SoundsXP Message Boards - Indie, Indiepop, Nu-Folk and Alt-Country Forums

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If Ian Curtis had lived, and enjoyed the ale…

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God is a word and the argument ends there

Ah, it's OK - it does seem to have benefitted from a makeover, and since that woman's been in charge there's yet to be a ten-page wank-fest involving Muse, Radiohead, Coldplay, Kasabian or any such shite, which has to be a plus, surely...? There are more up and coming bands mentioned, either in articles or those 'records to hear this week' lists, which again can only be a good thing, rather than yet another expose as to why Oasis are the biggest band ever, or similar...

It must be the final relaunch before it disappears for good – I can’t see it lasting out the year. It’s irrelevant in the new digital world, but it still has the same rigid advertising-driven musical policy and out of date recommendations. Murison was a poor writer (which admittedly isn’t saying much in NME terms) and is just embarrassingly clueless when interviewed. I'd like to see the sales figures for it because there are always stacks of the rag in Smiths but I've never seen anyone actually buying it.

If you want to read print, the Stool Pigeon is free and has more coverage of new groups and some funny columns, although the layout is awful.

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Alas, not actually Gryff Rhys Jones...

"Little Jack Horner sitting on the corner
With no shoes and clothes
This aint funny, but he took his money
And sniffed it up his nose"

Stool Pigeon is unreadable, unfortunately. What was that free thing they briefly started handing out near stations? Size of a tabloid, about 12 pages long and read like it was written by students, and yet was actually produced by some big media thing like O2 Academy or summat.

NME's format does look better but I could name about 20 FREE online sources that are far more relevant, up-to-date and trustworthy than NME. So ultimately, it has no reason to exist.

Trouble is, the NME could be jam-packed full of award-winning writing and be totally on the button vis-a-vis the nation's musical pulse (I know it's not) but it will still collapse in the face of the online juggernaut. I'm not a technophobe but I actually like to browse a hard copy of whatever music journo takes my fancy while I'm rakishly quaffing my (New Musical) espresso at the local bistro...

Monthly issues are the only way for print mags to succeed in the current climate. And ffs make it iconoclastic and ballsy.

NME's last roll of the dice is pathetic - the well groomed Murison parading like a Las Vegas ring girl to announce the final round. Roll on the last bell I say.

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Crazy haired surfin' slacker

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Pin It On Badges

Last week's edition with Courtney Love on the front looked too much like a copy of Chat or Bella for my liking. I think it was because the text was yellow.

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In work not working

All the mags are too retro - I finally stopped buying Mojo because I couldn't bring myself to buy something with Queen on the cover, and I had read the same Beatles n Floyd articles over and over in the same mag...

Got into Wire magazine for a while, but they have their own favourites and repetition too, and as many prejudices...

Same with em all really - Pitchfork is a good source for a lot of things, but they're as irritating as they are enlightening.

NME - more like a comic than a music magazine?

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Tall, moustachioed alcoholic - plays firewood with a bow.