulliver and more) is excellent. PO Box 262, Leeds LS5 3YE www.fsvo.com/the_satellite/

A Sex Hat Dance #11

From the home of the Ceramic Hobs comes this bundle of Dadaist composition---mine with a cheery post-it note reading "Merry Fucking Christmas, You Bastard"---that might help to explain why the Hobs excrete the kind of psychotic caterwauling punk rock noise that they do. A cut-up mish-mash of adverts for outdated appliances, newspaper articles, original (in at least two senses) writing, marijuana propaganda, anti-Christian collages and a Burroughsian scissor-and-glue essay. As is usual, and no doubt intentional in these things, the layout gives no clue as to which juxtapositions are meaningful in the eye of the editor and which are random. This leads to two reading strategies: (1) skip though quickly, say "Hmm, that's nice" and put down, or (2) crawl through slowly looking for the links and creating numerous bogus ones as you go. I've tried each of them and the page that caught my attention both times says "The first thing to remember when you hear voices in your head is not to reply." Make of this what you will. Stanzine Publications, 25 Ivy Ave, Blackpool FY4 3QF (send an SAE for a catalogue)

$6.99/lb #2

Frank Black, Bomb 20, Russell Simins, Cristoph de Babalon, Cornelius, Money Mark and so on. Packed to the gills with interviews that aren't afraid to admit they're a bit shaky at times or to print the bits where the interviewee starts to take over (as photographer Glenn E. Friedman does). It's very obviously written by fans of the people that are being interviewed and really needs a bit more care taken in questions asked and the writing-up, but still a good read. c/o mca, PO Box 843, Winchester, MA 01890, USA evildesign@aol.com

The Slide Show #3

Nice and short (a positive joy), written with intelligence (a real boon) and love for the subject matter (a gift), The Slide Show is ideal for those shortish bus journeys or for just dipping in a spare moment. Interviews with Electroscope and the excellent Sea Life Park complement the vinyl-only reviews that constrain themselves further by restricting content to the post-rock and lo-fi genres. PO Box 72, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia www.vinylrevival.homepage.com

Soda Pressed #1

So Depressed. Do you see? It’s dominated by a long and winding and practically pointless interview with ..Trail of Dead, blighted by confusing page ordering (or else is confronting the popular conception of reading orthodoxy) and virtually jerks itself into a spurting frenzy over Fugazi, Frank Kozik, Fatso Jetson and Acid Bath. A few filler pages and stoner rock reviews round things off. Fortunately, a heart of gold, and future potential, is revealed by the Meat Puppets retrospective. 42 High St, Edlesborough, Dunstable, Beds, LU6 2HS sodapressed@puppet.co.uk

Something For Your Inside #6

A glossy A4 zine with free CD including The Secret Goldfish, Jolt, Mariachi, Flacco Rivera, Head Thorax Abdomen and more. Content is the usual guitar/indie suspects plus a few tentative forays into more interesting territory, Interviews with Anjali, Magoo, The Recoys, Sketty and more. A bargain at two quid plus stamps, cos the CD is worth that alone. 62 Park South, Austin Rd, Battersea, SW11 5JN liz@evry1satit.demon.co.uk

Speeder #4

Minmae (whose album I'm listening to right now, fact fans), Solex, Very Good Records and Reynols (not Reynolds) along with Mykedroner records and a quartful of reviews in a pint-sized zine. The good people at Speeder have broad tastes, strong opinions and the literary flair to express both in an entertaining way. If they err on the side of the stuff you'd probably find down the back of John Peel's settee, who are we to blame them? PO Box 24148, London, SW18 1WU www.talk.to/speeder

Sphagnum Nagasaki #9

Alec Empire can talk for 3 or 4 people at once, as the lengthy ATR interview in here shows. Apart from his usual interminable hyperbole, it's pretty interesting although tails off into can't-be-bothered-to-transcribe laziness. Mr Bungle also feature, there's a thoughtful piece on hip hop and a less thoughtful piece on serial killers all cut'n'pasted around decontextualised newspaper headlines, anti-authority collage and "music fucking reviews" that focus on the noise end of things. Short and, all in all, sweet. 14 Dunluce Ave, Brighton, SA 5048, Australia comradeev@hotmail.com

Star Star #1

Glossy and with "proper" binding, Star Star is in the zine equivalent of the niche super-mini market for cars. The writing is generally pretty good but restricted almost entirely to 3 or 4 labels/distributors (a point the editors note and attribute to them being the best sources of free records) covering the post/space end of things. Interviews include a lavish and lengthy retrospective on the Associates and an adoring chat with Quentin Crisp (both let down by the lack of an introduction) with supporting roles from Mouse on Mars and Crescent. Typeface and design overload makes some of the zine hard to read (New York Doll piece, for example) but it's a decent first effort. 11 Marine Square, Brighton, BN2 1DE. (2 quid)