Great mags for music lovers

By Tessie Carenbauer
George Washington High School

I rarely read magazines. Usually when I’m in the check-out line of a convenience store, none of those magazines catch my eye because I have never been interested in celebrities’ lives, which is what they cover. However, I recently discovered two that I do enjoy - Under the Radar and Harp, both of which are music magazines.

As I browsed Books-A-Million’s magazines, Under the Radar, which bills itself as “the solution to music pollution,” caught my attention. Flipping through it, I noticed that many of the featured bands are ones I listen to and that the ones I didn’t recognize seemed to fit my musical tastes.

Most of the bands included in Under the Radar are lesser known, and that attracted me to it because I always enjoy discovering new, unfamiliar groups.

While a large percentage of the magazine consists of advertisements for new CDs, the rest is full of features on new and/or up-and-coming bands. In the Fall 2006 issue that I looked at, The Decemberists were given a multi-page spread. Kasabian and The Cardigans were also featured. The articles were interviews with band members, typically explaining what type of music they play and what the recording process is like.

Under the Radar also has a very good review section, which I have found to be one of the best ways to explore the new music featured in the magazine. Each reviewer rates the CDs on a scale of 1 to 10, and talks about why he liked or disliked the album. This gives me a good idea about what to expect from the bands and can help me predict whether or not I’ll like them.

If I am looking for individual songs to try, I can look at the staffs’s top five songs of the moment. Some of the groups they mentioned have included Yo La Tengo, Midlake and Peter Bjorn & John.

The many Internet links throughout the magazine are also very useful. With them, I can search and preview new music without having to go through Amazon or another search link. This makes the process of finding new music easier.

In addition to CD reviews, the magazine includes reviews of singles and EPs, book reviews (most of which are biographies of famous singers like Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash) and DVD reviews.

To get my fix of more mainstream bands, I have turned to Harp, which I highly recommend. The Mars Volta, one of my favorite bands, was on the cover of the issue I first saw, so I immediately picked it up.

Harp has many of the same features as Under the Radar, including interviews and reviews. It also features some of the same bands. In fact, The Decemberists were in the issue I read.

While both magazines are worth reading, the best one for you depends on your musical preference. If you like popular rock bands that may be featured in more prominent magazines later in their career, Harp is perfect. However, if you like indie groups that may never make it on MTV, then Under the Radar is the way to go.