One of my favourite things in this issue of Uncut are the recollections from Kate Bush fans, who attended her signing session for The Dreaming at Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street during 1982. As you’d imagine, they’re full of heart-warming detail. The couple in the queue who passed round their Walkman so everyone got a chance to hear The Dreaming, the young fan who gave Kate a fluffy lion as a present, the friendships made on that day that have endured for 40 years… if anything, these stories remind us of the very deep connection we all have with our favourite artists. A reminder of why we do what we do here at Uncut and who we do it for.
I’d hope that this month’s Uncut features a high quotient of your favourite artists, of course. Aside from Peter Watts’ excellent piece on Bush as she pivots into her imperial phase, Graeme Thomson assembles a host of Nick Drake’s collaborators and acolytes to hymn Pink Moon as it turns 50, there’s Stephen Troussé’s peerless tribute to Ronnie Spector, Laura Barton’s deep profile of Fontaines D.C. and Rob Hughes’ valiant attempts to track down the elusive Tom Verlaine. As usual, we endeavour to bring you as eclectic a mix as possible, so within these pages you’ll also find Slint, Cowboy Junkies and Amon Düül II, Shane MacGowan, Aldous Harding and Son House as well as the unveiling of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood’s new band The Smile.
I should also add that Tom has outdone himself with this month’s CD, which rounds up 15 new folk visionaries. We’ve subtitled it Sounds Of The New Weird Albion, which deliberately echoes our Sounds Of The New West compilations. Those CDs helped crystallise a key part of Uncut’s aesthetic: here was new music that existed in a proud cultural tradition; which respected the old ways but simultaneously made fresh currency out of them. The same methodology is shared, I think, by the likes of Jim Ghedi, Sam Lee, Michael Tanner, Modern Nature, Waterless Hills and more – as you’ll discover on our CD.
As ever, please enjoy this issue of Uncut. We’ll see you back here next month for a very special issue…