Once again, Jack, I find that I cannot agree with comments that you make about fRoots so without getting into a slanging match with you which I won't do, could I make some points about your last post?
You seem to find his description of the Mudcat community insulting when you write:-

More unfairly than his comment about you, me and everybody else here in that review? I don't think so.
I must ask you not to include me in the list of those who feel that they are being treated unfairly by that review and I think that you ought to let others in the Mudcat community speak for themselves, Some at least seem to recognise Ian's description. Howard Jones just above talks about clubs where "you are made to sit in rows and shut up." Overall, I would say that there are many clubs that bear a resemblance to this.

I would agree about the writing….
Good. A point of agreement.

…..the design is nothing special…..
Well, yes; again, I'd agree, but let's compare it with its direct competitor Songlines. Flashy garish and eye-catching design but the standard of writing is pretty abysmal. Short pieces that read like puffs written by a publicist which seem to centre on the meeting between writer and artist with little analysis of the music.

…… (or wasn't when I last saw a copy)……
Well, I'm afraid that you are giving yourself away here, Jack. I did suspect this with your comments in a previous post about Madagascar. How often and how regularly do you read fRoots carefully, Jack? Could it be that you are expressing opinions on something that you don't know well (says a man that has all 380 copies stored in boxes on shelves by his computer and finds then a hugely useful reference source.)

But I detest the narrowness of his perspective - the only stuff he cares about is what you can buy as a commodity…… I just checked Jimmy McHugh, probably the most influential musician ever in the Irish music scene in Scotland, but who never made any recordings. Not a mention. If you're not a product (and hence a source of advertising revenue) you don't count for Froots.
By amazing co-incidence the Jan/Feb 2015 issue just dropped through the letter box as I am typing this, so let's test the validity of these statements with reference to what this new issue contains -
•        Cover article is on the 40th anniversary of a wonderful dance band, The Old Swan Band – This is supported by a 1/2 page advert for all recent Wildgoose releases but this is not special to this issue. Doug Bailey feels the need to advertise his releases on a regular basis.
•         Centenary of the birth of Bob Copper – no supporting advert.
•        Ibibo Sound System from Nigeria – no supporting advert.
•        Sam Sweeney & Andy Cutting's new outfit Leverett – no supporting advert.
•        Pete Coe & Alice Jones – no supporting advert.
•        Profile on folk/rock producer Sandy Roberton – no supporting advert.
•        Smaller features on Norwegian festival, new librarian at Cecil Sharp House, traditional band from Co. Clare, Joe Boyd on Copyright – you've guessed it - no supporting adverts.
•        And finally the current cover on a new South London traditional folk band, Stick The Wheel, who are excellent and if the world is fair should make a big name for themselves. They haven't even got and album out to advertise.
fRoots is not perfect. Ask Ian Anderson how quick I am to bend his ear if there is something I don't like or if there is a mistake or if I feel standards are falling, but overall I feel that over 35 years the man has produced an amazing variety of high quality articles and photo features and has never once missed a deadline. We should be falling over ourselves in praise of him for what he has achieved.
Let me mention also, Jack, how articles in fRoots come about; I have written quite a lot for them so I should know. The editor is not in a position to commission articles. He has to wait until his writers contact him and give a yea or nay to their suggestions. In my case he rarely says no and if he does, it is always for a good reason. So if there is nothing about Jimmy McHugh (lovely musician, in my opinion, though its years since I heard him) it's because no-one has suggested the name to him. Tell you what, Jack, contact Ian and say that you would like to write something on Jimmy McHugh. That's what I do when I hear someone that I think is worth hearing more about.
….. and I'm still confused about Islington.