Perfect Sound Forever (magazine)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"When jaded music-nuts, chin-strokers and hipster whipper-snappers mull about things like 'where did punk rock come from,' very rarely do you hear anything about jazz. Some poor souls are under the misconception that "jazz" only means Chuck Mangione or George Benson, forgetting such pioneers as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Sun Ra and Albert Ayler, all of whom are the real grand-daddies of punk."--"The Real Godfathers of Punk" (1996) by Jason Gross |
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Perfect Sound Forever (est. 1995) is one of the longest-running online-only music magazines. Along with Michael Goldberg's Addicted to Noise (est. 1994), it is one of the very first publications to post recurring, feature-length music journalism online.
PSF has also published work by several noted writers including Robert Christgau (who also edited the June 2008 issue), Jim DeRogatis, Vivien Goldman, Barney Hoskyns, Dave Marsh, Richard Meltzer, Simon Reynolds, David Toop and Richie Unterberger. There have also been articles, stories and literature from several musicians including Colin Newman (Wire), Peter Stampfel (The Holy Modal Rounders), Lydia Lunch, Chris Cutler, Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls), Holger Czukay (Can), DJ Spooky, Richard Hell, Moondog and Tuli Kupferberg (The Fugs).
PSF's origins trace back to New York freelance writer Jason Gross, who began a now-defunct website called Furious Green Thoughts (from the famous Noam Chomsky quote). The site was first hosted by the pre-Earthlink ISP Pipeline, and included articles covering politics, music and fiction. In 1995, Furious Green Thoughts was splintered into three sections, with the main title covering political (usually far-left) stories, "Assorted Realities" covering fiction and "Perfect Sound Forever" covering music. Laboring as a staff of one, Gross eventually folded Furious Green Thoughts and Assorted Realities, simplifying the zine's name to Perfect Sound Forever by the mid-1990s. PSF also moved from monthly to bi-monthly publication, with approximately 14 articles in each issue.
Apart from occasional review columns (notably Outsight, written by Tom Shulte, and Digitaljukejointbox), the 'zine concentrates on in-depth op-ed pieces and interviews, usually of obscure, often reclusive artists. Its design is a dark background with white lettering, which some readers have complained is difficult to wade through. However, a 2004 redesign prompted many calls for reversion to the original code.
Other than Outsight, PSF's longest running column is Marc Phillips' "The Vinyl Anachronist" (which began in 1998). The site's most popular article remains The Bad Songs of the '70's, which was written in 1995 and still generates hate-mail.
Several of PSF's articles have led to reissues of the artists involved, including:
Former Pitchfork editor Chris Ott briefly worked as co-editor, and put together a redesign of Perfect Sound Forever that ran in late 2004 and early 2005. Current editors include founder Jason Gross, Robin Cook, Ken Cox, Al Spicer and Kurt Wildermuth. Gross also contributes an annual report on the state of music criticism to RockCritics.com.
The name "Perfect Sound Forever" originated in an early 1980s Sony ad campaign about the first generation of CDs, promising the highest fidelity possible, and that the discs would outlive their owners. The same term would be later used as the title of a Pavement EP.
Bad songs of the 1970s
Incipit:
10CC “I'm Not In Love” | Abba “Dancing Queen” | Abba “Knowing Me, Knowing You” | Abba “Take A Chance On Me” | Abba “Waterloo” | Ace “How Long” | Al Stewart “Time Passages” | Al Stewart “Year of the Cat” | Alan O'Day “Undercover Angel” | Albert Hammond “It Never Rains In Southern California” | Ambrosia “How Much I Feel” | America “Horse With No Name”
Pages linking in in 2023
... Rage Before Beauty, A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window, A Raise of Eyebrows, Adolescent Sex (song), Affenstunde, After the Rain (Muddy Waters album), Alabama Feeling, Alan Betrock, All Gates Open: The Story of Can, Amon Düül II, Amon Düül, Amy Allison, Ancora da Capo, Aphex Twin, Arnold Dreyblatt, Azalia Snail, Battery Park, NYC July 4th 2008, Beautiful as the Moon – Terrible as an Army with Banners, Billy Corgan, Blonz, Bob Drake (musician), Camera Obscura (record label), Can (band), Cardiacs, Chalk Circle (American band), Change Becomes Us, Charles Gayle, Child's Play (band), Chris D., Clusone Trio, Colossus (Scorn album), Come On In (album), Cry Wolf (band), Dallas Frazier, Dangerous Toys, Dean Menta, Del Amitri (album), Designing a Nervous Breakdown, Die Kreuzen, DUH (band), Eat My Life, Elaine MacKenzie, Electric Mud, Electric Rock Music, Envy (Eve's Plum album), Erdem Helvacıoğlu, Ersatz GB, Every Mother's Nightmare, Expert Knob Twiddlers, Felt (band), Flesh Eaters (EP), Floral Shoppe, Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics, Gary Ridgway, Go See the World, Green (Green album), Greg Werckman, Grotto of Miracles, Hard Normal Daddy, Henry Cow, Here Come the Warm Jets, Hey Spinner!, Highway to Hanno's, Hosianna Mantra, I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home), In den Gärten Pharaos, Industrial musical, Intelligent dance music, It's Gonna Rain, James Williamson (musician), John Abercrombie (guitarist), John Sebastian, John's Children, Kasvot Växt: í rokk, La Düsseldorf, Legendary Hearts, Lena Zavaroni And Her Music, LiLiPUT, Linda Hopper, Live in Japan (John Coltrane album), Live in Seattle (John Coltrane album), Loaded (The Velvet Underground album), Lora Logic, Loud Lucy, Love Me, I'm a Liberal, LSD (Cardiacs album), Lynda Stipe, Magma (band), Magnapop, Mathcore, Maurice Deebank, Maxwell's, Michael Lachowski, Michael Stipe, Minor Threat, Mofungo, More Like Space, Mr. Bungle (album), Music Is Rotted One Note, MusicHound, Muslimgauze, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (album), Nine Funerals of the Citizen King, No Questions Asked (album), No wave, Ocean of Sound, Oh-OK, Os Mutantes, P53 (album), P53 (band), Perfect Sound Forever, Peter Stampfel, Phil Ochs, Planet Rock (song), Pylon (band), Queens of Noise, Quique (album), Raw Power, Recommended Records, Red Gold (EP), Richard D. James Album, Ron Asheton, Ronald Reagan in music, Rotary Connection, Ruthie Morris, Sandbox: The Music of Mark Sandman, Scott Miller (pop musician), Seligpreisung, Send You, Sentimental Education (Sneaky Feelings album), Shirley Collins, Shot (album), Slap-Happy, Soldier-Talk, Songs of Innocence and Experience (Allen Ginsberg album), Supernature (song), Suture (band), The Deviants 3, The Flowers of Romance (album), The Hard Stuff (Wayne Kramer album), The Holy Modal Rounders, The Howlin' Wolf Album, The Muffins, The Plastic People of the Universe, The Savage Resurrection, The Unholy Handjob, The Velvet Underground, The Warning (band), Tooth and Nail (various artists album), Triangle (The Beau Brummels album), Vanessa Briscoe Hay, Yeti (album), Your Majesty (album)
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