Hello, I am a newsletter. Information on the new issue and Web site below, but first let’s play a game. Answer these questions correctly (email responses to magnet@magnetmagazine.com) and we’ll send you a VHS tape (courtesy of Capitol Records) featuring videos from Radiohead, Idlewild, Sparklehorse, Dandy Warhols, Liz Phair, Ed Harcourt (he’s good, you’ll like him) and others. Be sure to include your mailing address, geniuses, and we’ll send out the tapes until they’re all gone. Beat The Geeks! MAGNET Magazine’s Ultimate Punchout Contest And Trivia Quiz 1. Paul McCartney can be heard doing what on the Super Furry Animals’ new album? 2. “When I’m singing a love song onstage and certain people in the crowd are screaming, ‘I’m gonna kill you,’ I’ll step up and say, ‘Come on up and say that to my face.’ But they never want to fight. I’ll take their money either way.” Who said it? (hint: it’s in MAGNET #31) a. Kim Deal (Breeders) b. Anton Newcombe (Brian Jonestown Massacre) c. Jon Spencer 3. Name the irrascible Texas band that released an album in 1999 titled Madonna. (This question seems like it would be easy, but we figured “Madonna” would be hard to search for on the Internet. Hah!) **** INSIDE MAGNET #53 (MAR/APR) - IN STORES AND MAILBOXES SOON! COVER STORY - THE HISTORY OF SHOEGAZING And you didn’t even know you cared. For those in short pants when we were wearing ‘em baggy, Corey duBrowa focuses in on the fuzzy-memory Brit scene that produced Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Curve, Slowdive and Lush (not to mention the Pale Saints, Telescopes and Chapterhouse). This one’s got it all: insanity, squabbling, drugs and Kevin Shields. FEATURES Have some coffee ice cream with the Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt, bananas with Cornelius and burritos with ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. Plus non-eating interviews with Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, Tanya Donelly, Warlocks, Clinic, Mendoza Line, Antipop Consortium and Mates Of State. REVIEWS Lots, and in readable form! Bad Religion, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Buffalo Daughter, Eels, Fu Manchu, Damien Jurado, Kid Loco, Lambchop, Papa M, Jim O’Rourke, Silver Jews, Sarah Shannon, Super Furry Animals, Teenage Fanclub, Tower Recordings and more. **** MAGNETMAGAZINE.COM - it appears on your computer! (Individual results may vary.) We try to keep traffic down by not really talking about it very much, because you know how unbearable Web sites can be when they’re all crowded. Read Fred Mills’ Q&A with new-wave princess Holly Beth Vincent (dig the Joey Ramone and Mark Knopfler anecdotes) and peruse the record reviews, music news and photos. It occurred to us the other day that we might have the largest and finest collection of so-called indie-rock photos on the Web, and if anyone would care to give us an award for it, please mail statuette/plaque/mesh hat to: MAGNET Awards Receivable, c/o Acceptance Speech Dept., 1218 Chestnut St #808, Philadelphia PA 19107. Did we mention our online store? Its profits fund the email newsletter (currently operating at a loss), a small catfish farm in Louisiana (currently showing huge gains ever since the breaded-fish-stick market went bullish) and the MAGNET Foundation For Freelance Music Journalists Who Currently Live In Squalor But Probably Prefer To Roll Around In Their Own Muck Anyway, So What’s The Point In Helping Them - Hey Let’s Spend The Money On Tacos Instead (currently breaking even). So charge away (Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover accepted) on those subscriptions and back issues and avoid this conversation: “Is THAT the shirt that you’re wearing? I mean, it’s fine, if that’s what you want to wear. No, you don’t have to change. Unless you want to.” MAGNET T-shirts are on sale now.