Ever since I gave up my campus radio shows a few years ago -- and with it my CD reviewing duties for the programming committee -- I feel completely out of the loop where new music is concerned. Although admittedly most of the CDs I had to review back then were a real chore to listen to, occasionally I'd find a diamond in the rough. Some of the artists I discovered then have stuck with me (notably Jay Jay Johanson, Mum, and Chromeo) but most were completely forgettable or at best marginally interesting. Since then, my exposure to new music comes mainly by word of mouth, recommendation from friends, or sometimes through serendipity on the Internet.
Occasionally I flip through magazines on my weekly visits to Indigo, scanning for anything that might pique my interest. My favourite music mag is "Uncut" because for one thing it's British and my musical tastes tend to be more Euro flavoured than American. Also "Uncut" features a nice, long retrospective of an iconic band from the past. Usually the free sampler CD (another bonus!) features cover versions of that iconic band by current artists. (So, simple logic: If a new band covered a David Bowie song, their sound will likely be Bowie-influenced and ergo as a Bowie fan, I may enjoy this new band too.) But I digress, this isn't about "Uncut"...
"Under The Radar" is a new discovery for me. It's an American alternative music and pop culture magazine, reasonably priced at $4.99. What drew my eye was the cover: though full colour, it is matte finished, not glossy. For some reason that simple feature caught my attention, as if it inexplicably gave it a bit of indie "cred" somehow. I flipped through and it interested me enough to buy it.
Two things I notice about the music scene in general these days. First, there are a LOT of indie bands out there, and they all pretty much strike me as the same. Secondly, the press is almost by it's definition, advertising. The music industry is an "industry", after all. There's really nothing wrong with that. So, I read pretty much every article and review as an advertisement. What is this artist selling? For the most part, it's nothing I'd care to buy. Usually music that is described by phrases like "60s psychedelia", "frequent tempo changes" and "wall of sound guitars" doesn't interest me. Most bands even look the same: take a handful of 20-somethings, poorly groomed, dressed in kitschy thrift shop used clothes, and take a "candid" shot of them holding quirky old props or sitting on worn-out basement furniture. I guess I just miss the package and polish of the 80s. Nevertheless, I'm willing to give anyone points for at least trying to be creative or artistic so I'll try to take a look beyond the packaging & see if the product inside is something I'd like to buy. Usually I scan reviews for clues & catchwords that might tip me off to something I'd like (eg, "electro", "Kraftwerk-inspired", "futuristic", etc.).
Getting back to "Under the Radar" specifically, there were some things in this magazine that I genuinely liked. There's an interview with Depeche Mode about their new album, "Sounds of the Universe". There's a one-page bit from Flight of the Conchords, whom I love and also a short interview with Aziz Ansari from "Human Giant". This issue also had a really fun article called "The Future Ain't What is Used to Be" where they looked at "near future" science fiction movies (eg, the year 1997 in "Escape from New York," "Freejack" in 2009) and compared their vision of the future, technology, etc with what we actually have today. There's also DVD reviews and Comic Book reviews (Hey! Darwyn Cooke did some art in "Jonah Hex vol 5: Bullets Don't Lie". Also, a review of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vol 3: Century" that I am looking forward to reading.)
There's also a rather superficial piece written by Eddie Argos from Art Brut about his love of DC comics. (I still don't understand his current team-up with Black Box Recorder.) I found out that Karin Dreijer Anderson from The Knife has a new solo album. One interesting feature in the magazine is called "Self Portrait", where artists submit a photo they're taken of themselves and provide a list of personal facts and trivia. As an aside, it appears that the same creative team seem to wear many hats in the making of the magazine: I noticed one of the publishers is also the creative director, designer, and a photographer. The other publisher shares the same last name, and is also an editor of many of the features. So, I'm guessing this is probably a creative labour of love for the people who make this magazine. If so, good for them!
Occasionally I flip through magazines on my weekly visits to Indigo, scanning for anything that might pique my interest. My favourite music mag is "Uncut" because for one thing it's British and my musical tastes tend to be more Euro flavoured than American. Also "Uncut" features a nice, long retrospective of an iconic band from the past. Usually the free sampler CD (another bonus!) features cover versions of that iconic band by current artists. (So, simple logic: If a new band covered a David Bowie song, their sound will likely be Bowie-influenced and ergo as a Bowie fan, I may enjoy this new band too.) But I digress, this isn't about "Uncut"...
"Under The Radar" is a new discovery for me. It's an American alternative music and pop culture magazine, reasonably priced at $4.99. What drew my eye was the cover: though full colour, it is matte finished, not glossy. For some reason that simple feature caught my attention, as if it inexplicably gave it a bit of indie "cred" somehow. I flipped through and it interested me enough to buy it.
Two things I notice about the music scene in general these days. First, there are a LOT of indie bands out there, and they all pretty much strike me as the same. Secondly, the press is almost by it's definition, advertising. The music industry is an "industry", after all. There's really nothing wrong with that. So, I read pretty much every article and review as an advertisement. What is this artist selling? For the most part, it's nothing I'd care to buy. Usually music that is described by phrases like "60s psychedelia", "frequent tempo changes" and "wall of sound guitars" doesn't interest me. Most bands even look the same: take a handful of 20-somethings, poorly groomed, dressed in kitschy thrift shop used clothes, and take a "candid" shot of them holding quirky old props or sitting on worn-out basement furniture. I guess I just miss the package and polish of the 80s. Nevertheless, I'm willing to give anyone points for at least trying to be creative or artistic so I'll try to take a look beyond the packaging & see if the product inside is something I'd like to buy. Usually I scan reviews for clues & catchwords that might tip me off to something I'd like (eg, "electro", "Kraftwerk-inspired", "futuristic", etc.).
Getting back to "Under the Radar" specifically, there were some things in this magazine that I genuinely liked. There's an interview with Depeche Mode about their new album, "Sounds of the Universe". There's a one-page bit from Flight of the Conchords, whom I love and also a short interview with Aziz Ansari from "Human Giant". This issue also had a really fun article called "The Future Ain't What is Used to Be" where they looked at "near future" science fiction movies (eg, the year 1997 in "Escape from New York," "Freejack" in 2009) and compared their vision of the future, technology, etc with what we actually have today. There's also DVD reviews and Comic Book reviews (Hey! Darwyn Cooke did some art in "Jonah Hex vol 5: Bullets Don't Lie". Also, a review of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vol 3: Century" that I am looking forward to reading.)
There's also a rather superficial piece written by Eddie Argos from Art Brut about his love of DC comics. (I still don't understand his current team-up with Black Box Recorder.) I found out that Karin Dreijer Anderson from The Knife has a new solo album. One interesting feature in the magazine is called "Self Portrait", where artists submit a photo they're taken of themselves and provide a list of personal facts and trivia. As an aside, it appears that the same creative team seem to wear many hats in the making of the magazine: I noticed one of the publishers is also the creative director, designer, and a photographer. The other publisher shares the same last name, and is also an editor of many of the features. So, I'm guessing this is probably a creative labour of love for the people who make this magazine. If so, good for them!
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