What the pop papers say: Stoked on Trent

The NME this week has done something extraordinary: it's produced a Reading/Leeds preview issue - traditionally the most 'will this do' edition of the year - which is actually of interest if you weren't planning to spend a weekend in a tent.

Surprisingly, it's the first time ever Trent Reznor has appeared on the NME cover. In fact, it's the first time anyone called Trent has been on the front page since Terence Trent D'Arby, inexplicably, got four covers between 1987 & 1989.

(Worth recalling the month's-worth of TTDA issues when trying to create an argument about a golden age.)

And it's a pretty good interview, too. There's been - not that you'd know by looking at the outside - some strong articles on pop music around the world (death metal in northern Europe; protest music in Southern Europe) for example. And there's only been one spurious list issue so far in 2013.

Whereas Krissi Murison's editorship started off strongly and then collapsed, Greg CochraneMike Williams didn't seem especially promising when he first sat down but is doing some interesting things, quietly, inside the magazine.