I don't usually buy Q magazine. I used to have a subscription once upon a time, but it changed, as mags are wont to, and I fell out of love with it. Plus, I wasn't nearly as into new music as I once was.
Lately though, I've been buying it again. I'm a Mojo subscriber, but it's got a bit dull. Shoving the Beatles or Dylan on the cover and combining with a lengthy yawnfest about the blues for the nth time is making me consider cancelling my sub. It's just laziness. Surely there must be other stuff they can cover? Having said that, this month they've done Pentangle, of which I approve, but think of all the music in the world and they stick to same tried and tested old things.
I like The Word, but it's hit and miss some months. This month's is actually a really good one. I loved Andrew Collins' take on how things used to be and how they are. It was spot on. It's more often than not full of really interesting features and the reviews are good.
So, I only buy Q when I've run out of reading matter. Same goes for Empire, but I'm big into films so it's become a regular necessary purchase.
Anyhoo, this month's Q lazily relies on yet another list and this time it's the 100 greatest voices ever. It's tosh of course, with the usual unsurprising suspects featured. But it's not to be taken seriously on the whole. How can a list of the 100 greatest voices exclude Sandy Denny, Leonard Cohen, Stuart Staples, Linda Thompson, Shirley Collins, Donovan, Glen Campbell, Lee Hazelwood and Jacqui McShee? It's all pandering to the Guilty Pleasures crowd (Karen Carpenter - beautiful admittedly but she wouldn't have got a look in 10 years ago) and whoever's current. I mean, Jack White?? Rufus Wainwright? Both so overrated.
Lists are subjective, I know that, but anyone who's serious about music must agree about Sandy Denny at least.
The real reason for this post is - please stop these irritating, superfluous lists now. They're meaningless.
2 comments:
I feel all music mags have lost their way, and they're just falling over each other to fawn over the Next Big Thing. I thought Mojo went off ages ago when they put the White Stripes on the cover, which I thought was totally agains the editorial ethos.
I still like Uncut, though.
Mark Ellen was interviewed by The Independant a few weeks ago, he remarked on how much he hates those lists. Like the Top 100 albums, you know the top 3 will be Sgt.Pepper's, OK Computer and Pelican West.
I don't think much to the music covered in Word, but the standard of writing and the range of subjects covered are, by and large, excellent.
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