1983-1986 · San Francisco
First Edition. Complete run. Eleven issues, ca. 35-130 pp. each, in ten fascicles (vol. 2, no. 3-4 is a double issue) of the experimental music, sound and performance art magazine. 4to. Very good. Vol. 1, no. 1 through vol. 3, no. 1 saddle stapled illus. wraps; vol. 3, no. 2, contents housed in wraps portfolio sealed in plastic bag with limitation number (20/1000). [13]
Edited and published by William Davenport and Tamara F., Unsound vividly reported from the global anti-pop underground of the mid-1980s, covering West Coast post punk movements, the New York no wave scene, European and Japanese noise art and a host of other regional and international subgenres including industrial, psych, synth and experimental electronica. The magazine also covered film and performance art. Interviews, features, and long form reviews include Culturecide, the Birthday Party, John Duncan, Negativland, Einstürzende Neubauten, Boyd Rice, Glenn Branca, Sonic Youth, SPK, Test Department, Coil, Psychic TV, Swans, Christian Marclay, Borbetomagus, Sleep Chamber, Controlled Bleeding, Karen Finley, Ellen Zweig, Vittore Baroni, Church of the Subgenius, Tödliche Doris, V2, Nick Zedd, Richard Kern, Lydia Lunch, etc. The final issue was produced as a limited edition multiple, with a folded tabloid called "Features" (56 pp., 4to, self-wraps.); "Unsound Contacts and Reviews" booklet (32 pp., 8vo, red wraps); "Unsound Advertisements" booklet (28 pp., 8vo., red wraps); and "The Final Unsound" cassette tape (with offset litho title card), including sound recordings by Controlled Bleeding, Tödliche Doris, The Haters, Negativland and others. Altogether, the magazine provides a potent testament to pre-internet independent distribution networks and the underground cultural alternatives that blossomed in punk's wake. (Inventory #: 13)
Edited and published by William Davenport and Tamara F., Unsound vividly reported from the global anti-pop underground of the mid-1980s, covering West Coast post punk movements, the New York no wave scene, European and Japanese noise art and a host of other regional and international subgenres including industrial, psych, synth and experimental electronica. The magazine also covered film and performance art. Interviews, features, and long form reviews include Culturecide, the Birthday Party, John Duncan, Negativland, Einstürzende Neubauten, Boyd Rice, Glenn Branca, Sonic Youth, SPK, Test Department, Coil, Psychic TV, Swans, Christian Marclay, Borbetomagus, Sleep Chamber, Controlled Bleeding, Karen Finley, Ellen Zweig, Vittore Baroni, Church of the Subgenius, Tödliche Doris, V2, Nick Zedd, Richard Kern, Lydia Lunch, etc. The final issue was produced as a limited edition multiple, with a folded tabloid called "Features" (56 pp., 4to, self-wraps.); "Unsound Contacts and Reviews" booklet (32 pp., 8vo, red wraps); "Unsound Advertisements" booklet (28 pp., 8vo., red wraps); and "The Final Unsound" cassette tape (with offset litho title card), including sound recordings by Controlled Bleeding, Tödliche Doris, The Haters, Negativland and others. Altogether, the magazine provides a potent testament to pre-internet independent distribution networks and the underground cultural alternatives that blossomed in punk's wake. (Inventory #: 13)