Stroud, Ontario might seem like an odd place to start up an ambitious bi-monthly independent music magazine, but hey, these guys aren’t even in the whooping metropolis of Stroud. They are in nearby and even smaller Alcona. God’s country, the editors insist, whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean. Okay, alright, I’m being an asshole. It’s just that I can’t help wondering if Southern Ontario really needs another vehicle to promote independent Canadian music. Especially one as boring as Release. Blocky lay-out gives way to articles on improving your studio sound, success on the indie scene, and uninspiring interviews with the ever dull Waltons, Faith Nolan and Sara Craig. I did like their Registry of Canadian Independent Recordings, but don’t know how successful it will be if it is forever attached to the magazine. Release is one of those wanna-be magazines that looks at glossy music mags and says okay we can do that and then proceeds to offer up well-intentioned facsimiles of things we’ve already seen. Maybe God should get to work correcting typos.
magazine / #1 / publisher: Michael P. Michael / main creator: Dave Campbell (editor) / free / 778 Chestnut Street, Box 676, RR#1, Stroud, ON L0L 2M0