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More about 'new' than music.
All this slating has got me thinking more about what the NME meant to me in the early to mid 90's, the only period that I am familiar with it.
Mainstream music in the 80's and going into the 90's was a shitfest for many. Finding bands or scenes that were different and rejected the mainstream shite was a godsend for many such as me and started a lifelong passion for music. At that time there were many scenes, sub-genres, cities and regions had their own scenes. Without the NME etc a lot of these might have stayed regional and you would not have heard of them as the mainstream media would not have given them any attention. They were dependent on independent record labels and the NME etc (and John Peel) were the only ones who would give such releases exposure, it reflected what was happening away from the charts and the mainstream. Yes it was also looking for the next big thing - I think they were searching for the next Smiths, a band who broke into the mainstream but who were 'different'. It might have looked from the outside as elitist indie types, but it was all based on independent record labels, gigs, word of mouth, at the time the indie scene was buzzing with new bands appearing all the time from all over the UK.
These days it is hard to imagine two weekly papers all about indie/alternative music with so many pages, record and live reviews, interviews that went on for a few pages. I can read a monthly magazine in a couple of hours now. It took me days to get through the NME, by which time the next one was out. The writers had opinions. Some controversial, some stupid, wrong, right, funny. At least they had an opinion. They also picked up on political issues of the day and reflected issues that were relevant to young 'uns. Poll tax, the criminal justice act, being sick of year of Tory rule. Of course in those days you had bands that were happy to discuss and be associated with politics. In this age of apathy it's very different.
A bit of a ramble there...... I think many would have read the NME during a short period when the bands they covered would have aligned with what they were into or when they were first seriously getting into music as a late teenager etc, The period before or after that it would be of no interest. But for that short time when it was, the NME was seriously relevant and vital. Well it was to me anyway!
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/entertainment.theonion.com/pitchfork-gives-music-6-8-1819569318/amp
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
http://www.rockofages.uk.com/stock/19817.jpg
Don't forget the Evening Session and Mark Radcliffe. I still kick myself for not ordering the first Belle & Sebastian record after they played on Radcliffe and Lard's show... The slating on this forum for NME doesn't surprise me. There's a lot of Guitarist readers here. We're in mock leather driving glove territory and no mistake
Where NME truly worked for me was the idea of being open to influences. You might remember a guy called Dele Fadele writing there, a black chap in a sea of white faces at the time, who wrote about hip hop and was a very intelligent passionate writer. When Loveless was reviewed, it was Fadele who reviewed it.
http://www.tohereknowswhen.org/press/nme-9nov91-2.html
Perfect. If a guy who likes hip hop can dig shoegazing's zenith, then why couldn't a white cracker like me like hip-hop? NME to me was about breaking down boundaries.
Yes @Heartfeltdawn how could I forget; Mark Goodier, who's 7pm Evening Session introducing a lot of kids great bands, Mark and Lard (before R1, Hit the North on R5....Verve's live session being my highlight. And Frank Sidebottom). There were others... Gary Crowley's sessions programme on at 3am on ITV needed your best attempts at setting the VHS to record.
As well as indie the NME helped introduce me to electronic music, orbital, aphex twin etc and the whole ‘intelligent dance music’ of the time.
Was it the NME or MM that used to take the piss out of Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts?