Phil McMullen
Phil McMullen is a British writer and music journalist. He was the founding editor of '' Ptolemaic Terrascope'' magazine from 1989 until 2005, at which time management of the publication was handed over to Pat Thomas in North America. McMullen c ...
(1988–2005) Pat Thomas (2005-07)
, editor_title =
, staff_writer =
, frequency = twice a year
, circulation =
, category =
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
, company = Woronzow Records
, publisher = Nick Saloman
, firstdate = May 1989
, finaldate = October 2007
, finalnumber = 36
, country = England (1989–2005) USA (2007)
, based =
Melksham
Melksham () is a town on the River Avon in Wiltshire, England, about northeast of Trowbridge and south of Chippenham. At the 2011 census, the Melksham built-up area had a population of 19,357, making it Wiltshire's fifth-largest settlement aft ...
,
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
(2007)
, language =
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, website = http://www.terrascope.co.uk/
, issn = 1472-9369
''Ptolemaic Terrascope'' is a magazine covering old and new music, usually of a psychedelic nature. It has been published irregularly since 1989. Originally published by the Woronzow record label, it covers a wide variety of bands and artists from the 1960s to the present day. Issues typically come with a 7" vinyl record or latterly a CD, and sometimes also special inserts such as artwork,
scrap book
Scrapbooking is a method of preserving, presenting and arranging personal and family history in the form of a book, box or card. Typical memorabilia include photographs, printed media, and artwork. Scrapbook albums are often decorated and frequ ...
Phil McMullen
Phil McMullen is a British writer and music journalist. He was the founding editor of '' Ptolemaic Terrascope'' magazine from 1989 until 2005, at which time management of the publication was handed over to Pat Thomas in North America. McMullen c ...
announced that the magazine would be coming under new management and relocating from
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
to North America. Th terrascope.co.uk domain name has been retained by McMullen for the website ''Terrascope Online'', featuring reviews, interviews, articles and artwork by the majority of the former Ptolemaic Terrascope staff.
The ''Terrascope Online'' website also acts as a focus for the semi-annual Terrastock
indie rock
Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...
festivals
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...
which, since 1997, Phil McMullen has curated.
According to the magazine, the name ''Ptolemaic Terrascope'' has no real meaning. Their official web page explains, "
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...
is a
tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...
who lives at Terrascope Towers. ''Terrascope'' is a word Phil made up because (a) it matched the artwork we'd designed for the first issue, and (b) we like the Captain Beefheart song 'Tarotplane'."
Additionally to the online magazine, McMullen started a new letterpress-printed music magazine, the ''Terrascopædia'' in 2012.
Personnel
*
Phil McMullen
Phil McMullen is a British writer and music journalist. He was the founding editor of '' Ptolemaic Terrascope'' magazine from 1989 until 2005, at which time management of the publication was handed over to Pat Thomas in North America. McMullen c ...
, editor (print issues from 1988–2005, since then online as ''Terrascope Online'')
* Pat Thomas, editor (one print issue, 2007)