cool beans

cool beans is an exclamation of happiness and interest. rarely used of people, it, surprisingly, generally describes things not related to sex, drugs, or computers.

Cool Beans is also a really nifty "Indie Punk Music Zine" and record label put out by Matt Kelly: first in San Francisco, and more recently in Portland, OR. They've been around since 1988 (as a BBS). The print zine started in 1993.

The creator(s) have published something like 14 issues and about five independent recordings in all that time; have usually included some really great compilation tape or cd with the issue; have put out recorded material by The Rondelles, lowercase, Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, A Minor Forest, Butthole Surfers and many more (some of it unreleased or exclusive tracks); have occasionally included software on CD-ROM from the Cult of the Dead Cow; do interviews, reviews, tour diaries, kick-ass artwork, you name it.

In addition to other things, Cool Beans is also a small cafe in Oradell, NJ which holds an open-mic night every other Sunday evening for the purpose of music, prose, and poetry, and even on the other Sundays, a lot of the same people come around, and they're all pretty friendly. They do sell decent (albeit expensive) pie and cake, but you're not under any obligation to buy anything (although they encourage it on open-mic night if you're going to stay inside), so if you're in north Jersey on a Sunday evening, you have no excuse not to look the place up and drop by, and if you're in north Jersey on a Sunday night, I know you have nothing better to do either.