photpgraph of Reverend & the Makers performing live at Manchester Academy
Not Happy with The State of Things

Once upon a time, in a land not that far away, everybody knew that to keep up to date with the latest and greatest new bands you read either The Melody Maker or the New Musical Express.  Which one you read depended largely on the kind of music you were into, or more likely which had the best cover pic’ that week but there was choice and both choices were good.  Then sadly in the year 2000, the Melody Maker gave up the fight and after nearly seventy five years we’re now left with the choice of NME or NME for our weekly fix of music news…

This should have been a turning point for NME, with no real competition to worry about the magazine would go from strength to strength, drowning us with the breadth and depth of New Musical Talent – did you see what I did there 😉 – coming up through the small clubs and venues across the country.

Unfortunately it didn’t pan out like that, and allegations of poll rigging in 2005 simply added to the general dissatisfaction with the direction the mag’ was taking.

Now in 2009,  with many viewing the NME as a list of what’s “cool” for the kids without any real music knowledge rather than a real music mag’ where do you go for your real weekly music news fix, where do you find out who your new heroes will be, or what’s going on in the underground scene you’re into?

Happily you’re not alone in the quest for a real music paper, a paper that is more interested in music than how witty it’s put downs are.  Jon McClure and his followers on twitter are taking the challenge to NME and are planning the “The Ark”, a magazine that will give a voice to up and coming bands across the country, not just London, and will cover a much broader range of music than the NME .

If you’re  interested in getting involved head over to the Makers Forum and sign up.  If you have any ideas for The Ark then drop a mail to The Rev at reverendmusic@gmail.com.

You can read more Jon McClure’s Ark at Northern Uproar.


BANDS: Reverend and the Makers – Images by mike gatiss

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