The NME wants to be Exitfare
Every now and then I feel like someone at the NME is watching us. Maybe they're stalking us or maybe they're simply fans, but we know they're watching as they've been dropping a clue here or there -- we see the tracks that we first mentioned in their referrals section, or even more telling, they start to herald a band that we started to hype months earlier.
The Maccabees, Foals, Duels, The Voom Booms, Johnny Flynn, O Fracas and more.
Last week's issue takes the cake though (I'm in the States, we get our copies a week or two behind), as White Lies was the Radar Live pick, a band that we first highlighted back in November, and if we really want to get technical, we wrote about their old band, Fear of Flying, last summer.
Next, there's the Elle Milano mention. Welcome to 2006, guys!
The highlight was their scene profile on West Yorkshire, the county containing Leeds and a scene we have been hyping for the better part of two years as not just one of the best in England, but one of the best in the entire world. Featured bands include Exitfare favorites Grammatics, Sky Larkin, Wintermute and Televised Crimewave, which features two ex-members of Black Wire.
(BTW NME, you forgot to mention Pulled Apart By Horses)
I guess I'm not really mad because it's flattering that anyone from the NME stops by here, and really, if they want to nick a band or two, then that's fine -- I've been doing it for about 15 years. Maybe we should develop a working relationship -- you guys can continue to "discover" bands here and you can give us a column on the website once a month. Sound good? Let me know, my e-mail is on the sidebar.
posted by Dany at 3/25/2008 08:30:00 AM
5 Comments:
heheheh. Do something original NME!
I actually talked to Tom Vek about the Leeds scene back in November 2005. At the time, he said something like "Leeds has a scene?" I'll have to find my micro cassette and post it.
NME isn't the only blog "stealing" from you! I'm honored to be in such good company (but I often give credit where credit is due ;-)
I had hoped this would be quite a humourous post but alas, it is simply an arrogant one. If you genuinely believe that the NME are "stealing" tips from this blog, you are sadly deluded. Perhaps they have come across a band or two on your blog but acting like they're stealing your babies is utterly mental!
The majority of bands you've mentioned probably actually got their first print reviews in the NME. And I'm sure many people have written/talked about the bands you almost claim exclusivity on, before you'd even posted on them. I know radio DJs like John Kennedy and Steve Lamacq tend to be far, far ahead of the trends.
Without reading the issue (I don't even buy the magazine!), it is obvious that Elle Milano are being mentioned as they have an album coming out. Well done, you've successfully taken things out of context! I'd give you a prize but you're already too smug. I don't even feel the need to illustrate the fallacies of your other points.
It's a real shame that you chose to write such a misguided post when this blog is actually quite good. If you're not going to be funny, at least be mature. Very, very disappointing.
Do people in the United Kingdom not get sarcasm? Although I can't purport to know what Dany was thinking when he wrote the post, it comes off very tongue in cheek to me.
The NME is a great publication, even though the writers seem to idolize the Arctic Monkeys a bit too much. I credit the NME with introducing me to a great number of bands over the years (especially in the pre-Internet era) and I'm sure that my musical taste would be extremely different if my local suburban Borders didn't stock the magazine.
Frankly, I think we'd both be extremely flattered to find out that NME writers were anxiously reading our blog every day to "discover" new bands. I'd probably geek out merely if I saw that someone on the NME server visited the blog.
This post was merely a joke that was posted after reading one week's edition that mirrored our picks fairly closely. Nothing more. Don't deride us as immature, arrogant, deluded pricks simply because you don't see the intended humor.
Cheers,
Beth
Post a Comment
<< Home