Friday 8 April 2011

Punk 4 Japan Vol 3 and Fuck The NME

First up, for those of you that missed the announcement, the 3rd volume of Punk 4 Japan is up and available to download.

Featuring another 40 bands this volume completes the trilogy in a way that's really only rivaled by Star Wars or something else that was good and there happened to be three of them (yes, I know there were 6 Star Wars flicks but I have chosen to ignore parts 1 through 3 because they were toilet) and featuring such bands as: Shag Nasty, Billy No Mates, Wonk Unit, Oiz II Men, Viki Vortex and the Cumshots, The Milksnatchers, UK Vomit, Ducking Punches, Richie Blitz and Truebeat this is a gem of a compilation.

3 quid, same as the others and available HERE

You can read what our pal Woodstock over at Studs and Punks had to say about all 3 parts of Punk 4 Japan HERE HERE and HERE

Before the next bit - here's a disclaimer: The ICM blog contains the opinions of Dan and he started The ICM, runs The ICM and books all the bands that appear on The ICM's gigs so it's fairly safe to say that when he say's 'fuck the NME' - he's speaking on behalf of The ICM and not copping out behind a pathetic disclaimer. With that said...

In other news, the NME recently made a few enemies thanks to a guy named Rick Martin posting a blog about why he doesn't think Record Store Day is important. More than that, he goes on to insult everybody that works in independent record stores and claims buying singles is a waste of money.



You can read the article and join the debate HERE


In case you were unclear on my position on this matter - the writer of this article is a tool. He's a journalist for the NME that has publicly dismissed the need for physical copies of music - the same music the magazine he is employed by is supposed to be endorsing however the artist chooses to bring it out. Smart move, eh?

Interestingly the article goes way off topic from berating Record Store Day (or 'a fucking genius way to get hold of limited edition vinyl by acknowledging and celebrating independent record stores day' - as I like to think of it) to a meandering dirge about the death of CD's and records in favour of MP3's. As far as articles go, it's a piece of shit.

Where it gets worse is that the 'writer' of this meandering toss then insults the very staff of these awesome establishments - quite clearly basing his opinions on High Fidelity and using a Yellow Pages advert to back up his claim - the bellend.

He also tells the readers that he threw out his CD's - presumably in some act of defiance against a dying medium... But kept the ones he actually paid for. So, here's a little heads up, if you're thinking of sending a single to the NME for review - don't. It will most likely fall into the evil clutches of an ignorant little prick who will then simply toss it into the bin because even free stuff isn't appreciated by these soulless wankers anymore. No wonder really that nobody reads the NME anymore to be honest. Bring back Melody Maker now!

In fact, my proposal is simple: If you buy the NME - stop. Save the money you spend on that rag and go to your nearest independent record shop and buy a single. Instant win. That is all.