mikeyboy
06-15-2003, 09:11 AM
Has anyone ever read Uncut? It's an entertainment magazine published in the U.K.
Uncut (http://www.uncut.net/)
It costs a little bit more than other magazines ($7.95), and it's sometimes tough to find (your best bet is Borders, Barnes & Noble, or any type of specialty magazine shop), but it's totally worth it.
What's nice about it is that the features aren't driven by what is hot at the time. You're not likely to see a feature on a band/artist just because they topped the Billboard charts. For musical acts, they tend to focus on current acts that are somewhat overlooked by the popular press. There is also a substantial (15-25 page), retrospective feature article on an important artist or band from the past. For example, there was a great article a few months back focusing on the recording of the Clash's first album. There are also shorter articles re-evaluating great bands from the past -- recent issues had great articles looking back at the careers of the Replacements and Husker Du.
As for movies, they do some pretty good write-ups of current movies, as well retrospective articles on actors and directors who have played important roles in cinema but are sometimes overlooked. For example, there have been past articles on Warren Oates, Bruce Dern, and John Cassavettes.
Overall, the writing is the best that I've seen in an entertainment magazine. Even performers that I have no interest in make for great, absorbing articles. The only knock is that, sometimes the text will contain English terms that are not well known to most Americans, but even this doesn't detract significantly from the magazine.
As an added bonus, every issue comes with a free, full-length CD. Some months feature compilations without themes, and these are nearly always far superior to the discs that come free with CMJ (that seem to be far too heavily influenced by what record companies are currently pushing). Other months feature themed discs, such as a compilations of cover songs of specific artists (Beatles, David Bowie, Stones, Dylan, Springsteen), Americana (better known in U.S. as alt-country), and psychelia.
If this sounds at all interesting to you, I'd highly advise picking up a copy.
<IMG SRC="http://www.angelfire.com/film/mikeyboy/sig13.jpg">
I am an American Aquarium drinker
Subscriber to Dignan's 40 year plan
2%
This message was edited by mikeyboy on 6-15-03 @ 1:58 PM
Uncut (http://www.uncut.net/)
It costs a little bit more than other magazines ($7.95), and it's sometimes tough to find (your best bet is Borders, Barnes & Noble, or any type of specialty magazine shop), but it's totally worth it.
What's nice about it is that the features aren't driven by what is hot at the time. You're not likely to see a feature on a band/artist just because they topped the Billboard charts. For musical acts, they tend to focus on current acts that are somewhat overlooked by the popular press. There is also a substantial (15-25 page), retrospective feature article on an important artist or band from the past. For example, there was a great article a few months back focusing on the recording of the Clash's first album. There are also shorter articles re-evaluating great bands from the past -- recent issues had great articles looking back at the careers of the Replacements and Husker Du.
As for movies, they do some pretty good write-ups of current movies, as well retrospective articles on actors and directors who have played important roles in cinema but are sometimes overlooked. For example, there have been past articles on Warren Oates, Bruce Dern, and John Cassavettes.
Overall, the writing is the best that I've seen in an entertainment magazine. Even performers that I have no interest in make for great, absorbing articles. The only knock is that, sometimes the text will contain English terms that are not well known to most Americans, but even this doesn't detract significantly from the magazine.
As an added bonus, every issue comes with a free, full-length CD. Some months feature compilations without themes, and these are nearly always far superior to the discs that come free with CMJ (that seem to be far too heavily influenced by what record companies are currently pushing). Other months feature themed discs, such as a compilations of cover songs of specific artists (Beatles, David Bowie, Stones, Dylan, Springsteen), Americana (better known in U.S. as alt-country), and psychelia.
If this sounds at all interesting to you, I'd highly advise picking up a copy.
<IMG SRC="http://www.angelfire.com/film/mikeyboy/sig13.jpg">
I am an American Aquarium drinker
Subscriber to Dignan's 40 year plan
2%
This message was edited by mikeyboy on 6-15-03 @ 1:58 PM