Misc. Reviews

It's been a while since I read a boss music zine, so the recent arrival of Galactic Zoo Dossier #6 -- a 76-page rag dedicated to obscure psychedelic music and published by longtime indie imprint Drag City -- was a welcome development. GZD(named after a 1971 album by the British prog-rock band Kingdom Come) is the product of this Chicago-based musician, writer, and illustrator who actually refers to himself as -- believe it or not -- Plastic Crimewave.

Related Content

• Turkish Delight
  July 12, 2006

More About

• Shinki Chen
• Perry Leopold
• Erkin Koray
• Visual Arts

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Music Newsletter: Keep your thumb on the local music scene with music features, additional online music listings and show picks. We'll also send special ticket offers and music promotions available only to our Music Newsletter subscribers.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Now that's pretty damn corny, but what really classifies this dude as a record-collecting dork extraordinaire is the fact that he earnestly dresses up in these gauche, quasi-mod outfits and photographs himself (à la Rodney "on the ROQ" Bingenheimer) hanging with psych-rock cult heroes; a handful of these rather ridiculous scenester pix can even be viewed in the latest GZD.

Then again, I don't read GZDfor the photography. Nor do I read this dense-ass thing for Crimewave's artwork and writing. His illustrations of musicians are rendered in a fairly standard (albeit well-crafted) comic-strip style and are based a bit too faithfully on old photographs rather than on his imagination (like all true psychedelic art should be). Meanwhile, Crimewave (the writer) doesn't supply his readers with poetic insight or unique critical perspectives on the music he so intensely loves. The overwhelming majority of his page-long essays are variations on the theme "This sounds like a cross between this and this -- and it kicks ass."

When all is said and done, the fundamental reason for reading GZDis purely utilitarian: It's to obtain data on rare psychedelic records. Crimewave is the freak who actually shells out $400 for some insanely unheard-of LP and then describes his priceless acquisition to those of us who love abstruse music but don't spend the big bucks on it. In fact, GZD #6 even comes packaged with a set of 72 "Damaged Guitar Gods Trading Cards," and I'll guarantee you've never heard of at least 60 of these unknowns: Erkin Koray? Perry Leopold? Shinki Chen? They're absurdly fabulous. Simply read the brief bios given and then hit up your fave record stores flashing the cards to clerks like you're Columbo scouring the streets for a few solid leads. Who knows? Maybe you'll discover some record you can't live without.