Music Magazines

yes yes we all realize rolling stone/blender/nme/q is all inane and utter bullshit... but there's got to be *something* out there worth reading i can hold and bring on the bus? p4k can only suffice so far.

ive been checking out paste and filter... anyone had any experience w/ these?

if you have any interest whatsoever in metal, Decibel is 100% worth it. the only magazine I currently have a subscription to

also, Blender doesn't exist anymore, fwiw

Paste is bland. There's Wire (which has its own thread) and there's Folk Roots (aka FRoots which covers international stuff and not just folk and is UK based), and there are still various hiphop magazines. Sadly, the California based publication the Beat (which covered Caribbean and African and tropical sounds) is dead.

http://www.terrascope.co.uk/

Decibel is tip top. I've been finding The Word readable lately. I like the more free-form opinion/think pieces that break from the review/interview/bio formula that Uncut and MOJO are kind of stuck in. If they were about 85% cheaper in the U.S., I'd subscribe to them all. Looking back at some old faves - http://www.fastnbulbous.com/magazines.htm

I saw on some VH1 countdown that Rob Sheffield writes for Blender. Does he post here?

also, Blender doesn't exist anymore, fwiw

― markers, Tuesday, August 31, 2010 2:24 AM (10 hours ago)

I don't think he posts here

http://www.arthurmag.com

http://yetipublishing.com (not sure why the site's not up...)

The Wire, Decibel, Terrascope all good mentions.

obligatory plug for The Sound Projector, 2010 issue currently in the works.

My piece on magazines was from 2006, before Blender and Harp folded. What's next to go? I'd guess Filter or Paste. Clash became a slick fashion 'n' lifestyles rag, bleh.

I would subscribe to The Wire if it didn't cost so much for ppl living in the US

Spin Magazine Subscription

* for contemporary rock & roll fans! Spin concentrates on personalities who are shaping youth culture and combines contemporary information with an essence of fun. Topics include videos, records, new talent & current trends.

yeah i would like the wire. someone brought in a ton of those wire tapper cds to the store and they are a lot of fun to listen to.

spin is so not fun. they should let me edit an issue.

scott, are you still going to put a zine out?

"I would subscribe to The Wire if it didn't cost so much for ppl living in the US"

Six bucks an issue is hardly so much.

Woofah's pretty nice too.

"scott, are you still going to put a zine out?"

i want to! i just have to make sure my store is on solid ground here and raise my children and clean the house and make dinner. and then i'll be on it.

I think everybody likes Wax Poetics?

i'm actually thinking now that it makes more sense to use the web. i have the store website that i don't use for anything. i could use that space. i'll get around to it. i have more energy now that i have fixed my severe and crippling sleep apnea that i have suffered with for decades.

awesome! whatever it ends up being, I'm looking forward to it

I publish a zine. The new issue just came out yesterday, in fact.

yeah, I'd like to grab a copy of it sometime soon

using Lulu was a smart move, btw

I always feel like Filter can do better, but to their credit, they did have a cool, epic feature on Slayer in issue 35 with all four members contributing to an oral history. Tributes like that are the best thing that have going. Past ones include Merle Haggard, History of Northern Soul, Jesus Lizard, Dinosaur Jr., Morrissey, Tears for Fears, X, Patti Smith, The Replacements, Husker Du, XTC, etc.

Gotta plug The Big Takeover, comes out twice a year, chock full of intelligent interviews, commentary and reviews. Focused on rock but spins off in many directions.

Ozone, WaxPo, Vibe (they're had some pretty good pieces since the relaunch, I particularly liked the one on Diddy's father...), The Fader

those are the ones I check for... and I like RESPECT, it's a new photo mag...

I think things that come out like twice a year and have a ton of things in them are the way to go these days. I'll throw down for Galactic Zoo Dossier, its like the most passionate fanzine produced (all hand-lettered!) with a very unique voice/slant. Plus they put in trading cards of people like Tom Carter and Townes Van Zandt. There used to be a very cool little B & W fanzine a few years back called Bixobal. It was mainly focused on Sun City Girls and their associates. I don't know if its still around, but it was great. The Wire is well and truly indispensable.

blender RIP

I miss Skyscraper :(

paste RIP

blender was terrible. does anyone really miss it? i can't think of a bigger waste of good writers either.

blender was sooo much better than RS & spin

i don't agree. not that i've read spin in like a decade.

and, granted, i didn't see a ton of blender issues. but most of what i did see made me say blechhhhh more often than not.

Blender had better front-of-book, but Spin had better features

blender had a better voice & covered a more interesting array of artists

Christgau always loved the album review section in Blender (which I wrote for), but to be honest I never understood why. It was well-edited -- meticulously edited, at least -- but the tendency was to edit writers' personality right out of them.

I still do a monthly column in Spin, by the way. ("Essentials," eight old albums worth seeking out in a different genre every month -- I even did Gospel a couple months ago, no kidding! And then Cowpunk and Electro-funk in months after that.) But I don't get comp issues in the mail, and I'm too cheap to buy it, and don't even always see issues when they come out at CVS or Barnes & Noble, so I never really get a chance to read much else that's in there.

only music magazine available to me that i read consistently is the fader & i'll also flip thru various rap magazines & read what interests me

I would subscribe to The Wire if it didn't cost so much for ppl living in the US

Digital subscription is $45

hmmm

maybe...

Gives you access to a bunch of back issues too.

i heard the wire doesn't send those.

I get 'em (physical and digital). But I've been contributing since 2002 and have written something like a half dozen cover stories (and two others that I think should have been - still kinda chaps my ass they chose Mark Stewart over Bill Dixon). I don't know if less frequent contributors get free physical copies. I suspect not.

http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/system/images/writers/micro/josh-jackson.jpg?1280787155

Paste's original tagline was, "Rock'n'roll: It's not just for kids anymore." I wrote in my updated piece: In its February 2010 issue, the cover story was the contentious "Is Indie Dead?" The piece was disappointing, and the conclusion seemed to be sort of an update of their editorial statement. Yes, indie is dead, and they seem to want to align themselves more towards the Rolling Stone market. Subsequent issues focused on prime time TV, film directors, festival guides, and Tilda Swinton. Rock 'n' roll, it's not for Paste readers anymore.

My piece on magazines was from 2006, before Blender and Harp folded. What's next to go? I'd guess Filter or Paste.
― Fastnbulbous, Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Maybe I should stop predictions. I hate for any magazine to go, really.

Less than 24 hours and you killed Paste. Can you predict something awful about Perez Hilton next?

i still love tape op, though not as much as i used to. it certainly helps to be a recording geek, but you don't have to be, as a lot of the band and producer and engineer interviews can be quite revealing even in non-geeky areas. it also helps to be a fan of either indie or classic rock. but, that all said, it's a very well done zine, and you can subscribe to the print version for free, which is a nice touch.

Whatever happened to URB, it had hip-hop and dance in it.

http://www.urb.com/

They have a site, but I haven't seen a print issue in ages. I guess they are strictly digital. I like their way of thinking, though.

the wire is $15 an issue here in denver!! god damn brits and your superior shit.

the video game section was the only worthwhile thing about Paste.

The Fader is published by a PR/marketing agency, doncha know.

http://i11.tinypic.com/833rrc8.jpg

And The Fader and Pitchfork have some kind of strategic partnership. Which could mean anything. Probably advertising/marketing pooling, but who knows these days. Ah, well.

The Fader and RCRD.LBL are two arms of the same agency, but whatever. I like about 75% of what both of them are pushing.

"CONGRATS COWBELL JESS"

i forgot about that! yeah, more cowbell!

i don't even buy magazines anymore. and i've never lived without them in my life! i dunno, i'm busy. plus, there aren't any good sources near me for magazines. no borders or newsstand kinda place. so i do without. the book store around the corner carries ugly things though. which is really nice of them. the turn it up in brattleboro sells mojo and a couple of others. but i never get them. mojo covers never captivate me any more! they used to have great covers.

No matter who publishes it, I have seen some interesting pieces on dancehall and South African music and slightly obscure US rappers in Fader. Things I wouldn't see in any other Us publication available on newstands.

United States that it is, and not in US magazine either (is it still published?).

New issue of The Sound Projector out now:

http://www.thesoundprojector.com/current-issue/

Someone mentioned Lulu upthread and Ed the editor has gone down this route with TSP this time as well. You can buy a copy direct from him with a free covermount CD or, if you don't want the CD, you can buy a copy without it from Lulu.

sooo, option magazine is back? http://option-magazine.com/

One of the former editors Mark Kemp seems to have done so.

Online only I think. Onetime editor Richie Unterberger does not seem to be involved. Not sure about Option founder Scott Becker.

Funny, I was just reading some old issues of Option while researching something, and thinking how good it was.

Signal to Noise is switching to a yearly format:

After fourteen years as the journal of improvised and experimental music, the summer 2011 edition will be the last quarterly issue of Signal to Noise. We will carry on as an annually published paper and ink magazine released each spring in advance of the summer festival season. The reasons for this are numerous, and I'm sure you can understand this is a difficult decision forced by the current state of the publishing and music 'industries'. However I am quite convinced that by consolidating our resources into one outstanding yearbook style issue each spring, we can continue our work for many years to come with all the qualities you've come to expect from STN.

I want to be very clear for our paid subscribers: we WILL fulfill our commitment to you and you WILL receive as many issues as you paid for. Few current subscriptions extend past issue #64, which will be published in the spring of 2013. At this point we aren't accepting any new subscription payments, but if yours is soon to expire, we will still be selling single copies of the magazine through our website and through our regular network of indie and chain stores. Make sure we have your e-mail address and we'll send you an announcement when each new issue is published with a description of its contents.

If you're a musician or an enabler of musicians, this is the last chance to advertise with us until May of 2012, and we invite you to do so. Complete details as handy PDF on our website: www.signaltonoisemagazine.org. If you've been thinking about it, now's a good time to go for the gusto.

We thank each and every one of you for your past, present and future support, and hope you'll stick with us as we evolve to meet the needs of the 2010s! You'll see the summer 2011 issue of Signal to Noise at the end of May, and after that, we'll look forward to being your annual guide to improvised and creative music!

Yours in music;
pete gershon
publisher
SIGNAL to NOISE

"If you're a musician or an enabler of musicians"

http://www.wiretapmag.org/images/managed/Story+Image_thumb_drugs_story.jpg

boo. i wasn't always the biggest fan (it was always too reviews heavy, for my taste), but i appreciated that it was there at the newsstand as an option (especially when it was the 3rd week of a month and the latest wire had yet to arrive). they covered interesting stuff without airs of supremacy.

hahah, scott

why even bother w/ a yearly format? i can't buy that it's "done out of passion" at that basis. i mean, seriously, the last thing everybody needs is a "year in review" mag that specializes in making lists b/c it's articles are irrelevant in 3...2...1

Hi Pointy;

I'm bothering with the yearly format because contrary to what you might think, I do still enjoy doing this. It's also important to me to satisfy my obligations to the many STN subscribers still paid up for a few more issues. Sure, if money was no object I'd be announcing a bimonthly publication, not an annual, but this is simply a compromise I need to make due to rising production expenses and a shortfall of ad dollars. By consolidating everything into an annual publication that would very likely lean much more on long-form features than reviews, I think we're going to do very well. Almost without exception, STN's creative team and readership has been very understanding about this and fairly grateful that I'm not pulling thr plug entirely. C'mon, please, cut me some slack ... I've been doing this for 14 YEARS, constantly raising funds, gathering, editing, and laying out content, dealing with all the mundane business junk, reshipping packages lost by the USPS, and managing against all odds to outlast Arthur, Skyscraper, Copper Press, Your Flesh, E/I, Coda, Grooves, DIY, Magnet, Puncture, Resonance, No Depression and now Cadence and Art Lies. Anyway, thanks for presuming our future efforts will be a bland year-in-review rehash, but I'm confident that some of our best work is still to come (we've never been a "listy" magazine). This arrangement will also allow me to do some other things with my life. I have a family now that I didn't have when I started STN in 1997, and interests that lie outside the fields of music and publishing, et cetera.

Anyway, thanks for humoring my little rebuttal, and please check out past, current and future issues of our quaint, old-fashioned paper-and-ink magazine.

Yours in music;
pete gershon
publisher
SIGNAL to NOISE
1128 Waverly
Houston TX 77008
www.signaltonoisemagazine.org
signaltonoisemagazine.blogspot.com

"Zine of the Year"
PLUG Independent Music Awards: 2007, 2008 nominee

"Best Periodical Covering Jazz"
Jazz Journalists Association: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 nominee

"Best Arts and Creativity Coverage"
UTNE Independent Press Awards: 2004 nominee

yeah, pointy is, like, 15, so don't take it too seriously. keep doing what yer doing, man.

Seconded. Here's to many more years of STN wonderfulness.

Another new issue of The Sound Projector out now. Reviews of vinyl LPs and singles only this time, loads of photos, choice of colour and b&w editions, print-on-demand through lulu.

http://www.thesoundprojector.com/current-issue/

http://www.hymanarchive.com/

Wow. Do you think he wants some obscure 1982 US hardcore punk zines I am considering tossing (or should I try to sell them on ebay)?

haha that guy thinks very highly of his piles of old Q magazines doesn't he?

There's this "Ultimate Collector's Edition THE WHO from the publishers of Uncut" mag that had been staring me down at the checkout of my local CVS for the last few weeks. It seems really out of place. Like, say what you want about The Who, it would surprise me very much if someone would buy an entire print magazine about them in 2016. It really doesn't feel like it's their moment. It's really weird to see next to People and In Touch. Am I underestimating the selling power of The Who? Does this really make money for the publishers of Uncut?

Well they've done a load of other artists already. Would think the Who would be popular enough to sell a couple of copies of that in most areas.
They do seem to be pretty expensive though & that History of Rock reprint mag is even more so.

These kinds of things are p much the only music magazines I see in the average WHSmiths in the UK.

Most of these mags reuse interviews, features etc from old Melody Makers and NMEs, so the editorial costs are relatively low, and the mark-up pretty high - I don't suppose they have to sell more than 10,000 or so to turn some kind of profit, and while sales on a Who mag prob won't come near to sales on a equivalent Beatles/Floyd/Zep mag, I bet it's still a nice little earner.

Like, say what you want about The Who, it would surprise me very much if someone would buy an entire print magazine about them in 2016.

Hell, I didn't even buy a copy (it's been at my grocery store checkout for almost a month).

I got one.

It's pretty decent, as was the Dylan one. As you say, the 'classic' albums have been reviewed to death, but particularly with the Dylan one, each album gets no more or less than two pages, same amount of pics and text, which means that you can work out what the later albums were about and if they are worth bothering about.

Things like The Who, Beach Boys and Dylan would seem to have some sort of value, whereas the Pistols/Lydon, Oasis and such like don't, really. Oh, and they were giving the Foo Fighters one away with 'special' bagged copies of "Q" or some such, because who cares?

was flexipop the greatest music magazine ever? the scans on this page are all fantastic:

http://flexipop.com/

Paul Weller dressed as a scientist:

http://flexipop.com/Resources/Paul%20Weller%20cover%20no28%20web.jpg?15

Mari Wilson and the Wilsations re-enact Psycho as a photo story;

http://flexipop.com/Resources/Mari%20Wilson%20Psicko%2002a_web.jpg?316

etc

A strange magazine

http://i.imgur.com/SRndxTK.png

Kim Wilde admitted that her two heroes growing up were Gary Glitter (ouch!) and Elton John. She contracted meningitis as a toddler and had her first boyfriend, Ned, when she was nine.
She told us she was a moody adolescent who would constantly row with her mum. So pop stars really are like us after all…

hah, i suppose that could be taken the wrong way since gary glitter was mentioned, but trust me its not meant to be.

Jobs lost as rock music media firm Team Rock collapses

That sucks. Also Rock-A-Rolla has gone quiet since July - http://rock-a-rolla.com/main/

https://longreads.com/2018/12/27/where-have-all-the-music-magazines-gone/

Tyler, they could have at least plugged your blog!