Inside
EDITO R ”SLE TT ER

W these days? How do you quantify a musician’s success at a time when hardly anyone is selling any albums, new bands receive next to no radio play, and except for a handful of veterans, nobody fills arenas? Is there a new standard for bigness—some alchemical mixture of talent, influence, Google hits, MySpace visits, and hoodie sales? Those are the questions we asked ourselves as we started putting together this issue.

In the world of brash young British female singers, Lily Allen has to be considered huge. As she revealed on her confessional 2006 debut, Alright, Still (which incidentally has sold millions), and her new It’s Not Me, It’s You, she’s a lyricist of disarming wit and refreshing bluntness, and possessed of one captivating coo. Doesn’t hurt that her choruses are o ten impossible to dislodge from your brain. As U.K. correspondent Michael Odell discovers in “The Girl Can’t Help It,” Allen is also a mass of contradictions: an unapologetic extrovert who loathes the tabloids and paparazzi, and a critic of celeb-centric culture who’s not at all above indulging in same. It all makes for a wild read.

Some other biggish news: As we continue to roll out our redesign, you might notice a few things different about this issue. First, we decided to forgo highlighting three Breaking Out artists in the Noise section this month and instead put a few newbies as well as established bands in our “Big in ’09” package.

These are nine stunners we expect you’ll be hearing a lot from this year. We’re also introducing

Encore, our new back-page attraction, where every month we’ll be shedding irreverent light on a spectacular (or craptacular) moment in music history. No matter how large or small. DOUG BROD

ELLEN VON UN WER TH; ERIC NO WELS