The one-year anniversary of Punk Planet's demise came and went with nary a mention from most of the music blogs I read. I’d make more of a stink about it if I hadn’t forgotten myself.
It’s funny (not “ha-ha” funny, of course) that this anniversary completely passed me by. I was a subscriber and supporter of the magazine for years, and was heartbroken when it stopped publishing. But I thought I’d personally feel its loss a little more.
Rather than seeming like the magazine shut down yesterday it seems like many years ago. Both publisher Dan Sinker and editor Anne Elizabeth Moore have gone on to other things. Punk Planet still exists as an online community (such that it is) and Akashic Books imprint Punk Planet Books is still going strong.
But the magazine itself? Well, I still routinely pick up old issues and read through them on slow days around the house, and I'm heartened by the fact that you can still pick up back issues at Quimby's. Not to mention, I still reference articles from it. (Jessica Hopper’s now classic 2003 essay on women in punk/emo? I think it comes up in regular conversation for me every 6-8 months.)
However with a couple of exceptions, I don’t buy music magazines anymore, and I don’t think about buying them. I get 90% or so of my daily music news, information and criticism online. But there’s something to be said for music writing in print, you know?
Print music publications (like another well-loved but departed magazine for many, No Depression ) can capture moments in time for entire subcultures. Not just with reviews and interviews and essays about the music itself, but with pictures, with art - even with ads - the aesthetic and the culture that surrounds a genre. It can never be deleted, it can never be updated.
I feel like a bit of a traitor, extolling the virtues of print on a music blog. Or maybe I'm just old. Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love music blogs and music blogging – clearly. But the immediacy of online music writing can makes it feel transient, in a way, always focused on the new and the now, and there are often times where there’s value in just lingering. Being able to pick up the DeCapo Best Music Writing series every year and immerse myself in some seriously long-form music writing? That’s still pretty thrilling to me. (Or the 33 1/3 series, as hit or miss as it is.) With the future of music journalism moving almost entirely online. I hope there will still be a place for such indulgence.
I guess it comes down to me feeling like I didn’t mourn Punk Planet quite enough. It's never too late, though. Maybe I'll head over to Quimby's this week.
This was not only a wonderful examination of the virtues of print publications and the transient nature of the web, but also an interesting reflection on your personal feelings of not mourning Punk Planet's passing enough. I think anything that was meaningful to you, especially when you were growing up and first getting into music, will always hold a special place in your heart. When it comes time for that thing to end, often some years later, your life's moved to a different place, but you still have that spot reserved in your heart for it. Where you are now and the space that these memories occupy, however, don't always match up, so you're left feeling like you should care more.
I felt that way when Lounge Ax closed (I'm dating myself here!). I had loads of great times there and saw innumerable unforgettable gigs within its walls. Yet when the time came for it to close, I didn't really care that much, which made me feel like some kind of indie heretic. It wasn't that I was unthankful for all the work that venue did for Chicago's musical climate, it's just that it represented my mid-90s and my time in university. If it closed during that era in my life, I'd have been gutted, but since I wasn't in the same place I was then, the moment didn't have much impact on me, and I felt like a heartless bastard.
Punk Planet was an essential part of growing up for me, too. It's sad to see it go, but yeah, circle of life, innit. ;)
Posted by: Dave Knapik | 11/04/2008 at 09:04 AM
Fantastic insight into why print matters, lady!
Posted by: Sheba White | 10/29/2008 at 01:13 PM