Features

To be a fan of Gillian Welch, as many Uncut readers will appreciate, requires an uncommon degree of faithfulness and patience. In 18 years, she has released just five albums; given that the gap between the last one (2011’s The Harrow And The Harvest) and its predecessor (2003’s Soul Journey) ran to eight years, a follow-up may still be some way off.

Some highlights to see/hear this week: Neil Young playing “Thrasher” for the first time (technically, second time I think) in 36 years; well over an hour of amazing Can footage from 1970; the new Jack White track; and Olga Bell’s album, which seems to suggest that I prefer the Dirty Projectors, or at least their spin-offs, when the singing is in Russian.

It was Nick Lowe's 65th birthday this week, an occasion that had me pottering around the Memory Shed, where I came across the following story, written about a much younger Nick.

Coogan and Brydon return for more Michael Caine impressions: this time, in the sun...

Enter The Slasher House, the debut album from Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks, consisting of Dave Portner (aka Avey Tare), Angel Deradoorian and Jeremy Hyman, is released on April 7. Avey Tare’s psychedelic journey with Animal Collective, though, is also worth checking out – in this archive feature from Uncut’s September 2012 (Take 184) issue, Stephen Troussé chats to the band about their wide-ranging career so far. “We got terrible reviews…” Interview: Stephen Troussé

Lots to get stuck into this week, though I think it’s worth drawing special attention to the superb William Tyler EP and, in the week the Pixies announce a newish album, a pointedly excellent Kim Deal track with Morgan Nagler.

The Hold Steady release their sixth album, Teeth Dreams, on March 24 – in this piece from the Uncut archives (June 2009, Take 145), Craig Finn reveals 10 of the albums or songs that have changed his life, raising a glass to St Joe Strummer and his other heroes – including Billy Joel! Interview: Rob Hughes ___________________ The first record I owned The Bay City Rollers Greatest Hits (1977)

“The truth is, I don’t like dangerous things and am quite normal,” Christopher Walken told Uncut in September 2006. “I was born into show business and that brings with it being a little eccentric, the way you speak, the way you approach things. This innately gives me a sense of foreignness, which can easily translate into…s-t-r-a-n-g-e.”

After a very long wait, the second album on Matthew E White’s Spacebomb label has turned up… and it may not be quite what most of you would have envisaged…

In an interview in the current issue of Uncut with Willy Vlautin, the singer-songwriter with Richmond Fontaine, discusses his flourishing second career as an author.