Articles by John Mulvey

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

John Mulvey — Fri, 24 May 2013 10:31:45 +0000

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.

The 20th Uncut Playlist Of 2013

John Mulvey — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:01:41 +0000

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.

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

John Mulvey — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:50:31 +0000

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.

The 19th Uncut Playlist Of 2013

John Mulvey — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:05:51 +0000

Playing the Daft Punk album this morning (it’s streaming on iTunes if you haven’t found it yet), which is quite interesting. Bits of it are astonishing, I’d say (“Get Lucky” of course, “Contact”, “Giorgio By Moroder” especially). I am finding it hard, though, to completely sign up to a record that intermittently reminds me of Christopher Cross record. Evidently, I still carry traces of ‘80s indie militancy.

The 18th Uncut Playlist Of 2013

John Mulvey — Tue, 07 May 2013 10:03:01 +0000

Various malign forces conspired to prevent me from posting this playlist in its rightful timeslot last week; apologies for that. But better late than never, I guess, and some fine new arrivals here from, among others, Duane Pitre, Bitchin Bajas, The Cairo Gang and Houndstooth.

Lou Barlow: “Thee Oh Sees set my brain on fire..."

John Mulvey — Thu, 02 May 2013 10:23:28 +0000

Since Thee Oh Sees start their UK tour tonight in Liverpool (then Leeds on the 7th, Cardiff (8), London (9), and Camber Sands ATP at some point between the 10th and the 12th), today seems a good time to post this excellent piece about the band by Lou Barlow.

Boards Of Canada interviewed: "We're too busy to give a shit!"

John Mulvey — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:40:23 +0000

Been meaning to post this piece for a while, since the whole clandestine operation around the new Boards Of Canada album, “Tomorrow’s Harvest”, began. It’s an interview I did with the duo in February 2002, around the release of “Geogaddi”. NME billed it erroneously as “Boards Of Canada’s first ever interview” at the time, which was pushing it a bit…

Matthew E White interviewed: “I’m a student, and I learn from the past…”

John Mulvey — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:06:38 +0000

Seeing as how Matthew E White and his band are on tour in the UK this week (I’m seeing him play in London tomorrow), it seemed a good time to post the feature about my visit to Richmond a couple of months ago. I’ve put a few links to stuff in here, too, so you can get a taste of the really interesting music coming out of the scene that revolves around White. Long read, this one…

The 17th Uncut Playlist Of 2013

John Mulvey — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:00:52 +0000

Not sure how many of you braved the scrums of Ebay dealers on Record Store Day, but one of the more interesting things to come out of the whole business this year was the surreptitious return of Boards Of Canada.

Jeff Buckley, the new Uncut, and his first UK interview…

John Mulvey — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:54:09 +0000

The new issue of Uncut arrives in UK shops on Thursday, though perhaps a few subscribers, with a prevailing wind, might have already received their copies. Lots of interesting stuff in there, including new interviews with The National, Laura Marling, Deborah Harry and Todd Rundgren; The Eagles, The Waterboys, Deep Purple, Mark Mulcahy, Kurt Vile; reviews of Fleetwood Mac, Vampire Weekend, REM, Van Dyke Parks and Jandek; respects paid to Jason Molina, Andy Johns and Phil Ramone; and a brief exchange with the now notorious Michelle Shocked.

The best of Record Store Day: hear Malkmus, Ty Segall, Golden Gunn, Moon Duo, Dan Deacon and more

John Mulvey — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:02:25 +0000

It’s Record Store Day on Saturday; a kind of weird, but necessary I guess, annual event that’s become a critical point in release schedules. I’ve been going through the lists of releases at recordstoreday.com and thought it might be worth picking out a few things that are worth looking out for.

Increasingly, a fair amount of the day’s business is built on canny catalogue management aimed at collectors (especially vinyl fetishists), and there are a bunch of things here that fall roughly into that sector:

The 16th Uncut Playlist Of 2013

John Mulvey — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:15:50 +0000

Strange juxtapositions and all that, but please have a listen to the Date Palms track and, in the unlikely event you haven’t been near the internet for the past few days, the Daft Punk clip. Nile Rodgers’ expression is a thing of joy, among other things.

The 15th Uncut Playlist Of 2013

John Mulvey — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:33:44 +0000

A momentous week, one way or another, though I can’t help wishing the resonant and thought-through fury of “Tramp The Dirt Down” was heading into the Top Ten instead of “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead”.

Thee Oh Sees: "Floating Coffin"

John Mulvey — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:56:54 +0000

John Dwyer has the sort of discography so deep and complicated that one suspects even he must have trouble keeping up with himself. As a consequence, it might be a mistake to try and divine paths and trends in career which his encompassed Coachwhips, Pink and Brown, Landed, Yikes, Burmese, The Hospitals, Zeigenbock Kopf and Sword + Sandals (according to Wikipedia, anyway, if I can emphasise my spotty knowledge any more) as well as Thee Oh Sees.

The 14th Uncut Playlist Of 2013

John Mulvey — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:45:48 +0000

A fairly eclectic selection here this week, including some great proto-Takoma guitarists from the 1920s, chamber music reimaginings of the Kompakt back catalogue, that lost Romanian kosmische record you’ve always been looking for, and Prince making a stoner jam out of “Let’s Go Crazy” (which you can hear below, along with a bunch of interesting other stuff).

The 13th Uncut Playlist Of 2013

John Mulvey — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 12:02:52 +0000

In haste, and listening to an unexpected return to music from Douglas Hart as I type. Twenty-one items on the playlist this week, mostly approved. Special attention here, I think, for the new Oh Sees album (that’s the sleeve above), which very much builds on “Purifiers II”. Increasingly keen on the James Blake, too, especially the RZA track.

Matthew E White and the new Uncut

John Mulvey — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:27:11 +0000

Three weeks and a few hours ago, I found myself on a small plane from Richmond, Virginia, to Washington DC. Most of the other passengers were members of the Harvard baseball team, who had spent the past three hours being harassed by schoolgirls making innumerable Harlem Shake videos. I, though, was sat next to a woman from Colorado, who was studying the use of horses in Gestalt therapy.

The 12th Uncut Playlist Of 2013

John Mulvey — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:46:23 +0000

Plenty to listen to here again this week, and less dubious content than there was in the 11th playlist. One off-the-scale stinker, though…

Parquet Courts, London Highbury Garage, March 19, 2013

John Mulvey — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:41:39 +0000

On their fine "Light Up Gold" album from the end of last year, Parquet Courts often come across like a kind of self-mythologising, self-effacing Brooklynish hipster band, allbeit one who are, of course, a) disdainful of the term 'hipster'; b) focused on a rather old-fashioned hipster sound that, until they became hip, was probably too hip, or not hip enough, for hipsters; c) snarky about self-mythologising, self-effacing Brooklynish hipsters; d) probably reflexively quite snarky about themselves.

Harry Taussig, Hiss Golden Messenger, Golden Gunn, Steve Gunn etc

John Mulvey — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:36:42 +0000

Reading about the South By Southwest festival tends to produce, in me at least, a mix of empathetic fatigue and terrible envy, and last week’s bombardment of tweets, blogs, news stories was no different.

The 11th Uncut Playlist Of 2013: LOTS to play this week

John Mulvey — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 11:24:10 +0000

The distraction of a Laura Marling blog yesterday has had the knock-on effect of making this week’s playlist longer than usual: 27 tracks/albums in all.

Laura Marling's "Once I Was An Eagle"; a first listen

John Mulvey — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:42:01 +0000

It’s easy – and probably useful, sometimes – to lambast major labels for what looks from the outside like chronic short-termism. The climate is, understandably I guess, a neurotic one, and those days are long gone when labels would work long-term with a select group of trophy artists, whose usefulness to the company was more silvery and nebulous, more about cachet than quick profit.

Kraftwerk, London Tate Modern, February 8, 2013

John Mulvey — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:42:07 +0000

Rather a long time after the event, I thought it worthwhile posting my live review of Kraftwerk at the Tate Modern (it was published in Uncut's print edition a couple of weeks ago). It was Trans Europe Express night, by the way...

The Tenth Uncut Playlist Of 2013

John Mulvey — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:55:39 +0000

Maybe not as much here as some weeks, thanks I guess to the Daft Punk loop that I’ve been playing for at least an hour a day. Try it…

The Ninth Uncut Playlist Of 2013

John Mulvey — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:15:21 +0000

Swiftly this week, as I have a heap of proofs to read for the next Uncut Ultimate Music Guide (the subject this time is The Smiths and Morrissey, hence the appearance of “Hatful Of Hollow” below).

The Eighth Uncut Playlist Of 2013: listen to Retribution Gospel Choir, Primal Scream, White Fence

John Mulvey — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:25:53 +0000

A recording of Kraftwerk’s “Trans-Europe Express” night at the Tate Modern seems to have fallen off the back of the internet this morning: genuinely not sure where one of my colleagues found it, before you ask.

Pantha Du Prince & The Bell Laboratory, London Queen Elizabeth Hall, February 15, 2013

John Mulvey — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 13:25:59 +0000

Until very recently, any mention of Bell Laboratories in conjunction with electronic music would’ve made me think of Laurie Spiegel, who worked at Bell Labs research centre in New Jersey while she was creating much of her extraordinary cosmic music in the 1970s.

The Seventh Uncut Playlist Of 2013: listen to Neil Young, Kraftwerk, Bitchin' Bajas...

John Mulvey — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:43:33 +0000

Lots going on here, not least the fact that I have to write a long review of the mostly amazing Kraftwerk show that I saw next door at the Tate Modern the other night.

The Sixth Uncut Playlist Of 2013: hear Mikal Cronin, Retribution Gospel Choir, Jennie O, Library Of Sands, 3rd Eye Foundation...

John Mulvey — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:48:24 +0000

An unintended consequence of the My Bloody Valentine release: plenty of plays this week for “Straight Outta Compton”, following directly after “m b v” in my iTunes library. As you can see, though, it’s been an amazing few days for new music, and consequently I’ve added plenty of links so you can hear Mikal Cronin, Library Of Sands (to recap: Naynay Shineywater from Brightblack Morning Light), Jennie O (produced by Jonathan Wilson), and Retribution Gospel Choir’s amazing “Seven” (featuring Nels Cline, and especially recommended to fans of “Psychedelic Pill”).

My Bloody Valentine, "m b v": second thoughts

John Mulvey — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:05:56 +0000

Just before starting to write this morning, I spent a while digging around for the old office ghettoblaster, computer-connecting technology having failed us in our attempts to play a new EP that turned up yesterday in cassette form. The EP forms part of the capricious launch strategy of Library Of Sands, a new project from a mesa-dwelling outlier called Naynay Shineywater, who used to front Brightblack Morning Light.

My Bloody Valentine, "MBV": A first couple of listens

John Mulvey — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 09:57:38 +0000

Last night, it was all about anticipation. First, the rumours started circulating that Michael Gove was implicated in some job-threatening scandal, only for those rumours to reach a resounding anti-climax, as The Observer’s story was revealed to be a little spat between a couple of hacks and some unsavoury Tory operatives.

The Fifth Uncut Playlist Of 2013: listen to MBV, The Knife, Arbouretum live...

John Mulvey — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 12:04:56 +0000

Today’s looking like it might shape up as Stephen Stills day: as I write, we’re on track 16 (“Helplessly Hoping”) of his new career boxset, with 60-odd more to come.

Beyoncé, lipsynching and the myths of authenticity

John Mulvey — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:28:12 +0000

Reading a little about the whole Beyoncé lipsynching controversy the other day, I was tangentially reminded of an interview I did with Jim O’Rourke in, I think, 1999 (bear with me…).

The Fourth Uncut Playlist Of 2013: listen to Grizzly Bear/Lindstrøm, Jessica Pratt, Blues Control...

John Mulvey — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:38:57 +0000

To Matthew E White’s first London show tonight, all being well, but in the meantime this week’s playlist, with a few things to listen to and watch, as is becoming a hopefully useful habit.

Lubomyr Melnyk, Matthew E White, Hiss Golden Messenger, Purling Hiss...

John Mulvey — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 11:57:29 +0000

A quiet office these past few days, as members of the Uncut team have dispersed to the States, Morocco and Portugal on various missions and holidays. Yesterday, the rest of us finished the next issue, which goes on sale January 31, and which features, among many other things, a piece about David Bowie and Tony Visconti, relating to something happening in March which isn’t “The Next Day”…

The Third Uncut Playlist Of 2013: listen to Kurt Vile, Lubomyr Melnyk and the new Four Tet album

John Mulvey — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 10:24:37 +0000

Couple of plugs this morning before I get into the list. First off, a quick reminder that we have an exclusive stream of the whole new Arbouretum album, “Coming Out Of The Fog”; click this link. Well worth a listen, if you haven’t already.

Arbouretum, "Coming Out Of The Fog": Exclusive Album Stream

John Mulvey — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:39:29 +0000

Not done it before, but this seems as good a place to start as any: a stream of the new album from Arbouretum, “Coming Out Of The Fog”.

William Tyler: "Impossible Truth"

John Mulvey — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 11:52:19 +0000

I don’t have any tattoos, for many reasons, but one of the best I can think of is that I don’t trust my aesthetic tastes to remain constant. I don’t feel confident that the art I like now will all, necessarily, be the same things that I like a few years down the line.

Uncut's Top 50 of 2011; One Year On...

John Mulvey — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 11:51:37 +0000

If you’re feeling withdrawal symptoms after the glut of end-of-year charts last month, I cooked this up for the latest edition of Uncut…

Low: "The Invisible Way"

John Mulvey — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 11:46:35 +0000

At the end of November 2012, Low released a short video trailer for their forthcoming tenth full album, “The Invisible Way”. There is some static, and Mimi Parker talking about some “exceptional peaches”, then a cascading piano line fades in. After 44 seconds, and before the clip has revealed much of a shape as a song, the clip ends.

The Second Uncut Playlist Of 2013

John Mulvey — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 13:01:24 +0000

Until I woke up this morning and checked Twitter, I had planned to write something about the new Low album today. The enormously unexpected return of Bowiemania put paid to that; I’ll try again with Low tomorrow, unless in the intervening 24 hours Kevin Shields is finally shamed into pulling his finger out.

Purling Hiss: "Water On Mars"

John Mulvey — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:59:20 +0000

Could be wrong about this, but I think the track I posted and tweeted most often last year was “Sunshine, No Shoes” by the Philadelphia band, Spacin’: I’m going to add it again after the jump. Spacin’, to recap - though you can follow this link to a blog about them - are a project fronted by Jason Killinger, a spin-off from a longish-established Philly psych band called Birds Of Maya; BOM’s amazing “Ready To Howl” album got a belated UK release last year on Agitated.

The First Uncut Playlist Of 2013

John Mulvey — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:53:27 +0000

Happy new year, everybody. Bit of a tentative start to 2013, though the new issue with Gram Parsons on the cover has just arrived in UK shops. A plug, too, for the next Uncut Ultimate Music Guide, dedicated to The Beatles, which I think is out January 17.

The 51st Uncut Playlist Of 2012

John Mulvey — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:40:21 +0000

We seem to be posting a lot more lists than actual joined-up writing at the moment – Michael’s just put Uncut’s full Top 75 of 2012 on the website, with links, and is promising our Archive/Reissues chart tomorrow – but, hey, here’s another. Among some other good new arrivals, another strong recommendation for Parquet Courts: check them out here.

Watch: ten tracks of 2012

John Mulvey — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 10:46:49 +0000

While rolling out my Top 112 albums list last week, a couple of people understandably asked what some of those records actually sounded like. Maybe this’ll help: ten of my favourite tracks of 2012…

The 50th Uncut Playlist Of 2012

John Mulvey — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 11:12:46 +0000

As a knock-on effect of posting my Best Albums Of 2012 list every day this week, the office playlist is about double its normal length, as you’ll see.

Wild Mercury Sound 2012: The Top 25

John Mulvey — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 11:06:12 +0000

The last 25, then. A few of you have asked for some help as to what these records sound like. I’ll try and put some links into these lists over the next few days, and also a blog of favourite track clips that might help a bit. See you what you think, anyhow…

Previously: 112-76

Previously: 75-51

Previously: 50-26

Wild Mercury Sound 112 from 2012: 50 to 26

John Mulvey — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 10:11:26 +0000

Nearly there now: the third instalment of my personal favourite albums of the year…

Previously: 112-76

Previously: 75-51

Wild Mercury Sound 112 from 2012: 75 to 51

John Mulvey — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:56:01 +0000

OK, here’s the second part of my 2012 albums list…

Previously: 112-76

Wild Mercury Sound 112 from 2012: 112 to 76

John Mulvey — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 14:55:04 +0000

Preamble: I’m going to start rolling out this list over the next couple of days whenever I get a chance to post. Apologies, first, for the weird number…