Incite! 1985–1998

Harvard College student Tim Alborn started Incite! in 1985. In England, while carrying out research for his senior thesis at the time, Alborn was also embracing British punk, indie, and zine culture, particularly a Leeds-based publication entitled Raising hell. In its earlier issues, Incite! was a typical fanzine—featuring concert and record reviews, articles, interviews, and correspondence—that concentrated on indie pop. Taking inspiration from the English record label Sarah Records, Alborn launched his own indie rock label called Harriet Records in 1989, which recorded groups including The Magnetic Fields. Incite! subsequently became more focused on bands signed to Harriet Records, becoming a “perzine” or “personal fanzine” (the term is discussed in issue no. 19 of the zine). At the same time its scope expanded beyond music, including everything from poetry to snack reviews. Both Incite! and Harriet Records continued until 1998, when Alborn–who had become a history professor at Harvard in the meantime–left Cambridge, Massachusetts for New York City.