em writing & music

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em one reviews:

	Editor Karl Sinfield has assembled an eclectic bunch of writers (great stories by Hilaire, Steve Aylett, Hanif Kureishi, David Rose, Martin Rowsell and Stephen Curran) and gone one better by velcroing an absolutely ace tape to the book's cover. Again eclecticism is the key with the music: Minibar sound unnervingly like Elvis Costello and there's some heady ambient stuff, but Angela Carrillo's 'Riverbank' is worth the £7.99 cover price on its own. Put it this way: if David Lynch was to cop a listen of 'Riverbank', Angelo Badalamenti and Julee Cruise would be out looking for new films to score.	Nicholas Royle Time Out Feb 26 - March 5 1997
	Em is an independently produced project, profiling the best and most original new writing and music twice-yearly. With a deliberately different format, it is a squarish book of 158 pages with freeform design within, gloriously dispensing with the usual boring blocks of text to include funky idiosyncratic graphics. It comes with a velcroed tape containing an eccentric collection of music. the cut and paste philosophy behind em means a bewildering array of story subjects and styles, from Hanif Kureishi’s tale of embarrasment to Dick McBride’s gloriously surreal haiku/poetry. Em’s music carries on this eclecticism with trance from Maximum Effect Productions to insane folk funk from Angela Carrillo.	Matt Hanson Raise Magazine Issue 2 Feb 97
	A superb forum for new (and not so new) writers and musicians, "em one" presents 'The Tale of the Turd', a short story by Hanif Kureishi, a load of punk rantings from Jamie Jackson, and alternative history from Dick McBride and loads more besides. With more good ideas than the government have had in almost 17 years, "em one" is essential.	Muzik March 1997
	The sanity of millions depends on having something interesting to read on a dreaded daily bus, train or Tube journey. Only those with a sixth-sense or a third eye, however, can safely finish off an exciting chapter while running for a number 12 or negotiating a tricky escalator. Have no fear em is here. On reaching the right stop, simply mark the page, turn up the volume on your Walkman and let the rush-hour fade to a distant hum. The sleek brainchild of 25-year old writer and graphic designer Karl Sinfield, em is a twice-yearly chocolate box of new music and writing - a book and tape set brimming with offerings which range from drum and bass music to beat-poetry. Hanif Kureishi's The Tale of the Turd is the indisputable star of the show - a bizarre journey through the mind and bowels of a middle-aged addict on a nightmarish first encounter with his young girlfriend's parents. Not all of the contributors are in the same league as Kureishi, and there is a fair dollop of tenn-angst in the work of some of the less experienced writers. This, however, gives em its pioneering edge - newcomers, some still in their teens, have the rare chance to get published alongside established gurus and the search is already on for new talent for em two. Velcroed securely to the front cover, the tape combines ambient soundscapes and trance-techno with opera pop - musical styles seldom even found in the same shop. Again, the quality varies, but Minibar's catchy indie-groove The Secret Life of Benny Hill does for the book. Even if your musical taste is strictly Top 20 and neither poetry nor prose tickle your fancy, em's striking black and white images and page layouts may be enough to earn it a place on your coffee table.	Greg Brosnan The Big Issue Feb 17-23 1997

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[?] concept
about em; its aims and inspirations

[:] people
dodgy mugshots of the characters responsible for putting em together

[=] diary
the editor's very occasional and not very interesting diary

[+] submissions
how to submit your work to em [note: we are currently not accepting submissions]

[£] buy
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[!] reviews
critical acclaim for em

[*] links
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em one & two:

Samples of various bits of the previous 2 issues can be got here:

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