Tell me why RollingStone sucks

[Regular Joe]

Fun fact: about a decade ago I cater-waitered a party at Jann Wenner's house where everyone was famous.  I got drunk in the kitchen with a co-worker and got yelled at by Wenner for misidentifying one of the guests as Bianca Jagger.  He's obscenely rich and has a whole bunch of Picassos.  Art Garfunkel smoked pot in a guest bedroom and make a funny joke when I walked in on him, Senator Chuck Schumer has a pregnancy belly, and Harrison Ford is just like his character in Regarding Henry.  I considered calling in about this during the celebrity sightings show.

Less considering, more calling! That would have been call of the night, by far. What was Art Garfunkel's joke?

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

The thing is, I don't remember.  It was a long time ago and I was drunk.  I remember he was a good sport about me walking in on him smoking pot, especially because I was just following the pot smell and had no reason to be in there.

I really should have called, I never have one for the topic.  Although it's fully possible that I'm misremembering and I didn't think of it during the actual show (I dropped out for an hour to call my wife and caught up later with the podcast).  Next time!

[dave from knoxville]

Maybe it's the easy way out, but I think All Songs Considered does a pretty good job, unless you only want to hear angry buzzing music.

I don't know. That guy likes EVERYTHING on the college music charts, good or bad. Plus, he's the most awkward interviewer I've ever heard. His interview with Joanna Newsom made me feel like I was on a date with my dad, or something.

have i mentioned i'm 50?

[iAmBaronVonTito]

theres nothing redeeming about the magazine.  i enjoyed it when i was younger, then i grew up.  it has less to do with the little things that annoy me and more to do with how all those little things make one big pathetic pile of being nuts. 

admittedly, i do have a hard time accepting this:







not to mention:







and last but not least:

[buffcoat]

Um, they seem to be sexually exploiting men as well as women now, which is... progress, I guess.  Uh.

[John Junk 2.0]

I think the last time I read RollingStone was 1998 or something.  It was when the initial Britney Spears blitz was on; when she came out of nowhere and in one month had a cover story in RS.  It was some long interview with her family and I realized that this article was more or less pre-written by a Press Agent and there was nothing in it that wasn't serving to spin Britney Spears in the exact way that her PR people wanted her to be spun.  It was frustrating and pathetic, and the reason I was reading it was because I was stranded in a Paris train station for nine hours, and it was in English.

[Steeley Chris]

There was no mention of Mikey Dread's passing in March. That's why RS sucks. And Matt Taibbi, you will never be HST, so give it up (not writing, trying to be HST).

[cutout]

Tell me why RollingStone sucks

I can't think of any reason to read it when the last ten years alone has given us so many better magazines, record reviews and journalists, in print and especially on the web. All the other pop culture stuff RS features is just junk food to me. I don't, even ironically, want to know anything about Zac Efron, The Hills, the Eagles Reunion tour or Fall-Out Boy, unless I'm at the beach and want a magazine to kill the time.

[jamesp]

There was no mention of Mikey Dread's passing in March. That's why RS sucks. And Matt Taibbi, you will never be HST, so give it up (not writing, trying to be HST).

Yeah, exactly. Plus whenever I read his articles, he has to drop the f-bomb to be cool non-stop. I don't mind swearing but it just dumbs everything down.

What other music magazines do people suggest are worth reading?

[yesno]

What other music magazines do people suggest are worth reading?

http://www.thewire.co.uk/

One for the snobs.

Hmm, they have Tricky on the cover, I might need to un-recommend them.

If I were an eccentric billionaire, though, I'd pay someone to obtain all of the stuff they recommend.  I like any magazine that will support Sun Ra, Wooden Shjips, Andrew WK, and Autechre all in one issue.

[jbissell]

What other music magazines do people suggest are worth reading?

http://www.thewire.co.uk/

One for the snobs.

Hmm, they have Tricky on the cover, I might need to un-recommend them.

If I were an eccentric billionaire, though, I'd pay someone to obtain all of the stuff they recommend.  I like any magazine that will support Sun Ra, Wooden Shjips, Andrew WK, and Autechre all in one issue.

I second Wire, even if I don't understand half of what I read in it and it's like $10 at the bookstore. Invisible Jukebox and Primer are great features. They also present the great "Adventures in Modern Music" series at the Empty Bottle in Chicago every Sept.

[John Junk 2.0]

The Big Takeover

[namethebats]

In addition to the things already mentioned, I'll add the slobbering over the Rolling Stones/Mic Jagger. (Their live album from the "Bridges over Babylon" tour making an "essential albums" list, Mick's "Goddess in the Doorway" album getting five stars, etc.)

[Beth]

Maybe it's the easy way out, but I think All Songs Considered does a pretty good job, unless you only want to hear angry buzzing music.

I don't know. That guy likes EVERYTHING on the college music charts, good or bad. Plus, he's the most awkward interviewer I've ever heard. His interview with Joanna Newsom made me feel like I was on a date with my dad, or something.

have i mentioned i'm 50?

That's no reason for you to feel like you're on a date with your  dad, Dave.  Me, I'm about the music blogs and FMU. And Itunes radio stations are kind of fun, too.  And allmusic. Just look up your favorite bands and then look at their influences and followers. It becomes this fun degrees of separation type thing.

[Gilly]

I'll second the Big Takeover and add Under the Radar.