Sound Collector Audio Review

The smart independent music magazine Sound Collector first published in the late ’90s, a period ripe with smart independent music magazines. Sound Collector was a thick, perfect-bound journal with a soft spot for quirky deep dives. (We’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: When virtually every other publication was busy ignoring the burgeoning White Stripes, Sound Collector interviewed them.) In time, a sister publication was spun off—Sound Collector Audio Review, a free newsprint journal devoted to reviews, kind of like a groovy New York Review of Books.

Sound Collector went through periods of extended hiatuses, but recently has enjoyed a welcome return to print. This season brings a handsome new edition: Sound Collector Audio Review issue #8! Freshly available at the entrances of the nation’s better record stores and orderable online, the issue features a slew of sharp essays on varied musical topics. As always, there’s an impressive array of contributing writers (Bob Nickas, Lowbrow alum Michaelangelo Matos) as well as visual artists: Essays are illustrated by enlightened hotshots of the Chelsea gallery ecosystem (Hope Gangloff!) and underground press (Galactic Zoo Dossier’s Steve Krakow!) alike. In a publisher’s note, longtime honcho Laris Kreslins claims this will be the last Sound Collector Audio Review issue. Here’s hoping that it returns yet again in the near future. In the meantime, do whatever is humanly possible to get your hands on Sound Collector Audio Review #8!