Ten Picks From The Archive (NR10)

It's become an irritating trend for long-running TV shows – even the good ones – to celebrate anniversaries in the most banal fashion possible: the lazily compiled flashback-based show. Watching these joyless exercises in self-indulgence is the audiovisual equivalent of being invited to a friend's party, only to be bombarded with endless holiday photographs and non-alcoholic beverages for the entire evening.

 

While this anniversary piece undoubtedly treads a similar path, I'd like to think that my intentions are better. Think of it as a celebration of the the last decade of feature writing on No Ripcord.

 

I could have easily chosen twenty, even thirty articles that made me a very proud editor, but, in the spirit of the NR10 series, I trimmed my selections down to a worthy ten. For me, these picks illustrate some of the site's core values, while also demonstrating just how we've progressed over the course of our first ten years. I hope you have as much fun reading them as I did picking them out.

 

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1. Neutral Milk Hotel by Kristin Fiore (August 2002)

 

To those who really know it, Neutral Milk Hotels's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea is a truly special record. It's perhaps one the few albums of the last twenty years that the vast majority of the No Ripcord staff can agree is a stone cold classic. Freelancer Kristin Fiore contributed this piece in 2002, focusing on the band, its legacy, and Aeroplane's remarkable effect on the fans who truly embraced its ramshackle sound.

 

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2. The Culture Bunker #4 by Peter Mattinson (February 2004)

 

Not everyone's cup of tea – we received as many 'wtf?' emails as we did fan messages – but Peter's series of first-person rants about a variety of pop-culture subjects, employment (or lack thereof), and education remains an important part of No Ripcord's history. The Culture Bunker was our first regular column, after all. #4 is my personal favourite – Peter reflects on the end of one of his favourite bands, visits London and Manchester, and answers a reader's question about a classic computer game. He's long overdue a comeback...

 

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3. An Immodest Introduction (to non-post-indie-alterna-tronica) by Paul Roylance (February 2004)

Paul Roylance explores the ways in which we classify 'classical' music and provides 20 suggestions for a different kind of playlist. It's both a primer for the work of a variety of composers and a reflection on how strict genre tags can affect the way we approach and listen to music. Great stuff.

 

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4. Interview: MF Doom by Chris Conti (May 2004)

 

Aside from the ever popular end of year pieces, Chris Conti's interview with hip hop legend MF Doom is the most widely read feature article on the website. Doom talks openly about the state of hip hop, the role of aliases in his work, and his plans for the future.

 

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5. The Sorry State of Music Criticism by Alan Shulman (May 2007)

 

It's a strange title for an article appearing on a website that specialises in music criticism, but Alan Shulman's piece will surely resonate with everyone who has read (or written) an overzealous review of what turned out to be a pretty middling record. It's one of handful of articles on the site (and in this list, come to think of it) that focus on the art of music criticism, and it certainly made me think a little about my own use of superlatives back in 2007.

 

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6. Say My Name: Or, How I Named My Band After Myself by Craig Thompson (July 2007)

 

Craig only submitted two feature articles to No Ripcord during his time with the site, but they're both pretty special. This is my favourite of the two, an insanely well-researched piece on artists who chose to perform under their given names.

 

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7. Why I Love Tales From Topographic Oceans by Alan Shulman (April 2008)

 

It's one thing to write about classic albums or obscure gems, but to extol the virtues of a widely panned example of prog-rock indulgence? That's just crazy, right? Apparently not. Alan's genuine fondness for this curious record shines through and it almost makes me want to give Topographic Oceans another spin. In fact, I might just go and do that now...

 

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8. Fallow by Paul Roylance (May 2008)

 

What happens when the critic loses his muse? And what happens when the realisation hits you that you might never get the chance to listen to an old favourite again? Paul Roylance ponders some of the big questions facing the music fan and examines the case for a No Music Day.

 

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9. Romero to Bergman: A Belated Horror List By The Movie Kids by Various (December 2008)

 

A great collaborative piece that celebrates the best of horror cinema, regardless of budget and production values. I've bought up a few of these films on DVD in the wake of this feature and I'm yet to be disappointed.

 

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10. The Curse Of Seven by George Booker (April 2009)

 

You might remember this one. It's another feature that focuses on the role and responsibility of the music critic and it serves as a nice companion piece to Fallow and The Sorry State of Music Criticism.

 

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Ok, so it wasn't quite that easy to limit my picks to ten. I couldn't resist including one more article as a special bonus selection:

 

So – Indie by Paul Roylance (January 2005 – never published)

 

I remember arriving home at around 1:30am on 1 January 2005 to find this piece in my mailbox. Still buzzing from the night's New Year celebrations I sat down and absorbed the entire article, concluding to myself that it was exactly the sort of thing we should be publishing on the site. I then went to bed and subsequently forgot to publish it. I've apologised to Paul a hundred times for this, but I suppose now is as good a time as any to finally make good on my initial promise to post it. In Paul's own typically modest words it's “the one that tried to define indie... it failed, of course, but quite honourably, I think”. I'd suggest it gets closer to the essence of that term than anything else I've ever read. I'll leave you to mind your own mind up. Enjoy.