I remember the first time I saw it back in ’02, not only was it a cousin of Maxim that seemed to be of quality, at the time they had a pretty decent new book reviews section!

I have to agree with Chris, I had a comp subscription and it was one of the few magazines that was always worth reading. In fact, I may have paid for it if I needed to.(The same could not be said of Spin, on both counts.)

And even if you weren’t a fan of scantily clad pop or movie stars, at least the photography was top-notch.

Despite tipping towards typically overblown reviews in its later years (Coldplay’s X&Y earned five stars, for example), Blender did pop culture and music with a sort of earnest hipster vibe; sure, Arcade Fire are cool and all, Blender said, but so is Lil Wayne. So are Clipse. So are these indie bands that we enjoy.

I once told some friends that if I were ever a writer for a music magazine, I wanted it to be Blender. Now I won’t get that opportunity, and, though my feelings aren’t as strong as they were when I first thought that, it makes me a little dusty.

One thing I’ll always remember and respect them for – they gave Tom Vek 4 stars.

[www.blender.com]

@Poubelle: It’s a blast to play start-to-finish, and it’s actually a carefully curated list — you can quibble with lots of the individual choices but not the totality of it. (There are songs I like better by the Cars and the Cure, among others.)

What really makes it work is its small-C catholic definition of what “new wave” is. The Blender guys understand how that term morphed to absorb all manner of post-punk mini-genres, from “stylistically wandering punk” to “economical guitar rock” to “minimalist synth-pop.” And it manages to throw in post-2000 songs that don’t feel like pandering at all. Seriously, I play this thing every other month or so.

“Blender – Top 40 New Wave songs.torrent” please

40 – It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me – Billy Joel
39 – Our Lips Are Sealed – The Go-Go’s
38 – Making Plans For Nigel – XTC
37 – I Ran – A Flock Of Seagulls
36 – White Lines – Grandmaster Flash
35 – Radio Free Europe – REM
34 – Rebel Yell – Billy Idol
33 – I Will Follow – U2
32 – Take On Me – A-HA
31 – Tainted Love – Soft Cell
30 – Never Say Never – Romeo Void
29 – Mirror In The Bathroom – The English Beat
28 – Blister In The Sun – Violent Femmes
27 – Bizarre Love Triangle – New Order
26 – Let’s Go To Bed – The Cure
25 – Burning Up – Madonna
24 – Satisfaction – Devo
23 – Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
22 – Debaser – The Pixies
21 – Warm Leatherette – The Normal
20 – Pop Musik – M
19 – I Found That Essence Rare – Gang Of Four
18 – Pump It Up – Elvis Costello
17 – Enola Gay – OMD
16 – House Of Jealous Lovers – The Rapture
15 – One Way Or Another – Blondie
14 – The Look Of Love – ABC
13 – Roadrunner – The Modern Lovers
12 – This Charming Man – The Smiths
11 – Life During Wartime – The Talking Heads
10 – Just Can’t Get Enough – Depeche Mode
9 – Good Times Roll – The Cars
8 – Opportunities – Pet Shop Boys
7 – Pretty In Pink – Psychedelic Furs
6 – Hungry Like The Wolf – Duran Duran
5 – Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division
4 – Don’t You Want Me – Human League
3 – When You Were Mine – Prince
2 – 52 Girls – B-52′s
1 – Cars – Gary Numan

I wasn’t the hugest fan of Blender (and based on most of their covers, not exactly their target audience, which hey, could’ve been part of their problem), but they’d usually have an interesting article or two, and some decent reviews. I suppose I should feel guiltier for all the times I flipped through a copy and put it back on the rack, but honestly, I didn’t like it that much. (I did think that time when both they and Rolling Stone had Britney cover stories at the exact same time, theirs was miles better.)

I’m more sad to see Blender go in a general “sucks for the print industry/music writing” way than for any particular attachment to it. (Not that I helped, outside of maybe giving their website a few more hits now and then.)

If Spin goes, though, I’ll be one unhappy camper.

i need some feel good music.

I guess I’d sum up Blender this way: In the post-sellout era of the ’00s, it did sellout right.

Not just the skin-baring covers (about a third of the time, the interview with said starlet would actually be worth reading). I mean, they did lists in an era where every music magazine has lists — but theirs were actually interesting. About three years ago, they did this great list of “Top 40 New Wave songs,” and it was so clever and all-encompassing (it started with Billy Joel…seriously…and ended with Gary Numan, with everyone from Jonathan Richman to Franz Ferdinand in-between) that I duplicated it on my iPod and have been playing it regularly ever since.

It was like a bunch of smart people had decided to hold hands and jump into the commercial end of the pool together, and what they created was surprisingly worthwhile. R.I.P.

They were an OK magazine. It sucks that alot of good magazines are dying. I remember a magazine called Giant that’s entire jist was that it was like Maxim but written by pop-culture obsessed eggheads. Then it was bought out and some guy who used to edit “Source” became the editor, fired the staff and turned it into a hip-hop magazine. That was only the first of my heartbreaks with magazines. And now more and more of the magazines I love are dying.