This is the last newsletter of 2013, and therefore an appropriate moment perhaps to thank you for your support over the last 12 months and wish you all the best for the New Year. The next time you hear from me, our first issue of 2014 will already be out – we’ll be on sale from Friday, January 3 – so here’s a brief taster of what to expect.
The Kinks are on the cover and we have exclusive interviews with Ray and Dave Davies about what they are planning to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary. Are they actually planning a reunion, a tour, a series of special commemorative concerts? All is revealed. Also featured in the issue are David Crosby, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Robert Wyatt and former Drive-By Trucker Jason Isbell, and Bruce Springsteen, whose new album, High Hopes, is reviewed by Richard Williams.
There’s also a fascinating piece by David Cavanagh on Davy O’List, who as a member of The Nice was lauded as one of the most brilliant guitarists of the psychedelic era. He also featured in the original line-up of Roxy Music before apparently vanishing from sight. What happened to him is an amazing story. The issue also contains our 2014 Album Preview, with interviews with Robert Plant, Pete Townshend, Beck, Elbow, Sharon Van Etten, Elbow, War On Drugs and more.
I got an advance copy last week of the new WOD album. It’s called Lost In The Dream, and it’s a terrific follow-up to Slave Ambient, with some of Adam Granduciel’s best work to date on stand-out tracks like “Eyes To The Wind”, which channels Dylan in the same way as “There is No Urgency”, from WOD’s debut album, Wagonwheel Blues.
It’s out in March, I think, around the same time as Strangers, the new solo album from Simone Felice, who emailed me last week with details and a link to the record – look out for tracks like “Bye Bye Palenville”, “Bastille Day” and “Gettysburg”, all of which are outstanding additions to Simone’s catalogue. News, too, of another long-time Uncut favourite, Richmond Fontaine’s Willy Vlautin, whose excellent new novel, The Free, is published by Faber in February. I hope there’ll also be a UK release in 2014 for the film version of Willy’s debut novel, The Motel Life, starring Kris Kristofferson, Stephen Dorff, Emile Hirsch and Dakota Fanning.
Finally, John’s posted the complete list of Uncut’s Top 80 albums of 2013 on his Wild Mercury Sound Blog. Read it here and please let us know what you think of our choices.
In the meantime, have a great seasonal holiday and see you on the other side.