Careless Talk Costs Lives is a British independent music magazine who, interestingly enough, take their name from World War II propaganda posters which depicted Hitler overhearing conversations in a park.
Starting with issue twelve and moving down to number one at a bi-monthly rate, the idea behind Careless Talk is to completely topple what they see as the current British music magazine empire. Careless Talk believes that publications the likes of New Musical Express and Mojo are simply not living up to the standards music fans crave. The hope is that by issue number one, also when things begin to proceed at a monthly rate in chronological order, they will have taken over the said empire and the people will rejoice.
The typical issue of Carless Talks Costs Lives is in the following format:
- Front Section – this is the area where selected bands get a two page writeup.
- Careless Whispers – the primarily column and editorial driven section of the mag.
- Features – mostly larger sections devoted to bands or labels, but also wider things like the state of music and such.
- Albums – here is an album review section that is incredibly large, usually with 75+ reviews.
- Live – this should be pretty self-explanatory.
On the first issue of Careless Talk Costs Lives (that’d be issue 12, mind you) the band known as Mogwai graced the front cover. And just as Mogwai are, at times, considered to be all over the musical spectrum this magazine also takes a similar stance, reporting on independent bands like Belle & Sebastian, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bright Eyes, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, El-P, Cex, Mudhoney, Electrelane, The Boredoms, Kid 606, et al.
However, the most important thing about Careless Talk Costs Lives is the atmosphere it gives off. The people writing for the magazine are genuinely interested in music and its further development, giving the magazine a serious (but always fun) air.