Volume

I miss the spirit behind these more than I can put into words. For an adolescent in the early 1990s, the Volume Magazine series were perfection. Easily totable pocket size, every disc chock full of a variety of amazing new music, sometimes demos, sometimes remixes, always previously unreleased. The things even felt solid; little bricks of sound and words, the very heft of each one said "I'm substantial! You've really got something here in your hands!" Every single issue of the magazine had a fun-filled, colorful, absurdly humorous near-200 pages of information and amusement written by nearly twenty people, offering hours of pleasant experience — a sort of curated window into a world of the then-current indie, alternative, and electronic happenings. It was always well-researched, and there was this very real sense that the musicians and artists were very keen on being part of Volume's vision. The editorial and publishing team responsible for this series and label transparently loved music like nothing else and wanted to transmit that to everyone in the world, what musician wouldn't get on that bandwagon? This compilation / magazine was ubiquitous at independent record stores UK and US-wide, and likely elsewhere in the world (though I can't attest to the latter.) Bless these people for opening the hearts and ears of a generation. They certainly did their part in opening mine.

I will always remember Volume for their enthusiasm and efforts they put in all their releases. They did not just make compilations like hundreds before them but seemed to be on a mission: teaching the world something by bringing them not only the music, but also the artists and their ideas, even if that costed hundreds of pages superb quadricolour background info to be added to every single album. They even offered a subscribing service and took the time to send beautiful Christmas cards to their subscribers, hand signed by every employee! But quality is rarely a key to commercial success and by 1997 Volume was no more. Deviant Records tried to continue their work with the Trance Pacific releases but the lights soon went out and we would never see another TEX.