'Zine Review: Liquid Cheese #34

Liquid Cheese is a fanzine based out of Wisconsin that has a history dating back to 1993, thus making this its 20th year of publication. The 'zine is the brainchild of one Dave Kosanke, though over the years friends have occasionally contributed stubs of extras, in fact I became aware of Liquid Cheese because a friend has been participating with his music reviews for many years now. As far as contents, the 'zine mostly centers around cinema, though as already mentioned music reviews have their presence and little other tidbits can be found.

After the table of contents the first thing you'll see is the expected editorial notes followed by a few pages of photos with cinematic personalities posing with the 'zine called, 'Look Who's Reading Liquid Cheese. The most notable ones being Pam Grier and John Carpenter, I guess. Next up is a live review of The Cold Beyond return gig, which you may recall me writing about back in late October. It made for a good read since I attended the gig, but also because it was interesting reading an article on black metal from someone who is more of an outsider to the genre.

From there we move on to reports on various movie conventions around the US that Dave attended. I've never been to a convention of this sort, but based off what is written I wouldn't immediately jump to one either. It seems like the allure is standing in line, paying ridiculous amounts of money (in some cases) to meet actors and directors of mostly past glory. Personally, I'd never do that, because autographs never meant a damn thing to me, similarly even meeting people I admired never meant much, but I guess everyone has their interests. A good portion of the article is just commented on how these talents are charging too much for their John Hancock and how its pretty much bullshit. Nevertheless, I'm sure the conventions are pretty rad for merchandise and meeting like minded folks, so it might be something to consider for the future, but I'll avoid the lines.

Moving on there's a lengthy interview with a gentlemen named Eric Caiden whom runs 'Hollywood Book and Poster,' which is a store active since '77 that is largely themed around exploitation cinema and probably a place I'd enjoy visiting. One of the articles in the 'zine that I enjoyed the most was Dave pulling out old VHS tapes from twenty some years ago and reporting on the contents. I somewhat regrettably tossed most of my VHS tapes when DVD became the new hip thing, but I've still got a few and if I had a VHS player it would probably be fun to scan through them. In any case Dave reports back on a version of Jaws, Kiss, Commando and some wrestling stuff, which is all pretty funny to read about.

Oh no, look who's reading Liquid Cheese now!

A few more interviews follow, one with Mark K Allen - a comic artist, as well a little chit chat with Louis Justin, whom is the mastermind behind Massacre Video and Dan Kinem, a fellow 'zinester. Following are some book and 'zine reviews, followed by numerous music reviews and fortunately its mostly my sort of sounds, so it makes for a good read, even if some of the albums are summarized in a few sentences. And other than a few ads at the end, that concludes Liquid Cheese #34.

Obviously this is a 'zine that's mostly centered around the movie fanatics, which I can't entirely claim to be, but for those that are I'd imagine it to be a trove of sorts. Furthermore, I can state that Dave puts a hell of a lot of work into his 'zine, from the layout to the contents themselves it all makes for a pleasing and easy read. As I said earlier this is my first experience with Liquid Cheese, but I'd certainly be curious to see the next one too!

[If you'd like to order this issue (or back issues) get in contact with Dave through the Facebook profile or via email, dkosanke@aol.com. $7 is the cost.]