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Hear a track from Phosphorescent’s new album, C’est La Vie

Sam Richards
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Hear a track from Phosphorescent’s new album, C’est La Vie
Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck has announced that his new album C’est La Vie will be released on October 5 via Dead Oceans. Listen to the lead single "New Birth In New England" below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn27g_eKP5I Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to your h...

Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck has announced that his new album C’est La Vie will be released on October 5 via Dead Oceans.

Listen to the lead single “New Birth In New England” below:

Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to your home – with no delivery charge!

C’est La Vie was produced by Houck and recorded at his Spirit Sounds Studio in Nashville with Ricky Ray Jackson on pedal steel, Luke Reynolds on guitar and Houck’s wife Jo Schornikow on Wurlitzer and organ.

It chronicles a life-altering period which saw him fall in love, start a family, leave New York, build a studio from the ground up, and battle serious illness. “It’s laughable, honestly, how many life-altering events happened in the last half decade,” Houck says. “The most significant moments in your life make you feel your insignificance.”

Pre-order C’est La Vie here and check out Phosphorescent’s autumn tour dates below:

14 Oct – Stockholm, SE @ Berns
15 Oct – Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller
16 Oct – Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik
17 Oct – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega
19 Oct – Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher
20 Oct – Berlin, DE @ Frannz Club
22 Oct – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie
23 Oct – Brussels, BE @ Autumn Falls at Botanique (Orangerie)
24 Oct – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord
26 Oct – Liverpool @ Grand Central Hall
28 Oct – Leeds @ Brudenell Social Club
30 Oct – London @ Shepherd’s Bush Empire
27 Oct – Dublin @ Tivoli Variety Theatre

8 Nov – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
9 Nov – Austin, TX @ Emo’s
10 Nov – Dallas, TX @ Granada
12 Nov – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent
14 Nov – Santa Ana, CA @ Osbervatory OC
15 Nov – Los Angeles, CA @ Belasco Theatre
17 Nov – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
21 Nov – Seattle, WA @ Neptune
24 Nov – Denver, CO @ Oriental Theatre
26 Nov – Lawrence, KS @ Granada
27 Nov – St. Louis, MO @ Ready Room
29 Nov – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
30 Nov – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
1 Dec – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
2 Dec – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner
4 Dec – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews
5 Dec – Columbus, OH @ Newport
6 Dec – Toronto, ON @ Mod Club
7 Dec – Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street
8 Dec – Boston, MA @ Royale
11 Dec – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
13 Dec – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
14 Dec – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of The Living Arts

Tickets are available here.

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

Ornette Coleman – The Atlantic Years

Richard Williams
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Ornette Coleman – The Atlantic Years
The arrival of the Ornette Coleman Quartet in New York in the late autumn of 1959 represented one of the pivotal events of 20th century culture, comparable to the première of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite Of Spring in Paris in 1917 or Elvis Presley’s debut on the Ed Sullivan Show almost 40 years later...

The arrival of the Ornette Coleman Quartet in New York in the late autumn of 1959 represented one of the pivotal events of 20th century culture, comparable to the première of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite Of Spring in Paris in 1917 or Elvis Presley’s debut on the Ed Sullivan Show almost 40 years later. And, of course, with a similarly upsetting effect on the old folks. Jazz, barely half a century old, had grown used to an evolutionary process that took the music from Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis at a rapid but reasonably smooth clip. With very little warning, Coleman lit a set of booster rockets that fired the music into outer space. Suddenly musicians and observers who had thought of themselves as living on the leading edge of the music could be seen clinging desperately to the tail fins.

Coleman had entered the consciousness of the jazz world a year earlier with the first of two albums – Something Else!!!! and Tomorrow Is the Question – recorded for the Contemporary label in Los Angeles, where he had laboured in obscurity for several years. Among the listeners intrigued by their first exposure to his take on the conventions of modern jazz – seeming both sophisticated and naïve at once – were John Lewis, the cerebral pianist of the Modern Jazz Quartet, and the composer Gunther Schuller, a leading advocate of the Third Stream movement, an attempt to blend jazz and classical music. Lewis and Schuller believed Coleman was on to something important, and sponsored him and his trumpeter, Don Cherry, to attend the celebrated summer school at Lenox, Massachusetts. Lewis also alerted his friend Nesuhi Ertegun of Atlantic Records, whose artists included Charles Mingus and John Coltrane.

Before Coleman and Cherry left Los Angeles for Lenox in May 1959, Ertegun arrived in LA and took them, along with their regular bassist, Charlie Haden, and drummer, Billy Higgins, into a studio where, in one seven-hour late-night session, they recorded eight of Coleman’s compositions. In October, after their return from Lenox, they recorded another nine tunes for Atlantic. By then six pieces from the original session had been chosen to appear on the altoist’s first Atlantic album, which followed his former label’s lead in using a challenging title to attract interest and perhaps stir controversy: The Shape Of Jazz To Come.

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The album was released that November to coincide with the New York appearance of Coleman, Cherry, Haden and Higgins at the Five Spot Café, a club on the Bowery which had acquired a reputation for presenting important developments in the music (Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane had played an important season there in the summer of 1957). Over the course of the next six weeks the entire New York jazz scene trooped along to check them out; many came back when the quartet returned from April to July, perhaps having readjusted their ears in the meantime. Some immediately recognised the authentic jazz qualities that lay at the heart of the music, principally a blues-drenched tonality and a commitment to rhythms that swung. Others were put off by the absence of normal harmonic structures. Coleman had abandoned chords and scales, moving on to a form of melody-based improvisation rooted in his own enigmatic theory of “harmolodicsâ€, which even musicians who played with him for many years were unable to explain in conventional terms.

Some sceptics – particularly among older working musicians – saw one man playing a white plastic alto saxophone and another blowing into a miniature Pakistani pocket trumpet, noted the absence of traditional post-bebop structures, and concluded that this was music being made by clowns poking fun at predecessors who had studied and practised hard in order to succeed in a highly competitive and unforgiving field where your chops and your command of the materials determined your standing among your peers. Their scorn deepened when they heard Coleman’s claim to have “learnt how to play sharp or flat in tune.†To them a horn was either sharp or flat or in tune; only one of those three was a possibility.

For those with more open minds, however, the emotional content of Coleman’s music could not be ignored, particularly something as achingly beautiful as “Lonely Womanâ€, a ballad he had written a few years earlier while employed as an elevator operator in an LA department store, and now a jazz standard. At slower speeds, the very human “cry†at the core of his music reached back to much earlier forms of jazz, to a time before tunes were written down.

But the furore refused to die down, even though the succeeding Atlantic quartet albums contained pieces that would become standards, such as the backwoods-flavoured “Ramblin’†from The Change Of The Century, another in-your-face title for an album compiled from the second LA session, and the rollicking “Blues Connotationâ€, recorded during the group’s first New York session in June 1960 – with Ed Blackwell replacing Higgins on drums – from This Is Our Music. The latter album was released in 1960 with a cover photo by Lee Freidlander showing the four musicians posing together in business suits, white shirts and ties against a neutral background, enigmatically expressionless, looking like the prototype for every post-punk band there ever was.

The quartet’s music might have might converted the sceptics had not Ornette’s next project for Atlantic taken the form of Free Jazz, a 37-minute collective improvisation for a double quartet: himself, Cherry, Haden and Higgins plus the trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, the alto saxophonist Eric Dolphy, the bassist Scott LaFaro and Blackwell. Released in 1961 in a lavish gatefold sleeve with a cut-out window revealing Jackson Pollock’s painting “White Lightâ€, it redoubled the challenge to Coleman’s listeners. The title was something of a misnomer – there were written themes and a steady rhythm – but the high seriousness of the endeavour was not in doubt.

It was followed in 1962 by two further quartet albums: Ornette!, with LaFaro replacing Haden, and Ornette on Tenor, with Jimmy Garrison – from John Coltrane’s band – on bass. These six albums represented a body of work fit to stand alongside the likes of Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and Hot Seven, Charlie Parker’s small-group recordings on Savoy and Dial, and the Coltrane quartet’s Impulse series in the jazz pantheon. For this vinyl reissue set they are joined by facsimiles of three further albums assembled in the early ’70s from the unreleased sides that had survived an Atlantic studio fire: The Art of the Improvisers, Twins and To Whom Who Keeps A Record.

A 10th disc is devoted to the six remaining tracks from the New York quartet sessions, previously included in a Rhino CD boxset (Beauty Is a Rare Thing) in 1993 but never available on vinyl LP. Five come from a four-hour session on July 19, 1960 which produced a remarkable 13 master tracks: there is little to choose between “Rise and Shineâ€, “The Tribes of New Yorkâ€, “I Heard It Over The Radioâ€, “Revolving Doors†and “Mr and Mrs People†and the better known pieces recorded that day by Coleman, Cherry. Haden and Blackwell. The centrepiece of “Tribes†is a particularly remarkable drum solo, while Ornette’s solo on “I Heard It†contrasts broad smears with stabbing blues epigrams. The sixth track, “Proof Readersâ€, comes from the January 31, 1961 session that produced Ornette!, with the virtuoso LaFaro playing a role that, by contrast with Haden’s approach, is more conversational than supportive.

Scrupulous remastering of tapes originally recorded by the great engineers Bones Howe (in LA) and Tom Dowd and Phil Iehle (in NYC) and a thoughtful essay by the critic Ben Ratliff enhance the enjoyment of music that hums with historical significance while exploring a high proportion of the emotions to which the human race is heir. Essential, in other words.

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

The Beta Band launch reissue programme

Sam Richards
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To mark its 20th anniversary, The Beta Band's classic early compilation The Three EPs will be reissued on September 14. Fully remastered and released for the first time on vinyl, it will also be available digitally and on CD. Purchases of the deluxe vinyl edition through independent record stores w...

To mark its 20th anniversary, The Beta Band’s classic early compilation The Three EPs will be reissued on September 14.

Fully remastered and released for the first time on vinyl, it will also be available digitally and on CD. Purchases of the deluxe vinyl edition through independent record stores will come with reproductions of The Flower Press, the fanzine designed and put together by the band.

Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to your home – with no delivery charge!

The Three EPs will be followed by the reissue of The Beta Band’s self-debut album on October 12; Hot Shots II on November 16; and Heroes To Zeroes on December 14th.

Additionally, on September 14, Because Music will release The Best Of The Beta Band, a 2xCD collection which includes a disc of live recordings from their Shepherd’s Bush Empire show on November 29, 2004.

A Beta Band exhibition called Zeroes To Heroes: The Beta Band Archive, will run from September 14 to November 3 at J Hammond Projects at the Bomb Factory, London N19. Built around John Maclean’s extensive scrapbooks and featuring contributions from artists like Haroon Mirza and Corinne Day, it includes a collection of rare and unseen artefacts sourced directly from the group and its fans, including hand-drawn artwork, posters, lyric sheets, stage costumes and bizarre promotional objects.

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

The 24th Uncut new music playlist of 2018

Michael Bonner
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The 24th Uncut new music playlist of 2018
A strong week for forthcomings - some rain, too - in particular Nathan Bowles' spiralling banjo music, the return of Chicago's mighty Cave and Circuit Des Yeux' reinterpretation of Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes's witchy psych-folk. Some other returning favourites include Elvis Costello and Bryce Dessner...

A strong week for forthcomings – some rain, too – in particular Nathan Bowles’ spiralling banjo music, the return of Chicago’s mighty Cave and Circuit Des Yeux’ reinterpretation of Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes’s witchy psych-folk. Some other returning favourites include Elvis Costello and Bryce Dessner, whose soothing windchime composition will hopefully keep you cool as the heat continues…

And apologies for the shameless plug, but don’t forget you can get the current issue of Uncut sent to you FOR FREE directly at home: here’s how.

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner

1.
NATHAN BOWLES
“The Road Reversedâ€
(Paradise Of Bachelors)

2.
BRYCE DESSNER
“Music For Chimesâ€
(Pickup Music Project)

3.
CAVE
“San Yagoâ€
(Drag City)

4.
CIRCUIT DES YEUX
“Soeur De Raceâ€
(Mexican Summer)

5.
THE HOLYDRUG COUPLE
“I’ll Only Say Thisâ€
(Sacred Bones)

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6.
MOLLY BURCH
“Wildâ€
(Captured Tracks)

7.
LFZ
“Name Plus Focusâ€
(Castle Face Records)

8.
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS
“Unwanted Numberâ€
(Concord)

9.
ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO
“Sonica USAâ€
(Yep Roc)

10.
NORMAN WESTBERG
“Soothe The Stringâ€
(Room 40)

11.
DAWN & DUPREE
“California Worryin’â€
(Keeled Scales)

12.
FRONTPERSON
“Tick-Tockâ€
(Oscar Street Records)

13.
CORNERSHOP
“Double Denimâ€
(Ample Play Records)

14.
YOKO ONO
“Warzoneâ€
(Chimera Music)

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

Grateful Dead – Anthem Of The Sun

Rob Mitchum
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Grateful Dead – Anthem Of The Sun
In 1967, the ‘live-first’ rock band was something of a novel concept. Acts still made their fame off studio recordings, 
and if there was a tour, it was largely a promotional junket, with short sets drowned out by screaming teens. The Grateful Dead were among the first bands 
to flip that eq...

In 1967, the ‘live-first’ rock band was something of a novel concept. Acts still made their fame off studio recordings, 
and if there was a tour, it was largely a promotional junket, with short sets drowned out by screaming teens. The Grateful Dead were among the first bands 
to flip that equation, developing an onstage sound that then had to be poured backwards 
into an LP mould.

Anthem Of The Sun was their first attempt to solve this dilemma, a dense hybrid of studio and live that tried to capture the strange new sound they were assembling on the West Coast. The result was an experimental record, in the truest sense; one that fails more often than it succeeds, but always in interesting and instructive ways.

Don’t forget you can get the current issue of Uncut sent to you FOR FREE directly at home: here’s how

The 50th-anniversary edition of Anthem, comprising two mixes of the album alongside a 1967 live set, underscores the project’s weirdness and technical achievements. At a time when cuts literally involved scissors and tape, the whiplash blending of studio and stage performances – sometimes within a single line of lyrics – is an unacknowledged ancestor of today’s much more user-friendly audio collaging techniques.

Thanks to the addition of Phil Lesh’s 
music-school buddy Tom ‘TC’ Constanten, 
the Dead were also at their musiquest concrètest on Anthem, deploying prepared pianos, kazoos, feedback and, most infamously, “thick air†recorded in the 
desert and on Los Angeles streets.

So where multiple album mixes can often be a pedants-only bonus feature, the two editions included here differ in recognisable and fascinating ways. The original version and its better-on-paper decisions – two Grateful Deads jamming simultaneously! Studio Bob Weir double-tracked with Live Bob Weir! – is an over-serving of sound, exacerbating the fussy songwriting of the record’s first side. That all got a welcome smoothing out in a 1971 remix led by bassist Lesh that was unavailable in digital formats until recent pricey boxsets.

The bonus live disc spotlights a more linear Dead via an October 1967 show at San Francisco’s famous Winterland Ballroom, historically significant as the earliest known document of second drummer Mickey Hart. While Hart’s ethnographic approach would eventually 
add still another ingredient to the Dead’s ultimate hodgepodge, it mostly just doubles 
the propulsion on this set, which finds the 
band still moulting off its garage-rock and 
blues-vamp origins.

The Dead would later apply a lighter version 
of the Anthem formula to produce their two most accurate documents, Live/Dead and Europe ’72, which blended shows and, in the latter case, liberally applied overdubs to create an idealised home version of the live experience. While Anthem lacks the subtlety and songwriting of those efforts, the expanded form of its chaotic splicing experiment aptly bottles the fractal disorientation of their earlier stages.

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

Hear two songs from Elvis Costello & The Imposters’ new album, Look Now

Sam Richards
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Hear two songs from Elvis Costello & The Imposters’ new album, Look Now
Elvis Costello & The Imposters have announced that their new album Look Now will be released on October 12. Watch the lyric video for its first single, "Unwanted Number", below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_E9GbErv_g Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to your home â...

Elvis Costello & The Imposters have announced that their new album Look Now will be released on October 12.

Watch the lyric video for its first single, “Unwanted Number”, below:

Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to your home – with no delivery charge!

You can also hear a second track from the album, “Under Lime”, below”

The album includes two songs co-written with Burt Bacharach – who also plays piano – and another with Carole King. It was co-produced by Costello and Latin Grammy Award-winning producer Sebastian Krys.

“I had all of the orchestrations and vocal parts in my head or on the page before we played a note, so it was essential that I worked closely with Steve Nieve to maintain the light and space in the arrangements and allow him to shine,†says Costello. “Sebastian was there to make sure only the essential notes got onto the record, whether it was a fuzz-tone guitar or jazz bassoon.â€

Check out the full tracklisting for Look Now below:

1. Under Lime
2. Don’t Look Now
3. Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter
4. Stripping Paper
5. Unwanted Number
6. I Let The Sun Go Down
7. Mr. & Mrs. Hush
8. Photographs Can Lie
9. Dishonor The Stars
10. Suspect My Tears
11. Why Won’t Heaven Help Me?
12. He’s Given Me Things

Deluxe Special Edition Tracks:
13. Isabelle In Tears
14. Adieu Paris (L’Envie Des Étoiles)
15. The Final Mrs. Curtain
16. You Shouldn’t Look At Me That Way

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

Dirty Projectors – Lamp Lit Prose

Stephen Troussé
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Dirty Projectors – Lamp Lit Prose
“Is it me or is the condition of indie rock in the 24½th century both bad and boujee?†enquired Dirty Projectors mainman Dave Longstreth in - where else? - an Instagram post last year. “Bad in the basic sense of musically underwhelming [...] and also bad like Sartean bad faith, outwardly obed...

“Is it me or is the condition of indie rock in the 24½th century both bad and boujee?†enquired Dirty Projectors mainman Dave Longstreth in – where else? – an Instagram post last year. “Bad in the basic sense of musically underwhelming […] and also bad like Sartean bad faith, outwardly obedient to an expired paradigm that we know in our hearts basically makes no sense […] And boujee in the word’s negative sense: refined and effete, well removed from the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience?â€

Cue much mockery across the streams and feeds of the modern indiesphere. It’s a mistake to think Longstreth wasn’t in on the joke, and acutely aware of the earnest embarrassment of asking such questions in 2018. But it’s to his credit that he would broach the subject, even ironically. Across eight albums of elliptical, knotty, absurdly high concept, sublimely affecting, dazzlingly achieved indie rock, he has led the Dirty Projectors on an exemplary, quixotic 21st century indie rock quest to vault out of the expired paradigm.

Don’t forget you can get the current issue of Uncut sent to you FOR FREE directly at home: here’s how

On “Break-Thruâ€, the lead track from Lamp Lit Prose he thinks he might even found the escape route. “Middle-earth highbrow / Her line is Pablo, but her colour’s Fauve… She’s a break-thruâ€. It’s a manic, box-of-frogs zydeco update of Dylan’s “She Belongs to Me†– the model of an artist who don’t look back, and “can take the dark out of the nighttime / And paint the daytime blackâ€. Here, though there’s “under the sun there’s nothing new / she keeps it 100 in the shadeâ€.

But rather than exploring determinedly difficult formal innovation, Lamp Lit Prose might be Dirty Projectors’ most ebulliently accessible album yet. Following his initial post, and an online correspondance with Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, Longstreth conceded that “…innovation isn’t everything. Emotion seems pretty timeless and universal, and that’s the core of music right?†Following the excruciatingly detailed break-up confessional of last year’s pointedly eponymous album, the breakthrough feels psychological as much as artistic. “Blue Bird†might the sweetest, straightest song Longstreth has ever written, as though he were trying to emulate Bacharach & David’s “Close To You†in teasing to very verge of schmaltz. “The Palais Versailles is nice,†he croons, in what feels like a new vow of simplicity, “but to be honest / I’m just fine on this bench with you.â€

Which isn’t to say he’s entirely renounced a certain extravagance. “When we met, alien hosannas / were flung from the heavens like Prince and Nirvana,†he yelps on “I Found It In Youâ€, and like much of the most ambitious music of the last year, Lamp Lit Prose seems to have flourished in the purple shadow of Prince. Most vividly on “I Feel Energyâ€, a brassy cosmic funk extravaganza that wouldn’t be out of place on LoveSexy and “What Is The Time?†where Longstreth’s lovesick falsetto is, possibly for the first time, positively seductive.

Like Prince, Longstreth’s new devotion can seem as much divine as romantic. On the angular ecstatic powerpop of “I Found It In Youâ€, like Deerhoof rampaging “And Your Bird Can Singâ€, he sings about leaving behind the locked grids of digital perception, now that he’s found “the pure wave of you†and it’s like he’s describing a religious conversion. In fact Longstreth’s ecstasies seem framed by an apocalyptic sense of an ending: on the album opener, the autotuned gospel of “Right Nowâ€, he declared that it’s “time to sound the trumpet before the blast†and the world “dissolves into snowâ€.

The weakest moments on Lamp Lit Prose are when this earnestness veers into preaching. “That’s A Lifestyle†is one of a couple of songs that wrestles a little schematically with Trump’s American, and he sounds oddly like Cat Stevens as he wonders “Who’ll stop wasting the lives of the brave / based on a lie?†over some florid west-coast fingerpicking that might not have been out of place on CSNY album. In fact, on “You’re The One†you sense the dawning of a 21st century canyon scene, as Longstreth invites his fellow LA arrivals Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes) and Rostam Batmanglij (ex Vampire Weekend) round for some three tenors-style crooning.

You can almost hear the crickets and feel the breeze of a mellow canyon sunset on the closing “Feel It Allâ€, a jazzy hymn to possibility and openness that Chet Baker might have relished. It occurs to you that Dave Longstreth – the most neurotic east-coast over-achieving American artist since David Byrne – sounds… *relaxed*. Longstreth is altogether too restless and strange to ever be entirely at home and at ease among the raindrops and drop tops for long, but Lamp Lit Prose is another outstanding chapter in what is shaping up to be one of the great 21st century musical odysseys.

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

Exclusive! Hear Bob Marley’s “She’s Gone” remixed by Stephen Marley

Michael Bonner
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Exclusive! Hear Bob Marley’s “She’s Gone” remixed by Stephen Marley
On August 24, the Marley family, Island Records and UMC release a 40th anniversary edition of Bob Marley and The Wailers’ album, Kaya. Alongside the original album, this anniversary edition will feature Kaya 40 - Stephen “Ragga†Marley’s new mixes of all 10 tracks from Kaya. We're delighte...

On August 24, the Marley family, Island Records and UMC release a 40th anniversary edition of Bob Marley and The Wailers’ album, Kaya.

Alongside the original album, this anniversary edition will feature Kaya 40 – Stephen “Ragga†Marley’s new mixes of all 10 tracks from Kaya.

We’re delighted to be able to give you a taster of what to expect from these new remixes in the shape of “She’s Gone” – which you can hear below.

Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to your home – with no delivery charge!

Kaya will be available in 2-CD and 180-gram 2-LP configurations as well as a digital version featuring Stephen Marley’s mixes only.

The tracklisting for Bob Marley & The Wailers Kaya 40 is:

Easy Skanking
Kaya
Is This Love
Sun Is Shining
Satisfy My Soul
She’s Gone
Misty Morning
Crisis
Running Away
Time Will Tell
Easy Skanking (Stephen Marley “Kaya 40†Mix)
Kaya (Stephen Marley “Kaya 40†Mix)
Is This Love (Stephen Marley “Kaya 40†Mix)
Sun Is Shining (Stephen Marley “Kaya 40†Mix)
Satisfy My Soul (Stephen Marley “Kaya 40†Mix)
She’s Gone (Stephen Marley “Kaya 40†Mix)
Misty Morning (Stephen Marley “Kaya 40†Mix)
Crisis (Stephen Marley “Kaya 40†Mix)
Running Away (Stephen Marley “Kaya 40†Mix)
Time Will Tell (Stephen Marley “Kaya 40†Mix)

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

Small Faces’ Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake repackaged for 50th anniversary

Sam Richards
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Small Faces’ Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake repackaged for 50th anniversary
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Small Faces' landmark album Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, various deluxe editions of the album will be available from September 28. A red, white and blue coloured vinyl 180-gram half-speed mastered 3LP box-set boasts a new softback 12†x 12†72-page book full of G...

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Small Faces’ landmark album Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake, various deluxe editions of the album will be available from September 28.

A red, white and blue coloured vinyl 180-gram half-speed mastered 3LP box-set boasts a new softback 12†x 12†72-page book full of Gered Mankowitz photos, original artwork, rare memorabilia, in-depth sleevenotes and interviews, plus introduction by Kenney Jones. LP1 consists of the original mono mix of Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake, LP2 features the album’s original stereo mix, whilst LP3 boasts a plethora of rare tracks released for the very first time on vinyl.

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The 3CD+1DVD set comprises both original mono and stereo versions of the album together with a third CD that boasts an expanded version of the vinyl box-set’s bonus LP disc, additionally featuring gems such as the rare American single versions of “Mad John” and “The Journey” plus the mono “Afterglow Of Your Love (Alternate Single Mix)”. The contents of the vinyl book are also reproduced while the DVD boasts features the June 21, 1968 edition of BBC TV’s Late Line-Up Colour Me Pop show.

The ‘Art Of The Album’ 180-gram half-speed mastered black vinyl LP version features the original stereo version of the album and includes both a 6-page booklet plus 12†x 12†art card. The ‘Art Of The Album’ deluxe-edition CD again features the album’s original stereo mix and comes complete with 24-page booklet in a mediabook hardback sleeve.

All editions have been assembled by graphic designer Rachel Gutek who has had access to the Immediate Records original artwork files.

You can see the full tracklistings for the various formats and pre-order them here.

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

Details revealed of new MC5 box set, Total Assault

Sam Richards
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Details revealed of new MC5 box set, Total Assault
As part of MC5's 50th anniversary celebrations, a new box set will be released containing the three influential albums they released between 1969-71. MC5 Total Assault: 50th Anniversary Collection is due out via Rhino on September 21. Each album has been repressed on coloured vinyl: Kick Out The Ja...

As part of MC5’s 50th anniversary celebrations, a new box set will be released containing the three influential albums they released between 1969-71. MC5 Total Assault: 50th Anniversary Collection is due out via Rhino on September 21.

Each album has been repressed on coloured vinyl: Kick Out The Jams (red vinyl), Back In The USA (white vinyl) and High Time (blue vinyl). The albums come in sleeves that faithfully recreate the original releases, including gatefolds for Kick Out The Jams and High Times. All three are housed in a hard slipcase with new art and previously unseen photographs by Raeanne Rubenstein.

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The set also includes a new essay by Creem magazine founding editor/writer and Uncut contributor Jaan Uhelszki, who writes: “Turned loose on a bare stage, the MC5 were among the most awe-inspiring perpetrators of sheer bombast and rock and roll brinkmanship alive… They tore through the stuff they heard on the radio with a fierce intensity that transcended the original artists’ intent. Tunes by James Brown, Chuck Berry, the Kinks and the Rolling Stones vibrated at a higher frequency when the Motor City Five tackled them.â€

MC5 co-founder and guitarist Wayne Kramer will release his memoir The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities on August 14 before hitting the road with a new all-star line-up of MC5 called MC50. The group will perform Kick Out The Jams in its entirety, along with other MC5 classics.

UK dates for the MC50 tour are as follows:

November
9th – Bristol, O2 Academy
10th – Glasgow, O2 ABC
11th – Manchester, Albert Hall
12th – London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

Hear Jon Spencer’s new track, “I Got The Hits”

Sam Richards
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Hear Jon Spencer’s new track, “I Got The Hits”
Blues Explosion and Pussy Galore frontman Jon Spencer has announced a new solo album, Spencer Sings The Hits!, for November 2. Hear the first track from it, "I Got The Hits", below: https://soundcloud.com/user-906067948/10-i-got-the-hits/s-ZaglH Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it ...

Blues Explosion and Pussy Galore frontman Jon Spencer has announced a new solo album, Spencer Sings The Hits!, for November 2.

Hear the first track from it, “I Got The Hits”, below:

Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to your home – with no delivery charge!

As with the 2012 Blues Explosion album Meat And Bone, Spencer Sings The Hits! was recorded with Bill Skibbe at the Key Club Recording Company in Benton Harbor, Michigan. It features Sam Coomes of Quasi and Heatmiser on keyboards and M. Sord on drums.

“Sam is someone with whom I have crossed paths many times over the years,” explains Spencer. “I have always been a fan of his wild keyboard style and twisted tunesmith-ery. In fact we kicked around the idea of a collaboration way back in the early aughts. I got to know Sord from previous visits to and projects done at the Key Club – he was the handyman and assistant engineer that turned out to be a great drummer.â€

Peruse the artwork and tracklisting for Spencer Sings The Hits! below and pre-order the album here:

01 “Do The Trash Canâ€
02 “Fakeâ€
03 “Overloadâ€
04 “Time 2 Be Badâ€
05 “Ghostâ€
06 “Beetle Bootsâ€
07 “Hornet
08 “Wildernessâ€
09 “Love Handleâ€
10 “I Got the Hitsâ€
11 “Alien Humidityâ€
12 “Capeâ€

Jon Spencer tours the UK in October, supporting the Melvins. Tickets for all dates are available here from 10am on Friday (July 27):

October
23 Birmingham 02 Academy 2
24 Norwich Waterfront
25 Cardiff Y Plas
26 Leeds Stylus
28 Manchester Academy 2
29 Brighton Concorde 2
30 London Koko

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

Pixies on Surfer Rosa: “A step into the loudness”

Sam Richards
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Pixies on Surfer Rosa: “A step into the loudness”
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pixies' potent debut album Surfer Rosa, the latest issue of Uncut - on sale now! – features a brand new interview with the band in which they look back at the making of their first classic. "We were coming from little amps and a lot of dinky acoustic guitar," ...

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pixies’ potent debut album Surfer Rosa, the latest issue of Uncut – on sale now! – features a brand new interview with the band in which they look back at the making of their first classic.

“We were coming from little amps and a lot of dinky acoustic guitar,” says Charles ‘Black Francis’ Thompson, referring to Pixies’ previous release, the Come On Pilgrim mini-LP. “But when we came to Surfer Rosa we had $10,000 all told, so we were able to go to a better studio and get bigger amplifiers – we had Marshalls. That was nice, because we never really had access to the big volume before, and the record represents that – a step into the loudness.”

Producer Steve Albini is credited with coaxing a powerful, honest sound from the band, as well as capturing their edgy interplay. “The conversational tangents they would go off on were funny, and charming,” remembers Albini, “so when they were doing something interesting, I would roll tape.”

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“Every recording session is like a snapshot of where the band is at the particular time,” adds Thompson. “Steve Albini was responsible for some blown-out sounds, and there’s a really heavy dose of quirkiness. That vibe was very successful. I feel that’s why it’s our most charming record.”

Although Pixies would go on to create more complete and commercially successful albums in the form of Doolittle and Bossanova, Thompson feels that Surfer Rosa was unique. “We’ve never been able to achieve that loose vibe again,” he says. “It’s hard to recreate a situation or recreate yourself the way you were back then. You can try, but at some point the trying starts to sound like you’re trying.”

Read much more from Pixies in the new issue of Uncut, with Rod Stewart on the cover – find it in the shops or order your copy here.

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

The 23rd Uncut new music playlist of 2018

Michael Bonner
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The 23rd Uncut new music playlist of 2018
Our office favourites this week: and apologies for the shameless plug, but don't forget you can get the current issue of Uncut sent to you FOR FREE directly at home: here's how. Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner Get Uncut delivered to your door - click here to find out more! 1. LONNIE HOLLEY â€...

Our office favourites this week: and apologies for the shameless plug, but don’t forget you can get the current issue of Uncut sent to you FOR FREE directly at home: here’s how.

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner

Get Uncut delivered to your door – click here to find out more!

1.
LONNIE HOLLEY
“I Woke Up In A Fucked Up Americaâ€
(Jagjaguwar)

2.
FUCKED UP
“Raise Your Voice Joyceâ€
(Merge)

3.
BIG RED MACHINE
“Gratitudeâ€
(Jagjaguwar)

4.
CHRIS LIGHTCAP
“Djaliâ€
(Royal Potato Family)

5.
THE PURRS
“Out Of Sight, Out Of Mindâ€
(Swoon)

6.
BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY
“Blueberry Jamâ€
(Domino)

7.
WAXAHATCHEE
“Chapel of Pinesâ€
(Merge)

8.
NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS
“Distant Sky [Live In Copenhagen]â€
(Kobalt)

9.
SARAH DAVACHI
“Evensongâ€
(Ba Da Bing Records/Grapefruit Records)

10.
MARK LANEGAN & DUKE GARWOOD
“Scarlettâ€
(Heavenly Recordings)

11.
POND
“Burnt Out Starâ€
(Marathon Artists)

12.
BULLY
“Guess Thereâ€
(Sub Pop)

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

Introducing the Ultimate Genre Guide to Punk

Michael Bonner
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Introducing the Ultimate Genre Guide to Punk
A few months ago, John Lydon recalled in Uncut the early days of Public Image Ltd - a band he described as "too far forward, too far out there" and yet who have, miraculously, endured for 40 years now. You can read more about Lydon alongside The Clash, Wire, the Slits and more - as well as their Ame...

A few months ago, John Lydon recalled in Uncut the early days of Public Image Ltd – a band he described as “too far forward, too far out there” and yet who have, miraculously, endured for 40 years now. You can read more about Lydon alongside The Clash, Wire, the Slits and more – as well as their American counterparts like Ramones, Patti Smith and Television – in our latest Ultimate Genre Guide. This one, as you can probably tell, is devoted to punk in its many splendid forms.

The special edition goes on sale this Thursday – but you can buy a copy from our online store by clicking here. Before I hand you over to John Robinson, who edited it, just a gentle reminder that the current issue of Uncut is on sale now – stars Rod Stewart, Pixies, the Byrds, Jess Williamson, Sly Stone and much more – and you can even have it delivered for free direct to your front door.

Anyway, here’s John to tell you more about our Punk UGG.

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner

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“People think NME was all leather jackets, punks and drugs,†Danny Baker wrote on Twitter recently. To prove how this wasn’t completely the case, he then posted a picture of the NME office from 1979: of writers Lynn Hannah, Monty Smith and Phil McNeill, a trio very much more about glasses, sensible hair and open-necked shirts.

Punk gave us many odd juxtapositions and contradictions – it introduced situationism as a pop culture topic, while also advancing the idea of spitting at a performer of music – but among the most satisfying is the meeting of punk and journalist. There are some great meetings in the archive pieces included here. The young Tony Parsons brims over with the possibility of The Clash, an interview released in part as the flip of the “Capital Radio†EP, free to NME-reading punks minded to send in a coupon. Parsons is an avatar for the times, behind them and the Buzzcocks; bitterly disappointed by Blondie’s perceived selling out.

Then there’s Phil McNeill. A bit older. Possibly a bit more sceptical. Here you’ll find him holding his own with the moodier elements of Wire, and attempting to reconcile the many simultaneous directions of the Slits. More particularly you’ll find him getting stuck in with the Sex Pistols in Amsterdam. Undaunted by his surroundings, he braces the co-operative elements of the band (Matlock; Cook), tries gamely to interview Rotten (who declines) and faces down a front-foot Steve Jones.

“They’ve been good to us lately,†Paul Cook interjects on behalf of NME.

“We’ve been good to you all along,†McNeill retorts.

It’s the kind of robust engagement with the subject that you’ll find in the new writing throughout this magazine, too. Whether your vision of punk is the punk of ideas and empowerment, of resourceful initiative-taking and musical freedom of expression, then you will read about it here in reviews of work by Patti Smith, Television, the Slits and Buzzcocks. If yours is a punk of outrage and bold statement of intention then thoughtful pieces on the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and The Saints – the early-adopting Australian punk band – will reveal some new insights.

There’s a review of 40 quintessentially punk singles, a map of world punk, and a list of non-musical punk artefacts. There’s a piece on the collectables and also the legacy.

There’s plenty to get stuck into. In fact, as the T-shirt had it, you’re going to wake up one morning, and know which side of the bed you’ve been sleeping on.

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

The Flaming Lips – Seeing The Unseeable

Sharon O'Connell
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The Flaming Lips – Seeing The Unseeable
If one thing has characterised The Flaming Lips’ music across its 35-year development, it’s a kind of playful extremism. Detractors would claim that the Oklahoman vets are now infra dig, citing their shift away from psychedelia/punk to singalong pop, their love of kids’ party theatrics (glitte...

If one thing has characterised The Flaming Lips’ music across its 35-year development, it’s a kind of playful extremism. Detractors would claim that the Oklahoman vets are now infra dig, citing their shift away from psychedelia/punk to singalong pop, their love of kids’ party theatrics (glitter cannons and the like) and, in particular, their association with Miley Cyrus. Releasing an album on four CDs to be played simultaneously (1997’s Zaireeka) might have been self-indulgent, but it was experimentally credible. Recording with Cyrus was inexcusable even as a post-modern jape, because irony has never been in the Lips’ arsenal. They’d crossed a line.

However, the Cyrus collaborations made complete sense to anyone who’d been paying attention from the start. The Flaming Lips have been shaped by their genuine thirst for the new and their tireless, why-the-hell-not enthusiasm, by a drive for deep audience connectivity and capacity for transcendent glee. But although they’ve cheerfully embraced populism, they owe much to an underground, art-punk trio from Oklahoma City called The Hostages, who showed them how to be a band and remain a touchstone still. “If you saw and heard them, you would think they were fucking insane,†Wayne Coyne explained to Uncut. “But we knew them. And even though their music and live show was insane, they as people were very normal and nice. We thought we could be like that – make freaky records and play freaky shows even though we knew we were normal dorks.â€

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If that freak factor tapers off as grunge begins to make its mark and a 1991 deal with Warners looms, it’s still very much in play across this 6CD boxset. A reminder that in their earliest days the Lips straddled hardcore/punk, psychedelia and classic melodic rock, Seeing The Unseeable documents their Restless years, from 1986–90. It’s part of a flurry of recent reissue activity that includes their first, bona fide greatest hits album and Scratching The Door, 19 songs recorded by the band’s original lineup that comprise a companion volume to this collection. Seeing… is a massive beast – 72 tracks, remastered by Coyne, bassist Michael Ivins and producer Dave Fridmann – that might intimidate even devout fans, but dipping in and out is both highly entertaining and accidentally instructive: sticking a pin in pretty much anywhere throws up surprising sympathies, striking contrasts and weird-beard curiosities.

Hear It Is, from 1986 (on which Wayne Coyne took over vocal duties from his brother Mark) is their full-length debut and sees the band aligned with college-rock peers like Pixies, REM and Hüsker Dü. It offers up “Jesus Shootin’ Heroinâ€, a mix of stoner-prog and Black Francis-indebted alternative rock that stretches past seven minutes, followed by a radical tempo switch and obvious nod to The Stooges in “Just Like Before†and a further change for the slo-mo, mutant paisley rock of “She Is Deathâ€. Just one year later they released Oh My Gawd!!! – during the recording period Coyne and Ivins were experimenting with sleep deprivation, which might well explain the chaotic mix of The Who and Hüsker Dü that is “Everything’s Explodin’†and the Floyd-indebted “The Ceiling Is Bendin’â€. Ditto piano-hammered epic “Love Yer Brainâ€, which throws forward to the sweeping, melodic panoramas that have come to define present-day Lips, but offsets its poignancy with a two-and-a-half-minute demolition of said instrument.

On 1989’s Telepathic Surgery, the band cut loose with odd, collage-like interludes and went on a genre-hopping rampage. Here are “Chrome Plated Suicideâ€, indebted both for its vocal melody and guitar chords to “Sweet Child O’ Mineâ€, and “Hell’s Angels Cracker Factoryâ€, 23 minutes of unapologetically wayward space/art rock, tricked out with samples of an opera singer and a motorcycle revving. The last complete album reissue here is 1990’s In A Priest Driven Ambulance (With Silver Sunshine Stares), where tape loops and effects play a major role and guitarist Jonathan Donahue makes his debut, alongside new drummer Nathan Roberts and Dave Fridmann. The filthy, monstrously fuzzed “Mountain Side†and a sweet stoner remake of “(What A) Wonderful World†represent just two facets of the heroically protean Lips, whose inability to settle on one sound was then part of their identity.

The remaining two discs of this sprawling cornucopia feature B-sides, rarities, flexi-disc and compilation releases, which yield treasures like Coyne’s faithfully cracked-voiced rendition of “After The Goldrush†and, from the Mushroom Tapes set of demos, “Agonizingâ€, a Suicide-attuned jam featuring waves of echo and feedback with cardboard-box beats and whiny-voiced lyrics about an auto accident. How they got from there to “Waitin’ For Supermanâ€, you imagine even The Flaming Lips have trouble explaining.

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

Buddy Guy – The Blues Is Alive And Well

Stephen Deusner
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Buddy Guy – The Blues Is Alive And Well
Buddy Guy opens his latest studio album with a frank admission followed by a chilling plea. “I’ve been mighty lucky, I’ve travelled everywhere,†he sings. “Made a ton of money, spent it like I don’t care.†It may initially sound like a boast, but Guy transforms those lines into somethi...

Buddy Guy opens his latest studio album with a frank admission followed by a chilling plea. “I’ve been mighty lucky, I’ve travelled everywhere,†he sings. “Made a ton of money, spent it like I don’t care.†It may initially sound like a boast, but Guy transforms those lines into something very different, something much more rueful when he adds, “A few more years 
is all I need right now.â€

If the blues makes an art of pleading – for love or sex, for mercy or leniency, for wealth or glory, for salvation or simple understanding – then Guy’s request is 
all the more sobering for coming from 
a man who knows that he has more time behind him than in front of him. He brings every one of his 82 years to bear 
on the song, lending gravity to his request for just a little more time on Earth. And yet, even as his band pounds out a matter-of-fact beat like they’re ticking off his numbered days, Guy never sounds like the octogenarian that he is. His voice is robust and smooth, especially when he hits that high note on “please, PLEASE, Lordâ€. His guitar playing is fluid as ever, inventive and impossibly dextrous, and he riffs throughout “A Few Good Years†with the punchy determination of a man who won’t go down without a fight.

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Mortality has been on Guy’s mind for most of the 21st century, as he has settled more comfortably into his role as the last surviving master of Chicago’s electrified blues scene. Born in rural Louisiana during the Great Depression, self-taught on a two-string guitar, apprenticed to a regional bluesman named John ‘Big Poppa’ Tilley, Guy developed an intense and exuberant playing style that favoured ostentation and understatement. In the late 1950s 
he left the South for better opportunities in Chicago, where he quickly became 
a popular live performer and sideman 
for Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and many others.

Guy became a favourite of blues-rock players in the 1960s and 1970s, lauded as a formative influence by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones. He played with most of his acolytes during their heyday, and over the years they’ve returned the favour, adding crossover cameos to his recent albums, including The Blues Is Alive And Well. Mick Jagger blows a respectable, if undistinguished, harmonica on “You Did The Crimeâ€, and James Bay whines his way through “Blue No Moreâ€. This kind of cameo can be like a blurb on a book, more a celebrity endorsement than a real collaboration, so credit to Keith Richards and Jeff Beck for staying out of Guy’s way on the ebullient jam “Cognacâ€. He barks out orders to them, cajoling them to keep up, to play harder, and the octogenarian takes no small delight in schooling these septuagenarian youngsters.

Guy is too imaginative a player and too bold a personality to let any of these rock stars steal his show. Working again with Tom Hambridge, who has produced every Buddy Guy record for the last 10 years, the bluesman presents a survey of the form, interspersing rave-ups like “Bad Day†and “Guilty As Charged†with mid-tempo laments like “Ooh Daddy†and “When My Day Comesâ€. He stretches out into these songs, inhabiting them comfortably and casually, almost always finding a way to make the familiar sound fresh. “Selling Whiskey†cribs its staccato guitar and slinky groove from David Bowie’s “Fameâ€, as though the song’s illicit commercial enterprise garnered him more celebrity than playing the guitar ever did.

The Blues Is Alive And Well ends with “Milkin’ Muther For Yaâ€, a short but elaborate dirty joke and an odd coda after the heavy sentiments on the back half of the album. “Somebody Up There†is a grizzled rumination on racism and violence, with a rolling, tumbling riff that culminates in one of Guy’s fiercest solos. And “End of the Line†finds him alone up on stage, nearing the end of his set and wondering where everybody went: “I’m the last one to turn out the light, I’m the last one to call it a night.†Especially on a collection that opens with “A Few Good Yearsâ€, the song carries a heavy gravity despite the sympathetic Muscle Shoals Horns and his declaration that “I won’t behave!â€

Guy is not merely one of the greats of Chicago blues; he’s the last conservator of the form, and he does not take that responsibility lightly. “I promise ’til the day I die,†he testifies, “I’m gonna keep these blues alive.â€

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

Hear a clip of David Bowie’s first ever studio recording

Sam Richards
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Hear a clip of David Bowie’s first ever studio recording
In 1963, a 16-year-old David Bowie made his first ever studio recording as the lead vocalist for The Konrads at a studio in Morden, South London. The demo tape was recently discovered in a bread basket by Konrads drummer David Hadfield. Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to y...

In 1963, a 16-year-old David Bowie made his first ever studio recording as the lead vocalist for The Konrads at a studio in Morden, South London.

The demo tape was recently discovered in a bread basket by Konrads drummer David Hadfield.

Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to your home – with no delivery charge!

Hear a short clip below of Bowie singing a song he co-wrote, called “I Never Dreamed” (c/o David Hadfield):

Regarding the demo, Hadfield recalls: “Our agent, Eric Easton, who also managed The Rolling Stones, asked us to do a demo so he could try and get us an audition at Decca. So in early 1963 I booked into R.G.Jones small studio in Morden. In preparation for the demo, David and our guitarist Neville Wills wrote 2/3 songs. We had decided that we would do a couple of guitar instrumentals and one original song.

“I chose ‘I Never Dreamed’ as it was the strongest, the other two were a bit weak! I also decided that David was the best person to sing it and give the right interpretation. So this became the very first recording of David Jones (Bowie) singing 55 years ago! There is no other recording featuring David as lead in existence. Decca initially turned us down, but when they eventually gave us an audition later that year, vocalist Roger Ferris was the lead voice and David sang backing harmonies.”

The demo tape is being auctioned in September by Omega Auctions, alongside a “treasure trove of memorabilia” illustrating Bowie’s very early career, includes letters, bills, booking forms, photographs and promotional sketches.

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

George Clinton interviewed: “Save the funk!”

Andy Gill
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George Clinton interviewed: “Save the funk!”
Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to your home – with no delivery charge! George Clinton is on a mission to reclaim his musical legacy from pernicious lawyers, record labels and musicians. He’s even taken his case to the White House. Here, Dr Funkenstein takes time out fro...

Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to your home – with no delivery charge!

You’ve worked with several white rock bands… the Chili Peppers, Thomas Dolby, Primal Scream… What was it like working with them?
The Primals? Man, Bobby was so hard to understand! When you get fucked up, he’s really hard to understand! And both of us being fucked up, there was no chance! But we had so much fun working together. I worked with some techno guys last night, the Soul Clan. They had a dance track, and I put a typical abstract P-Funk song on it, called “In The Carâ€: “Oilspill, makin’ a killin’, drillin’ in the oilfield/Pipe it, pump it, truck it and fuck itâ€.

Going from being a cult thing to massive commercial success in the ’70s must have brought huge problems. Was it difficult to handle at the time?
Yeah, it was. You had personal relationships, I was stretching it out so the Family was getting bigger, they was the same people, but they was bigger. Like, Bootsy was number one, then when the Brides started becoming important, that started taking away from Bootsy and my other relations. The same with the other members – as it became bigger, other label executives and lawyers and managers wanted to carve themselves a piece of it, and started snatchin’ players away on the side. But it was the chemistry among all of us, that’s what fuelled the thing and made it work.

There were 16 P-Funk members inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame – that must be the most from one band inducted at the same time.
It is. And there were still some important people left out. We didn’t choose it, but they were trying to get a bit of all the important stuff in there to round it off. We wanted to get the P-Funk All Stars inducted, so they could include all the rest of the people involved.

Drug culture was once positive, useful for creativity, then it turned to being a bad thing.
The minute the Vietnam War was over, it was right back to two cars and a swimming pool. Any kind of war produces money, y’know what I’m sayin’? So they get a war on drugs, get 40 million dollars to fight it in this city, 30 million to fight it in another city, they get allocations, and they don’t really want to catch anybody but somebody with a half a gram up their ass, they don’t want to catch the person that’s selling the drugs or causing the deaths, otherwise they would really get on the pharmaceutical companies for stuff like that, too. There’s more profit in pretending we’re stopping it than in selling it. If they can sell you protection, they ain’t gonna stop it, they’re just gonna get it slowed down enough for you to stay scared of it. That’s the way the system works, they sell us protection on every level. The most important part of the President’s campaign was about Obamacare, how his people were going to get their meds; but drugs is still the number one evil, because it’s used like that.

You’ve always used music to talk about taboo things in a forthright manner. What would be the subjects you’d be dealing with now, if you were just starting out?
It would be about the monopoly of the record industry, how they’ve destroyed hip-hop by not paying people, going under the table with each other, trying to change the copyright laws. We’re just finding out how it works – this is the first year people are supposed to get their stuff back, and we’re fighting like hell now, trying to keep “One Nation†and “Knee Deepâ€. There’s this lawyer suing me for copyright ownership, for a million and a half dollars, and he got the judge to put interest on the lawsuit, so I would never ever be able to pay it back, the way they got it set up.

You used to have a lot of copyright problems…
We’re still having them! The entire band is having them, my entire Family, we just sent a request to the President of the United States to save the funk. We got a list of names, my entire family, to BMI requesting all our cheques. Other artists are involved in it, too. We gonna have us a Twitter Army! You can bet we know how to use the media, and the stage. I’m doing a reality show with my family, with my son Tracy, my six grandkids, Scott Thompson, Brandi – it’s a big family thing.

Is it going to be like The Osbournes?
A bit like that, but most of them are, like, musicians, rappers and everything – it’s what we call our C Kunspyruhzy: I see conspiracy all around me, y’know, with all the copyright stuff? We got to come up with new ways to get the music across, so we’re doin’ this reality show. So we can expose all the noses out there, stealin’ the copyrights and takin’ people’s music and money. This is all gonna be part of the reality show, the copyright fight, plus we still kicking ass onstage. We exposes the noses!

It’s a similar situation to that faced by the families of Hendrix and Marley.
I’m having problems with the same people that did the Hendrix case, the same lawyers that brought the case and then got sued by his family for over-charging them. I’m in court with this guy charging me a million and a half dollars for my own songs. All the lawyers and all the record companies banding together, because all of them have samples. It’s a cartel, and its long arms reach to the copyright office, BMI, ASCAP, all of them, so we have no choice but to go straight to the President. Hopefully the President danced to the music at one time. We seen him singin’ Al Green, we know he has some funk! And he used the phrasing from “One Nation Under A Groove†quite some bit in his speeches. We’re trying to keep it isolated to one record, but I’m really talking about all of them: Snoop Dogg, Puffy, Dre, Jay-Z, Public Enemy, Eminem, Michael Jackson. I’m talking about all these records for the past 25 years, we had samples on all of that, and we don’t get a penny from any of it.

Really? I imagined you were making more from samples than from your own record sales.
Well, Mothership Connection is the most sampled record in the world. But I’m telling you, these labels, they’ve got together in a way that they take all this money. With one forged document, and the lie that I filed for bankruptcy, which did not happen, the judge awarded it all to them. We’re asking for a federal investigation into the whole thing, because they are effectively a monopoly, they back each other up on all these court documents and shit.

The band used to make donations to the Negro College Fund and the NAACP…
Yes, we made the promoters give 25 cents out of every dollar to the NAACP. And right now we just adopted a school in Plainfield, New Jersey, where the band originated, the Obama Green Charter School, we’ve given it 25 per cent of the ownership of “One Nationâ€, “Knee Deepâ€, “Hardcore Jollies†and “Electric Spankingâ€. That’s the case that’s in court now, the guy’s suing me for a million and a half dollars, trying to take it back from the school. All of that’s part of the story coming out in the reality show, the book. We leanin’ on that so much, we makin’ T-shirts with the court documents on there. We call it legal briefs! We got underwear on sale with motions to come to court on there!

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The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons announces solo album, The Big Bad Blues

Sam Richards
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ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons announces solo album, The Big Bad Blues
ZZ Top frontman Billy F Gibbons has announced that his new solo album, The Big Bad Blues, will be released on September 21. Described as a "down and dirty" collection of BFG originals and classic blues covers, the album features Joe Hardy on bass, Matt Sorum and Greg Morrow on drums, Mike ‘The Dr...

ZZ Top frontman Billy F Gibbons has announced that his new solo album, The Big Bad Blues, will be released on September 21.

Described as a “down and dirty” collection of BFG originals and classic blues covers, the album features Joe Hardy on bass, Matt Sorum and Greg Morrow on drums, Mike ‘The Drifter’ Flanigin on keyboards and James Harman on harmonica.

Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to your home – with no delivery charge!

Listen to the track “Rollin’ And Tumblin'” below:

“The shift back to the blues is a natural,” says Gibbons. “It’s something which our followers can enjoy with the satisfaction of experiencing the roots tradition and, at the same time, feeling the richness of stretching the art form… There’s something very primordial within the art form. Nobody gets away from the infectious allure of those straight-ahead licks!â€

Check out the tracklisting for The Big Bad Blues below:

1) Missin’ Yo’ Kissin’ (Gilly Stillwater)
2) My Baby She Rocks
3) Second Line
4) Standing Around Crying (Muddy Waters)
5) Let the Left Hand Know…
6) Bring It to Jerome (Jerome Green)
7) That’s What She Said
8) Mo’ Slower Blues
9) Hollywood 151
10) Rollin’ and Tumblin’ (Muddy Waters)
11) Crackin’ Up (Bo Diddley)

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

New Aretha Franklin comp collates her early hits

Sam Richards
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0
New Aretha Franklin comp collates her early hits
A new Aretha Franklin compilation has been announced for September 28. The Atlantic Singles Collection 1967-1970 collects 34 songs from Franklin's first four years at Atlantic, including all-time classics such as "Respect", "Think" and "I Say A Little Prayer". Order the latest issue of Uncut onli...

A new Aretha Franklin compilation has been announced for September 28.

The Atlantic Singles Collection 1967-1970 collects 34 songs from Franklin’s first four years at Atlantic, including all-time classics such as “Respect”, “Think” and “I Say A Little Prayer”.

Order the latest issue of Uncut online and have it sent to your home – with no delivery charge!

The album will be released on double CD, double LP and digital formats via Atlantic / Rhino. Check out the full tracklistings and cover art below:

CD
Disc One
1. “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)â€
2. “Do Right Woman, Do Right Manâ€
3. “Respectâ€
4. “Dr. Feelgoodâ€
5. “Baby I Love Youâ€
6. “Going Down Slowâ€
7. “A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like)â€
8. “Baby, Baby, Babyâ€
9. “Chain Of Foolsâ€
10. “Prove Itâ€
11. “(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Goneâ€
12. “Ain’t No Wayâ€
13. “Thinkâ€
14. “You Send Meâ€
15. “The House That Jack Builtâ€
16. “I Say A Little Prayerâ€
17. “See Sawâ€
18. “My Songâ€

Disc Two
1. “The Weightâ€
2. “Tracks Of My Tearsâ€
3. “I Can’t See Myself Leaving Youâ€
4. “Gentle On My Mindâ€
5. “Share Your Love With Meâ€
6. “Pledging My Love / The Clockâ€
7. “Eleanor Rigbyâ€
8. “It Ain’t Fairâ€
9. “Call Meâ€
10. “Son Of A Preacher Manâ€
11. “Spirit In The Dark†– with The Dixie Flyers
12. “The Thrill Is Gone†– with The Dixie Flyers
13. “Don’t Play That Song†– with The Dixie Flyers
14. “Let It Be†– with The Dixie Flyers
15. “Border Song (Holy Moses)â€
16. “You And Me†– with The Dixie Flyers

LP
Side One
1. “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)â€
2. “Do Right Woman, Do Right Manâ€
3. “Respectâ€
4. “Baby I Love Youâ€
5. “A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like)â€
6. “Chain Of Foolsâ€

Side Two
1. “(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Goneâ€
2. “Ain’t No Wayâ€
3. “Thinkâ€
4. “You Send Meâ€
5. “The House That Jack Builtâ€
6. “I Say A Little Prayerâ€

Side Three
1. “See Sawâ€
2. “My Songâ€
3. “The Weightâ€
4. “Tracks Of My Tearsâ€
5. “I Can’t See Myself Leaving Youâ€
6. “Gentle On My Mindâ€
7. “Share Your Love With Meâ€

Side Four
1. “Eleanor Rigbyâ€
2. “Call Meâ€
3. “Son Of A Preacher Manâ€
4. “Spirit In The Dark†– with The Dixie Flyers
5. “Don’t Play That Song†– with The Dixie Flyers
6. “Border Song (Holy Moses)â€

The September 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with Rod Stewart on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive features on Pixies, The Byrds, Jess Williamson, Liverpool’s post-punk scene, Sly Stone, Gruff Rhys, White Denim, Beth Orton, Mary Lattimore and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Oh Sees, Cowboy Junkies, Elephant Micah, Papa M and Odetta Hartman.

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