Im sorry but these lot really do have some of the worst 'music writers' ever. I really do get the impression they let any kid off the street write some words for them and dont even bother reading it before they publish it.
And too many times now have I seen truly awful bands given positive reviews and good bands slagged off for no good reason...
I think its high time they booked up their ideas about who they get to write for them.
also
I've never heard of them but they're using one of the pseudonyms I sometimes use in some places on the internet, so I damn them by default.
Yeah, it's terrible.
Local music zine for the local music scene. COOL.
Slagged your band off did they?
They are shit though. Someone mention the Champion Kickboxer thing.
What's the Champion Kickboxer thing?
.
Champion Kickboxer were going to play a gig
Champion Kickboxer cancelled.
Sandman printed a review of said cancelled gig saying that Champion Kickboxer had been pretty alright.
End of story.
Ha ha
That's hilarious. I haven't read it for ages. I guess it serves a purpose, of sorts.
Bog roll?
yeah, Sandman..
isn't it terrible, a free publication giving people the chance to write for it. What's the matter, did you send something in and it wasn't published? Every article is edited by a regional editor, and of course some writers are going to be better than others. It's not perfect, but for a free publication I think it's a bloody good read. Hey, if you don't agree with its opinions, why not start up a music zine with a 50,000+ readership yourself?
^ this
#not that I'm concerned (of course your not)
your paper's full of crap (of course it is)
I only read the gig guide anyway#
well i just think
if it is a mag with as you say '50,000+' readership, then that just emphasises my point further!
They need to have some quality control on their articles! i admit i have seen the occasionally well written piece, but that is fast becoming rarer and rarer. I mean the overall lack of musical knowledge, spelling mistakes and overall bad use of the english language, seriously makes me think the average age of their writer is 13...
you forgot to mention
that they definitely didn't give your band a bad review
that's the problem though...
... without wishing to be elitist, Sandman lets literally *anybody* write for it, which would be fine if there was some editing done to the copy but, at least in the Sheffield reviews/features, there just isn't.
I don't want to read things that don't make sense. And I *certainly* don't want to read features on bands that the singer's best friend/manager/PR has written...
The problem with the Sheffield one
is it's Sheffield, York, Leeds, Manchester, Hull and Nottingham - and while the local editors can submit work, it's all down to the guy in Sheffield to actually decide what goes into the mag. If you look on the website, the overspill live reviews section is massive - it's understandable that some shit gets through when there's such a large amount of stuff literally going through one person.
I write for the magazine in Leeds, and yes there are some awfully written articles and reviews in there, but there are also some really well written ones. If it went to each city having its own version (I think it used to?), I bet it'd become much more focussed. As it is, it's a nice starting point for writers really. Does anyone honestly read live reviews of local gigs, really?
interesting..
I was just reading it before during my grammar lecture, to be fair the features and main body of the work seems enthusiastically written, and unlike the likes of The Fly and suchlike they don't feel the need to include a band's Myspace list of influences into their reviews.
Having said that, they seem incapable of giving out a bad live review, even The Enemy were loved, a problem I think of zines and free mags in general I think because if your a contributor chances are your only going to put your hand up to get on the guestlist for a band you like
^^ That's true, that
I worked for Sandman for a while and only ever went to see bands I liked. But then, when you're not being paid, I guess that's the perk of the job innit?
I didn't always write glowing reviews - sometimes I was disappointed by a band I loved - but I only once slagged off a band, who were terrible.
Then the article came out. In an issue with said band on the cover, and being proclaimed Sandman's favourite Sheffield band.
Ooops. Still got printed though!
I am the same as this man
I only ever wrote for Sandman when they gave me free tickets to gigs I wanted to go to. Even then I sometimes didn't bother as I am a lazy shit which is why I feel bad going to the meetings now.
Herein is the pattern of me with every single site/paper I write for.
is it because
they didn't give your demo a good review? you were pretty good when you played with us the other night but I havn't heard your demo so I can't really say anything about that. I think sandman can be pretty good, but they do feature alot of boring, boring bands in their interviews section.
oh hello there
which band were you in??
and glad you liked us ;)
sorry couldnt stick around for yer set, we had to get the train back to lancaster! :(
x
does anyone know where you can
find it near to London, we send them all our releases but have no way of knowing if they ever reviewed...
It's online:
http://www.sandmanmagazine.co.uk/
ioioioioiioioi
was in io if you couldn't work out the riddle. was quite bizarre we were sitting at the venue in leeds the next day reading sandman and we were like, 'didn't we play with them yesterday'. okay, it wasn't that bizarre...
he he
yeah, didnt you agree it was poorly written and wrong though? :)
no i dont mind bad reviews, as long as the writer actually knows what they're on about and doesnt not like a post rock song cause its 'too slow for them' to handle!
p.s. will need to play with youse again, so we can actually see yer set! :)
strange
i've ever read one on line,not so bad as u discribe........to critic is always an easy thing
it is widely accepted...
.... as true that amongst the people i talk to, sandman is a joke. which is a shame coz it seems to be trying to do something, i just cant tell what it's trying to do. if the readership is 50,000+ then it must have been alot more once coz i think many people are ignoring it now.
whatever happenned to no quarter? good humourous little free mag.
Sandman have no way of knowing how many people read their rag
as it's freely distributed. 50,000+ is almost certainly going to be based on how many piles of them they leave stacked up all over the place.
(technically I read it - they leave some at our band's practice rooms - but that doesn't mean I think it's good)