On 1 February, SonicNet will launch an Internet edition of Ira Robbins's underground classic but out-of-print music encyclopedia The Trouser Press Record Guide. The spin-off of the 1974-84 pop magazine will include the complete contents of the fourth edition, with "additional bonus material," said editor Robbins, who is helping to bring the guide online.
"The concept behind the design is 'what would a Web site look like if it were made in 1983?'" explains Sonic Net COO Nicholas Butterworth excitedly. "It has a lot of New-Wavey fonts, colors, and layouts that we would never use now." The Trouser Press project had been under way before Paradigm's recent acquisition of SonicNet and appears mostly unrelated to the buyout. "Paradigm's acquisition of SonicNet has given us the resources to move forward on a number of projects which have been in development for some time now," offers Butterworth, who disclosed the news of the launch exclusively to Wired News. Although in the planning for at least two months, the site was created in less than three weeks, under the direction of production manager Corey Podolsky. Last year, SonicNet put the contents of another encyclopedia, Baked Potatoes, the Potsmoker's Guide to Home Video, online.
Although none of the actual content of Robbins's most recent effort The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock will appear on the new site, there will be links to band discographies from that work, as well as the ability to purchase albums featured in it, through SonicNet's partner, CDNow. Trouserpress.com will also feature a monthly column by Ira Robbins and discussion boards for each band covered by both the fourth and fifth editions.
"Ira's got lots of fans of the Trouser Press out there. He's really most excited about being able to give them a place to communicate with each other," says Butterworth. "For fans of '70s and '80s music this will be a great resource."
The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock has an official publication date of 7 March, but will probably hit stores a few weeks earlier, said Robbins.
