About No Ripcord

No Ripcord is an independent online magazine specialising in the fields of music, film, and television.

Initially thrust into an unsuspecting and largely uninterested world in by three enthusiastic non-writers (Chris Hall, Adam Booth and current Editor-in-Chief David Coleman), the site began life in April 1999 as a fortnightly newsletter.

As the staff expanded and the writing gradually improved, so did the site's ambitions. The newsletter concept was ditched in favour of  a web-based format, and in 2000 we relocated to the NORIPCORD.CO.UK domain. This remained our home for three very productive years, which saw staff numbers reach double figures for the first time. In 2002 Chris Willie Williams helped us to add film coverage to our evolving agenda, and Peter Mattinson introduced No Ripcord to a wider audience with his series of controversial yet popular Culture Bunker articles, discussing subjects as diverse as further education, unemployment, the ageing process, and retro video gaming.

In 2003 the site moved to its current home at NORIPCORD.COM, where it enjoyed an initial period of increased popularity before being plagued by frustrating periods of inactivity. We blamed this almost entirely on our antiquated static HTML website, but in truth various other factors (academic commitments etc.) contributed to No Ripcord's torpor. Nevertheless, we boldly drew up plans for a new website and handed them over to a series of web-designers. And then we waited. For three immensely frustrating years we waited. In October 2006, we launched a powerful new Drupal based website, which has recently been revamped by designer Sean Hodge and Drupal developer Ronny López, to form the modern and aesthetically pleasing No Ripcord that you see today.

At some point in the mid 2010s, Juan Rodriguez assumed the mantle of Editor-In-Chief with David Coleman taking a slight step back from the day to day operations of the site.

In 2022, the team launched a brand new podcast, Quarantine The Past, celebrating new music and shining a light on underappreciated records from the past.