Magazine Graveyard: Level Magazine

The notice on the website of this now defunct magazine has to be one of the saddest things ever. Just before it died, in common with a couple of the other magazines I intend to feature under this umbrella there was a format change and goddamned if I know why it died shortly after. It\’s hard to offer something different in a market swamped with culture magazines but for a while Level Magazine did just that — it had a sense of humour, it had a sense of style and one great thing about it was that it wasn\’t weighed down with adverts like some of the other publications.

The above cover was one of many in their short run. The interview or could it be called a non-interview with an uncooperative Cardigans sticks in my mind, the issue with Huey from Fun Lovin\’ Criminals was great, and there was a free compilation with one episode that I still listen to.

One has to wonder what role some of the news agency chains play in the role of a magazines downfall. Several times I have had a magazine that I really loved get dropped by WH Smith on some whim where they are trying to decide what people actually want to read. I have stood behind a member of staff when they were being talked to about what lines were selling best by one of their regional managers — they were, what\’s the word? Clueless, totally fucking clueless. Would they have been able to tell you what sort of person bought Level Magazine? Would they have had any idea of the content? No, it is more likely that they didn\’t even know it existed.

When you consider the badly written shit that subsists out there and you find an example of great design, passionate journalism and that certain je ne sais quoi  that makes something cool and then it has to close down for some reason you want to kill someone over it and yes, I mean literally. I hope someone reads the notice on their webpage and takes them up on their offer because the world would surely be a better place if Level were in it. Let Level be a Lazarus.

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