NME is dead: long live the NME
April 9, 2010 at 11:50 pm | Posted in music | Leave a commentTags: 'zine, biffy clyro, cover, design, ipc, jack white, krissi murison, magazines, nme, peter robinson, redesign, relaunch
So, big news in the world of music magazines: NME has had a redesign.
Perhaps not surprising – the magazine’s circulation figures have been freefalling and something had to give. Still, it’s pretty damn exciting. My inner mag slag nearly fainted at the prospect. Since Krissi Murison took over the magazine last year, many have been wondering what big changes she would make, and the magazine’s relaunched on Wednesday of this week, with 10 different covers to choose from.
The Biffy Clyro one is probably my favourite:
The new covers say a lot about the new design of the magazine as a whole, I think: they’re bold, sleek and far less cluttered. Using just one or two main colours really makes said colours stand out, and this makes some of the covers (particularly the Jack White one) really “pop”.
Inside, too, there’s a lot of clean lines and big pictures. It’s quite simple, but there are enough little design flourishes to keep it interesting. It’s very easy on the eye, and I like it a lot, especially the minimalist new masthead. Check it out for yourself: you can read a digital copy online.
The main feature, also, was a premise which I found interesting. Asking 10 different artists what is ostensibly the same set of questions initially sounds like it could make for tiresome, even arduous, reading – particularly when it’s the only main feature. But there’s enough scope across genres for there to be a lot of different views expounded, and the state of music in 2010 is always going to be an interesting one when it’s tackled in the right way.
My friend/editor, Ben, commented that “it’s totally lost its ‘zine look” and is “much more sober, more mature, less garish”. He’s got a point. And, while the ‘zine look was charming up to a point, the point of a ‘zine is that it’s made by enthusiastic amateurs. NME is a professional music publication owned by IPC. It is not a ‘zine, so why should it look like one?
I’ll be interested to see how the editorial content changes, if it does. What I’d really, really like – if I could have my way (which I can’t) – would be for NME to go back to covering politics alongside music, as it did back in the ’80s. I’m not holding my breath, but for now the new look is certainly enough to appease me.
And, besides, Peter Robinson has stayed put – hooray!
It’s all gone a bit High Fidelity…
February 14, 2010 at 11:42 pm | Posted in music | 1 CommentTags: alkaline trio, avenged sevenfold, biffy clyro, big cheese, blackened sky, bon iver, death cab for cutie, high fidelity, i will follow you into the dark, inme, lais mw, love, lust, mgmt, nostalgia, radio, richard tait, romance, the libertines, time to pretend, valentine's day
I don’t place much significance on Valentine’s Day, I must admit. If you’re part of a couple, of course it’s a lovely day, but most days are lovely when you’re in a relationship (that’s half of the point of being in one, isn’t it?); if you’re single, it’s a day of no more import than any other.
Still, I could hardly let February 14 go by without comment – it’s a day traditionally associated with romance, and Lord knows that love, lust and music are eager bedfellows. Just look at High Fidelity. The book, that is – not the film, you philistine.
Music is, I think, the most evocative form of expression; it’s quite astonishing how songs have the capability to bring things to mind before you’ve even got a chance to consciously register them.
InMe, for instance, always bring to mind the first few awkward dates with my first boyfriend (and anything from Biffy Clyro‘s Blackened Sky album provokes a twitch of annoyance that he’s still got my bloody CD). The Libertines remind me of being serenaded with an acoustic guitar – and I can’t listen to Avenged Sevenfold without a wry smile at the memory of being dumped via text message at one of their gigs. ‘Time to Pretend‘ by MGMT takes me back to an exact place and time; Bon Iver signify a particularly interminable February.
It’s incredible how music can chart the highs and lows of your life: it’s a very large part of why I love it so much.
My friend Lais came into the maglab all a-flutter a few weeks ago, having received an email from Big Cheese magazine asking for her top five anti-love songs. My response was immediate – ‘Radio’ by Alkaline Trio:
It’s the ultimate in “seriously, fuck you” songs. “Waking up next to nothing / after dreaming of you and me / I’m waking up all alone / waking up so relieved” – hasn’t everybody felt like that at some point? It’s just a fantastic summing-up of the anger, bitterness and nigh-on hatred which can follow a bad break-up.
However, I’m not enough of a cynic to leave it at that. I’ve learnt too much about journalistic impartiality from Richard Tait to not give the opposition a chance to voice its side. This – ‘I Will Follow You into the Dark’ by Death Cab for Cutie – is quite possibly the sweetest song I know:
Let’s be honest: this is what we’re all really looking for.
If anyone else has any love/anti-love song recommendations, I’d be pretty keen to hear them!
System on the up?
January 14, 2010 at 9:06 pm | Posted in music | Leave a commentTags: bbc 6music, biffy clyro, chop suey, monsters of folk, reading festival, serj tankian, shavo odadjian, soad, system of a down, toxicity, xfm
In the grand modern-day tradition of bands refusing to stay split up for long, it’s been rumoured that System of a Down are set to reform.
On Tuesday, the band’s bassist, Shavo Odadjian posted on his Twitter account: “Are u guys ready for System???”
The answer, of course, being “hell yes”. I am genuinely quite excited at this possibility. System of a Down are one of the bands which defined my teenage years, as I’m sure they did for many others. Musically diverse, they managed to mix heaviness, melody and almost angelic harmony with often batshit-crazy-sounding lyrics. They were unpredictable and sounded like nobody else at the time; you can clearly trace their influence in the likes of early Biffy Clyro. They were also articulate and outspoken about politics, and introduced many (myself included) to subjects such as the Armenian Genocide.
Here’s a reminder of exactly why SOAD were so incredible – fantastically tribal drumming, ever-building harmonies and a chorus to die for:
Even though they arguably peaked with 2001′s frankly awesome Toxicity, I was still pretty disappointed when they went “on hiatus” (does nobody ever admit to having split up these days?). Being only about 13 when I first got into them, I never got the chance to see them live: sadly, growing up in Exeter didn’t offer much opportunity nearby. I managed to catch some of Serj Tankian‘s solo set at Reading 2008, and I’d love to finally get the chance to see the whole band. Fingers crossed, yeah?
Sadly, Shavo now seems to be backpedalling somewhat (or so Xfm have interpreted, anyway): “About my “are u guys ready for System?”. I’m not sayin we are back but, if so? U guys ready? SoRry for gettin u guys amped. I’m just seeing”
However, given that BBC 6Music can announce stories “broken” on decidedly dodgy-looking Twitter accounts (all the links to this have now disappeared, but they claimed that MoF had announced they were working on a new album on a rather non-official-looking Conor Oberst Twitter account), I’m going to carry on getting my hopes up.
After all, “I’m just seeing” sounds like there’s definite scope to me.
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