The
City Is Ablaze!
The
story of a post-punk popzine, 1984–1994
What
they said about Ablaze!:
“There are other
people to condemn, Karren – aren’t there?” - Morrissey
“I forgive and hope
for Karren A” – Thurston Moore
Ablaze!
fanzine was published in
Manchester and Leeds in the late eighties and early nineties by Karren Ablaze!
The best bits of this
notorious and outspokenly passionately zine are now available in book format,
to be published on 5th November 2012. Alongside hundreds of zine
pages, The City Is Ablaze! features
new writings by Karren and other members of the Ablaze! team, as well as
interviews with fanzine writers John
Robb (Rox), Dave Haslam (Debris)
and Richard Johnson (Grim Humour),
essays by DIY cultural commentators Lucy
Cage and Deborah Withers, a
re-examination of the Riot Grrrl
movement, and an epilogue by Gary Jarman.
This 320-page A4 book also covers other
zines that Karren produced in Manchester and Leeds between 1984 and 1994,
capturing an era where DIY was de rigueur and indie actually meant something.
You’ll be able to read original
interviews with the following bands (in chronological order).
Eyeless In
Gaza • The Membranes • The Stone Roses • The Inca Babies • Tools You Can Trust •
The Bodines • Inspiral Carpets • The Pastels • The Janitors • Happy Mondays •
King of the Slums • The Dust Devils • The Shamen • Cud • Sonic Youth • Dinosaur
Jr • The Pixies • Throwing Muses • The Sundays • Thrilled Skinny • Rapeman • UT
• Dog Faced Hermans • Edsel Auctioneer • Mudhoney • AC Temple • fIREHOSE • Band
of Susans • Henry Rollins • Live Skull • Kilgore Trout • The Sun and The Moon •
The Breeders • Happy Flowers • Silverfish • The Keatons • The Stretchheads •
Pregnant Neck • Mayomberos Alive • Fluff • Archbishop Kebab • Nirvana • Pale
Saints • Mercury Rev • The Heart Throbs • Babes in Toyland • American Music
Club • Hole • Pavement • My Bloody Valentine • Shudder To Think • The Wedding
Present • Leatherface • Nation of Ulysses • Tsunami • Poster Children • Sugar •
Moonshake • Hood • Polvo
The book also includes irate letters
from Morrissey and Thurston Moore.
The
City Is Ablaze! reads like a musical
history of the late eighties and early nineties, a
history that could only be obtained by surfing the sliproads, sneaking
backstage at a thousand shows, sleeping on strangers’ floors and living to type
up the tales of the sounds that defined an era.
The
City Is Ablaze! can be ordered from www.thecityisablaze.com or from the address below, for £25 plus £6 p+p in
the UK.
Mittens On
Publications
145-149
Cardigan Road, Leeds LS6 1JL.
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