Lots of goodness in the playlist this week, but before we get there, a quick heads-up for the new issue of Uncut which should be out about now.
Besides my last Wild Mercury Sound column (a relief, I must say) on Koen Holtkamp & Chris Forsyth and the Gunn/Truscinski Duo, there’s also a great piece on Neil Young’s “Harvest” at 40, an Amon Duul interview (no umlauts these days, they specify), Richard Lloyd’s take on the making of “Marquee Moon”, Harry Smith, The Gun Club and a Beatles cover story that actually feels, amazingly, pretty fresh; a deep exploration of the Hamburg scene, with plenty of their contemporaries suggesting, provocatively but persuasively, that the Beatles compromised themselves, diluted their powers somehow, after this formative rock’n’roll phase. Interesting reads, though of course I would say that; let me know what you think, anyhow.
Moving on. The Jack White single is very good, I think, and some gold stars for Daniel Rossen and Arbouretum (pictured), too, as well as Crazy Horse…
1 Daniel Rossen – Silent Hour/Golden Mile (Warp)
2 M Ward – A Wasteland Companion (Bella Union)
3 Mike Wexler – Dispossession (Mexican Summer)
4 Lubomyr Melnyk – The Voice Of Trees (Hinterzimmer)
5 Lubomyr Melnyk – KMH (Unseen Worlds)
6 Hush Arbors/Arbouretum – Aureola (Thrill Jockey)
7 Various Artists – Flying Nun: Time To Go (Flying Nun)
8 Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Horse Back (neilyoung.com)
9 Brendan Benson – What Kind Of World (Lojinx)
10 Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls (Rough Trade)
11 Mairi Morrison & Alasdair Roberts – Urstan (Drag City)
12 Paul Weller – Sonik Kicks (Island)
13 Graham Coxon – A+E (Parlophone)
14 Michael Chapman – Rainmaker (Light In The Attic)
15 Jack White III – Love Interruption (Third Man)
16 Mariee Sioux – Gift For The End (Almost Musique)
17 Yair Yona – World Behind Curtains (Strange Attractors Audio House)
18 Ililta! – New Ethiopian Dance Music (Terp)
20 Heaven 17 – Play To Win: The Very Best Of Heaven 17 (EMI)
21 Kindness – World You Need A Change Of Mind (Female Energy/Polydor)
22 The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow (Columbia)
23 Gary War – New Raytheonport (Care In The Community)
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey