Carbon 14 #26 / $6 / 1:15 / 124M / http://www.c14.com / [email protected] /Â
Carbon 14 is always such a strong zine because its focus is not on the bands that are being relentlessly promoted by PR firms, or topics that have become famous in the internet community (Homestar Runner, Emo Game, etc). Rather, Carbon 14 has a certain dirty luster to it that allows the zine to talk about wrestling, utterly random topics (Diary of a Rock ‘N’ Roll Fiend is written much like a Jay Leno monologue, but actually funny). Honestly, how many zines would give a showcase to an adult video convention, fearing that if they did so they would lose some of their Christian/younger-focused advertisers? Carbon 14 just doesn’t care, only throwing in ads when they positively, absolutely have to make some cashola – the higher zine price is evidence of that, but the additional content is well worth the somewhat pricy cost of the zine. Every review in the pages of Carbon 14 does a double duty; they serve the individuals sending the materials because they are so accurate and free from Pitchfork-like snarkiness, and serve the readers by turning people onto acts or movies that they might never hear of (for example, Japan’s recent import Battle Royale). Porn, wrestling, music, and movies are Carbon 14’s bread and butter, and each issue has ample amounts of all four; if this sounds like your bag, pick it up! Hell, the $6 will not even seem as bad when one considers that a form of music accompanies the disc – this issue has a compilation CD with it, while previous issues have had 7 inch vinyls.
Rating: 6.9/10