Its focus was on jambands — a breed that thrives on playing live gigs and improvisational music — but it also introduced musicians, singers and songwriters who were yet to be discovered.

Occasionally, it did cover stories on old bands like the 1970s punk rockers The Clash or even mainstream acts like Pearl Jam or Dave Matthews. I’ve read cover stories on jamband icons like The String Cheese Incident, alt country heroes like Wilco and singers like Jonah Smith. But I’ve also seen bands that everyone has heard of such as Beastie Boys and Metallica make it to Relix’s cover.

The best thing about Relix, though, was the free CD of music that came with every issue, allowing you to sample new bands and musicians. And while I felt the magazine’s occasional incursions into chart-topping acts and mainstream bands diffused its focus, the CD almost always made up for it. Relix’s CD introduced me to musicians that ranged from jambands like String Cheese, Widespread Panic and Tea Leaf Green to alternative hip-hoppers like G. Love & Special Sauce; from acoustic rockers like Ten Mile Tide to funky jazz bands like Foxy Moon Baby.

Getting the magazine and the CD eight times a year became an enjoyable habit till January this year when it suddenly stopped coming. I realised that, like many print publications in the West, Relix’s owners had put the magazine on a hiatus and that it risked closure. Another one bites the dust, I remember telling myself. Then, early this month, I got the good news that Relix had found new investor-owners—including some of its staffers—who would be re-launching the magazine in June.

While I look forward to the new, new Relix in what would be its third incarnation, I rather like the idea that many music magazines come with a free CD of sample music with every issue. Each copy of Uncut, a British magazine with quirky but highly enjoyable articles and great reviews, usually comes with CDs that have themes. One issue had a CD with 15 songs on the theme Give Peace A Chance. I think the cover story for that issue was a tribute to John Lennon and the editors had compiled 14 tracks on peace by diverse musicians. There was Robert Plant singing with his backing band, The Strange Sensation, The Long Ryders doing their version of Dylan’s Masters of War, Roy Harper doing a track called I Hate the White Man and more.

Sometimes, Uncut just invites a guest DJ to compile its CD. So you could have Paul Weller, former member of The Jam and The Style Council, putting out a dozen of his favourites or even Devendra Banhart, the Venezuelan-American singer-songwriter, putting together an 11-track compilation for an Uncut CD. These are particularly good because you have musicians pointing you to stuff that they like and that’s usually a great way of discovering new bands. Banhart’s compilation, for instance, led to me to Papercuts, an American indie pop band that I’ve grown quite fond of.

Another magazine, Paste, from the US, also gives a free CD with every issue. Paste, however, isn’t only about music. It covers much more and has a tag line that says “Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture”. I used to read Paste on the Internet as I do many other music magazines, including the 57-year-old New Musical Express (NME) and the slightly snobbish but hugely influential Pitchfork, which I think is the best barometer of independent music. While Pitchfork doesn’t have a print version, the real treat in reading the others in the old-fashioned way is the bonus you get in the form of the free CD.

Sanjoy Narayan is Editor-in-chief of Hindustan Times