International Orders: Electronic Cottage – Korm Plastics
U.S. Orders: HAL MCGEE - Electronic Cottage - The Complete Collection - Soleilmoon.com
In the wake of his influential Cause and Effect cassette label and distribution network, Hal McGee launched Electronic Cottage International Magazine, a six-issue publication (1989–1991) devoted to the independent home-recording community that emerged from the post-punk DIY era. Serving as both forum and flashpoint, the magazine offered practical insight, artist and label profiles, and spirited debate among members of the global hometaper underground. Its 400+ pages now stand as crucial documentation of a scene in transition.
PBK was an active participant in this community and contributed directly to Electronic Cottage. In the inaugural issue, he conducted an interview with Al Margolis (If, Bwana), and in issue three he wrote about his experience performing live in the Bay Area with Belgian ambient composer, Vidna Obmana. Beyond his written contributions, PBK strongly supported the publication through advertising, placing ads in five of the six issues, including four full-page placements. His support is formally acknowledged by McGee in the credits of issue four.
The connection between PBK and Electronic Cottage also includes one of the most memorable reviews of his early work. Writing about PBK’s 1988 cassette, 'Asesino', McGee described it as: “...no-excuses abstract monolithic POWER. This cassette possesses a sound so potent and disruptive that it is nearly tangible - very real, very threatening. A mature, complex work that must be reckoned with.”
The six-issue run has now been collected in hardcover as Electronic Cottage - The Complete Collection, published by Korm Plastics in The Netherlands and available in the U.S. through Soleilmoon.
PBK’s presence in Electronic Cottage reflects not only his role as contributor, but his deep engagement with - and material support of - the international cassette underground during a formative moment in experimental sound culture.