To Thread - Forum Home

The Mudcat Café TM
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=149573
15 messages

Properganda magazine closes

15 Feb 13 - 01:21 PM (#3480083)
Subject: Properganda magazine closes
From: Vic Smith

This from
Esther Tewkesbury

After 25 issues, it has sadly become necessary for us to cease publication of Properganda magazine.

We are grateful to all the contributors, labels, artists, venues, clubs, retailers and festivals that have supported Properganda over the years, but publishing and distributing 75,000+ copies of a free magazine has become financially untenable.

As a result the editor Simon Holland has left the company to pursue other opportunities. Simon has steered the ship through the tempestuous seas of the ever changing specialist music landscape since its inception and we wish him all the best for the future.

For news and info on what's going on at Proper, www.propergandaonline.com will continue to shout about specialist music.

Thank you all again for your support.

Regards

Esther Tewkesbury

15 Feb 13 - 02:43 PM (#3480101)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: Continuity Jones

A shame for the people who worked on it, of course, but really it's a shame for those of us who relied on their unbiased, straight to the point, brutally honest reviews. Really, they were the Woodward and Bernstein of the folk world and shall be missed. Who now will tell the truth? Who now can we rely on for such good, honest, unbiased reviews?

Farewell Properganda, I salute your infactwewillpositivelyreviewanyoneforafeeability.

15 Feb 13 - 05:35 PM (#3480151)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: Reinhard

Simon, you did a great job with the Properganda magazine and as editor/admin of Jon Boden's A Folk Song a Day blog. Thank you very much and all the best wherever you're heading now.

15 Feb 13 - 05:51 PM (#3480154)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: GUEST,Joe G

I always enjoyed the magazine and will miss it (though I do have about 20 back issues of Songlines still to read so one less mag may be a blessing!)

Like the magazine HMV used to produce you had to accept that it was an advertising tool so of course they would not be publishing negative reviews - but the reviews piqued my interest many tomes and thanks to the web it was easy to follow up and see if the music was as good as they said it was. I also really enjoyed their podcasts whilst walking to work - it would be nice if they survived.

Good luck to Simon and anyone else who worked on the magazine - hope everyone finds equally or even more rewarding work

15 Feb 13 - 05:55 PM (#3480155)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: Matthew Edwards

Sorry to hear the magazine is folding as I very nuch enjoyed reading it. Good luck to Simon - as Reinhard has mentioned, he was a great curator/editor for Jon Boden's A Folk Song a Day blog which made a great interactive discussion.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed.

Matthew

15 Feb 13 - 06:53 PM (#3480179)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: GUEST

Joe G: Proper stopped their podcasts before Xmas I think. And your 20 issues of Songlines shouldn't take long to read - their big Bellowhead cover feature was a little bit of official PR and pages of promo pics, for example - as close to advertorial as it gets. Rumours abound that they're not long for this world either, which the paucity of advertising in their latest issue would seem to confirm. And then theirs poor old Sing Out, a sad shadow of it's former self and publishing as irregularly as Living Tradition. Tough times in the folkie press world.

16 Feb 13 - 07:48 AM (#3480317)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: Vic Smith

And then theirs poor old Sing Out, a sad shadow of it's former self and publishing as irregularly as Living Tradition. Tough times in the folkie press world.

Of course, there is still fRoots which has been spreading enthusiasm for the folk scene over 357 issues without once missing its publication date in all those times. Regular readers will know have much the coverage of British artists has increased over the last few years or so as the recession and the British government's increasingly repressive immigration policy applied to foreign touring musicians means that the number of tours by foreign folk and roots artists has dwindled.

Sadly, it is difficult to mention the estimable fRoots on Mudcat without raising torrents of unjustified abuse.

16 Feb 13 - 08:41 AM (#3480332)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: Roger the Skiffler

Shame. I always liked the reviews of folk & blues. I was looking at what must have been the last issue only a couple of weeks ago.

RtS

16 Feb 13 - 04:23 PM (#3480487)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: GUEST

"Regular readers will know have much the coverage of British artists has increased over the last few years or so" (re Froots)

That'll explain the Greek bird on the current cover then!

16 Feb 13 - 04:46 PM (#3480500)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: Continuity Jones

Oh fuck off.

17 Feb 13 - 07:51 AM (#3480653)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: Vic Smith

Oh fuck off.
Not the language that I would have chosen, though I must endorse the sentiments.

17 Feb 13 - 08:07 AM (#3480656)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: Vic Smith

I wonder if the person who is not even brave enough to post under their own name who uses the pejorative and sexist phrase "Greek bird" to describe Martha Mavriodi would be prepared to submit their own musical biography to see if it is more impressive that Martha's? Her musical quality certainly impresses me http://www.marthamavroidi.com/ as does the accomplishments of her musical biography:-

Martha grew up listening to folk music from around the world. Her father, Marios Mavroidis an ethnomusicologist and radio producer, introduced her to the music of the world's cultures, bringing home from his radio shows music records from Asia, Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East. She graduated from the Music High School of Athens where she specialized in Greek folk music, singing and playing various types of folk lutes. While still a student she developed an interest in the music of Turkey. She studied the saz with Periklis Papapetropoulos and attended seminars with Talip Ozkan. Later she focused on the lafta, the Greek and Turkish folk lute which became her main instrument.
She graduated from the Department of Music Studies of the University of Athens, and took her diploma in Byzantine Music with Ioannis Arvanitis. After the loss of her father, she edited his last book "Musical modes in the Eastern Mediterranean" that was published posthumous . At the age of 23 she left Greece to pursue graduate studies in ethnomusicology in London at the School of Oriental and African Studies, where she found herself in a multicultural environment, interacting with musicians from different cultural backgrounds. In London she began her long-lasting relation with Bulgarian singing, studying over the years with some of Bulgaria's most renowned singers (Galina Durmushliiska, Tzvetanka Varimezova, Dessislava Stefanova). Her need to explore music beyond the boundaries of tradition led her to Amsterdam where she completed a Masters in Contemporary music at the Conservatorium of Amsterdam. She specialized in improvisation using non-western techniques in contemporary music contexts. There she began composing her own music, combining her folk music background with contemporary music trends. Her fascination with world music persisted, however, and she moved to California to continue her graduate studies in ethnomusicology at UCLA, specializing in the music of the Balkans. In Los Angeles she became a part of the vivid Balkan music scene, performing and recording as a singer and lafta player.
In 2005 she returned to Greece and started collaborating with some of Greece's most celebrated musicians in concerts and recordings (Savina Yannatou, Antonis Apergis, Kostas Theodorou, Himerinoi Kolimvites, Pantelis Thalassinos). At the same time she put together her own band, playing music from the Balkans and her own compositions. In 2008 she had built an electric lafta, which has become her signature instrument. On the electric lafta she has incorporated different techniques that she has mastered as a folk musician with elements of contemporary music, creating a unique style of performance. Her compositions also reflect the multiplicity of her musical influences, blending folk melodies with jazz harmony and improvisation. She has composed music for films (Princess' Taste, Tomorrow already, Pink River, The Guide), documentaries, dance and theater shows (M, Parrot, Tchehov and Olga, Guard Dog, Vacchai, Metapolitefsi). In 2011 she was chosen to participate in Berlinale's Talent Campus, a series of intensive workshops for artists working in the film industry. She has composed and arranged music for vocal ensembles, and she runs a workshop on vocal polyphony at the Music Village. As a singer she combines the rich colors of Bulgarian singing, with the ornaments and the microtonal subtleties of Greek and Middle Eastern singing. Both her vocal qualities and her virtuosity on the lafta have been praised by critics and fellow musicians in the Balkan-jazz music scene.
In the beginning of 2010 she released her debut album "The Garden of Rila" at WE SAW Productions. The album received enthusiastic reviews in world music magazines and it has been aired on radio stations in the UK (BBC, froots radio), the USA (KDVS-FM, WOMM-LP), Canada (CBC/Radio-Canada), Australia (PBS-FM), Turkey (Acik Radyo) and Greece (ERA, Kosmos, Melodia). The track 'Ballada' was included in fRoots' compilation cd for the magazine's issue of August/September 2011.
In November 2010 she formed the Martha Mavroidi Trio with Giorgos Ventouris on doublebass and Giannis Aggelopoulos on drums, and herself on electric lafta, saz and voice. The trio has performed in a number of venues and jazz festivals in Greece and Turkey. In January 2012 they released their new album «Portaki» at WE SAW Productions.

17 Feb 13 - 08:15 AM (#3480658)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: matt milton

Good call Vic.

And while we're drawing attention to anonymous posters in this thread not even being brave enough to post with their own name... I'd like to point out that the same is true of whoever the 'Guest' is making snide comments about Sing Out, Living Tradition and Songlines.

17 Feb 13 - 03:38 PM (#3480779)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: MoorleyMan

Sorry to hear of this, albeit via the back door.
Best wishes to the indefatigable Simon Holland for the future - he's done a fantastic job with the mag.

18 Feb 13 - 04:05 AM (#3480935)
Subject: RE: Properganda magazine closes
From: Splott Man

The magazine was popular with our folk club members who tended to read it during the course of the evening and leave it on the table at the end. So we'd still have a boxful after several weeks.
I have to say that we received far more copies than was necessary, and we couldn't take them elsewhere as other venue seemed to have loads too.

That said, it was always an enjoyable read (yes I know the reviews were paid for) and it has led me to explore artistes I may never have considered otherwise.

Incidentally, the Welsh magazine, Taplas, has also ceased publication after 30 years or so but is still available online by subscription.*

Splott Man


* Other online folk magazines are available.