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British neo-soul collective Sault announce new album Nine, only available for 99 days

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Sault have announced details of a new album – Nine is set to come out next week and will only be available online for 99 days. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut The new album, which follows the British neo-soul collective's pair of 2019 records, 5 and 7, was teased by the mysteri...

Sault have announced details of a new album – Nine is set to come out next week and will only be available online for 99 days.

The new album, which follows the British neo-soul collective’s pair of 2019 records, 5 and 7, was teased by the mysterious collective on Instagram earlier this week.

Taking to the same platform today (June 16), Sault have confirmed that Nine is indeed a new album, and gave details about its release.

“Nine will only exist for ninety-nine days,” they wrote. “You can download from sault.global. Available on vinyl and all streaming platforms.”

Upon visiting the band’s website, a message reads: “108 days left of nine,” hinting that the 99 days of its lifespan – and thus its release date – begin next Friday (June 25).

See the new post below.

Sault album cover nine

Since the release of 5 and 7 in 2019, Sault released two critically acclaimed albums in 2020, Untitled (Black Is) and Untitled (Rise).

Untitled (Black Is) took 17th place in Uncut’s 50 best new albums of 2020 list. We said: “Having released two intriguing albums in 2019, the anonymous neo-soul collective – believed to include Michael Kiwanuka collaborator Dean ‘Inflo’ Josiah, plus vocalists Cleo Sol and Melissa ‘Kid Sister’ Young – really seized the day with this urgent 20-track opus, written in response to the killing of George Floyd and released just three weeks later on the Juneteenth holiday.

“A multifaceted work of elegant defiance, they followed it up in September with the equally essential Untitled (Rise).”

Jeff Tweedy shares new song, “Cold Water”, written for Parks And Recreation

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Wilco‘s Jeff Tweedy has shared a new song as Scott Tanner, the character he played in a Parks And Recreation cameo. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut BUY NOW: Wilcovered 2LP – 17 Wilco covers by the band’s artists and friends In the sitcom, Tanner is the frontman of fictio...

Wilco‘s Jeff Tweedy has shared a new song as Scott Tanner, the character he played in a Parks And Recreation cameo.

In the sitcom, Tanner is the frontman of fictional band Land Ho! which Chris Pratt’s character Andy Dwyer successfully reunited for a benefit concert.

Tweedy (as Tanner) has now released “Cold Water”, a track written for The Awesome Album, the recently announced real-life debut album from Dwyer’s fictional band in the show, Mouse Rat.

Featuring on the song is Duke Silver, the saxophone-wielding alter-ego of the show’s character Ron Swanson (played by Nick Offerman) – watch its surreal video below.

The Awesome Album is a 15-track record and will arrive on August 27 through Dualtone Music Group and Entertainment 720 (the fictional company founded by Aziz Ansari’s character Tom Haverford in the show). The album will also be given a limited-edition vinyl run and merchandise range.

Back in his real life, Tweedy last week shared a cover of Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen’s new collaboration “Like I Used To” with his son Spencer.

Bob Dylan announces online show, streaming from July 18

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Bob Dylan has announced details of a paid-for online performance entitled Shadow Kingdom. It launches on July 18 on the Veeps platform and will be available to watch for 48 hours after the initial airing, with tickets costing $25 – sign up here. A press releases states that Shadow Kingdom "w...

Bob Dylan has announced details of a paid-for online performance entitled Shadow Kingdom.

It launches on July 18 on the Veeps platform and will be available to watch for 48 hours after the initial airing, with tickets costing $25 – sign up here.

A press releases states that Shadow Kingdom “will showcase the artist in an intimate setting as he presents songs from his extensive renowned body of work created especially for this event.” There are no further details on the location, the musicians involved or whether the performance is a live broadcast or a pre-record.

It will be the first time Bob Dylan has played live since the release of Rough And Rowdy Ways, Uncut’s album of the year 2020.

Inside Sly Stone’s There’s A Riot Goin’ On: “Fame attracts wonderful people, but it also attracts guns and dogs”

It is 1969 and Sly Stone is on the brink of superstardom. Ensconced in his Bel Air mansion, he has begun work on a new album. But surrounded by dealers, groupies and gangsters, it takes over two years to finish the record – during with time the life-affirming utopianism of his music is replaced by...

It is 1969 and Sly Stone is on the brink of superstardom. Ensconced in his Bel Air mansion, he has begun work on a new album. But surrounded by dealers, groupies and gangsters, it takes over two years to finish the record – during with time the life-affirming utopianism of his music is replaced by darkness, drugs and isolation. Fifty years on, band members recall the turbulent making of a masterpiece: There’s A Riot Goin’ On.

For Sly Stone, Sunday, August 17, 1969 was an auspicious date. The weather was bad, but despite the deluge Sly & The Family Stone took control of the Woodstock festival – coming on stage at 3am, they lured the bedraggled audience out of their sleeping bags and on to their feet for an extended, transcendent version of I Want To Take You Higher.

“There was about a foot-and-a-half deep of mud, it was raining so hard,” remembers saxophonist Jerry Martini. “It was an incredible mess.”

“It put everybody into a higher level of performance,” says bassist Larry Graham. “We knew we’d tapped into a new zone. We wanted the next concert to feel musically like the Woodstock concert. That was our new measuring stick.”

Captured and amplified in Michael Wadleigh’s concert film, Stone’s irrepressible performance was one of Woodstock’s undoubted highlights – a riot of afro hair, white tassels, green satin, chunky jewellery and feather hats that captured both the Aquarian mood of guileless, free-spirited optimism and Stone’s immutable star power.

Both Wadleigh’s film and the three-disc soundtrack album were major successes, significantly bolstering the band’s profile in the States. Their label, Epic Records, re-serviced I Want To Take You Higher to radio, where it charted alongside Ike & Tina Turner’s version. But, the label stressed, this would not be treated as a new Sly & The Family Stone single. “New material from the star is expected in a matter of days”, reported trade magazine Cash Box that May.

It was an optimistic statement for an optimistic band. Certainly, after Woodstock, you could be forgiven for thinking that Stone had it all. And then, inexplicably, he began to throw it all away.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW IN UNCUT AUGUST 2021

Introducing The Beatles Miscellany & Atlas

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BUY THE BEATLES MISCELLANY & ATLAS HERE It was (very nearly) 60 years ago today… The date: June 21st, 1961. The place: a civic building/sometime school hall in a suburb of Hamburg, in what was then West Germany. The occasion: a recording session for the fiery, notoriously wayward, and oc...

BUY THE BEATLES MISCELLANY & ATLAS HERE

It was (very nearly) 60 years ago today…

The date: June 21st, 1961. The place: a civic building/sometime school hall in a suburb of Hamburg, in what was then West Germany. The occasion: a recording session for the fiery, notoriously wayward, and occasionally brilliant British rock ‘n’ roller Tony Sheridan, presided over by the producer and Polydor A&R man Bert Kaempfert. Sheridan’s pick-up band on the two day session are the Beat Brothers. Or, as the wider world will soon come to know them, The Beatles.

For all the prominent flags planted by the Beatles in their career – the huge concerts; the recording and songwriting innovations; the landmark albums – there’s also a lot to be said for giving some respect to the events at the margins of the main event, which were still pivotal to the major achievements. Much like the events of this Hamburg session: the first time The Beatles record music professionally.

Today the results might sound fun, but a little quaint. But as you look a little closer (the charm and vibrancy of the band’s Lennon-fronted take on Ain’t She Sweet; the appearance of an early self-composed – Lennon/Harrison – number, Cry For A Shadow) you begin to perceive some inkling of what the band would grow to become.

It’s a policy that we’ve followed on the following 120 pages, in the course of which we’ve found new ways to tell the story of the Beatles, 1960-1970 – and of the music we already know and love. How many gigs? How did they do that in the studio? He said what? It’s here: in maps, illuminating lists, graphs, timelines, quotes and indexes. You’ll find all their UK releases pictured in chronological order in their original sleeves. Some other things you’ll discover along the way:

  • Which Beatles intimate was once brought up on charges for impersonating an army officer
  • Which Beatle is good at putting up shelves
  • How much George Harrison paid for his house in 1964
  • Who sat where in the van on the trip to Hamburg
  • What the other Beatles were doing while Paul was getting married to Linda

There are licensed Beatle wigs and the story of litigated hotel bedsheets. All round, it’s a celebration of the Beatles, their world-changing influence and their music – and also of the size and depth of their footprint as they went about making it. It’s a wonderful tale, and my hope here is that we’ve told it with some innovation and originality; a lot of love and hard work. In a way that honours the process of the Beatles themselves, in fact. We hope you enjoy the show!

Buy a copy of the magazine here. Missed one in the series? Bundles are available at the same location…

The Beatles – Miscellany & Atlas

Celebrating 60 years – pretty much to the day – of The Beatles as professional recording artists, we present The Beatles Miscellany and Atlas. What is it? It's a left-field history of the Fab Four: in lists, graphs, maps, numbers, seating plans, houses, merchandise, valuable ephemera items, and ...

Celebrating 60 years – pretty much to the day – of The Beatles as professional recording artists, we present The Beatles Miscellany and Atlas. What is it? It’s a left-field history of the Fab Four: in lists, graphs, maps, numbers, seating plans, houses, merchandise, valuable ephemera items, and of course, their entire UK discography.

A perfect gift for Father’s Day too!

Buy a copy here!

Hear Bruce Springsteen and The Killers’ long-awaited collaboration, “Dustland”

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The Killers have unveiled their collaboration with Bruce Springsteen, entitled “Dustland”. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut The single, released today (June 16) after several teases and previews, is a re-recording of the Las Vegas band’s song “A Dustland Fairytale”, which...

The Killers have unveiled their collaboration with Bruce Springsteen, entitled “Dustland”.

The single, released today (June 16) after several teases and previews, is a re-recording of the Las Vegas band’s song “A Dustland Fairytale”, which first appeared on their 2008 album Day & Age and served as the record’s fourth and final single.

The new version sees lead vocalist Brandon Flowers trading verses with Springsteen, before the two of them sing in unison.

Listen to “Dustland” below:

According to a statement from Flowers, Springsteen originally reached out to him in February 2020 and suggested they record the song together.

“Watching Glastonbury,” the text from Springsteen reportedly read. “You guys have become one hellacious live band, my brother. Love the gold suit. We gotta do Dustland one day. – Bruce.”

Upon receiving the text, Flowers was suspicious that a prank was being played on him. “I google the area code,” he explains. “It’s from Freehold, New Jersey, and I’m still not convinced. I text Evan (Bruce and Patti’s son who has become a buddy of mine) and get verification that the number really is coming from his old man.”

Although COVID ultimately put plans for the two to work together on ice, it was later made possible towards the end of 2020. Both The Killers and Springsteen released new albums in the interim – Imploding the Mirage and Letter to You, respectively.

Flowers went on to reflect on the initial writing of “A Dustland Fairytale”, which was an ode to his parents Jeannie and Terry Flowers.

“’Dustland’ was written in the middle of [Jeannie’s] battle with cancer,” he said.

“It was an attempt to better understand my dad, who is sometimes a mystery to me. To grieve for my mother. To acknowledge their sacrifices, and maybe even catch a glimpse of just how strong love needs to be to make it in this world. It was my therapy. It was cathartic.”

Flowers praised Springsteen for writing “a lot about people like my parents,” as well as finding “a whole lot of beauty in otherwise invisible people’s hopes and dreams.”

“I’m grateful to him for opening this door for me,” said Flowers of Springsteen. “I’m grateful to my parents for their example to me.”

The Killers and Springsteen are scheduled to appear alongside one another for the first time on TODAY on NBC. They will be interviewed together and also perform the song live.

Roger Waters rejects Facebook’s request to use “Another Brick In The Wall” in new ad: “I will not be a party to this”

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Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters gave a firmly negative response to Facebook’s request to use “Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2” in an upcoming ad for Instagram. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut Speaking at a forum in support of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, as reported ...

Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters gave a firmly negative response to Facebook’s request to use “Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2” in an upcoming ad for Instagram.

Speaking at a forum in support of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, as reported by Rolling Stone, Waters read out an email he claimed to have received from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg requesting the right to use the song.

“It’s a request for the rights to use my song, ‘Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2’ in the making of a film to promote Instagram,” Waters said.

The letter allegedly said that the team at Facebook “feel that the core sentiment of this song is still so prevalent and so necessary today, which speaks to how timeless the work is”.

“So it’s a missive from Mark Zuckerberg to me,” Waters continued, “[which] arrived this morning, with an offer of a huge, huge amount of money, and the answer is, ‘Fuck you! No fucking way!’

“And I only mention that because it’s [their] insidious movement to take over absolutely everything.”

“So those of us who do have any power,” he continued, “and I do have a little bit – in terms of control of the publishing of my songs I do anyway. So I will not be a party to this bullshit, Zuckerberg.”

Waters has recently found himself in dispute with ex-bandmate David Gilmour regarding Pink Floyd’s 1977 album Animals.

Waters claimed that Gilmour wanted the liner notes of the remastered album to be kept a secret so that Gilmour could allegedly “claim more credit […] than is his due”.

Unsurprisingly, Gilmour has also recently poured cold water on rumours of a reunion of the band, saying in March, “It has run its course, we are done.”

Lucy Dacus announces 2022 UK and European tour

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Lucy Dacus has announced details of her 2022 UK and European tour. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut Next year's live dates will be in support of the artist's upcoming third studio album Home Video, which is set for release on June 25 via Matador. Dacus' 2022 UK and Ireland tour ...

Lucy Dacus has announced details of her 2022 UK and European tour.

Next year’s live dates will be in support of the artist’s upcoming third studio album Home Video, which is set for release on June 25 via Matador.

Dacus’ 2022 UK and Ireland tour will kick off at The Brudenell Social Club in Leeds on March 18 before stops in Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester and Bristol. The run concludes with a gig at the Kentish Town Forum in London on March 25, 2022.

Dacus will then head to Europe for gigs in Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Austria and more. You can check out her 2022 tour schedule below.

March 2022

18 – Leeds Brudenell Social Club
20 – Glasgow St Lukes
21 – Dublin The Button Factory
23 – Manchester Gorilla
24 – Bristol SWX
25 – London Kentish Town Forum
29 – Brussels Botanique, Belgium
30 – Amsterdam Paradiso Noord, Netherlands
31 – Cologne Artheater, Germany

April 2022

2 – Hamburg Molotow, Germany
3 – Copenhagen Loppen, Denmark
4 – Aarhus Atlas, Denmark
6 – Oslo Parkteatret, Norway
7 – Stockholm Nalen Klubb, Sweden
9 – Berlin Lido, Germany
10 – Jena Trafo, Germany
12 – Vienna Chelsea, Austria
13 – Munich Milla, Germany
14 – Zürich Bogen F, Switzerland
15 – Paris La Maroquinerie, France

Tickets for Dacus’ 2022 UK and Ireland shows will go on pre-sale tomorrow (June 16) at 10am BST for those who pre-order Home Video via the Matador webstore here. All of Dacus’ tour tickets will then go on general sale on Friday (June 18) at 10am BST.

Dacus previewed Home Video last week by sharing the single “Brando”.

British neo-soul collective Sault tease new album in cryptic Instagram post

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Sault have teased their next release, after dropping a series of acclaimed albums throughout last year. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut The British music collective remain steeped in mystery, but won praise for Untitled (Black Is), which was followed by Untitled (Rise). Now, th...

Sault have teased their next release, after dropping a series of acclaimed albums throughout last year.

The British music collective remain steeped in mystery, but won praise for Untitled (Black Is), which was followed by Untitled (Rise).

Now, they’ve teased further material in a cryptic post shared on Instagram. The group wrote “Nine” against a plain black background, but shared no other information about what fans can expect from their latest offering.

See the post below:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by SAULT (@saultglobal)

Sault’s Untitled (Black Is) album took 17th place in Uncut’s 50 best new albums of 2020 list. We said: “Having released two intriguing albums in 2019, the anonymous neo-soul collective – believed to include Michael Kiwanuka collaborator Dean “Inflo” Josiah, plus vocalists Cleo Sol and Melissa “Kid Sister” Young – really seized the day with this urgent 20-track opus, written in response to the killing of George Floyd and released just three weeks later on the Juneteenth holiday.

“A multifaceted work of elegant defiance, they followed it up in September with the equally essential Untitled (Rise).”

Nirvana, Sly Stone, Amy Winehouse, Paul McCartney: inside the new Uncut

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These days – inevitably, perhaps – many of our perceptions about Nirvana are filtered through the death of Kurt Cobain. An industry has gathered around his memory, truffling for clues in old interviews or in the hiss and howl of In Utero, that has essentially detracted from happier times in the ...

These days – inevitably, perhaps – many of our perceptions about Nirvana are filtered through the death of Kurt Cobain. An industry has gathered around his memory, truffling for clues in old interviews or in the hiss and howl of In Utero, that has essentially detracted from happier times in the band’s existence. Specifically, the thrill of Nirvana’s ascent with Nevermind. Everything seemed to move incredibly fast during autumn 1991 – there was an exhilarating mix of trepidation and excitement at their shows that year, a shared joy at the speed and scale of Nirvana’s success. The Word, Top Of The Pops, the stage at Kilburn National Ballroom and more were theirs for the taking.

All this is recalled with warmth and intimacy by Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl and Butch Vig in this month’s cover story. There’s also an oral history of the band’s 1991 UK shows that provides compelling evidence for the chaos and brilliance of that tour – and happy memories if, like me, you were fortunate to see them live during that period.

These were fun times for Nirvana, full of optimism and the ethos of self-determination familiar from American bands of that period. We hear about poorly heated rehearsal spaces in Tacoma, a 1,000-mile drive from Seattle to Los Angeles, an unexpected admiration for the Bay City Rollers and how, 30 years on, Dave and Krist view the madness around their inexorable rise. The scale of their ambitions, we can reveal, was to earn enough money to buy an apartment each…

Elsewhere, it’s another hugely eclectic issue: Sly Stone, Laura Nyro, Amy Winehouse, Grateful Dead, Rodney Crowell, Angélique Kidjo, Sparks, Alice Coltrane, The Jam, Roy Harper, Altın Gün, Rodrigo Amarante, Will Sergeant, Arooj Aftab, PJ Harvey, Gruff Rhys and some bloke called Paul McCartney.

You can find some of those artists on this month’s free CD, which showcases 15 tracks drawn from the month’s best music. There’s further stand outs from Yola, Dot Allison, Lump, Mega Bog and The Grid featuring Robert Fripp.

Hope you enjoy the issue, the CD and (while it lasts) the sunshine.

CLICK TO GET THE NEW UNCUT DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR

Radiohead are raffling off an ultra-rare Kid A test pressing

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Radiohead are raffling off a vinyl test pressing of their 2000 classic Kid A as part of a fundraiser for the charity Gig Buddies. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut The band announced the prize on social media, along with a photo of the extremely rare collector’s item. Gig Buddi...

Radiohead are raffling off a vinyl test pressing of their 2000 classic Kid A as part of a fundraiser for the charity Gig Buddies.

The band announced the prize on social media, along with a photo of the extremely rare collector’s item.

Gig Buddies is a charity and initiative that sees people with learning disabilities and/or autistic people paired with a music fan of similar interests with whom they can attend shows. You can get tickets for the raffle here.

The raffle is being organised by IDLES’ Adam ‘Dev’ Devonshire, with other prizes including tickets, signed records, merch and gear from the likes of his own band, Slowdive, Mogwai, Frank Turner, Florence And The Machine, Sharon Van Etten and Fontaines DC.

Also up for grabs is a guitar which has been signed by all of the performers who took part in a recent livestreamed charity show, also organised by Devonshire in aid of Gig Buddies.

The show was headlined by Welsh post-hardcore outfit Mclusky, as well as Willie J Healey, TV Priest, Fenne Lily, Dogeyed and Wilderman.

Stewart Lee topped a comedy bill that also featured Seann Walsh and Josh Weller. The show was streamed live from The Exchange in Bristol.

Last month, meanwhile, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead revealed their new side-project The Smile, a trio completed by Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner.

The new group played as part of Glastonbury‘s Live At Worthy Farm livestream event, which was filmed at various spots across the iconic festival site.

Uncut – August 2021

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CLICK TO GET THE NEW UNCUT DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR Nirvana, Paul McCartney, Amy Winehouse, Altın Gün, Sly Stone, Grateful Dead, The Jam, Will Sergeant, Rodney Crowell, Sparks, Rodrigo Amarante, Lump, Jakob Dylan and PJ Harvey all feature in the new Uncut, dated August 2021 and in UK shops from J...

CLICK TO GET THE NEW UNCUT DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR

Nirvana, Paul McCartney, Amy Winehouse, Altın Gün, Sly Stone, Grateful Dead, The Jam, Will Sergeant, Rodney Crowell, Sparks, Rodrigo Amarante, Lump, Jakob Dylan and PJ Harvey all feature in the new Uncut, dated August 2021 and in UK shops from June 17 or available to buy online now. As always, the issue comes with a free CD, this time comprising 15 tracks of the month’s best new music.

NIRVANA: Thirty years after Nevermind transformed Nirvana from adolescent punks to global superstars, Uncut revisits this era-defining classic in the company of its surviving creators. In brand new interviews, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic trace the album’s remarkable journey from a rented barn in Tacoma to the stage of Seattle’s Paramount Theatre and beyond, while producer Butch Vig reveals the secrets of the band’s working practices. There are cameos from Neil Young’s producer, aspiring cast members of Annie – The Musical and an ill-fated blue Datsun B210. And what of Kurt Cobain, you might ask? “He was vastly underrated as a comedian.”

OUR FREE CD! ENTERTAIN US: 15 fantastic tracks from the cream of the month’s releases, including songs by Mega Bog, Rodney Crowell, Juni Habel, The Grid / Fripp, Charlie Parr, The Black Angels, Dot Allison, Los Lobos and more.

This issue of Uncut is available to buy by clicking here – with FREE delivery to the UK and reduced delivery charges for the rest of the world.

Inside the issue, you’ll find:

PAUL MCCARTNEY: Photographer Harry Benson was nonplussed when he received a commission to cover The Beatles in 1964. All the same, travelling from London to Paris and New York during this breakthrough year, he struck up a rapport with the band – and McCartney in particular – that endured through several decades. With a new collection of his images due for publication, Benson shows us McCartney at work and at play – backstage, in hotel rooms and on private jets.

ALTIN GÜN: From their base in a former Cold War nuclear bunker, the psych warriors are busy reinventing the deep and mystical sounds of Anatolian rock. Their tools? Fuzz pedals, electronics, and ancient instruments once used in shamanic rituals. But their message, they tell Uncut, is universal: “Songs about love, hate, tragedy, death,  war… it’s all basic human emotions…”

SLY STONE: It is 1969 and the singer is on the brink of superstardom. Ensconced in his Bel Air mansion, he has begun work on a new album. But surrounded by dealers, groupies and gangsters, it takes over two years to finish the record – during which time the life-affirming utopianism of his music is replaced by darkness, drugs and isolation. Fifty years on, band members recall the turbulent making of a masterpiece: There’s A Riot Goin’ On. “Fame attracts wonderful people,” hears Michaelangelo Matos. “But fame also attracts guns and dogs.”

SPARKS: Fifty years after releasing their first album as Halfnelson, Sparks are finally ready for their close-up. A new documentary, The Sparks Brothers, directed by Edgar Wright, pays tribute to the indomitable, pioneering spirit of music’s oddest couple. “People expect us to try to alienate them from time to time…”

GRATEFUL DEAD: Dead freaks unite! 1971 was a momentous year for the Californian band – involving landmark shows, bizarre ESP experiments, French Acid Tests, hypnosis, new faces and emotional farewells. Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and other eyewitnesses share tales from this momentous journey with Uncut: “We were just coming alive.”

THE JAM: Previously unseen photos of the English mod band show Weller and co’s impatient evolution.

RODNEY CROWELL: The Americana star on wild times with Guy and Townes, the generosity of Johnny Cash and the sex life of the Tennessee cicadas.

AMY WINEHOUSE: The making of “Back To Black”.

ANGELIQUE KIDJO: Album by album with the Afro-fusion artist.

RODRIGO AMARANTE: On new album Drama, the Brazilian songwriter crafts an exquisite sonic world marked by global rhythms, cinematic textures and playful takes on tradition.

CLICK TO GET THE NEW UNCUT DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR

In our expansive reviews section, we take a look at new records from Lump, John Murry, The Flatlanders, Kings Of Convenience, Sleater-Kinney, Yola, John Frances Flynn, and more, and archival releases from Alice Coltrane, Laura Nyro, PJ Harvey, The Shins, Michael Small, Chris Barber, Aretha Franklin and others. We catch Songlines Encounters Festival and Gruff Rhys live; among the films, DVDs and TV programmes reviewed are Martin Eden, Punk the Capital: Building A Sound Movement and Rockumentary: Evolution Of Indian Rock; while in books there’s Sinéad O’Connor and Nico.

Our front section, meanwhile, features The Jam, Will Sergeant, Ellen Folley, Roy Harper and Arooj Aftab while, at the end of the magazine, Jakob Dylan reveals the records that have soundtracked his life.

You can pick up a copy of Uncut in the usual places, where open. But otherwise, readers all over the world can order a copy from here.

CLICK TO GET THE NEW UNCUT DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR

Belle & Sebastian announce 2022 UK and European tour dates

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Belle & Sebastian have announced a UK and European tour for 2022. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut The gigs will be the band’s first live shows since 2019, with the tour set to kick off in Aberdeen on January 31 next year. Belle & Sebastian will make stops in Leicester...

Belle & Sebastian have announced a UK and European tour for 2022.

The gigs will be the band’s first live shows since 2019, with the tour set to kick off in Aberdeen on January 31 next year.

Belle & Sebastian will make stops in Leicester, Cardiff, Brighton, Cambridge and more during their 2022 UK tour, which also includes a pair of dates at the Roundhouse in London.

Following the conclusion of the UK tour on February 21 in Motherwell, Belle & Sebastian will then head to the continent for a European tour which begins in Munich, Germany on April 11.

Belle & Sebastian UK tour 2022
Belle & Sebastian UK tour 2022

The band’s European tour will include visits in April 2022 to Italy, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, before concluding in Brussels on April 29.

You can see Belle & Sebastian’s upcoming UK and European tour dates below.

January 2022

31 – Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen

February 2022

1 – Usher Hall, Edinburgh
3 – University Union Asylum, Hull
4 – De Montfort Hall, Leicester
6 – Great Hall, Cardiff
7 – Academy, Manchester
9 – Olympia, Liverpool
10 – O2 Guildhall, Southampton
11 – The Dome, Brighton
13 – Corn Exchange, Cambridge
14 – Roundhouse, London
15 – Roundhouse, London
17 – O2 Academy, Birmingham
18 – O2 Academy, Sheffield
19 – O2 City Hall, Newcastle
21 – Concert Hall, Motherwell

April 2022

11 – Tonhalle, Munich, Germany
12 – Fabrique, Milan, Italy
13 – Co-op de Mai, Clermont-Ferrand, France
14 – X-tra Limmathaus, Zurich, Switzerland
16 – Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany
17 – Laeiszhalle, Hamburg, Germany
20 – Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway
21 – Tradgarn, Gothenburg, Sweden
23 – Filadelfia, Stockholm, Sweden
24 – Vega, Copenhagen, Denmark
26 – Tivoli Grote Zaal, Utrecht, Holland
27 – Casino de Paris, Paris, France
29 – Les Nuits Botanique, Brussels, Belgium

Tickets for Belle & Sebastian’s upcoming UK and European tours go on general sale on Friday (June 18) at 10am BST / 11am CET, while a fan pre-sale for the UK shows begins on Wednesday (June 16) at 10am BST / 11am CET. Tickets will be available here.

Belle & Sebastian’s last release, the live album What to Look for in Summer, came out in December.

Noel Gallagher says he is considering selling the rights to his back catalogue

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Noel Gallagher has said that he is contemplating selling the rights to his back catalogue in 2025. ORDER NOW: The August 2021 issue of Uncut A number of major artists have sold the rights to their music, either in part or in full, in recent times, including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Neil Y...

Noel Gallagher has said that he is contemplating selling the rights to his back catalogue in 2025.

A number of major artists have sold the rights to their music, either in part or in full, in recent times, including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Neil Young.

Gallagher was asked in a new interview with Apple Music Hits’ Matt Wilkinson – where he was promoting Back The Way We Came: Vol 1 – 2011-2021, a ‘Best Of’ album by his High Flying Birds project – if he would ever consider selling the rights to his own back catalogue.

“Well, I get mine [the rights to his catalogue] back, all of it, in 2025, because I’ve been knocking years off the deal as opposed to taking money advances,” Gallagher said. “I was like, ‘I don’t need it anymore’.

“The way that I look at it is I’ll be approaching 60, and it’s like, do I want to leave it to my kids, who’ll probably swap it for a fucking PlayStation game? Or do I get rid of it now and set everybody up for life? Because I’ve always wanted to buy a fucking 88 super yacht, and call it… You know, you see them in the sea, and it’s like Ocean Breeze. I want to call mine Mega Mega White Thing. Like the biggest fucking super yacht of all time.”

Gallagher continued by saying that he’ll “see how I feel in 2025” in terms of a possible sale.

“But my idea now is to kind of sell it,” he added. “But then you walk that tight rope of, ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger‘ could be in a shampoo advert. You’ve got to kind of take that into consideration.

“And they, whoever buys it, can do what they want with it. So there’s a long, long, long conversation to be had.”

Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner: “I try not to think a lot about past work”

It’s been a while since Kurt Wagner picked up a guitar and, after such a lengthy period of inactivity, he’s having trouble getting used to it again. To prove his point, he brings his antique Gibson acoustic – “an LG-something” – up from the basement and rests it on his lap. “It’s fun...

It’s been a while since Kurt Wagner picked up a guitar and, after such a lengthy period of inactivity, he’s having trouble getting used to it again. To prove his point, he brings his antique Gibson acoustic – “an LG-something” – up from the basement and rests it on his lap. “It’s funny,” he says. “Part of my life was practising and preparing for performance. But when that went away, so did my interaction with this thing.”

A guitar might seem like a step backwards for Wagner, who these days works primarily on his laptop, carving blocks of digital information like a sculptor might do with marble.

“There was a time when I was a typewriter guy,” he explains. “Then when I got a word processor, it really changed how I went about writing. I would move words and phrases around. Getting a laptop changed things because suddenly I was able to do things with music that had only been possible in a studio. I always liked that notion of the power you have as an editor, shaping information you’ve gathered… that’s always been magic for me.”

Lambchop’s new album Showtunes continues Wagner’s ongoing creative negotiations between their country-soul of old and this brave new world. While it is possibly their most technologically advanced yet – a warm, drifting record made on headphones and best experienced that way – it has a lightness of touch that makes it feel more organic than 2016’s FLOTUS and 2019’s This (Is What I Wanted To Tell You). Though the original ideas emerged from the basement of the south Nashville house in which Wagner has lived with his wife for a quarter of a century, most of the work took place in his office room – or out on the porch where the music can mingle with the birds, traffic and trains. “This is where all the magic happens, for sure,” confirms Wagner. “It’s nice to think of the studio experience as more than just being stuck in a little room. It’s a different perspective to watching the little waveforms going up and down.

“I live a quarter of a mile from a major train crossing and they go off all the time,” he adds, while a typically American train horn is heard across our video call. “When I’m talking to
folks in Europe, they really love the train thing. I kinda do too.”

“I was truly intrigued when I heard Showtunes,” says Christof Ellinghaus, founder of City Slang, the label that’s released all of Lambchop’s music in Europe. “On repeated listens, it revealed extraordinary depth and complexity. I think time will show that this album is not just another departure but also a point of arrival. And in the context of his entire body of work, it will prove to be one of his finest moments.”

“Essentially, it was only me on the record – and that was enough,” says Wagner. “But there were things I knew could be enhanced, so that led to what you end up hearing now. I knew this was a sound, even a flavour of writing, that I hadn’t been able to accomplish before. That’s exciting after 30 years of making music.”

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW IN UNCUT JULY 2021

Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament announces new solo album I Should Be Outside

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Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament has announced a fourth solo album under his own name, titled I Should Be Outside. ORDER NOW: The July 2021 issue of Uncut The album is due on August 10 via Monkeywrench, and follows his surprise-released American Death Squad EP last year. In a statement share...

Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament has announced a fourth solo album under his own name, titled I Should Be Outside.

The album is due on August 10 via Monkeywrench, and follows his surprise-released American Death Squad EP last year.

In a statement shared through Pearl Jam’s Ten Club newsletter on Thursday (June 10), Ament went into more detail about how the new record came together – you can read it below.

Last year’s EP, consisting of five short songs, was also composed during lockdown after Pearl Jam’s planned 2020 tour dates were postponed due to the coronavirus.

“In the days following the postponement of our tour, I found it necessary to find an outlet for the energy we had created going into the tour,” Ament said in a statement at the time. “Pivot was the word of March. So, every morning, I retreated to the studio with the goal of writing a song every day, no matter how shite.

“Days of isolating and watching the news of the destruction courtesy the virus (and the ineptitude of our leadership or as named here, the American Death Squad) made for vivid dreams and a helplessness. These were some of the first songs out of the gate. Raw and succinct.”

You can pre-order the vinyl for the first two songs from I Should Be Outside “I Hear Ya” and “Bandwidth” – here.

Robert Smith says The Cure’s next album will be their last: “I definitely can’t do this again”

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The Cure's Robert Smith has said he thinks the band's next album will be the last one they do. ORDER NOW: The July 2021 issue of Uncut Earlier this month, Smith teamed up with Chvrches on a new single called "How Not To Drown", the second preview from the Scottish trio's upcoming fourth alb...

The Cure’s Robert Smith has said he thinks the band’s next album will be the last one they do.

Earlier this month, Smith teamed up with Chvrches on a new single called “How Not To Drown“, the second preview from the Scottish trio’s upcoming fourth album, Screen Violence.

Speaking in a new interview alongside Chvrches lead singer Lauren Mayberry, Smith shared a few more details about the long-awaited new album from The Cure.

“The new Cure stuff is very emotional,” Smith told The Sunday Times. “It’s 10 years of life distilled into a couple of hours of intense stuff.”

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

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 his own solo album.

In a recent interview with Zane Lowe, Smith reaffirmed the two albums, mentioning that one record is notably darker than the other.

Smith also told Lowe that he will have more updates soon. “Probably in about six weeks’ time I’ll be able to say when everything’s coming out and what we’re doing next year and everything…We were doing two albums and one of them’s very, very doom and gloom and the other one isn’t,” he said.

“And they’re both very close to being done. I just have to decide who’s going to mix them. That’s really all I’ve got left to do.”

Hear a preview of the Bruce Springsteen and The Killers collaborative track, “Dustland”

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The Killers have shared a preview of their upcoming Bruce Springsteen collaboration and announced the release date for the track. ORDER NOW: The July 2021 issue of Uncut As previously confirmed, the two acts will team up on a release called "Dustland", which Springsteen revealed during an a...

The Killers have shared a preview of their upcoming Bruce Springsteen collaboration and announced the release date for the track.

As previously confirmed, the two acts will team up on a release called “Dustland“, which Springsteen revealed during an appearance on Sirius XM’s E Street Radio. The Vegas band had also previously teased a “killer collab” with a mystery artist.

Now, The Killers have posted a short clip of the collaboration to their social media accounts. “Dustland” appears to be a new version of the band’s 2008 track “A Dustland Fairytale“, which featured on the album Day & Age.

The visuals also reveal that “Dustland” will be released this coming Wednesday (June 16).

Watch Jeff and Spencer Tweedy cover Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen’s new single, “Like I Used To”

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Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and his son Spencer have covered Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen's new collaborative single – watch the performance below. ORDER NOW: The July 2021 issue of Uncut BUY NOW: Wilcovered 2LP – 17 Wilco covers by the band’s artists and friends The pair shared the s...

Wilco‘s Jeff Tweedy and his son Spencer have covered Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen’s new collaborative single – watch the performance below.

The pair shared the single “Like I Used To” last month, complete with its own video and subsequent late-night TV performance.

Jeff and Spencer‘s performance of the song came as part of the duo’s long-running livestream show The Tweedy Show.

“That’s the best I can do with not knowing the lyrics perfectly yet,” Jeff says after the performance. Watch it below at the 2:30 mark.

Speaking about their collaboration last month, Van Etten remarked: “Even though we weren’t super close, I always felt supported by Angel and considered her a peer in this weird world of touring. We highway high-fived many times along the way…”

Olsen added: “I’ve met with Sharon here and there throughout the years and have always felt too shy to ask her what she’s been up to or working on.

“The song reminded me immediately of getting back to where I started, before music was expected of me, or much was expected of me, a time that remains pure and real in my heart.”