Other publications

Coverage for my non-existent “Experimental Music” blog

I’ve long been a fan of disinformation in regard to my own projects, but today I discovered a totally inexplicable internet artifact that goes far beyond any prior misstatements, errors, untruths and lies involving my work. As part of a Vibes Magazine (VBMGZN) article called “Lost in the Playlist: 41 Music Magazines to Re-educate / Refresh Your Ears,” item #4 cites a music blog authored by me, focusing on experimental music! If you are reading this blog right now, you know it is not about “experimental music”–except as it relates to my own music production–but about my own “misadventures” in various types of self-publishing. This Vibes Magazine blog article has to be one of the weirdest self-publishing misadventures I’ve ever been involved in. And I’m not even sure I’m involved!

It is true that I used to be a music writer, with publications including the Washington Post, Option, Washington City Paper, and others. And it is true that I once edited and published a fanzine called Mole Magazine. And it is also true that I “curated” a concert series for experimental music, called Electric Possible. All of those projects ended a long time ago. Because I have already done these things, and know what a thankless pain in the ass they all were, I would NEVER do any of them again. And I certainly wouldn’t write a blog about music of any kind.

This Vibes Magazine segment gets weirder. It claims that my “experimental music blog” focuses on Texas music. It’s true I live in San Antonio, but I know next to nothing about the contemporary music scene–let alone the experimental music scene–here or in the state of Texas. The article says some very nice things about my “work.” For instance, that my blog “treats experimental music with scholarly rigor typically reserved for classical music.” That’s probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said about any of my writing; I only wish it had some basis in reality!

The statement “experimental musicians respect Bagato’s reviews because he understands the creative process from inside” is also very nice. It’s astonishing because I have never received such praise from any musicians I’ve ever known!

It’s also weird that the article links to my fictional blog, sending readers here. As you can see, this page is not actually a blog about music. It does list a bunch of music groups–but these are only projects I have been involved in, most of them now defunct. And all of them were Washington, DC based projects.

No information about the Vibes Magazine blog (not to be confused with VIBE magazine, LOL) seems available on the site, and no author is listed for the article in question. Where does it originate and who writes and publishes it? The answer may lie in the photo (below) leading the article; the image shows a spread of music magazines, but the garbled titles point to an AI origin. I must assume the article itself was compiled using AI and then dumped on the blog as filler.

It doesn’t really matter. I just wished such glowing praise actually focused on something I actually did!

“Joys of Serf Culture” published in the “Best of Mad Swirl 2021” anthology

Online lit journal Mad Swirl has published a “best of” issue for the past five years; the volume for 2021 was just released and is now available in print on Amazon. I’m very pleased to be included with my poem “The Joys of Serf Culture,” which appeared in the journal last April.

Here’s the book hype direct from Mad Swirl editor Johnny Olson:

“2021 has been yet another extraordinarily challenging year. Thru it all, Mad Swirl was there, every one of the 365 days of this twisted year. We didn’t miss a beat. Those beats are what you’ll get when you dig into this year’s collection. Get your firsthand view of one helluva of a f*cking year. The Best of Mad Swirl : v2021 is a 107-page anthology featuring 52 poets, 12 short fiction writers, and four artists hailing from 5 continents (Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, & North America); 15 countries (Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, England, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Montenegro, Nigeria, Romania, Singapore, Syria, & USA [20 States]). We editors reviewed the entire year’s output to ensure this collection is truly “the best” of MadSwirl.com! The works represent diverse voices and vantages which speak to all aspects of this crazy swirl we call ‘life on earth.’

“Mad Swirl is an arts and literature creative outlet. It is a platform, a showcase, and a stage for artistic expression in this mad, mad world of ours; a diverse collection of as many poets, artists, and writers we can gather from around the world; from Nepal to Ireland, from England to China, from California to New York City and all the places in between. Our Poetry Forum features works from over 170 contributing poets, our Short Story Library has over 40 participating writers and our Mad Gallery has over 50 resident artists.”

Contributors include: Artists: J Gregory Cisneros, Alan Murphy, Thomas Riesner, Bleak Teeth

Poets: Jeff Bagato, Tohm Bakelas, Jon Bennett, Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal, Jean Biegun, Jean Bohuslav, Casey Bush, Laurie Byro, PW Covington, John Dorroh, J.K. Durick, Michael Estabrook Joseph Farley, Robert Fleming, Susie Gharib, Iulia Gherghei, KJ Hannah Greenberg, John Grey, Paul Hostovsky, Ojo Victoria Ilemobayo, Mike James, Ivan Jenson, Sally Jo, Ferris Jones, Carl Kavadlo, Vyarka Kozareva, Padmini Krishnan, Tyler Malone, Robert L. Martin, Tom Montag, Ian Mullins, Madelyn Olson, Johnny Olson, Brittany M. Ortega, Irena Pasvinter, Patty Dickson Pieczka, Timothy Pilgrim,, Randall Rogers, Madu Chibueze Romanus, Sreemani Sengupta, Beate Sigriddaughter, Susandale, David Susswein, Rp Verlaine, Isaiah Vianese, Agnes Vojta, Trier Ward, Richard Weaver, Stefan White, Stephen Jarrell Williams, Catherine Zickgraf, Milenko Županović

Fiction: Jim Bates, Glenn Bresciani, Mike Fiorito, Susie Gharib, Jeff Grimshaw, Prapti Gupta, Flora Jardine, James Lawless, Edward N. McConnell, Vivek Nath Mishra, Randall Rogers, Chuck Taylor

Guest reading on David Craig and Willard Simmons’ poetry & music album Blame it on the Gamma Ray

My friends David Craig and Willard Simmons produced an album of poetry and music, called Blame it on the Gamma Ray, which is now available on Bandcamp. There will be a tape version as well available from Unread Records of Omaha, NE. David wrote and read the poems, and Will performed the backing tracks. I have a guest appearance in the middle of the track “Wild Sudafed Head,” where I read my poem “Hot Dogs Can’t Sing.” Knowing these guys’ work as solo artists and in other musical projects (some of which I’ve been part of), I knew this would be a fun project, and hearing the whole thing confirms this. You can preview this track, and even listen to the whole album (or buy it!) here.

StampZine 37 released

Stamp Zine is an assembling magazine focusing on rubber stamp images. Contributors create 20 pages, and the total are compiled into individual issues. Stamp Zinessue #37 was recently issued, and I’m pleased to be included with the page shown above in front and back views. The other pages in the issue are pictured below.

Stampzine #36 released
StampZine contributor list and introduction

Assembling magazine StampZine #36 was completed in December, using contributions from different artists from around the world. Each artist sends 20 pages, which are collated (or assembled) into the completed magazine, which is mailed to each contributor. The pages in this issue are shown below, including my work.

StampZine #36 pages; my page is on the left
reverse side of my page

Stamp Zine #35
reverse side of my page for Stamp Zine #35

An assembling magazine is composed of artworks on paper sent in by various contributors. Stamp Zine is one of the few remaining examples of assembling zines; it asks for 20 pages from each artist and requires that rubber stamps be used in some way. Stamp Zine is now up to issue #35, and when I received my copy, I was pleasantly surprised to find that editor and assembler Picasso Gaglione had used some of my writing as the issue’s introduction! This text was drawn from the introduction to an assembling zine I had edited several years ago, soliciting contributions from Washington, DC’s experimental music scene as a part of the Electric Possible concert series I was curating at that time. So yes, it’s a bit Inception like in being a assembling zine introduction drawn from an assembling zine introduction. Or kind of assembling zine cannibalism. Anyway, I was honored.

Stamp Zine #35 introduction

Far more interesting than this long winded introduction is Stamp Zine 35 itself, which features contributions from artists around the world.

Stamp Zine #35 pages, mine on the far right

Flashback: Article on National Glamour Archives in Washington City Paper

city paper-art amsie

That time my article on pin up painting collector Art Amsie’s National Glamour Archives appeared in Washington City Paper (February 16, 2001). The “archives” was an informal room in Amsie’s condo with a brag wall of oil paintings by many of the major figures of vintage pin up art. Think Gil Elvgren, Alberto Vargas, Joyce Ballantyne. The kind of stuff you see in calendars and coffee table books. Amsie had another claim to fame in that he had been an amateur club photographer who snapped shots of Bettie Page. Rather good shots, actually. Amsie passed away in 2006; I don’t know where his collection resides today. You can read the full article here.

Flashback: Article on Anarchist women’s collective published in Washington City Paper

city paper-tute nere

That time Washington City Paper published my article on Tute Nere, a DC-area anarchist women’s collective. You can read the full text here.

Somehow I learned that Tute Nere was publishing their own fanzine to promote women’s participation in radical anarchist activity in the area. That was the hook I needed to get City Paper to accept a short piece on the group, a part of my effort to document the more unusual underground activity in the region.

Flashback: Article on poet Buck Downs in Washington City Paper

city paper - buck downsThat time my article on DC poet Buck Downs and his poetry postcard project appeared in Washington City Paper (June 26, 1998). You can read the full article here.

Buck has a distinctive style of gnomic, fragmented poems that hint at deeper mysteries and insights. Third party presses (Edge Books, Furniture Press) have brought out collections of his work, and he has self published chapbooks, on-demand books, and his postcards. I still get poems on postcards from Buck, always a great read.

At the time, I was still trying to establish myself as a freelance writer, and I was frustrated by the lack of coverage for really cool stuff going on around town. This was a window of opportunity, of course, and this article on Buck’s postcards was one of several pieces I managed to place in the weekly alternative rag. The editors typically shoved these pieces off in the “Artifacts” section, with word counts not exceeding 500 words. Nonetheless, these little articles served as some form of documentation that interesting stuff actually happened in DC.