John Mulvey

Boards Of Canada, "Tomorrow's Harvest": first listen



Boards Of Canada, "Tomorrow's Harvest": first listen

If, as internet speculation and promo footage imply, “Tomorrow’s Harvest” has a Cold War/atomic age subtext, Boards Of Canada’s focus is, as ever, long-range and aesthetic: less on the actual devastation wrought by nuclear weapons, more on nebulous creep and on the terrible beauty of a mushroom cloud when observed from a relatively safe distance. It’s a potentially glib way of toying with signifiers: Armageddon as nature documentary.


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Michael Bonner

First Look - Ben Wheatley's A Field In England



First Look - Ben Wheatley's A Field In England

It seems as if a month doesn’t go by without the release of a new Ben Wheatley film. I'm exaggerating, of course, but Wheatley is certainly becoming one of Britain’s most prolific film makers, with four full-length features since 2009 – as well as two series of Johnny Vegas’ sitcom, Ideal – under his belt.


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John Mulvey

The 20th Uncut Playlist Of 2013



The 20th Uncut Playlist Of 2013

Another week, another new issue to plug: after last week’s launch of our Nick Cave Ultimate Music Guide, I should flag up that this month’s Uncut goes on sale in the UK tomorrow, featuring Boards Of Canada, The Source Family, Mississippi Records, These New Puritans, Mark Kozelek, Thee Oh Sees and the “Origins Of American Primitive Guitar” alongside the marquee names.


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Allan Jones

Bruce Springsteen, Tame Impala, Rodriguez, George Clinton, John Fogerty, Prince and George Jones in new Uncut



Bruce Springsteen, Tame Impala, Rodriguez, George Clinton, John Fogerty, Prince and George Jones in new Uncut

I would have bought the issue of Melody Maker in which I first read about Bruce Springsteen on my way into the art school in Newport, where in March 1973 I was in my last term, only a few months away from moving to London and not long after that fetching up on MM as a junior reporter/feature writer, a turn of events that was wholly unexpected and still seems somewhat unreal. Anyway, that was all to come. That Thursday morning, as ever in those days, I picked up a copy of MM at the paper shop at the top of Stow Hill, then eagerly devoured it on the bus into town.


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John Mulvey

Nostalgia, anti-nostalgia, personal revisionism and one last sort-of review of Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories”



Nostalgia, anti-nostalgia, personal revisionism and one last sort-of review of Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories”

A couple of months ago, I was staying with an old friend, whose teenage daughter was heading out to an ‘80s movie all-nighter. Before she went, she listed what they were going to watch; Pretty In Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – the kind of John Hughes films that are now routinely used as exemplars of that decade. Her father and I were talking, and we realised we hadn’t actually seen any of them.


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Michael Bonner

First Look - the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis



First Look - the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis

Uncut contributor Damon Wise is at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Here's his first look review of the new Coen brothers film, set in Greenwich Village in the early 1960s: Inside Llewyn Davis...


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Club Uncut at The Great Escape 2013 – Day Three



Club Uncut at The Great Escape 2013 – Day Three

Before the doors of the Dome Studio Theatre even open tonight (Saturday, May 18), there's an excited queue stretching most of the way down the street. Not surprising considering one of the most hyped groups of this year, Irish band The Strypes, are first on the bill.


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Club Uncut at The Great Escape 2013 – Day Two



Club Uncut at The Great Escape 2013 – Day Two

While last night's Club Uncut at Brighton's Great Escape festival hosted bands with a definite Americana bent, Friday (May 17) sees the invasion of US-based (or -inspired) garage-rockers.


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Michael Bonner

First Look - David Bowie: Five Years



First Look - David Bowie: Five Years

There are many delights on offer in David Bowie – Five Years, the BBC’s terrific new documentary focussing on five critical periods in Bowie’s career. Here’s a longhaired Bowie, sporting a natty fedora, at Andy Warhol’s Factory in 1971, miming being disembowelled. And here he is on The Dick Cavett Show in 1974, wearing a dark blue shirt, tartan tie and brown trousers, twirling a cane while he performs “Footstompin”, a cut that eventually became “Fame”.


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Club Uncut at The Great Escape 2013 – Day One



Club Uncut at The Great Escape 2013 – Day One

Another year, another three days of fantastic music at Brighton's Dome Studio Theatre, curated by Uncut, as part of The Great Escape – this year promises perhaps the most high-energy lineup yet at Club Uncut, with highlights over the weekend including Mikal Cronin, White Fence and Allah-Las. But first, Thursday (May 16) sees Phosphorescent headlining.


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Editor's Letter

Bruce Springsteen, Tame Impala, Rodriguez, George Clinton, John Fogerty, Prince and George Jones in new Uncut


I would have bought the issue of Melody Maker in which I first read about Bruce Springsteen on my way into the art school in Newport, where in March 1973 I was in my last term, only a few months away from moving to London and not long after that fetching up on MM as a junior reporter/feature...