| Product: |
NME |
| Date: |
16/02/08 (136 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: gig listings, decent news section
Disadvantages: price, content, style
The New Musical Express, as much as it claims to be musically diverse, has always been an 'indie' magazine. Since it first starting appearing on our shelves way back in the fifties it's championed the likes of Sex Pistols, The Smiths and The Libertines, changing along with the music scene which has surrounded it. During the 70's the term 'gonzo journalism' was coined and soon became associated with the NME. The use of humor, quotes, sarcasm, and exaggeration became the NME writing style, and still is today. This manages to set it apart from the crowd. Edging ever closer to the teen-pop weekly format the mag is now fully coloured and glossy print. It's highly advertised and pretty steeply priced as well to be honest, at £2.10. Nonetheless sales continue to increase with the rise of indie/alternative music in the mainstream. Personally I believe this factor is threatening to ruin it.
The Music
Today the UK indie scene dominated the magazine. In the last couple of months the likes of The Wombats, Foals and The Cribs have all donned the front cover. Rather than focusing on older, established acts like Q; the NME highlights new bands. In the magazine there's a small feature entitled 'whats on NME's stereo' which talks about (and usually overrates) a few bands you'd have never heard of. Most of them are awful. 'Radar' is another section which looks at new acts. Unlike 'what's on...' this you can usually trust as they tend to focus on only one act, most of which are good. Last years pop newbies Kate Nash, the Wombats and The Pigeon Detectives all lost their journalistic virginity on these pages. As you'd expect there is a review section too, which gives albums 1-10. It seems that all of the new albums from mainstream acts always get an 8. Whether its coincidence or not I don't know. Another criticism of this bit of the magazine could also be its writing style. An example I found on Wikipedia highlights this:
"Brilliant...it's like somebody killed Noel Fielding five times, reanimated the corpses, armed them with two chords, an organ and a taste for flesh, then locked them inside your average toe-tapping indie disco...If you've ever watched Samantha Morton's face being eaten by aliens in Chris Cunningham's flat on YouTube then you've got a great idea of what this record sounds like- otherworldly murder, and lots of it."
This is 'gonzo' journalism in its truest form. Like the above, the magazine will often attempt to be wacky and surreal, using wherever possible to associate themselves with the Mighty Boosh (particularly Noel Fielding). At one stage they even made Noel and Julian (boosh stars) editors for the week, plastering the mag with pictures and interviews with them. I hate this. It's obvious that the magazine is trying to appeal to youths by using popular figures in youth culture, without having an opinion on them. Notably 'Skins' also had a 5 page feature at one stage. Mighty Boosh and Skins have nothing to do with music...The NME is more of a youth culture bible than a music magazine nowadays, and I despise it for this reason now (I used to buy it regularly).
Page Breakdown of 9th February 2008 NME
4-5 NEWS. Latest info on the NME Awards and set of gigs, band re-unions, break-ups, competitions, and the editor's letter from Conor McNicholas.
16-17 Letters. The section where readers write in to complain about bands they dislike based usually on appearance more than anything.
18-23 Radar. From nu-rave to grindie, this section will break it first (already discussed in 'music' above)
24-31 Main Feature. This week it's a heart opening interview with Manic Street Preacher Nicky Wire about his lost bandmate Richey Edwards. If you didn't know Richey went missing in 1995 and hasn't been since. The article makes very interesting reading, talking of his influence on the band and the events surrounding his disappearance. Did he commit suicide or is he in hiding? All signs point to the former.
32-33. a strange interview with poet/comic artist/singer/lunatic Jeffery Lewis. I found this completely uninteresting with a lot of irrelevant gibberish.
34-35 'Computer Love'. An interview with electro nerds Hot Chip
36-39 LIVE. 4 pages of gig reviews. This issue takes a look at the Kooks, Cat Power and Adele, amongst others.
42-47 Review section- discussed earlier. Morrissey's album is the main feature this week, and is given the usual big act-new album treatment of 8/10.
48-70 Adverts, Adverts, Adverrrrrrts. 22 pages is a vast amount, although they can be useful occasionally as they all advertise gigs with all the venues and dates.
70-73. Gig guide. A simplified list of the next 7 days gigs going on across the nation
Last Page. Peter Robinson Vs... This is the page where interviewer Peter Robinson will interrogate pop acts. This week 'Feist' gets the treatment. Expect ridiculous questions like 'what's your favorite brand of toilet cleaner'
Adverts = 33/74
Overall this is magazine I'd advise you to avoid in the current climate. At £2.10, 42 pages of content is not a decent return, and most of them contain nonsense. Give us another £1.80 and I'll have Q please...
(also on ciao as carneypingu)
Summary: don't buy it
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