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Listen to Big Red Machine’s stripped-back new single “The Ghost Of Cincinnati”

Tom Skinner
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Listen to Big Red Machine’s stripped-back new single “The Ghost Of Cincinnati”
Big Red Machine have shared a new track called “The Ghost Of Cincinnati” – listen below. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut The collaborative project from The National’s Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon announced their second album How Long Do You Think It’s Gon...

Big Red Machine have shared a new track called “The Ghost Of Cincinnati” – listen below.

The collaborative project from The National’s Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon announced their second album How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? earlier this week (June 29) with the song “Latter Days”, which features Anaïs Mitchell.

Yesterday (June 30) the band dropped the second preview of the record, an acoustic solo number from Dessner, along with an artistic official lyric video.

“I park at this spot and stare at the water/ Try to remember I’m somebody’s father/ Dawn commute across Covington Bridge/ Get lost in my head, just looking at it“, Dessner sings in one verse.

Announcing the single on Instagram, Dessner explained: “‘The Ghost of Cincinnati’ is one that I play and sing all by my lonesome. It was inspired by a screenplay called Dandelion by the filmmaker @nicriegel (who co-wrote the lyrics with me), which my brother @brycedessner and I are working on.

“It’s about someone who feels like a ghost, stalking the streets of their hometown, interrogating the past and contemplating their fate – something I can deeply relate to. I imagine this could be a little bit about myself, or friends I’ve lost or someone who has overextended and overspent themselves to a point where they’ve lost everything, empty and hollow like a ghost.”

Set for release on August 27, How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? includes two guest spots from Taylor Swift (on “Birch” and “Renegade”). It comes after both Dessner and Vernon worked with the singer-songwriter on her surprise 2020 albums, Folklore and Evermore.

Dessner said in a Facebook post that he had been working on the songs on the album with Vernon and their collaborators – including Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, Ben Howard and Sharon Van Etten – for “a large part of the last three years”.

“These songs are connected by emotional threads, especially nostalgia for the innocence of childhood before mistakes have been made and relationships have faltered and the feeling of investigating the past in search of a remedy,” he explained.

Altın Gün: “Songs about love, hate, tragedy, death, war… it’s all basic human emotions”

Tom Pinnock
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Altın Gün: “Songs about love, hate, tragedy, death, war… it’s all basic human emotions”
There’s a rumbling deep beneath Vondelpark – more precisely, emanating from the Vondelbunker, a Cold War nuclear shelter under a bridge in one of Amsterdam’s biggest parks. These days, it’s a volunteer-led space for cultural events and houses practice rooms where bands, including Altın Gün...

There’s a rumbling deep beneath Vondelpark – more precisely, emanating from the Vondelbunker, a Cold War nuclear shelter under a bridge in one of Amsterdam’s biggest parks. These days, it’s a volunteer-led space for cultural events and houses practice rooms where bands, including Altın Gün, rehearse. “It’s a proper bunker!” laughs Merve Dasdemir, the band’s singer and keyboardist.

“We have a very nice space there,” says bassist and founder Jasper Verhulst. “Though there are no windows and there’s not a lot of air in there.”

At the Vondelbunker, Altın Gün can rehearse whenever they want. But there’s not been much call for that lately. There’s Covid, of course. But before that, the band’s busy gig schedule meant little practice was necessary. “We used to play a lot,” says Dasdemir, “so we’d usually be gone.”

Much of the world, it seems, has been calling out for Altın Gün since they released their debut album, 2018’s On. Their kaleidoscopic mix of psychedelic rock, disco and Turkish traditional music has found appreciation with both younger hipsters and the Turkish diaspora across the globe. That’s good going for a group whose repertoire – Halkali Şeker, for instance, from debut On – is probably most often heard at weddings in Turkey.

Indeed, they’ve been asked to act as a wedding band many times, according to Dasdemir: “We’re trying to stay out of weddings, because if you go in there you can’t get out!”

Some are more wary of weddings than others. Erdinç Ecevit, co-vocalist, keyboardist and saz player, of Turkish heritage but born in the Netherlands, regularly played at Turkish weddings in the Low Countries for work, until the band took off. Along with the rest of the members, Ecevit is now happiest playing with Altın Gün, taking traditional material and processing it through their own radical, groove-based filter.

“At a wedding, people constantly want to tell you what to play,” says Verhulst, “which is understandable but, if you’re a band like us, it wouldn’t really work.” “Sometimes it happens at shows, though!” says Dasdemir. “They write the name of a song on a napkin
and give it to me onstage. I’m like, ‘Dude, we’re not that kind of band…’”

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW IN UNCUT AUGUST 2021

Hear St Vincent cover Metallica’s “Sad But True”

Cillian Breathnach
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Hear St Vincent cover Metallica’s “Sad But True”
Following on from the announcement of The Metallica Blacklist, St Vincent’s cover of “Sad But True” has landed on streaming services. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut READ MORE: Review: St Vincent – Daddy's Home The Metallica Blacklist is a massive covers album celebrat...

Following on from the announcement of The Metallica Blacklist, St Vincent’s cover of “Sad But True” has landed on streaming services.

The Metallica Blacklist is a massive covers album celebrating 30 years of The Black Album. Besides St Vincent’s track, the album will feature 52 other songs from the likes of Jason Isbell, Rina Sawayama, Phoebe Bridgers, The Hu, Idles, Moses Sumney, Miley Cyrus, Elton John, Chase & Status and Igor Levit.

The full album will arrive on 1 October. Listen to the St Vincent cover below:

Alongside the announcement of the covers album, Metallica also revealed plans to remaster and reissue the original Black Album. The remastered Black Album will land in multiple configurations including digitally, as a 180-gram 2LP, a standard CD, a 3CD expanded edition and a limited-edition boxset.

The latter set includes the album remastered on 180-gram 2LP, a picture disc, three live LPs, 14 CDs (containing rough mixes, demos, interviews, live shows), six DVDs (containing outtakes, behind the scenes, official videos, live shows), a 120-page hardcover book, four tour laminates, three lithos, three guitar picks, a Metallica lanyard, a folder with lyric sheets, and a download card for the digital edition of the album.

Memoir by late Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland getting film adaptation

Surej Singh
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Memoir by late Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland getting film adaptation
A film based on the memoir by late Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland, Not Dead & Not For Sale, has been announced. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut The film, currently titled Paper Heart, was picked up after production house Dark Pictures and producer Orian Williams ac...

A film based on the memoir by late Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland, Not Dead & Not For Sale, has been announced.

The film, currently titled Paper Heart, was picked up after production house Dark Pictures and producer Orian Williams acquired the book rights to the 2011 memoir, which Weiland penned with David Ritz.

Paper Heart is being written by Jennifer Erwin, Dark Pictures’ co-founder and a “die-hard” Stone Temple Pilots fan. The film will tell the story of Weiland’s life, including his battles with addiction and his comebacks.

Erwin said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter: “It’s an honour to have the trust to tell Scott’s story and the ability to portray the lesser known sides of him – the loving and tender man he was, the high school athlete he was, the melancholy soul he was and the legendary frontman that he will always be.”

Added producer Williams, “We want to make the most authentic film possible about this remarkable artist. Beyond Scott’s page-turning memoir, connecting with those closest to Scott is important to get the details right.”

Dark Pictures has gotten access to unreleased music by Weiland for the film, Williams added.

David Vigliano, founder and CEO of Vigliano Associates, which represents the Weiland estate, said that they had been “approached many times about Scott’s story” and that Dark Pictures’ vision “felt right”.

More details surrounding the upcoming Paper Heart film, including its cast and release date, have yet to be announced.

Scott Weiland – who also served as Velvet Revolver’s frontman from 2003 till 2008 and once again in 2012 for a one-off reunion performance – passed away in late 2015 aged 48 due to an accidental overdose.

David Bowie painting that was bought for £3 has sold at auction for £63,000

Surej Singh
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David Bowie painting that was bought for £3 has sold at auction for £63,000
A painting by David Bowie that was bought for just CAD$5 (£3) has fetched nearly CAD$108,120 (£63,115) at a recent auction. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut SHOP NOW: Ultimate Record Collection: David Bowie The 1997 painting, which put up for auction by Canadian fine arts sel...

A painting by David Bowie that was bought for just CAD$5 (£3) has fetched nearly CAD$108,120 (£63,115) at a recent auction.

The 1997 painting, which put up for auction by Canadian fine arts seller and auctioneer Cowley Abbott president Rob Cowley, is part of a series of 47 paintings that Bowie had worked on between 1995 and 1997.

Bowie signed and dated the painting on the back of its 9.75×8-inch canvas. Its title, “DHead XLVI”, is also on the back of the artwork, according to Cowley Abbott’s catalogue.

The piece was picked up for approximately CAD$5 (approximately £3) last year at a donation centre at a landfill in Ontario, Canada, Cowley told CNN prior to the auction.

The piece was estimated to reach a bid of CAD$12,000 (£7,000) but surpassed its evaluation amount during the first day of the auction.

The painting was authenticated by Bowie specialist Andy Peters (of davidbowieautograph.com), who told CNN that he recognised it as a Bowie artwork the instant he saw it.

“When I first saw the painting, I knew what it was straightaway,” Peters said. “I did not need to see the autograph on the back because I knew, but obviously the signature sealed the deal.”

Cowley said that the unidentified seller – who is not an art collector – contacted him in November last year, and the two parties began working to authenticate the work.

The portrait is part of Bowie’s DHead collection, in which he painted “friends, family, and other musicians” as well as self-portraits.

David Bowie passed in January 2016 following an 18-month battle with cancer at the age of 69.

It was announced earlier this month that Liverpool is set to host the first-ever David Bowie World Fan Convention next year. The convention – which will include panels, live performances, and a “Bowie Ball” – will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the artist’s classic album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.

Descendents release third taster from original-lineup album, “Like The Way I Know”

David James Young
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Descendents release third taster from original-lineup album, “Like The Way I Know”
Descendents have shared another new track from their upcoming album 9th And Walnut, set for release on July 23. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut "Like The Way I Know" follows the release of "Baby Doncha Know" in early May and "Nightage" a month later. Drummer and founding member Bi...

Descendents have shared another new track from their upcoming album 9th And Walnut, set for release on July 23.

“Like The Way I Know” follows the release of “Baby Doncha Know” in early May and “Nightage” a month later. Drummer and founding member Bill Stevenson explained in a press statement that “Like The Way I Know” was “one of the very first Descendents songs”.

“[It was] written in 1977 by [founding member] David Nolte, about how living in Hermosa Beach made him feel like a freak,” said Stephenson.

Listen to “Like The Way I Know” below:

As announced in May 2021, 9th And Walnut will finally unearth a project that began in 2002. Having undergone multiple line-up changes since forming in 1977, the band’s first established line-up reunited to record their earliest-known material. The project was completed last year, with vocalist Milo Aukerman recording new vocals from his home.

The current line-up of Descendents – Aukerman, Stephenson, guitarist Stephen Edgerton and bassist Karl Alvarez – are set to return to the stage next month on a North American tour with Rise Against. The band will also play a string of headlining dates in August, followed by an appearance at the three-day Punk Rock Bowling Festival in September.

Big Red Machine announce new album featuring Fleet Foxes, Sharon Van Etten, Taylor Swift and more

Michael Bonner
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Big Red Machine announce new album featuring Fleet Foxes, Sharon Van Etten, Taylor Swift and more
Big Red Machine - the collaborative project between The National's Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon - have announced details of their second album, How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut The album features contributions from Fleet Foxes...

Big Red Machine – the collaborative project between The National’s Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon – have announced details of their second album, How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?.

The album features contributions from Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, Taylor Swift, Anaïs Mitchell and Sharon Van Etten, among others, and will be released August 27th via Jagjaguwar and 37d03d.

How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? was produced by Dessner at his Long Pond studio in upstate New York. The album is available to pre-order here.

They’re also released a new song, “Latter Days“, which you can hear below. The song features vocals from Vernon and Anaïs Mitchell.

The tracklisting for How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? is:

Latter Days (feat. Anaïs Mitchell)
Reese
Phoenix (feat. Fleet Foxes and Anaïs Mitchell)
Birch (feat. Taylor Swift)
Renegade (feat. Taylor Swift)
The Ghost of Cincinnati
Hoping Then
Mimi (feat. Ilsey)
Easy to Sabotage (feat. Naeem)
Hutch (feat. Sharon Van Etten, Lisa Hannigan, and Shara Nova [My Brightest Diamond])
8:22am (feat. La Force)
Magnolia
June’s a River (feat. Ben Howard and This Is The Kit)
Brycie
New Auburn (feat. Anaïs Mitchell)

Send us your questions for David Crosby

Sam Richards
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Send us your questions for David Crosby
As a bedrock for much of the music that gets written about in Uncut, David Crosby surely needs no introduction. Byrd, CSNYer, solo artist, collaborator, early champion of Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan superfan, moustache-grower, sailor, agitator, Twitter don, cannabis connoisseur… Croz is all this and...

As a bedrock for much of the music that gets written about in Uncut, David Crosby surely needs no introduction. Byrd, CSNYer, solo artist, collaborator, early champion of Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan superfan, moustache-grower, sailor, agitator, Twitter don, cannabis connoisseur… Croz is all this and more.

On July 23, he’s poised to released the latest album in his remarkable 21st Century solo renaissance. For Free is named after the Joni Mitchell song he covers on the record, which also features a co-write with Donald Fagen. You can pre-order For Free by clicking here.

Now Crosby has agreed to undergo a gentle grilling from you, the Uncut readers, for our latest Audience With feature. So what do you want to ask a living folk-rock legend? Send your questions to audiencewith@www.uncut.co.uk by Wednesday July 7 and Croz will answer the best ones in the next issue of Uncut.

Stereolab, Black Midi, Moses Boyd will play at first-ever Pitchfork Music Festival London

Will Richards
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Stereolab, Black Midi, Moses Boyd will play at first-ever Pitchfork Music Festival London
Pitchfork Music Festival has announced its first-ever London-based edition, with a five-day event coming in November. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut The festival, which began in Chicago, has since expanded to Paris, and will now touch down in the UK from November 10-14 this year....

Pitchfork Music Festival has announced its first-ever London-based edition, with a five-day event coming in November.

The festival, which began in Chicago, has since expanded to Paris, and will now touch down in the UK from November 10-14 this year.

Featuring at the event, which will be held as separate shows in venues across the city, will be Bobby Gillespie & Jehnny Beth, Black Midi, Moses Boyd, Stereolab, Girl Band, Iceage and many more.

The festival will kick off on November 10 with a show at Village Underground featuring the likes of Mykki Blanco and Charlotte Adigéry. On the same night, Anna Meredith and PVA will play Fabric.

Elsewhere across the five-day festival, Stereolab and Girl Band will play Roundhouse (November 14), Tirzah will headline an event across three East London venues on Saturday 13, while Black Midi will play the Southbank Centre on the previous evening.

See the full schedule for Pitchfork Music Festival London along with an announcement video below.

“After an incredibly difficult year for artists, fans, and our music community, we’re excited to celebrate the return of live music with so many legendary venues across two of the most important music cities in the world,” Pitchfork editor Puja Patel said in a statement.

“That we’re able to host festivals in London and Paris during the publication’s 25th anniversary feels all the more special.”

Pitchfork’s Paris-based festival will immediately follow the London edition, running from November 16-20. The line-up for that festival has also been revealed along with news of the London edition. See the full list of names below.

The UK is currently set to remove all COVID-19 restrictions on July 19, after the initial date of June 21 was moved back.

This week, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said life will “pretty much” return to normal when the restrictions are removed, and remains confident that the easing of lockdown will happen on the new planned date, despite the surge in cases of the Delta variant in the UK.

Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth announce Utopian Ashes live shows

Patrick Clarke
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Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth announce Utopian Ashes live shows
Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie and Savages' Jehnny Beth have announced their first run of live shows in support of their forthcoming joint album Utopian Ashes. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut READ MORE: Bobby Gillespie: “Where does this rage come from, this suspicious nature, t...

Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie and Savages’ Jehnny Beth have announced their first run of live shows in support of their forthcoming joint album Utopian Ashes.

The two musicians will play across the UK in November including a set at the inaugural Pitchfork Festival London. They’ll also play its sister event, Pitchfork Festival Paris, a few days later.

The two will release their first joint album Utopian Ashes via Sony on Friday (July 2). Fans who pre-order the album before 3pm BST today (June 29) will have access to a pre-sale for tickets for the live shows. General sale begins at 10am BST on Friday and will be available here.

Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth will play:

November 2021

Sunday 7 – Edinburgh, Queen’s Hall
Monday 8 – Glasgow, Pavilion
Wednesday 10, Thursday 11 – London, EartH (Pitchfork Festival)
Friday 13 – Manchester, Cathedral
Saturday 14 – Brighton, Theatre Royal
Sunday 15 – Paris, Saint-Eustache (Pitchfork Festival)

The duo first met in 2015 before later convening in Paris in 2017 to write and record together.

They first announced Utopian Ashes in March, along with the lead single “Remember We Were Lovers”, and then shared a second preview in the form of the track “Chase It Down” in May.

The music also features the work of Primal Scream’s Andrew Innes (guitar), Martin Duffy (piano) and Darrin Mooney (drums), as well as Beth’s music partner Johnny Hostile (bass).

Last year saw Beth release her acclaimed debut solo album, To Love Is To Live. Gillespie meanwhile, will publish his autobiography Tenement Kid in October.

Ringo Starr invites everyone to “spread peace and love” on his birthday

Will Lavin
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Ringo Starr invites everyone to “spread peace and love” on his birthday
Ringo Starr will be celebrating his 81st birthday next month, and he's inviting everyone to "spread peace and love" on the landmark date. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut The invitation comes as part of his annual Peace And Love birthday initiative, a tradition he started on July 7...

Ringo Starr will be celebrating his 81st birthday next month, and he’s inviting everyone to “spread peace and love” on the landmark date.

The invitation comes as part of his annual Peace And Love birthday initiative, a tradition he started on July 7, 2008, the date of his 68th birthday, after being asked by a journalist what he would like for his birthday. “Peace and love,” was his answer.

Since then the Beatle has invited everyone everywhere to think, say or post #peaceandlove at noon their local time on July 7 “to fulfil his birthday wish and encircle the planet in a wave of Peace and Love”.

Yesterday (June 28), Starr shared a video message. “I’m inviting everyone who wants to join the peace and love celebration for my birthday at noon your time wherever you are, 7-7-21,” he said.

“You can post it, you can say it, you can even think it – but it would be really cool if you go ‘Peace and Love’ at noon on my birthday – so let’s spread peace and love on my birthday – c’mon everybody!”

You can watch the message below:

Usually on his birthday, Starr meets with fans wherever he is in the world. It’s a tradition that began on July 7, 2008 when he convened with fans and friends in front of the Hard Rock Café in Chicago, passing out cupcakes and joining the crowd for “Peace and Love” at exactly noon.

Last year, the pandemic prevented an in-person event, and Starr instead moved the celebration online, hosting Ringo’s Big Birthday Show, which featured unseen concert and unique performances by Starr, Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Ben Harper and Dave Grohl, Sheryl Crow, Gary Clark Jr, Sheila E, and more.

In 2019 there were over 30 Peace And Love events in countries around the world. Details about 2021’s regional gatherings for the initiative, which will be hosted by fans – both in person and on Zoom – can be found on Starr’s Facebook page here.

Meanwhile, Disney+ has announced plans to stream Peter Jackson’s new The Beatles: Get Back documentary.

The Beatles film will focus on the making of the band’s last studio album Let It Be and will showcase their final concert as a band, on London’s Savile Row rooftop, in its entirety.

Peter Hook is selling off hundreds of New Order artefacts, including an NME Award

Patrick Clarke
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Peter Hook is selling off hundreds of New Order artefacts, including an NME Award
Peter Hook has announced an exhibition and accompanying auction of hundreds of items from across his time playing with New Order. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut The musician will host an exhibition of the items, billed The Peter Hook Signature Collection – New Order, from Octob...

Peter Hook has announced an exhibition and accompanying auction of hundreds of items from across his time playing with New Order.

The musician will host an exhibition of the items, billed The Peter Hook Signature Collection – New Order, from October 4-8 at Omega Auctions in Merseyside, UK. Donations from the auction will be supporting Epilepsy Society and The Christie charity.

The lots include a number of Hook’s own guitars and instruments, such as the Overwater Bass Guitar originally owned by John Entwhistle and the Prophet 5 Synthesiser And Sequencer used in the recording of “Blue Monday”.

Elsewhere there’s extremely rare vinyl including test pressings, tapes, CDs, artwork, and the audio rig ‘The End’ from New Order’s “farewell” concert in Buenos Aires in 2006.

Hook (left) with New Order bandmates Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris at the 2005 NME Awards CREDIT: Brian Rasic/Getty Images

Some of the awards accrued by the bassist across his career are also featured, including the NME Award he received when New Order were crowned Godlike Genius in 2005, his 2006 Ivor Novello award, and the Blue Monday Anvil presented to the band by Factory Records’ Tony Wilson to mark 500,000 sales.

They will then go up for auction on October 8, with over 400 lots set to go under the hammer. You can see a full catalogue here.

The Best Of 2021 – Halftime Report

Michael Bonner
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The Best Of 2021 – Halftime Report
First off, a gentle reminder that our excellent new issue of Uncut is in the shops now, featuring Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic on Nirvana, plus Sly Stone, Paul McCartney, Amy Winehouse, Altın Gün, Grateful Dead, The Jam, Will Sergeant, Rodney Crowell, Sparks, Rodrigo Amarante and more. Full deta...

First off, a gentle reminder that our excellent new issue of Uncut is in the shops now, featuring Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic on Nirvana, plus Sly Stone, Paul McCartney, Amy Winehouse, Altın Gün, Grateful Dead, The Jam, Will Sergeant, Rodney Crowell, Sparks, Rodrigo Amarante and more. Full details about the new Uncut are here, in case you missed them.

As is tradition abound now, I tried to round up my favourite albums from so far; specifically releases from January until the end of June. I’ve listed them here in (roughly) order of release – just to be painfully clear, this is very much my personal choice and is in no way representative of the Uncut writers in general.

UPDATE! Okay, a quick couple of amendments. Firstly, I’ve removed one of the duplicate entries for The Coral and also added two albums I can’t believe I forgot to include: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis’ Carnage (thanks for the spot, Robert Franks) and also Field Works’ Cedars.

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner

1. Black Country, New Road – For The First Time (Ninja Tune)
2. The Weather Station – Ignorance (Fat Possum)
3. Ryan Dugre – Three Rivers (11A)
4. Altın Gün – Yol (Giltterbeat)
5. Sunburned Hand Of The Man – Pick A Day To Die (Three Lobed)
6. Ryley Walker + Kikagaku Moyo – Deep Friend Grandeur (Husky Pants)
7. Cory Hanson – Pale Horse Rider (Drag City)
8. Teenage Fanclub – Endless Arcade (PeMa)
9. SUSS – Promise (Northern Spy)
10. Israel Nash – Topaz (Loose)
11. Jane Weaver – Flock (Fire)
12. Julien Baker – Little Oblivions (Matador)
13. Natalie Bergman – Mercy (Third Man)
14. Tindersticks – Distractions (City Slang)
15. Lael Neale – Acquainted With Night (Sub Pop)
16. Besnard Lakes – Besnard Lakes Are The Last Of The Great Thunderstorm Warnings (Full Time Hobby)
17. Elori Saxl – The Blue Of Distance (Western Vinyl)
18. Chuck Johnson – The Cinder Grove (VDSQ)
19. Bobby Lee – Origin Myths (Natural Histories Records)
20. Mason Lindahl – Kissing Rosy In The Rain (Tompkins Square)
21. Valerie June – The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers (Fantasy)
22. Renée Reed – Renée Reed (Keeled Scales)
23. Hiss Golden Messenger – Quietly Blowing It (Merge)
24. Janet Simpson – Safe Distance (Cornelius Chapel Records)
25. Julius Eastman – Femenine performed by ensemble 0 (Sub Rosa)
26. Marianne Faithfull with Warren Ellis – She Walks In Beauty (BMG)
27. Dinosaur Jr – Sweep It Into Space (Jagjaguwar)
28. Rhiannon Giddens – They’re Calling Me Home (Nonesuch)
29. Jakob Bro, Arve Henriksen, Jorge Rossy – Uma Elmo (ECM)
30. Satomimagae – Hanazono (RVNG Intl/Guruguru Brain)
31. Ballaké Sissoko – Djouru (Nø Førmat!)
32. Whitney K – Maryland (Maple Death Records)
33. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra – Promises (Luaka Bop)
34. Four Tet – Parallel (Text)
35. Pino Palladino & Blake Mills – Notes With Attachments (New Deal / Impulse!)
36. Dean McPhee – Witch’s Ladder (Hood Faire/Cargo)
37. The Coral – Coral Island (Run On Records/Modern Sky UK)
38. Angel Bat Dawid & The Brotherhood – Live (International Anthem)
39. Matt Sweeney & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Superwolves (Domino)
40. Rose City Band – Earth Trip (Thrill Jockey)
41. Ryley Walker – Course In Fable (Husky Pants)
42. Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band – Rare Dreams: Solar Live 2.27.18 (Cafe Oto)
43. Natural Information Society With Evan Parker – Descension (Out Of Our Constrictions (Aguirre Records)
44. Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble – NOW (International Anthem)
45. Sarah Louise – Earth Bow (Earth Bow)
46. Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime (Matador)
47. Lucy Dacus – Home Video (Matador)
48. Lamchop – Showtunes (City Slang)
49. Joana Serrat – Hardcore From The Heart (Loose)
50. Andrew Tuttle & Padang Food Tigers – A Cassowary Apart (Bedroom Suck Records)
51. BLK JKS – Abantu/Before Humans (Glitterbest)
52. Daniel Bachman – Axacan (Three Lobed)
53. Six Organs Of Admittance – The Veiled Sea (Three Lobed)
54. Marisa Anderson/William Tyler – Lost Futures (Thrill Jockey)
55. Dorothea Paas – Anything Can’t Happen (Telephone Explosion)
56. Shabason, Krgovich & Harris – Florence (idée fixe)
57. David Grubbs & Ryley Walker – Fight Of Flight Simulator (Takuroku)
58. Chuck Johnson – Alpenglow (Bandcamp)
59. Faye Webster – I Know I’m Funny ha ha (Secretly Canadian)
60. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – Carnage (Goliath)
61. Melt – Blank Gloss (Kompakt)
62. Brooklyn Raga Massive – Quarantine Dreams (Bandcamp)
63. Arooj Aftab – Vulture Prince (New Amsterdam Records)
64. Amaro Freitas – Sankofa (Far Out)
65. Birds Of Maya – Valdez (Drag City)
66. Marina Allen – Candlepower (Fire)
67. Sault – Nine (Forever Living Originals)
68. Field Works – Cedars (Temporary Residence)

Making The Sparks Brothers documentary: “Being ahead of the curve for 50 years is a lonely place to be”

Stephen Troussé
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Making The Sparks Brothers documentary: “Being ahead of the curve for 50 years is a lonely place to be”
"Is the Sparks story even that interesting?” wonders Ron Mael aloud, with one of those quizzical frowns that over 50 years have variously signalled wry mockery, abject despair, ironic ennui or absurd determination. “We joked about this with Edgar [Wright] when we began work on The Sparks Brother...

“Is the Sparks story even that interesting?” wonders Ron Mael aloud, with one of those quizzical frowns that over 50 years have variously signalled wry mockery, abject despair, ironic ennui or absurd determination. “We joked about this with Edgar [Wright] when we began work on The Sparks Brothers project. Because other bands in documentaries usually have a tragic ending – you know, a suicide – or they had a drug issues and were able to overcome their habit to win in the end, or their career had a meteoric rise then a tragic fall… But our story didn’t fit into any of those categories. We found ourselves saying: “Guys, is there anything interesting about us to really warrant a movie?’”

It’s not the first time Sparks have failed to fit into established formats. Yet this summer sees one more of those periodical cosmic alignments that have occurred through the brothers’ career – where this most singular, perverse and eccentric group miraculously chimes with the times – like a comet, determinedly following its lonely elliptical orbit through the dark for years, to suddenly blaze once more across the horizon of public attention.

In July, Annette, their decade-in-the-making collaboration with Leos Carax, the holy terror of modern French cinema, is finally set to open – at the Cannes Film Festival, no less. “Cannes!” sighs Ronald, giddy as a schoolgirl. “It’s the most magical word to us!”

But first there is The Sparks Brothers, Edgar Wright’s bravura, breathless, screwball documentary which rounds up collaborators and famous fans for a tour of the weirdest half century in pop history. You can imagine one day The Sparks Story being a told as a fully fictionalised MGM biopic, as fabulously far-fetched as that version of the Cole Porter story starring Cary Grant. Or maybe in the style of Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There with different brothers played by different actors at different phases of their career: “Can I suggest Benedict Cumberbatch?” wonders Ron.

Wright’s documentary throws in a fair amount of fabulation and some lovely sequences of animation, but for the most part sticks faithfully to the facts, although there is some understandable haziness about the early days – “We thought it might be like a pop version of Rashomon,” chuckles Russell. Winningly, it presents the brothers as great pop survivors and pioneers.

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Listen to The Cure’s Robert Smith remix his collaborative track with Chvrches, “How Not To Drown”

Jackson Langford
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Listen to The Cure’s Robert Smith remix his collaborative track with Chvrches, “How Not To Drown”
The Cure frontman Robert Smith has delivered a new remix of his recently-released collaboration with Chvrches, "How Not To Drown". ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut The sprawling remix, which reaches over seven minutes in length, strips back most of the original's explosive producti...

The Cure frontman Robert Smith has delivered a new remix of his recently-released collaboration with Chvrches, “How Not To Drown”.

The sprawling remix, which reaches over seven minutes in length, strips back most of the original’s explosive production.

“How Not To Drown” is the second single from Chvrches‘ imminent fourth album, Screen Violence, due out in August 27.

Listen to Smith’s remix of the song below:

Outside of his collaboration with Chvrches, Smith revealed towards the end of 2020 that he had spent the year working on both The Cure’s new album – set to be their first since 2008’s 4:13 Dream – as well as a solo “noise album”.

Smith has also recently said that The Cure’s next album could be their last: “The new Cure stuff is very emotional. It’s 10 years of life distilled into a couple of hours of intense stuff.

“And I can’t think we’ll ever do anything else. I definitely can’t do this again.”

Arcade Fire launch new Past Lives series, sharing archive gig footage

Will Richards
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Arcade Fire launch new Past Lives series, sharing archive gig footage
Arcade Fire have launched a new archive series, sharing footage from past gigs during the summer. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut Past Lives will see the band sharing performances from across their career. It kicked off last Friday (June 25) with a performance from their Everythin...

Arcade Fire have launched a new archive series, sharing footage from past gigs during the summer.

Past Lives will see the band sharing performances from across their career. It kicked off last Friday (June 25) with a performance from their Everything Now tour in 2017.

“We cannot wait to play live for you all again,” the band wrote to fans in an email newsletter announcing the new series. “But until then… this summer we will be revisiting some of our past live performances.

“Videos will be posted Wednesdays and Fridays,” they added, sharing a performance of “No Cars Go” from their headline set at Primavera Sound 2017 in Barcelona to begin.

See that performance below.

Back in April, the band shared a new 45-minute song titled “Memories of the Age of Anxiety” for a meditation and sleep app.

The instrumental was created for the Headspace app, which offers meditation and mindfulness skills “on everything from managing stress and everyday anxiety to sleep, focus and mind-body health”.

“Memories of the Age of Anxiety” is Arcade Fire’s first new piece of material since they debuted the track “Generation A” back in November while performing on Stephen Colbert’s US election special. That song has yet to be officially released, however.

The band’s last studio album, Everything Now, came out in 2017. Back in October, frontman Win Butler told Rick Rubin on his Broken Record podcast that he’d written “two or three” Arcade Fire albums during the coronavirus-enforced lockdown.

“We had been writing for a year and were doing our first session towards the record when Covid came down,” he said. “I’ve just been writing, like I can’t remember a time where I’ve written more.”

Synthesiser pioneer Peter Zinovieff, who worked with the Beatles and David Bowie, dies aged 88

Will Richards
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Synthesiser pioneer Peter Zinovieff, who worked with the Beatles and David Bowie, dies aged 88
Peter Zinovieff, the British composer and pioneer of the synthesiser, has died aged 88. As revealed by composer James Gardner and reported by the Guardian, the artist had suffered a fall at his home earlier this month and been in hospital for 10 days. “With a heavy heart, I am sorry to confi...

Peter Zinovieff, the British composer and pioneer of the synthesiser, has died aged 88.

As revealed by composer James Gardner and reported by the Guardian, the artist had suffered a fall at his home earlier this month and been in hospital for 10 days.

“With a heavy heart, I am sorry to confirm the death on Wednesday evening of Peter Zinovieff, composer, founder of EMS, and pioneer of computer music in the UK,” Gardner wrote on Twitter. “He was 88, and had been in hospital for 10 days following a fall at his home.”

Zinovieff’s company Electronic Music Studios (EMS) was one of the first to make synthesisers publicly available, and he was said to have sold the instruments to the likes of The Beatles, David Bowie, Kraftwerk and Pink Floyd, even teaching many of them how to use his creations.

In a 2015 interview with the Guardian, Zinovieff spoke of how he taught Ringo Starr how to use one of his bestselling synths, the VCS3.

“I had a nice time teaching Ringo Starr how to use it,” he said. “I would go to his house in Hampstead. He wasn’t particularly good. But then neither was I.”

Zinovieff also collaborated with Paul McCartney in 1967 on the unreleased composition “Carnival of Light”. “I’d like to get in touch with him about it,” he told the Guardian, hinting that he would want the piece to see the light of day. “But I’m quite in awe – how do you get in touch with God?”

Following news of his death, tributes have been paid on social media, with those remembering Zinovieff’s talent and pioneering synthesisers, as well as memories from those who learned about the instruments from the man himself.

Zinovieff is survived by his fourth wife, Jenny Jardine, and six children, Sofka, Leo, Kolinka, Freya, Kitty and Eliena.

Elton John rumoured to headline Glastonbury as fans notice gap in schedule

Nick Reilly
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Elton John rumoured to headline Glastonbury as fans notice gap in schedule
Elton John fans are beginning to speculate that the music icon is set for a performance at Glastonbury 2022. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut The line-up for next year's Worthy Farm bash is yet to arrive, but eagle-eyed fans have spotted what they're describing as a "Glasto-sized g...

Elton John fans are beginning to speculate that the music icon is set for a performance at Glastonbury 2022.

The line-up for next year’s Worthy Farm bash is yet to arrive, but eagle-eyed fans have spotted what they’re describing as a “Glasto-sized gap” in the final dates of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.

It was confirmed last week that Elton will stop in Bristol on June 22 before heading to Swansea on June 29.

This leaves him free for a potential slot at Glastonbury between June 22-26, marking what would be a very overdue debut for the music veteran.

“A #Glastonbury appearance for Elton John next year? Festival dates are 22-26 June so timeline fits,” wrote one fan.

Another wrote on Twitter: “Elton in Bristol on 22 June 2022, surely got to be stopping at Glastonbury two days later.”

While an appearance may well be on the cards, Elton previously admitted that he has never been asked to play the festival. “I haven’t been asked, no,” he previously told BBC Radio 6’s Matt Everitt. “I mean, they may have asked – but no one’s ever told me. “But I love Glastonbury – what Glastonbury is good at, not just putting all sorts of music on the big stages, but it’s a great springboard for young acts.”

Announcing his final tour dates last week, Elton said: “Hello, all you wonderful fans out there. I’m coming to you today with an announcement I’ve been working towards for, well, all my life: the shows that I announce today will be my final tour dates ever in North America and Europe.

“I’m going to go out in the biggest possible way, performing at my very best, with the most spectacular production I’ve ever had, playing in places that have meant so much to me throughout my career.

“Whether it’s next summer in Frankfurt or at the legendary Dodger Stadium for the grand finale in the United States, I can’t wait to see you all on the road one last time. This has been an incredible tour so far, full of the most amazing highs, and I look forward to making more wonderful memories with you at these final shows.

“To all my friends down under, We’ll be seeing you too. Thank you and I look forward to seeing you in your town.”

Avant-garde composer Jon Hassell has died aged 84

Michael Bonner
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Avant-garde composer Jon Hassell has died aged 84
American avant-garde composer Jon Hassell died yesterday (June 26), according to a statement shared by his family on social media. “After a little more than a year of fighting through health complications, Jon died peacefully in the early morning hours of natural causes,” the statement, poste...

American avant-garde composer Jon Hassell died yesterday (June 26), according to a statement shared by his family on social media.

“After a little more than a year of fighting through health complications, Jon died peacefully in the early morning hours of natural causes,” the statement, posted to Facebook, explained. “He cherished life and leaving this world was a struggle as there was much more he wished to share in music, philosophy, and writing.”

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A GoFundMe had previously been started by long-time friend and collaborator Brian Eno in April 2020, in order to raise funds for Hassell’s “long-term health issues.”

In their statement, Hassell’s family confirmed that all further donations will “allow the tremendous personal archive of his music, much unreleased, to be preserved and shared with the world for years to come,” adding: “We also hope to provide philanthropic gifts of scholarship and contributions to issues close to Jon’s heart, like supporting the working rights of musicians.” You can donate to that cause here.

Family Statement:Our beloved Jon M. Hassell – iconic trumpet player, author, and composer – has passed away at the age…

Posted by Jon Hassell on Saturday, June 26, 2021

Born in Memphis in 1937, Hassell’s formative years were defined by his time in Europe under Karlheinz Stockhausen’s tutelage, alongside fellow students Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay, who would later go on to form Can.

Hassell returned to the US in the 1960s, taking on a fellowship at SUNY Buffalo’s Center for Creative and Performing Arts and meeting American minimalist composer Terry Riley.

Hassell’s first masterpiece Vernal Equinox (1978) came to be recognised as the first of his “Fourth World” pieces, which he later described as “a unified primitive/futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques,” and later as both “metaclassical and metapop.”

As well as Eno, who Hassell worked with on Possible Musics/Fourth World Vol. 1 in 1980, Hassell went on to work with artists including Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, and Tears for Fears. His last studio album Seeing Through Sound (Pentimento Volume Two) was released in 2020.

Tributes paid to Uncut’s first editor-in-chief and NME editor Alan Lewis

Patrick Clarke
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Tributes paid to Uncut’s first editor-in-chief and NME editor Alan Lewis
Alan Lewis, who served as editor of NME and was Uncut's editor-in-chief at launch - among other roles in a storied publishing career - has died aged 76, prompting tributes from across the music press. CLICK TO GET THE NEW UNCUT DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR Danny Kelly, who succeeded Lewis as NME ...

Alan Lewis, who served as editor of NME and was Uncut‘s editor-in-chief at launch – among other roles in a storied publishing career – has died aged 76, prompting tributes from across the music press.

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Danny Kelly, who succeeded Lewis as NME editor in the late 1980s, shared the news on Twitter yesterday (June 25), remembering him as “a quiet chap, but wickedly funny, no man better knew his way round a magazine flatplan or a public bar. My heart aches. Thank you for everything Alan.”

The cause of Lewis’ death is unconfirmed. However his son Simon – who was among Uncut’s launch team – wrote in a Father’s Day piece in The Telegraph, shortly before his father’s death, that he had been living with Parkinson’s disease and cancer.

News of Lewis’ death led to a number of tributes from writers, editors and more across the industry.

In an official statement from Uncut, we Tweeted: “We’re deeply saddened to learn of Alan Lewis’ passing. Aside from his many, many credits on Sounds, @NME, Kerrang!, Number One, Vox and Loaded, Alan also helped launch @uncutmagazine back in 1997. A genuine publishing genius. We’ll raise a glass or two to his memory tonight.”

Ted Kessler, former editor of Q,said: “All your favourite music papers and magazines would have lived longer and in ruder health if he’d have been involved with them for more years.”

Mojo editor John Mulvey – a former editor of Uncut and NME deputy editor – said he was “forever grateful” to Lewis for offering him work experience at NME when he was starting out.

Former Melody Maker writer, Muzik editor and current Electronic Sound editor, Push remembered him as “an inspiring mentor, a brilliant boss, a giant of the UK music press, and a gem of a man.”

Ben Turner, who went on to launch Muzik with Push, wrote: “Sad day for music journalism. Aside from all of the accolades below he signed off the launch of Muzik Magazine in 1995 taking a huge risk in somebody like me aged 21. A true visionary in the publishing world.”

Kevin Cummins, legendary photographer behind iconic pictures of Joy Division, Morrissey and more, said “Alan was a great editor and an all round nice guy. He hauled the NME out of trouble & showed a lot of trust and faith in a whole new range of writers / photographers. He was hugely influential in my career, something I’m eternally grateful to him for.”

Lewis‘ son Luke, himself a journalist who was the editor of NME.com from 2011 to 2013 among other roles, posted a lengthy list of standout moments from his father’s career, as compiled by his brother.

I can’t say it any better, so sharing this beautiful tribute my brother Simon wrote to our Dad, Alan Lewis. It was…

Posted by Luke Lewis on Thursday, June 24, 2021

Among other things, he remembered his father designing the first-ever cover of Kerrang! on their kitchen table using “glue and a guillotine”, overhearing Lionel Richie writing “Three Times A Lady” on a hotel bar piano, and interviewing a pre-fame Morrissey when he applied (unsuccessfully) for a job as a writer at Sounds.

You can see further tributes to Lewis below.

Lewis began his career in local newspapers, before joining Melody Maker in 1969. He went on to found and edit Black Music in 1973, a pioneering monthly title that was one of the first mainstream British publications to write seriously about reggae, hip hop, and avant-garde jazz.

In the late 1970s he edited Sounds, where he and writer Geoff Barton were the first to name the “New Wave Of British Heavy Metal” scene.

In 1981 he founded longstanding rock and metal publication Kerrang!. In a tribute to Lewis, the magazine’s current creative director Phil Alexander said: “There are […] literally millions of readers who owe him a huge debt of gratitude for developing an editorial approach based on enthusiasm and instinct.”

As well as serving as editor of Sounds, Lewis became editor of NME in 1987, overseeing a period of resurgent circulation figures after years of instability at the publication before departing at the end of the decade.

He was also instrumental in the launch of Loaded in 1994, and Uncut in 1997, and in 2011 retired after stepping down from his final editorial role at Record Collector.

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