Allan Jones

Squeeze Down Under



Squeeze Down Under

Did you see that terrific BBC4 Squeeze documentary, Take Me I’m Yours, on Friday night? I was more than a little taken aback by the currently be-whiskered Glenn Tilbrook, but I’m sure there’s a plausible explanation for wanting to look like that and otherwise the programme was a timely reminder of the many great songs he and Chris Difford have written over the years. It also put me in mind of an eventful few days I spent with the band in 1980, when they were rather unhappily touring Australia, where I caught up with them in inhospitable Brisbane before we headed for the sunny beaches of Surfer’s Paradise. Here’s a piece I wrote for my old Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before column in Uncut.


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Michael Bonner

First Look - Skyfall



First Look - Skyfall

James Bond at 50 seems in pretty good shape.


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Michael Bonner

First Look - Tim Burton's Frankenweenie



First Look - Tim Burton's Frankenweenie

Tim Burton's kid friendly Frankenstein opens this year's London Film Festival...


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John Mulvey

The 41st Uncut Playlist Of 2012



The 41st Uncut Playlist Of 2012

Pretty busy trying to finish an issue here, but as usual, Neil Young is providing a distraction. Today there’s an opportunity to see why we’ve been making such a fuss about “Psychedelic Pill”: a video for the 16-odd minute “Ramada Inn”…


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Allan Jones

John Cooper Clarke, London Queen Elizabeth Hall, October 4 2012



John Cooper Clarke, London Queen Elizabeth Hall, October 4 2012

It was National Poetry Day last week, a date I’m sure you found your own ways to celebrate. I was at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, where John Cooper Clarke was in residence for the evening, headlining a show that also featured appearances by fellow poets Mike Garry and Luke Wright, a couple of sharp young wordsmiths who by the look of them may not have been capable of joined-up writing when Clarke was in his glorious early pomp and may possibly not even have been born then, Wright especially looking like he’s only just stopped being looked after by baby-sitters and cooed over in a crib.


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Michael Bonner

First Look - Stoker



First Look - Stoker

Stoker arrives with some heavy expectations. It is the English language debut of South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, the architect of the nerve-shredding Oldboy.


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John Mulvey

Neil Young & Crazy Horse: "Psychedelic Pill" - Full review



Neil Young & Crazy Horse: "Psychedelic Pill" - Full review

Neil Young is not, at a guess, an artist who suffers much from writer’s block. In the past few years, many of his albums have felt like spontaneous dispatches from an over-productive mind.


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John Mulvey

The 40th Uncut Playlist Of 2012



The 40th Uncut Playlist Of 2012

I’ve not always had much time for the cult of Brian Eno, and for a lot of the music he’s been involved with in the last 20 or 30 years (I used this piece about Blues Control & Laraaji’s wonderful record to take a few swipes).


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Allan Jones

The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour And The Ghosts Of Christmas Past



The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour And The Ghosts Of Christmas Past

Boxing Day, 1967, and The Beatles’ new film, something called Magical Mystery Tour, is about to be shown for the first time, broadcast by the BBC, fans looking forward to what surely will be a highlight of the Christmas television schedules, a welcome respite to those of a certain age from the usual seasonal fare of old movies and light entertainment, all that stuff that they usually show to keep the old folks happy over the holidays.


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Michael Bonner

James Murphy and Shut Up And Play The Hits



James Murphy and Shut Up And Play The Hits

I interviewed James Murphy in late 2006, for a preview piece about The Sound Of Silver, the second album by his band, LCD Soundsystem.


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Newsletter


Editor's Letter

An encounter with Van Morrison


Consider this the last in a short series of encounters with somewhat cantankerous sorts, following accounts in this space over the couple of weeks of meetings with Lou Reed and Gordon Lightfoot, both of which have stirred some passing interest and lively comment. Today’s subject is Van Morrison...