Customer Reviews

Depression

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This magazine was founded to follow the alt-country music, a label it follows with the tag "(whatever that is)." Here's a hint--if you don't know what alt-country music is, this magazine isn't for you.

Alt-country is music based on the rural traditions of the 1930's and 1940's, interpreted primarily by urban-dwelling musicians, addressing itself to modern concerns. This sounds like a broad umbrella, and it is. No Depression magazine has had to cast its net wider and wider over the last few years. A recent issue ran obituaries for Johnny Cash, Floyd Tillman, and Warren Zevon on adjacent pages.

Because the music this magazine focuses on tends to have a cult following and little radio airplay, you can be sure of discovering something between these covers you haven't heard before. Simply opening the magazine is a learning experience. Page after page of album reviews are often followed by readable, throrough-going feature articles, concert reviews, DVD listings, and more. Even the ads are mostly well-constructed and informative.

This is an easy magazine to read. The writing is crisp and unpretentious, and the structural design mimics the willfully primitive rural art of the Great Depression. You can read a lot very quickly and not feel like you've skimmed past the real meaning.

If you can have more than two alt-country or Americana albums in your CD collection, this magazine is for you. You'll stay ahead of the trends, you'll know the best raw music being made, and you'll always know what you're looking for when you go to the record store. And what's more: you'll hang onto back issues, because they're so completely worth rereading. There's no higher praise for a culture magazine than that.

one of the most erudite music magazines on the market! several in depth articles in each issue. extensive reviews that don't fudge - candid and critical, and lots of pings to bands you've heard before, when reviewing those it's likely you haven't. the only criticism i can think of, is that it's become so big and thick with ads that it's gotten harder to get thru! but many of the ads display great graphic design, even they are fun!

great bands, great music, wordy writers, lazy editors, busy & difficult to read layout.

The good....

This is a decent little magazine that fills a need for folks like myself who love Americana music and they do a decent job of covering the multitude of styles that fall under that umbrella. It's cool when I see a review of some obscure artist's CD that I already have in my collection. Plus they do a good job of covering regional music scene.

The writing and editing are okay. Plus I love looking at the display ads from bands and record labels I've never heard of. Very cool.

The bad....

An annoying habit of injecting politics into the most inappropriate places. When I read an article about Steve Earle I expect to encounter politics that I may not agree with. This is fine. When I read a review of British band Grand Drive's latest CD I don't expect the review to begin with gratuitious America bashing. A writer bemoaning the fact that Ray Charles got short shrifted publicity-wise because his death was overshadowed by Ronald Reagan's passing was just...well, bizarre.

They should keep the politics to a mininum and only when it is central to the theme of the piece.

I probably won't renew my subscription.