Neil Young, Grizzly Bear, Mark E Smith and Sigur Rós all feature in the new issue of Uncut, dated September 2017 and out on July 20.
Young is on the cover, and inside we take a revelatory look at the great man’s archives to investigate some of rock’s most legendary lost albums – from Oceanside-Countryside and Chrome Dreams to Times Square, Toast and more – and piece together the alternate discography that Neil fans have been dreaming of for decades.
“Quite often I’ll record things that don’t fit with what I’m doing,” as Young said, “so I just hold onto them for a while…”
Grizzly Bear discuss the creation of their eagerly awaited new album, Painted Ruins, alongside an in-depth review of the record; Christopher Bear and Edward Droste reveal how they made the album, what influence California has had on their current sound, and the New York indie scene of the early 2000s. “Now I go back [to New York] and no-one’s there, a lot of them are here [in California],” says Droste. “It’s funny bumping into Dave Longstreth at the supermarket.”
Uncut also joins Mark E Smith for a few drinks at one of his favourite Manchester pubs to talk about The Fall‘s new album, the city’s architecture, the Vorticists, Welsh people and the problems with many of the group’s former members. “The Fall is like a Nazi organisation,” Smith says…
In our regular ‘album by album’ feature, Sigur Rós take us through their finest work to date, from 1997’s Von to 2013’s Kveikur. “We had to make an album in a swimming pool,” Jónsi Birgisson says of 2002’s (), “with all the technical challenges that poses.” “We probably recorded that three times over!” says Georg Hólm.
We also take a look behind Dennis Wilson‘s wildman persona to find out how the Beach Boy created his masterpiece, Pacific Ocean Blue: “He truly was a soulful dude,” says one key collaborator.
Elsewhere, Nick Lowe invites Uncut over to his pad for a look through his fine career, from pub-rock pioneer and punk auteur to classic songwriter of repute… Plus Ry Cooder and Elvis Costello pay homage: “His geniality may have has been at the cost of his legend.”
Steven Wilson lets us in on eight of his favourite albums, while Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark recall the making of their debut single “Electricity”, with help from sleeve designer Peter Saville and Factory co-founder Lindsay Reade. “We wanted to be Kraftwerk,” says Paul Humphreys, “[but they] had all this incredible gear and we had next to nothing. We couldn’t sound like them, so we ended up sounding like OMD!”
Also, Uncut investigates what Elvis Presley means in 2017, 40 years after his death. Why do new generations worship The Beatles, but rarely Elvis? How’s business for the World’s Greatest Elvis Impersonator? And why are those treasured old records diminishing in value?
Our front section features pieces on Sly Stone, FJ McMahon, KD Lang and Oz magazine, and we introduce new singer-songwriter Angelo De Augustine.
In our huge reviews section, we look at new offerings from Grizzly Bear, Queens Of The Stone Age, Arcade Fire, Randy Newman, The War On Drugs and more, and archival releases from Lal & Mike Waterson, Brian Eno, Prince, The Beach Boys and Super Furry Animals. We catch U2 and Kraftwerk live, and check out the new Morrissey biopic England Is Mine, plus A Ghost Story, and books on The Damned and New York rock’n’roll.
Our free CD, Art Of Gold, features 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including cuts from Randy Newman, Richard Thompson, Iron & Wine, Nick Lowe, Oh Sees, Lal & Mike Waterson, Psychic Temple, FJ McMahon and Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band.
The new issue of Uncut is out on July 20.