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I feel pretty much the same way Gavin. I think the current best general
music magazine is Mojo.
It's published in England and editorially the mag sees todays music in a
historical perspective.
The last issue I bought had a "roots of reggea" cd attached that is simply
excellent.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gavin Ehringer" <>
To: <>
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2005 9:19 PM
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] In Defense of Jann Wenner...(warming, barely any
surf content).
Jann Wenner, a male, started Rolling Stone basically from scratch in the
1960s. Like Hugh
Heffner a decade earlier, Wenner built his little magazine into an empire.
While Hugh has a
hands-on interest in Playboy (and who wouldn't), I think Jann probably has
abdicated most
of his editorial responsibilities to the editors. Much to the detriment of
the magazine. To
his credit, he took chances on writers like Hunter S. Thompson, Ken Kesey,
P.J. O'Rourke,
and helped launch the careers of many great rock photographers.
Somewhere along the way, Rolling Stone stumbled into middle age, and like
those of us
who were birthed in the 1960s, it tries to be cool and youthful, but somehow
can't hide
the fact that it is now bloated and slow and unattractive. Sigh.
Sadly, I don't find the other music mags any more inspiring...Spin, Blender,
etc. They sure
seem to lean heavily toward skinny, nerdy, pansy-looking white musicians
(Franz
Ferdinand, Mars Volta, Beck), the ghetto-licious (J Lo, Beyonce, Black Eyed
Peas), or
ghetto-thug (50 Cent).
I realize this is today's music "scene," and maybe I am just nostalgic for
bands in which
people played instruments instead of black boxes. It seems so long ago when
the charts
were topped by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Red Hot Chili Peppers (okay, the
Chili Peppers are
still hangin' in)? Not great musicians, but rebellious rockers who parents
could dispise. I
can only say, I found hope in seeing Green Day win a Grammy. And I miss the
great Stevie
Ray Vaughan, a working class white guy with attitude, muscle and a
splintered Strat.
I think the music world is due for a sea-change, away from the fashionable
teen idols,
flop-wristed college boys, bling-bling rappers - to the rebellious. Who is
with me? C'mon!
Okay, enough of my rant. Maybe salvation will rise-up in the form of a
mind-altering surf
band!
