Netpunk April 1998

Nothing much to rant about this month.  I suppose I could do an April Fool's column and give some story about how the government has decided to censor the net, but unfortunately it wouldn't be a story.  The legislature is hard at work trying to decide what you can and can't read/hear/see on the internet.  Please remember to check at http://www.cdt.org/ for the latest attempts to restrict your rights.  The latest is a bill sponsored by Sen. John McCain to require that schools and libraries receiving federal funds for their Internet access use filtering and blocking software.  No more porn at school, kids.

Anyway, I have a backlog of websites to let you in on this month, since I didn't give you any link at all last time.  My column of a couple of months ago about punk radio stations live on the net garnered a few responses from people who wanted their sites mentioned.  Ken Wisconsin let me know about his show, Dirtknap Radio, which is part of the Antenna Radio website.  Ken plays lots of new punk rock as well as a few oldies.  The current show that is available as I am writing this includes music from The Candy Snatchers, The Gotohells, The Von Zippers and more.  Dirtknap runs in both Real Audio and Microsoft Netshow.  Check out Dirtknap from the Antenna Radio site at http://www.antennaradio.com/ .

Another cool Real Audio punk radio show is entitled, simply enough, Punk Rock Radio.  You'll find music here from bands like Black Flag, Bikini Kill, Chaos UK, Gang of Four, Templars, Pulley and more.  It's a good mix of music.  However, in February, December's show was still up, so I don't know how much he is maintaining it anymore.  Anyway, you can listen to whatever he has there now at http://www.rasslin.com/prr/ .

It's not a radio show, but it is a good collection of Northwest punk, the 10 Things Jesus Wants You to Know comp CD that came out awhile back is now online for your listening pleasure.  These files are in mp3 format, so you'll need a different player for them, but there are links to programs to play these files at the website.  Check out the songs at http://www.cobaltgroup.com/~randy/10index.html .

Okay, so the next few websites I'll mention are specific scene related web pages.  These are either pages that try to represent the scene of a particular town, or possibly a club in that town that makes the scene.  Remember, if you have a scene related page, you should e-mail me the address, and it you've got your shit together, I'll probably give it a mention.

A couple of cool pages have popped up in my old hometown of Boise, Idaho.  The Angry Potato Punk Page (http://angry.home.ml.org) is one of them, and it has a ton of cool shit.  There's a pretty decent scene report, upcoming show list, links to other Boise pages, and a javachat utility so you can chat with people in potatoland.  Of course, I take special interest in Boise, but I'll probably come back to Angry Potato to visit and find out what's going on.  The other cool Boise page is Pecker's Boise Punk Page (http://www.angelfire.com/az/punxrock6/boipunk.html) which is mostly a bunch of links to other Boise pages, although there is some decent original content here as well.

There's a decent page about Hawaii called Hawaiian Express, even though the guy who made up the page moved away from Hawaii a year or so ago.  This is basically a listing of stuff like you'd find in the Hawaii section of BYOFL, but updated so that it is (hopefully) useful.  There are a few links to other Hawaiian band pages and address of clubs, record stores, etc.  An excellent resource if you are planning on taking a vacation or are interested in the Hawaiian scene, you'll find the page at http://members.aol.com/Hwnexp/news.html .

Next up is Moo-La-La Records page of Sacramento punk (http://www.sl.net/~ttbooks/moolala/).  You'll find a Sacramento scene report, the Moo-La-La catalog of Sacto music, and a discography of Sacto punk.  This site could definitely use some more content, but it is off to a good start.

For a little bit of info about the Missoula, Montana scene, you can check out the Jay's Upstairs webpage.  Jay's Upstairs is a Montana club that hosts punk bands and other stuff.  Their web page has some decent photos, and links to web pages of other Missoula bands.  You can check out Jay's Upstairs at http://www.nwlink.com/~woof/jays/index.html .

There have to be at least as many online electronic zines as there are paper ones, and the online ones are a hell of a lot easier to get your eyes on, since you don't have to bother with mail-ordering everything.  Plus, online zines are usually in color, and if you really want a hard copy, you can always print them out.  Anyway, here are a few online zines I've discovered / been alerted to in the last few months.

Furball (http://www.nipperland.demon.co.uk/index.html) covers garage punk and more.  The site featured stuff from The Brood, The Gories,  Jackknife, the Phantom Surfers and more, along with features on the Avengers TV show, and Chuck Bukowski.  While it might not be 100% punk, it is all relatively non-commercial, and worth your while if you have an open ear.

Anarchist Barbie Doll (http://lehua.ilhawaii.net/~mj/zine/main.html) is a zine out of Hawaii.  The current issue features interviews with Against All Authority and the Power Pellets, and well as rants, poetry, and other stuff.  They also have their back issues online, so there is plenty here to keep you occupied.  They also take submissions, so any of you looking for a vehicle for your writing should check out this page.

Losers are Cool e-zine may not be about punk rock, but since punk rock is about being a loser, then it is perfect for those of us who've never quite fit in.  The Loser rants about all kinds of different subjects - from racism to the crap he has to put up with at work and more.  Well worth checking out, you'll find Losers are Cool at http://home.earthlink.net/~theloser/ .

Another decent e-zine is Moisst (http://www.goodnet.com/~moisst/).  The current issue includes Gas Huffer, The Descendents, Youth Brigade, and the Vandals, as well as letters, music reviews and more.  It's nice to see decent interviews, because in my opinion that is one place where many online zines are weak.
 
The final sites that I want to mention this month are a couple of record company pages.  I can't remember if I mentioned the New Red Archives (http://www.newredarchives.com/) but if I did, they've definitely changed their site since last time I was there.  Lots of cool photos and links to NRA bands, as well as a recommended zine reading list and a few other things.  Nifty.

Another pretty cool site is the Posh Boy Discography page at http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/6382/discography.htm .  This page gives you a complete listing of the Posh Boy releases, as well as interesting observations on some of the releases by Robbie Fields, the owner of Posh Boy.  Find out exactly what records you're missing from you complete Posh Boy collection.

I think that's about enough for this month.  E-mail me at hanford@cruzio.com, or write to me at PO Box 8059;  Santa Cruz, CA  95061.  And don't forget to visit my columns online at http://netpunk.base.org/.  See ya.


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