Jazzlife
www.jazzlife.com
If you are uninitiated into the jazz idiom, this is not the place to begin. You will walk away convinced that jazz music is nothing more than bleary eyed losers smoking whacky weed in dingy bars, wailing on beaten up old saxophones, hoping to purge the last drop of failed humanity out of the end of their instrument. This of course is only a small part of the jazz experience, and you wouldn't want to be led astray now, would you? In this site you get a total number of one band in residence, a few links to some good jazz sites, a bookshop and a record store or two. Not my idea of what a jazz E-zine could be. This is "avant-garde" jazz, which in English means "unemployed". It is a new site, so it could improve.
Verdict: Less jazz cigarettes and more jazz required here. --SS
Net Worth: **
The RAG-music e-zine - CD reviews, band interviews, films
rag.ml.org
Here is a great example of a grass roots multimedia publication. Using a simple format of a menu down the left hand side, the reader is welcome to browse the musings of various contributors (spelling mistakes and all), with reviews, news, backstage gossip and a nice little links collection. A great feature here is the live music station, which virtually anyone can DJ for, once you get the password. A schedule of who is broadcasting is available, and you can chat with the creators of "Rag" on a Java applet, or on DALnet. Cool! The reviewer predicts an explosion of this kind of site in the very near future. Get in now!
Verdict: Cute, personable, informative and regularly updated. Now that's a rag!
NetWorth: ***
Attach to the Womb
www.thewomb.com/main.htm
This South Florida gestation zone of the techno/trance scene is surely worth a visit and a bookmark. Updated regularly and stacked with dozens of Real Audio files, along with a 24/7 streaming real audio channel, this is an example of how a bit of netÂworking and belief in your genre can create substantial growth in this lively and innovative world. DJ's galore pump out their grooves. A "shoutout" section gives visitors their own say. The comprehensive link section takes you to all the top sites around the World, and you can order a custom CD from 'the womb' burned with all the tracks you like here.
Verdict: This nurturing collective is making waves, and you're surfing them!
NetWorth: ****
F1: Tranzfusion - Sounds from the Underground
www.tranzfusion.sprint.com.au
If you haven't seen this site already, DO IT NOW! Melbourne's underground dance scene has set the standard here. It wouldn't be hard to believe that this multi-award-winning site didn't have extra-terrestrial help in the construction department. A phreaking phat phest of DJ's, VJ's, CD's, reviews, interviews, live broadcasts, event info, and more groovy fonts and than you can point a mouse at, fill this site with more bookmarkability than Yahoo.
Verdict: Say No More - go see for yourself.
NetWorth: *****
Grand Royal World Headquarters
www.grandroyal.com
Alternative record label, and representatives of the Beastie Boys and Sean Lennon, to name a few, dish up a light-hearted but fact-filled site of it's largely eclectic and fringe talent. The Beastie Boys are their "cash cow", and the site for the new album is quite a joy to behold, with a groovy space console, including video clips, tour dates etc. The rest of the artists are represented in direct proportion to their earning potential, but the information is rewarding. These guys also do a cool newsstand magazine. Back issues are here.
Verdict: You don't have to fight for your right to bookmark this site.
NetWorth: ****
BeatThief
www.beatthief.com
A quick squizz at the history of Beattheif will put you in the picture of where this guy is at and why this stuff is here. It's a great collection of cool artsy, funky, jazzy stuff from all over the web, selected by criteria of musical style, political leaning, or coolness factor. This man understood the potential of the web long before the mainstream, and maintains his determination to present anything and everything that is aligned with his views. All stolen from around the world, of course, hence the name.
Verdict: Journeys into coolness.
NetWorth: ****
N U D E Magazine
www.sigma6.com/nude
This stands for "Nations United, Divisions Extinct". These self-confessed freaks give you a stylish and easy to get around e-zine bringing the latest news, reviews and views from Detroit and wherever the writers happen to cruise to for the weekend. Everything about this site is cool, but I began to wonder that maybe coolness is becoming a little passe. Redesigning fonts and renaming chapters for the sake of it doesn't make hanging round nightclubs until dawn seem any more interesting.
Verdict: It's got style, it's got... um.. that's about it.
NetWorth: ***
Technotica.com...Techno-Culture, Music, Art, Design & Living
www.technotica.com
Don't let the chunky appearance of this site put you off. Sure it's not as slick as some, but the content and vibe here is well up to par. Armed with the philosophy that human evolution is tied to the merging of the technical and the natural essences of life, Technotica present the culture music and art that supports the theory. The emphasis is on interaction and involvement, so listen, leave a message, and try and get to the big events. Technotica sits half way between Bill Gates and The Unabomber. This could be just the place to call home.
Verdict: Technotica - It's a way of life.
NetWorth: ****
Fused UK Club Music Record Shop and Magazine
www.fused.com
The opening page is a little deceptive here, not looking like there is too much on offer at first glance, but it's just a top 10 chart. Once you click around the nifty menu, you are drawn into the world of England's vibrant & creative world of electronic dance music. DJ's would be advised to bookmark this site. The music is cool as a chilled bottle of water from the bar, and there's plenty to sample. The reviews and live gig reports are detailed. There's also a great pirate radio section.
Verdict: Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the raves!
NetWorth: ****
The Ambience of Nothing
www.dope.org/ambient
This magazine comes in the form of a downloadable zip file, so you won't find too much on the site. A little more commitment is required here. After reading the manifesto, it's easy to tell if you ought to download or not. Do you love music, taking drugs and hating your parents? If so, click here. Their recent readers poll is an interesting analysis of the readership's lifestyle and demographic. Actually, besides the hating your parents bit, I think these guys are pretty cool. Not that I'm a parent, but I think the old generation gap thing is a bit silly here, since these guys parents were surely exactly like them.
Verdict: When I tried to download... nothing.
NetWorth: **
The Fly - Dope Music Magazine
www.fly.co.uk
The self-proclaimed "home" of dope beats and music writing, The Fly is willing to take your own submissions and review them or feature them on the site. Plenty of features abound on such notable artists as "Ubiquity" and "Dot". There is also a fly club guide and radio guide, so all you dope heads and funky jazz jammasters can hip hop to the house of your discretion.
Verdict: This site is buzzing.
NetWorth: ***
DezMix Muzik
www.dezmix.com
This DJ is a one-man music corporation, spreading the good word about NY house across the globe. For a solo dude's site, it rivals many collaborative efforts in its design & content. DezMix's resume looks good, and he broadcasts to his site when the "off air" button blinks live. Also, you can listen to past live gigs as well as order tapes and CD's of his mixes. All in all a groovin' jammin' New York beatmaster with a flair for web design, marketing and blasting out the soundz.
Verdict: If cloning takes off, this guy will be dangerous.
NetWorth: ****
Streetsound Channel
www.streetsound.com
Enter the world of the underground scene through this "megazine" and web music channel. Lots of Americans acting cool because they think they are on MTV, host a multitude of shows pumping out the rhythms of the street. This is certainly a site with a lot of cool activity. Of particular interest is the "groove selector", which is basically a glossary of styles. When someone drives past you with the boom boom boom on the car stereo, you can now go "ah, they are grooving to some hardstep jungle lounge with a twist of Italo House, sounds phree-quay!"
Verdict: Welcome to the world of webcasting. 4 million Ricky Lake's on pills.
NetWorth: ****
Wah Wah Magazine
www.uv.es/~alminyan/wahwah
Unfortunately this reviewer isn't very fluent in Spanish, so it was a bit hard to figure out what was going on here. It looks like a mag dedicated to live acts, and seems to have quite a good range of material here. The only English words I could make out were things like "Lollapalooza" and "Oasis". To get the full picture, watch more Sesame Street.
Verdict: Que?
Networth: ?????
Jelly
www.jellyroll.com
Jelly magazine, a quarterly paper version and this online version one issue behind (so you might subscribe) is pitched at the heart, the soul, the spirit, the soft juicy centre of American music. It's simple design suggests that readers come here because they love music, not some kind of hyped up lifestyle where music is the wallpaper to fashion, drugs and cool vernacular. We're talking mainstream, but we're talking quality. Music of the rock era, spiced with many cultural influences and dished up by musicians with talent. The contributors have cred. and the mag is for listeners.
Verdict: If you hate techno and death metal, welcome home.
NetWorth: ***
Make Room!
www.vvm.com/~case
This Texas based effort is yet another attempt to bring the news reviews and views to the web. For an apparent solo effort, it's not a bad job, although it seems the creator "Typo" has been spending a little too long in Photoshop designing 50 different logos for the site to go chasing the really good stories. There are, however a whole bunch of interviews with some bands like "The Infections" and "The Stinkies". To make up for this, the links page takes you to the real big interviews done by other people.
Verdict: I guess my bookmark file has room for this URL.
NetWorth: ***
fOREhEAD e-zine (music, art, poetry, life)
thedeepend.com/fh.htm
Here is a place where anyone with a flair, or even just a primal urge to write can become a part of the e-zine phenomenon. This is a Christian site, so forget about your drugs and sex, but don't think for a minute that these people aren't cool and groovy. Input is strongly encouraged, so get typing. Review a concert or a record. Write a poem. Send them some favourite links. Post a message. Bookmark it and return to see what others think of you.
Verdict: Satan would hate this site. He can go to hell.
NetWorth: ****
e.p. magazine on-line
www.vigilante.co.uk
Dedicated to the Brit-Pop scene, and based around the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire areas, e.p. presents, apart form the usual reviews etc, a great selection of undiscovered local talent in Real Audio. If you like what you hear, you can send off for a cassette, at a very cheap price. Maybe one of these would-be Blur's will crack the big time, and you can say you hear them first on e.p.!
Verdict: Neat, simple, easy to digest - just like Brit Pop.
NetWorth: ***
Consumable OnLine
www.westnet.com/consumable
Representing the alternative and indie band scene, the web's "Oldest collaborative music reviews 'zine" surges forth from the dim dark days of 1994. Unfortunately the layout hasn't changes in four years, the whole thing coming in as plain text, but the content is plentiful. Twice a month, reporters from all over the world dish out their take on all manner of concerts, events and happenings. The artists represented range from Garbage to The Beastie Boys and everything in between. A diary full of tour dates is included with each posting. Subscribe and get it in your email in tray.
Verdict: No graphics required.
NetWorth: ****
Absolute Jazz
www.abjazz.com
In this colourful splash of a web site, Jazz is the order of the day. Live and recorded jazz reviews, a forum discussing the state of jazz and improvised music across the globe, and some interviews with the cool cats of jazz make up this growing Jazz-zine. A nice feature is the glossary of terms and people and places of interest. The site could do with some more input to fill it out, because the overall "vibe" is cool. If you are a swinging cat, start sending these guys some material. There is still plenty of room to swing a cat in here.
Verdict: Waiting for the three-piece combo to turn into a big band.
NetWorth: ***
Cosmik Debris
www.cosmik.com
This little enterprise features a good stable of writers all contributing to a well organised venture. This e-zine actually has an editor and staff. With regular columns and features, the usual reviews and links, Cosmik Debris covers a mish-mash of styles from Jazz to Reggae and the style is intelligent and friendly. An hour-long real audio program presented with a sense of humour allows you to dig the grooves these dudes are drooling over.
Verdict: The flotsam and jetsam of the music world have drifted into this catchment area.
NetWorth: ****
Djembe OnLine
www.djembe.dk
You wouldn't pick Denmark as a hub of World Music, but here is the proof. This small circulation Scandinavian publication prides itself on bringing cross-culture and African rhythms to the snow fields. It's quite an impressive effort, with a nice dark look to it, and a good range of activity. Get involved. They want non-Scandinavians to participate in forums, contributions and a guest book. Live bands, back issues and links all make up a well-rounded, though somewhat unlikely site.
Verdict: Bang that Djembe drum, Denmark is dancing to da rhythm!
NetWorth: ****
Pitchfork
www.live-wire.com
This fledgling publication is shaping up to be a cool little spot on the web. The layout is nice, the topics and columns look great, but there is still little bit of work to go in some areas before you'd really call this a happening e-zine. This being said, the reviews area is rather large and impressive, with additions going up daily. Albums are rated, clips are available, and the reviewers do a wordy but thorough job. The A-Z menu reveals a great deal of reviewing time. All they need now is to finish off the columns and special reports and it's a sure-fire bookmark.
Verdict: Poke around and see what you can dig up.
NetWorth: ****
Chemical Peel
www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/7908
Dedicated to introducing new bands, this grungy site is quite a decent effort by one person to get all the metal, death, gothic and alternative bands a bit of exposure. It's hard to keep these things up to date when there is no money in it, but if you like what you see, you can always help out. That's the beauty of on-line publishing - anyone can do it. That's also one of the downfalls - everyone IS doing it!
Verdict: Well meaning, a nice job, but not enough support staff.
NetWorth: ***
Queer In Your Ear
www.interlog.com/~joeclark/QiYEmain.html
This is humorous and light-hearted look at music and entertainment from a gay perspective. It's not all Elton John, Bronski Beat and K D Lang here. Mainstream pop, rock and alternative is given the big put down in a creative and very funny writing style. It's like Julian Clarey with a thesaurus on high grade speed. Of course nothing is sacred and the writer's opinions are dished out without fear of offending. An entertaining read, no matter what your leanings are in the sexual preference department.
Verdict: Queer in your ear will tickle your funny bone.
NetWorth: ****
Le jazz
lejazz.simplenet.com
This French/English publication is a veritable Jazz festival. Though it's a little short of actual music, there are in depth interviews with Jazz greats, dozens of record reviews, some great photography, and plenty of news about Jazz events and concerts. The links section is rather small, but at least there are descriptions of the sites, before you go off chasing around the web. Being in two languages makes the site twice as time consuming to put together, I guess, so a few extra points are awarded for what's here. Jazz fans would be advised to bookmark this, as it is surely going to continue to expand.
Verdict: Le Jazz, le cool.
NetWorth: ***
Sled Bag
www.users.interport.net/~carll
Now this is a good concept. Here we have a magazine with no direction, no particular style and no plan, that is totally dependent on its contributors to take it where they want to go. A selection of coloured "splats" take you to the various sections, and surprisingly the ad hoc approach has lent itself to building a respectable collection of reviews and articles. No real agenda, coupled with a simple design has created a very useable e-zine.
Verdict: Stick your mouse in the bag and see what you can find.
NetWorth: ****
Freeloader
www.syspac.com/~freeload
A small but hip and zippy e-zine containing a few interviews and funny stuff on various semi-unknown acts, like Sonic Youth and D.C. photographer Cynthia Connolly. Not really enough here to rave about too much, but some of the pictures are OK and it is a small insight into the lifestyles of some fringe demographic sector of the music buying public.
Verdict: Freeloader is for the guy who crashes out on your couch and keeps using your internet account without asking.
NetWorth: **
Thick Media
www.thickmag.com
Thick magazine is a spin off of "This Is The Sound" which is a production of Thick Records, a small record company that wants your demos and likes to show that it is in touch with pop culture. Some nice interviews and articles here, but I think it is just a little too small to worry about too much. There are other sites worth more of a visit than this. Maybe you'll have to wait a little longer, like many of these e-zines, until production can manage to get into full swing.
Verdict: Not as thick as some.
NetWorth: **
One Billion Robots
www.io.com/~wasson/records.html
About four years of fairly consistent effort by one lone reviewer in cyberspace has created this site full of "music reviews for a troubled world". Punk is the style dealt with predominantly here, even though it seems the reviewer has grown out of it since starting the site. He's been quite a prolific writer, so the selection is impressive, and the reviews long and detailed, covering a great range of talent.
Verdict: You must be feeling lucky, punk, coz you just discovered this site.
NetWorth: ****
Bucketful of Brains
www.users.dircon.co.uk/~spacedog/Bobindex.htm
This site is a sampler and teaser of the print magazine of the same name. You won't get too much here, but they really would love you to subscribe, so you do get a nice sampling of their quality articles. Operating since 1979, and featuring the best Rock & Roll/Pop/Psych/Garage/Punk/R & B/Country/Folk, BoB has been pitching itself as an intelligent, straight shooting publication of the ilk of "Creem" and "New York Rocker".
Verdict: This is the web. We want more, and we don't want to pay a cent! -- SS
NetWorth: ***
Phat! Amsterdam
www.xs4all.nl/~aras
Another solo DJ effort at providing a comprehensive view of the techno scene. This dude is from Amsterdam, and although he probably indulges a fair bit in the local intoxicants, he has done a great job with this site. The graphics are cool, and there is a lot of information about the world of hip hop culture. A few real audio files are accessible as well as an event list and DJ profiles. The good thing about this site is that he has stuck to a fairly strict design and in doing so, makes it easy to get around and experience what is on offer here. No site like this hailing from Amsterdam would be complete without a guide to the coffee shops, so DJ Aras obliges willingly.
Verdict: A one man hip-hop Lollapalooza. -- SS
NetWorth: *****
Mindspell
wwwbacc.ift.ulaval.ca/~thibauds
The heavier and darker side of music is featured here in an online version of another "in-print" magazine. They don't hold back too much, though, even though some of it is under construction. The interviews are cool, and you will need an MP3 player to hear some of the sounds. The site is far from comprehensive, but is surely worth a bookmark whether you subscribe to the real thing or not. Unsigned bands have the opportunity to advertise themselves on this site for free. Can't complain about that.
Verdict: Almost had me mesmerised. -- SS
Networth: ***
Anarchist Barbie Doll
lehua.ilhawaii.net/~mj/zine/main.html
This, obviously, is a "punk-zine". Anarchy rules. There is no purpose, no direction, no control, but as such turns out to be quite an interesting place to mess about in. There are poetry, reviews, links, articles and comics on offer in each of a number of issues. Contributors are welcome, so budding writers get out your safety pins and start piercing your brains to see if the creative punk juices can start flowing onto your computer screens.
Verdict: Troubled childhoods create happening e-zine. - SS
NetWorth: ****
All About Jazz
www.allaboutjazz.com
You can achieve what many other e-zines can't by simply having commercial sponsorship. This affords you far more ability to get the job done, and fulfil the goals of the publication without cutting too many corners. A music magazine, besides providing information about artists, should probably be supporting the activity of actually buying the artists' recordings. In doing so, the site can expand into many areas, and does so very well. All the little extras the other sites haven't got the resources to include are here. A great "History of Jazz Time Line" is provided. Lot's of fun stuff, like where some of the Jazz greats' nicknames came from, and a free Jazz greeting card service are among the bonuses.
There are even a few freebie CD give aways to put your hand out for.
Verdict: The name says it all. -- SS
NetWorth: *****
Beamy magazine online
www.wwnet.net/~mikelod/beamy.htm
This self-confessed electronic music fan has dedicated a chunk of his life to offering his thoughts on the subject to the world. He also claims to not be very good with pictures, so he got a friend to pretty up the site nicely, so that the writing, his forte, could be presented well. The style is friendly and informed, with a sound background in various genres, so it may be worth reading what is written here. He is no raver or drug taker. He is committed to appreciation of the music. If you have a few minutes to spare in between dance parties, give beamy a quick read-through.
Verdict: beam me up, beamy. -- SS
NetWorth: ****
Bubblehead 105 Perth Music Magazine
cygnus.uwa.edu.au/~lavida/bh
A Perth local music scene e-mag, Bubblehead has already won two WA industry awards for its efforts. There is a local indie chart, live gig reviews, band info, and plenty of opportunity for your involvement. The only trouble with a local rag on the net is that until any of these bands really take off, no-one is really going to give a damn about them. The challenge is to somehow generate a reason for the whole world to want to hear about what is going on in your local scene. This is certainly a start, and from the links page, it seems there are many acts over there itching for a break.
Verdict: Bubblehead is bursting onto the world stage. --SS
NetWorth: ****
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