Okay, so this is a FANzine, right? I'm a FAN of lots of things/people and, most of those people/things that I'm a fan of are the little, hidden things/people ignored by the shitty mainstream media. I'm not saying I like things which are obscure or overlooked for the SAKE of it, I'd like to think I got over all THAT shit a long time ago. No, I just think that the mainstream press are too shallow and boring to try anything REAL. They're content with the 2nd or 3rd hand 'ideas' of their Damons and their Noels, who sing their rip-off songs about their 'feelings'. Anybody who really DOES sing about how they feel (ie-Bob Mould, Mark Eitzel, etc) are either held up for ridicule (Evan Dando's 'Big Gay Heart' comes to mind) or given a bit of critical respect but little or no column inches at all. Despair, reality, etc, doesn't sell papers. People want to have their pretty poster boys from this month's 'happening' bands adorning their covers/walls. The fact that Melody Maker started putting POSTERS in the middle just before it folded speaks volumes about the modern music press. Isn't there anyone catering for someone like me? Maybe not. Maybe I'm such a loser that no-one could or would possibly cater for my tastes. Don't get me wrong, mags like 'Uncut' quite often have good stuff in their pages. I'm not suggesting someone starts up a monthly mag solely devoted to everything that I like (well, maybe that's what this zine is for!?) but, y'know..a BIT of balance never went amiss, did it? The NME just makes me fucking sick now. I can hardly bear to look at it. I read the news section, in case anyone I like has died, and that's about it. I'm not disillusioned with music (well, not MUCH), just the way it's treated like wallpaper..mind you, the pishy bands loved by NME/Wire, etc, aren't any better than wallpaper. In fact, wallpaper's a hell of a lot more useful than most of those bands could ever hope to be. It's all disposable, new-release-costing-lots-of-money today, charity-shop-bargain-bin tomorrow music. It's kind of depressing. It all looks so contrived and careerist and, when you actually meet most people in bands, that's EXACTLY what it is. It's 'just' a job. Clock in, write some crappy wee songs, get your pension plan sorted out. I have more respect for someone like Stephen Pastel, who used to work in a the record department of a bookshop just down the road from my flat (until it closed down fairly recently). I might not like the guy's music much anymore, but at least he's not just existing in some fake popstar bubble. I mean, the way crappy bands are revered is ridiculous. And it's only partly jealousy too.. I'd actually blow my head off if I had that kind of attention. I used to think I wanted it but it doesn't seem a very healthy thing to be famous. There's no way I'd feel comfortable with people knowing who I am, what I think, etc. I'm paranoid enough walking down the street as it is! I think the press are bizarrely schizoid when writing about music. If a band is crap and has nothing to say, they splash them all ove their rag each and every week/month. If a band is good, but maybe a little bit contrary and don't fit into any kind of scene (for past examples, see post-hit Talk Talk, the Replacements, etc), then they're more-or-less ignored. I mean, WHAT THE FUCK?! If you're thinking of spending some of your hard-earned dole money on a new 'cool' CD by some flavour-of-the-month band, I can guarantee you that you'd be better off going to your local charity shop- especially if you still possess a turntable. Vinyl is so ridiculously cheap now, even in record shops (I'm not talking about NEW vinyl, of course!) You don't have to risk buying something you may not like. It's funny how the record labels are all getting heavily into the 'net and MP3 shit all of a sudden. They realise that, pretty soon, they'll be as good as obsolete and are desperately trying to claw their way out of the pit. If you're a FAN of music at all, you should boycott new product, buy second hand and/or download stuff for free and throw some more dirt into the hole those fuckers have dug for themselves.