Indeed. I can remember numerous non-existent genres being invented on the basis of two or three gigs and a few bored / drunken writers trying to carve a name for themselves (shoegazing, anyone? Camden lurch? Nu-psychedelia? Romo?) but you're right about MM in the late 80s - it was through a combination of them and listening to Peel that I found out about Dinosaur Jr, My Bloody Valentine, Loop, Butthole Surfers etc., just at the point where NME seemed to be turning into Q and trying to target itself at a more 'mature' audience whilst missing a lot of the genuinely exciting stuff that was going on then. Even a lot of their hip-hop coverage was superficial and tokenistic compared to more specialist publications like DJ Magazine that were working in that area.