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THE ELECTRIC REVIEW is an on-line book and music broadside dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts. The magazine will offer monthly critiques of recent book and music releases, offering readers a broad sampling of material while presenting writers and musicians of all genres a more equitable chance for publicity.
In pursuit of this, reviews are written not so much in a formula style, but rather in a manner meant to stress the underlying themes of the material: our goal is simply to make the reader excited about the possibilities these books and records hold.
The need for the Electric Review is obvious and long over-due.
Artists, no matter how big the name, are at the mercy of the devious corporate politics that drive our mainstream media. Those writers with small publishers, or those whose work bears a "non-commercial" label, often receive no attention at all -- their efforts wholly undiscovered, their books wallowing in waste in putrid obscurity.
But the immorality of this system pierces still deeper: An artist held back from public view has, in reality, been intentionally silenced. His tongue's been cut out. It's a crime levied against our collective soul against our collective conscience. And this, then, brings us to the relevant mission of the Electric Review - to allow writers and musicians a platform through which to reclaim their voices, presenting them with the opportunity to be heard.
The Electric Review focuses on all aspects of book publishing, and each "issue" of the Review contains critical analysis on books from various subject areas. New authors and works of fiction are given special consideration as a means to promote books and writers who otherwise would be ignored by the print media. The same approach is taken when reviewing music, as we attempt to expand the things you see and hear.
 BIOGRAPHY: John Aiello has been a practicing journalist for over 20 years, with an abiding interest/expertise in the Beat Generation and post-20th century poetics. Aiello has published with the San Francisco Chronicle, (in addition to the San Francisco Examiner /Chronicle - Sunday Edition), Jack Magazine (with links to Big Bridge), McClure-Manzarek.com, Larry Keenan's Dead Beat Picture Gallery (introducing Keenan's photo feature), the San Francisco Daily Journal, The American Muse, the Siskiyou Pioneer, the San Jose Mercury News, Consumer Health Interactive, The Beat Page, The Mount Shasta Herald, The North Bay Bohemian, The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center's international website (view this at: www.ucsfhealth.org/adult/profiles/h.html), California Wine and Food, Taste California Travel, The Sacramento Beeand the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He was also the National Correspondent for the American Muse and contributed significantly to the magazine's genesis and evolution before it ceased operations in 2002. Aiello's work is known among writers, publishers, literary agents and publicists who trust that his critiques will be fair-minded and thorough and his knowledge of the subject matter complete. Well-established authors and film-makers have championed his work, including Michael McClure, Ray Manzarek, Mary Sands, Sheldon Rocklin, Allan Temko, Michael Baughman, and Peter Sussman, as well as the late Herb Caen, the late Arthur Hoppe and the late Allen Ginsberg. In the summer of 2001, Aiello retired from his position at the San Francisco Chronicle, having spent over 14 years working in the newsroom there. Presently, Aiello continues to publish his work in various newspapers and magazines throughout the country; he is also preparing a book-length manuscript of his own poetry for publication.
 FROM RAT'S NOTEBOOK is a column from the desk of the Editor, and content here will evolve naturally, according to the natural progression of the mind. In some issues, subject matter will parallel a general interest topic of the day: news items, music, literature, art; in other issues, perhaps a poem or a story whereby upon conclusion you rise up stark from your numb bed -- thinking.
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NOTICE TO PUBLISHERS, RECORD LABELSAND WRITERS:
The Electric Review makes every effort to offer a balanced and fair representation of books and music available to the public. Our goal is to offer a broad sampling of material from myriad sources in an attempt to broaden the scope of the reader’s interest. However, due to the sheer number of queries the magazine receives, we are not able to feature every single title that is submitted for review consideration, nor will we ever promise or guarantee coverage for an author or performer.
Our policy is to review material based on The Editor's discretion, without consideration of the size of the publisher or the purported scope of an author's influence. Instead, our reviews are written based on merit as we seek to bring notice of the best books being published to our readers. The same system is in place for our coverage of music-related products. ~The Editor
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