Features

For all his flailing locks and dazed expression, Ty Segall does not make a particularly convincing slacker. In a short promotional clip for his new album, released on Youtube back in May, he pretends to be asleep in bed, on his couch, in a garden and then, preposterously, up a tree and at the wheel of a moving van.

Reading a magazine this morning, I noticed that there are a bunch of tribute shows to Elliott Smith coming up; ostensibly I guess to commemorate the fact that, horrifyingly, the tenth anniversary of his death is coming up in a couple of months.

As the Manics gear up to release their latest album – the predominantly acoustic, pastoral and Motown-tinged Rewind The Film – it seems a good time to revisit the Manics bassist and lyricist’s October 2006 (Take 113) grilling from fans and famous names. Topics include Cuba post-Castro, Live8, aircraft leg-room and winning Wimbledon… Interview: Stephen Trousse

Nuts week. A lot to recommend and check out here, including plenty of Youtube and Soundcloud links. Among the auspicious comebacks, one that’s slightly obscured is Cavern Of Anti-Matter, who feature Tim Gane and his old bandmate from the first Stereolab lineup, Joe Dilworth.

I was reading this interesting Wilco piece a few days ago, which talks about how Jeff Tweedy has parlayed cult success into what appears to be a viable business model. It made me think of the strategies used by Mark Kozelek these past few years: how he keeps a steady stream of music, predominantly live albums, coming through his Caldo Verde label to satisfy his obsessive fans (and I suspect Kozelek fans tend to be by nature obsessive; I know I am).

You find us at that time in the month when things start getting more than a wee bit hectic, deadlines fast approaching as we head into the final week or so of work on the new issue, for which I am reviewing Roy Harper’s Man & Myth, his first album of new material since The Green Man, 13 years ago. There’s also the small matter of next month’s cover story, which I’m also writing, which means it’s all go at the moment.

Prefab Sprout have recently announced their long-awaited return with a new album, Crimson/Red – to tide you over until its release on October 7, here's a piece from Uncut's September 2009 (Take 148) issue, where Paddy McAloon tells us about the music that changed his world, including Dylan, Bowie and Puccini. Interview: Sharon O'Connell

The cover image of Promised Land Sound’s debut album, an old Nashville street map, clearly asserts the geographic and aesthetic loyalties of Sean Thompson, Joey Scala, Evan Scala and Ricardo Alesio, and their press biog has the requisite classy endorsement from local grandee Jack White's Third Man Records.

The new issue of Uncut should be in UK shops today, with an exclusive in-depth look at the new entry in Dylan’s Bootleg Series, plus Nilsson, Canned Heat, Morrissey, Armando Iannucci, Linda Thompson, Julianna Barwick and, I’m particularly pleased to say, Rocket From The Crypt. More here…

Bob Dylan’s on the cover of the new Uncut, which goes on sale tomorrow, July 31. The occasion? The release of The Bootleg Series, Volume 10 – Another Self Portrait (1969 – 1971) a typically fascinating glimpse behind the curtain of the Nashville Skyline, Self Portrait and New Morning sessions.