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Beatles fan sells 15,000 items of memorabilia

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A French Beatles fan is set to sell 15,000 items of memorabilia, hoping that it will pay for his retirement. Jacques Volcouve will see his collection of 15,000 records, signed books, posters, autographs, figurines and memorabilia go on sale at the Drouot auction house in Paris in March 2017. Speak...

A French Beatles fan is set to sell 15,000 items of memorabilia, hoping that it will pay for his retirement.

Jacques Volcouve will see his collection of 15,000 records, signed books, posters, autographs, figurines and memorabilia go on sale at the Drouot auction house in Paris in March 2017.

Speaking to The Observer, Volcouve said; “The Beatlemania bug bit me and I was never cured of it. I listened to the album and I thought the music was incredible. From then on, I wanted everything to do with the Beatles: records; newspaper clips, posters, memorabilia… everything.â€

The Guardian notes that Volcouve’s career as France’s foremost “Beatles historian†began in the early 1970s, after he kept calling a French radio station to point out errors in a BBC series about the Beatles that they were airing, and was invited into the studio.

“What I wanted … was to share my pleasure and passion for the Beatles and in some way make sure that everything said about them was correct,†he said. “I took in some of the recordings I had and the radio station had its archives, and we added material to the BBC series [The Beatles Story] so that the 12 hours that was broadcast in the UK became 18 hours of material in France. It was so successful that it was re-broadcast twice in the same year.

“From then on, I was introduced to everyone as the Beatles specialist,†he revealed. Volcouve has met Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in person and claims to have met Yoko Ono.

“The Beatles were a cultural renaissance. In my view, everything we have today in the way of artistic culture goes back to them,†Volcouve said. “For me personally, their importance is that while other musicians gave people pleasure, the Beatles gave people happiness.â€

“I don’t want to sound bitter but I gave my life to them [the band] and I’ve never had any recognition or help, not even a free ticket to a concert,†said Volcouve. “For many years I was insufferable because all I talked about was the Beatles. I tried to find a professional job but in the end I was always the ‘Beatles historian’, and every time I had any money I spent it on Beatles stuff.â€

“Still, George [Harrison] told me in 1977 that if just one person appreciates your work then it hasn’t been a waste of time, and I know the things I have done over the last 40 years have been important to many people,†he continued.

“John wrote a song for Ringo that was never published about life beginning at 40. For me, life will begin at 60. I will go on loving the Beatles but the collection had become like an octopus whose tentacles were strangling me.

“I hope the sale will give me enough money to live on decently until I die, and my collection will have a new life with someone else,†Volcouve said.

The auction of his Beatles collection will be held at the Hotel Drouot on March 18.

The February 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on Leonard Cohen. Elsewhere in the issue, we look at the 50 Great Modern Protest Songs and our free CD collects 15 of the very best, featuring Ry Cooder, Jarvis Cocker, Roy Harper, Father John Misty, Hurray For The Riff Raff and Richard Thompson. The issue also features our essential preview of the key albums for 2017, including Roger Waters, Fleet Foxes, Paul Weller, The Jesus And Mary Chain, the Waterboys and more. Plus Leon Russell, Mike Oldfield, Ty Segall, Tift Merritt, David Bowie, Japandroids, The Doors, Flaming Lips, Wilco, The XX, Grateful Dead, Mark Eitzel and more plus 139 reviews

Jonny Greenwood to present his There Will Be Blood score live

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Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has announced four special performances of his score to Paul Thomas Anderson's 2007 film, There Will Be Blood. The London Contemporary Orchestra announced the news on its website, revealing that the score to the film will be performed live by the LCO, with Galya ...

Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has announced four special performances of his score to Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 film, There Will Be Blood.

The London Contemporary Orchestra announced the news on its website, revealing that the score to the film will be performed live by the LCO, with Galya Bisengalieva on violin and Oliver Coates on cello. Spin reports Greenwood himself will accompany the orchestra on Ondes Martenot.

The LCO describes Greenwood’s score as “a masterwork of dramatic tension, instrumental experimentation and musical bricolage — it integrates work by Arvo Part and Brahms.”

The first date is January 30, 2017 at London’s Royal Festival Hall. The orchestra then plays the Birmingham Symphony Hall on February 5, Brighton’s The Dome on February 6 and Bristol’s Colston Hall on February 7.

The February 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on Leonard Cohen. Elsewhere in the issue, we look at the 50 Great Modern Protest Songs and our free CD collects 15 of the very best, featuring Ry Cooder, Jarvis Cocker, Roy Harper, Father John Misty, Hurray For The Riff Raff and Richard Thompson. The issue also features our essential preview of the key albums for 2017, including Roger Waters, Fleet Foxes, Paul Weller, The Jesus And Mary Chain, the Waterboys and more. Plus Leon Russell, Mike Oldfield, Ty Segall, Tift Merritt, David Bowie, Japandroids, The Doors, Flaming Lips, Wilco, The XX, Grateful Dead, Mark Eitzel and more plus 139 reviews

The 44th Uncut Playlist Of 2016

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Lots of new joy to flag up this week: expansive live sets from Steve Gunn, Ryley Walker and their amazing bands; Rhiannon Giddens covering the Staples; the tremendously Funkadelic Childish Gambino album; Loscil reconfiguring in High Plains; the Willie Lane album, much raved about by guitar soli cogn...

Lots of new joy to flag up this week: expansive live sets from Steve Gunn, Ryley Walker and their amazing bands; Rhiannon Giddens covering the Staples; the tremendously Funkadelic Childish Gambino album; Loscil reconfiguring in High Plains; the Willie Lane album, much raved about by guitar soli cognoscenti this past month, turning up on Bandcamp; the Horse Lords chopping and screwing Macca and the Dead; the return of Alasdair Roberts; another great Ethiopian find from Awesome Tapes; Natalie Prass’ Christmas song; and Joan Shelley covering Leonard Cohen, which feels like a necessary and beautiful thing to hear in December 2016: “Through the days of shame that are coming, through the nights of wild distress/Though your promise count for nothing, you must keep it nonetheless.â€

Also, Scissor Tail’s amazing Bruce Langhorne tribute album has landed on Bandcamp: great cause, great primer involving many of the most interesting and exploratory guitar players out there at the moment – please check it out. The Leonard Cohen and Bootsy Collins version of “1999â€, on the other hand, is not quite so strongly recommended. Approach with caution…

Follow me on Twitter @JohnRMulvey

1 William Basinski – A Shadow In Time (Temporary Residence)

2 Hurray For The Riff Raff – The Navigator (ATO)

3 Laura Marling – Semper Femina (More Alarming/Kobalt)

4 Brokeback – Illinois River Valley Blues (Thrill Jockey)

5 Steve Gunn – Bell House, Brooklyn 09/12/16 (nyctaper.com)

6  Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway (Nonesuch)

7 Nikki Lane – Highway Queen (New West)

8 High Plains – Cinderland (Kranky)

9 Childish Gambino – Awaken My Love (Glassnote)

10 Frank Ocean – Blonde (Boys Don’t Cry)

11 Tim Darcy – Saturday Night (Jagjaguwar)

12 Brian Eno – Reflection (Warp)

13 Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band – Live At Union Pool, New York 03/12/2016 (nyctaper.com)

14 Willie Lane – A Pine Tree Shilling’s Worth Of Willie Lane (Bandcamp.com)

15 Horse Lords – T***kin’ – DJ P4UL & L0RD 1NF4M0U$ Feat B0B W3IR/It’s Gonna Snow (Soundcloud)

 

 

16 Ryley Walker – Live At Copenhagen Jazzhouse 2016-12-06 (archive.org)

17 Cherry Glazerr – Apocalipstick (Secretly Canadian)

18 Black Flower – Artifacts (Sdban Ultra)

19 Eric Arn – Orphic Resonance (Feeding Tube)

20 Natalie Prass – Everybody’s Having Fun (It’s Christmas Time) (Spacebomb)

21 Various Artists – The Hired Hands: A Tribute To Bruce Langhorne (Scissor Tail/Bandcamp)

22 Alasdair Roberts – The Downward Road (Drag City)

23 Gary Byrd & The GB Experience – The Crown (Motown)

24 Wilson Pickett – Hey Jude/Right On (Edsel)

25 Joan Shelley – Heart With No Companion (Soundcloud)

26 Roha Band — Instrumental Music (awesometapes.com)

27 Paul Shaffer And The Party Boys Of Rock’n’Roll – 1999 (Featuring Leonard Cohen And Bootsy Collins) (SBK)

 

Brian Eno reveals “Generative†editions of new album, Reflection

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Brian Eno will release his new ambient album, Reflection, released on January 1, 2017. Eno has now detailed new generative versions of the album. Available on Apple TV and iOS, users will be able to explore different visual and sonic aspects of the album. Created with long-time collaborator Peter ...

Brian Eno will release his new ambient album, Reflection, released on January 1, 2017.

Eno has now detailed new generative versions of the album. Available on Apple TV and iOS, users will be able to explore different visual and sonic aspects of the album.

Created with long-time collaborator Peter Chilvers, the pieces feature generative sonics and imagery, an extension of landmark Eno software projects such as 77 Million Paintings and The Ship.

“Reflection is the most recent of my Ambient experiments and represents the most sophisticated of them so far,” says Eno. “My original intention with Ambient music was to make endless music, music that would be there as long as you wanted it to be. I wanted also that this music would unfold differently all the time – ‘like sitting by a river’: it’s always the same river, but it’s always changing. But recordings – whether vinyl, cassette or CD – are limited in length, and replay identically each time you listen to them. So in the past I was limited to making the systems which make the music, but then recording 30 minutes or an hour and releasing that. Reflection in its album form – on vinyl or CD – is like this. But the app by which Reflection is produced is not restricted: it creates an endless and endlessly changing version of the piece of music.

“The creation of a piece of music like this falls into three stages: the first is the selection of sonic materials and a musical mode – a constellation of musical relationships. These are then patterned and explored by a system of algorithms which vary and permutate the initial elements I feed into them, resulting in a constantly morphing stream (or river) of music. The third stage is listening. Once I have the system up and running I spend a long time – many days and weeks in fact – seeing what it does and fine-tuning the materials and sets of rules that run the algorithms. It’s a lot like gardening: you plant the seeds and then you keep tending to them until you get a garden you like.â€

“Moving the composition into software allowed an extra opportunity; the rules themselves could change with the time of day,” adds Peter Chilvers. “The harmony is brighter in the morning, transitioning gradually over the afternoon to reach the original key by evening. As the early hours draw in, newly introduced conditions thin the notes out and slow everything down.â€

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

Paul McCartney announces latest archive release

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Paul McCartney has announced details of his latest archival release. Flowers In The Dirt is due on March 24, 2017 as a 2-LP vinyl set, a 2-CD edition and a Deluxe Edition Box Set as well as a digital download version. The original album was partly co-written with Elvis Costello and includes a gues...

Paul McCartney has announced details of his latest archival release.

Flowers In The Dirt is due on March 24, 2017 as a 2-LP vinyl set, a 2-CD edition and a Deluxe Edition Box Set as well as a digital download version.

The original album was partly co-written with Elvis Costello and includes a guest appearance from David Gilmour and strong arrangement from George Martin.

Of the various editions available, the Deluxe Edition Box Set features a 32-page notebook of McCartney’s handwritten lyrics and notes, a catalogue for Linda McCartney’s 1989 Flowers In The Dirt photo exhibition, a 64 page photo book featuring the music videos for This One, and a 112-page book telling the complete story of the album through exclusive in-depth interviews with McCartney, Elvis Costello and other key contributors. Along with expanded track-by-track information, the book contains album and single artwork as well as previously unpublished photographs by Linda McCartney.

The original 13-track album was remastered for all the new configurations at Abbey Road Studios. The Deluxe Edition contains 18 bonus audio tracks across two discs, featuring previously unreleased demos, written and performed by McCartney with Costello. Speaking about these tracks Paul said: “The demos are red hot off the skillet and that’s why we wanted to include them on this boxed set. What’s great about these songs is that they’ve just been written. So there’s nothing more hot off the skillet as I say. So that was the kind of great instant thing about them. I hadn’t listened to them in ages but when I did I knew we had to put them out. We made a little tape of them and sent them to Elvis, who loved them too. We said we should put out an EP or something and now the moment’s finally arrived.â€

The Deluxe Edition also includes, as digital downloads only, three unheard cassette demos: “I Don’t Want To Confess“, “Shallow Grave” and “Mistress And Maid“.

The DVD that comes with the Deluxe Edition includes all the music videos from the album, three new short films with unseen archive material that show some of the creation process of the album and the documentary Put It There originally released on VHS in 1989 – a behind the scenes look at the making of Flowers In The Dirt as well as featuring live performances from his 1989 World Tour.

The 2 CD Special Edition includes the remastered version of the album on the first disc. The second disc includes McCartney and Costello’s previously unreleased original demos.

The 2 LP Edition also comes with a digital download version. The first LP includes the remastered album but in keeping with the original vinyl release doesn’t include “Où Est Le Soleil?” (this track will be available with the accompanying digital download). The second LP includes previously unreleased original demos.

Full Format Information & Track-listing:

SPECIAL EDITION (3CD/1DVD)
DISC 1:

My Brave Face (2017 Remaster)
Rough Ride (2017 Remaster)
You Want Her Too (2017 Remaster)
Distractions (2017 Remaster)
We Got Married (2017 Remaster)
Put It There (2017 Remaster)
Figure Of Eight (2017 Remaster)
This One (2017 Remaster)
Don’t Be Careless Love (2017 Remaster)
That Day Is Done (2017 Remaster)
How Many People (2017 Remaster)
Motor Of Love (2017 Remaster)
Où Est Le Soleil? (2017 Remaster)

DISC 2:
The Lovers That Never Were (Original Demo)
Tommy’s Coming Home (Original Demo)
Twenty Fine Fingers (Original Demo)
So Like Candy (Original Demo)
You Want Her Too (Original Demo)
That Day Is Done (Original Demo)
Don’t Be Careless Love (Original Demo)
My Brave Face (Original Demo)
Playboy To A Man (Original Demo)

DISC 3:
The Lovers That Never Were (1988 Demo)
Tommy’s Coming Home (1988 Demo)
Twenty Fine Fingers (1988 Demo)
So Like Candy (1988 Demo)
You Want Her Too (1988 Demo)
That Day Is Done (1988 Demo)
Don’t Be Careless Love (1988 Demo)
My Brave Face (1988 Demo)
Playboy To A Man (1988 Demo)

DVD
Music Videos:

My Brave Face
My Brave Face (Version 2)
This One (Version 1)
This One (Version 2)
Figure Of Eight
Party Party
Où Est Le Soleil?
Put It There
Distractions
We Got Married

Creating Flowers In The Dirt doc

Put it There doc

DOWNLOAD ONLY:
Original B-sides, remixes and single edits:
Back On My Feet
Flying To My Home
The First Stone
Good Sign
This One (Club Lovejoys Mix)
Figure Of Eight (12†Bob Clearmountain Mix)
Loveliest Thing
Où Est Le Soleil? (12†Mix)
Où Est Le Soleil? (Tub Dub Mix)
Où Est Le Soleil? (7†Mix)
Où Est Le Soleil? (Instrumental)
Party Party (Original Mix)
Party Party (Club Mix)

Cassette demos:
I Don’t Want To Confess
Shallow Grave
Mistress And Maid

SPECIAL EDITION (2CD)
DISC 1:

My Brave Face (2017 Remaster)
Rough Ride (2017 Remaster)
You Want Her Too (2017 Remaster)
Distractions (2017 Remaster)
We Got Married (2017 Remaster)
Put It There (2017 Remaster)
Figure Of Eight (2017 Remaster)
This One (2017 Remaster)
Don’t Be Careless Love (2017 Remaster)
That Day Is Done (2017 Remaster)
How Many People (2017 Remaster)
Motor Of Love (2017 Remaster)
Où Est Le Soleil? (2017 Remaster)

DISC 2:
The Lovers That Never Were (Original Demo)
Tommy’s Coming Home (Original Demo)
Twenty Fine Fingers (Original Demo)
So Like Candy (Original Demo)
You Want Her Too (Original Demo)
That Day Is Done (Original Demo)
Don’t Be Careless Love (Original Demo)
My Brave Face (Original Demo)
Playboy To A Man (Original Demo)

VINYL (2LP)
LP 1:

My Brave Face (2017 Remaster)
Rough Ride (2017 Remaster)
You Want Her Too (2017 Remaster)
Distractions (2017 Remaster)
We Got Married (2017 Remaster)
Put It There (2017 Remaster)
Figure Of Eight (2017 Remaster)
This One (2017 Remaster)
Don’t Be Careless Love (2017 Remaster)
That Day Is Done (2017 Remaster)
How Many People (2017 Remaster)
Motor Of Love (2017 Remaster)
Où Est Le Soleil? (2017 Remaster) (**not on vinyl, this track will be available with the accompanying digital download).

LP 2:
The Lovers That Never Were (Original Demo)
Tommy’s Coming Home (Original Demo)
Twenty Fine Fingers (Original Demo)
So Like Candy (Original Demo)
You Want Her Too (Original Demo)
That Day Is Done (Original Demo)
Don’t Be Careless Love (Original Demo)
My Brave Face (Original Demo)
Playboy To A Man (Original Demo)

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

Ask John Waters!

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Ahead of the re-release of his infamous second film Multiple Maniacs, John Waters will be answering your questions as part of our regular An Audience With… feature. So is there anything you’d like us to ask the legendary filmmaker? How did he meet Divine? Has he ever thought he's gone too far ...

Ahead of the re-release of his infamous second film Multiple Maniacs, John Waters will be answering your questions as part of our regular An Audience With… feature.

So is there anything you’d like us to ask the legendary filmmaker?

How did he meet Divine?
Has he ever thought he’s gone too far in one of his films?
Does he still own an electric chair?

Send up your questions by noon, Wednesday, December 21 to uncutaudiencewith@timeinc.com.

The best questions, and John’s answers, will be published in a future edition of Uncut magazine.

Multiple Maniacs is released theatrically in the UK on February 17, 2017 and on DVD from The Criterion Collection on March 20, 2017

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

Patti Smith on singing at Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize ceremony

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Patti Smith has written about her experiences of singing Bob Dylan's “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall†at the 2016 Nobel Prize ceremony. Dylan had previously confirmed he wouldn’t be able to attend the ceremony - held in Stockholm, Sweden on December 10 - due to other commitments. Dylan’s acc...

Patti Smith has written about her experiences of singing Bob Dylan‘s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall†at the 2016 Nobel Prize ceremony.

Dylan had previously confirmed he wouldn’t be able to attend the ceremony – held in Stockholm, Sweden on December 10 – due to other commitments.

Dylan’s acceptance speech was read aloud by United States Ambassador to Sweden Azita Raji, while Smith sang Dylan’s 1962 song accompanied by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra orchestrated by Hans Ek.

Smith has now written about the experience in a piece for The New Yorker – a performance which she describes as “a last important duty for 2016â€. Smith reveals she was approached to perform at the ceremony in September – a month before Dylan was announces as the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

“But when it was announced that Bob Dylan had won the prize and accepted, it seemed no longer fitting for me to sing my own song,†she writes. “I found myself in an unanticipated situation, and had conflicting emotions. In his absence, was I qualified for this task? Would this displease Bob Dylan, whom I would never desire to displease? But, having committed myself and weighing everything, I chose to sing ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’, a song I have loved since I was a teen-ager, and a favorite of my late husband.

As the performance took place, Smith recalls, “I thought of my mother, who bought me my first Dylan album when I was barely sixteen. She found it in the bargain bin at the five-and-dime and bought it with her tip money. ‘He looked like someone you’d like,’ she told me. I played the record over and over, my favorite being ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’. It occurred to me then that, although I did not live in the time of Arthur Rimbaud, I existed in the time of Bob Dylan. I also thought of my husband and remembered performing the song together, picturing his hands forming the chords.â€

You can read the complete piece on The New Yorker’s website, by clicking here.

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

Pink Floyd announce their latest vinyl reissues

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Pink Floyd Records complete the reintroduction of the Pink Floyd studio albums on vinyl with The Final Cut and A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, which are released on January 20, 2017. These albums have not been available on vinyl for well over two decades. Over the past year, Pink Floyd Records has re...

Pink Floyd Records complete the reintroduction of the Pink Floyd studio albums on vinyl with The Final Cut and A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, which are released on January 20, 2017.

These albums have not been available on vinyl for well over two decades.

Over the past year, Pink Floyd Records has released the entire studio collection as stereo remastered versions on heavyweight 180g vinyl. All are mastered from the original analogue studio tapes with album artwork faithfully reproduced.

The Final Cut was originally released in 1983 while 1987’s A Momentary Lapse Of Reason was the first album Pink Floyd released following the departure of Roger Waters.

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

AC/DC to release new book documenting Rock Or Bust world tour

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AC/DC are set to release a new book documenting their recent Rock Or Bust world tour. Billed as the first official photo book by the band it will feature photographs from Ralph Larmann, who shot the group throughout their 17-month trek. The book will also include facts, figures and tour memorabilia...

AC/DC are set to release a new book documenting their recent Rock Or Bust world tour.

Billed as the first official photo book by the band it will feature photographs from Ralph Larmann, who shot the group throughout their 17-month trek. The book will also include facts, figures and tour memorabilia.

It will be available in several different editions, including a ‘Leather And Metal’ collectors version with a slipcase boasting a glowing AC/DC logo. Pre-sale is set to begin next spring, before the book officially goes on sale in summer 2017.

For more information head to the band’s official website.

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

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It says something about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that this first spin-off from the interstellar franchise casts two actors to play Darth Vader. No longer is the burly frame of Dave Prowse simply enough to shoulder the iconic weight of the Sith Lord, it now requires the efforts of many players to...

It says something about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that this first spin-off from the interstellar franchise casts two actors to play Darth Vader. No longer is the burly frame of Dave Prowse simply enough to shoulder the iconic weight of the Sith Lord, it now requires the efforts of many players to manifest his crepuscular, asthmatic presence on screen. This seems a convenient metaphor for Gareth Edwards film itself, which treats the ready-made pre-fab blocks of the Star Wars Universe with an undue reverence when, really, he could have benefitted from kicking back a little and relaxing. After all, if Edwards can bring Peter Cushing back from the dead – mwah ha ha! – then surely he can risk a little spontaneity or reckless impulse now and then?

The problem facing Edwards – indeed, anyone entering the orbit of a fully armed and operational billion-dollar franchise like Star Wars – is that he is hamstrung by the pre-existing demands and protocols of the series. As Monsters and his Godzilla reboot ably demonstrated, Edwards has a clear voice and a strong handle on a box of effects. He is allowed to go so far with Rogue One but – as reports of extensive reshoots under the auspices of scriptwriter Tony Gilroy attest – perhaps not as far as he might have liked. As it transpires, much of Rogue One is a push-me pull-you with George Lucas’ original films. Edwards film is implicitly tied to events in A New Hope although the director strains to push the film – stylistically, at least – in other directions.

Repeatedly during Rogue One’s two-hour running time, Edwards tries to invert the palette and style of the franchise. Instead of a boy hero raised on a desert planet, we meet Rogue One’s female protagonist Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) on her snowy homeworld. Lucas’ rogueish space pilots, wise old knights and cutesy droids are replaced by defectors, militants, spies, saboteurs and assassins. In Lucas’ corner of the galaxy, events took place in space ports, cloud cities and forest moons. Here, the action unfolds in the cramped, dimly lit interiors of stolen spacecraft, in warzones and military-industrial facilities. One sequence, set in the holy capital city of a pilgrim planet, finds the occupying Imperial forces engaged by insurgents. A protracted battle takes place at night, in the rain. Where are the comedy droids, exactly?

The story takes place between Attack Of The Clones and A New Hope, where plucky Jyn Erso leads a group of rebels in an attempt to steal the design schematics to the Death Star – which Jyn’s father, Galen (Mads Mikkelsen), a brilliant scientist, has been coerced into designing. She’s thrown together with Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed and Donnie Yen, who bring a pleasingly cosmopolitan diversity to proceedings. There is a reprogrammed Imperial security droid – K-2SO, voiced by Alan Tudyk – which has a good line in sardonic put-downs but is by no means a rival for R2-D2 in the cutesy stakes. Meanwhile, Ben Mendelsohn is ostensibly the film’s key villain – the Empire’s zealous administrator Krennic, responsible for overseeing the construction of the Death Star. But even he is outmanoeuvred in the end by Cushing’s chilling, imperious Grand Moff Tarkin – resurrected, convincingly, via CGI.

And then there’s Vader, who appears in two scenes. In the first, he trades some classic Sith bantz: “Be careful not to choke on your ambitions,†delivered as he Force-strangles a hapless colleague who has overstepped the mark. In the second, he is at his most demonic: emerging from the darkness of an airlock to single-handedly cut down dozens of Rebel soldiers in a relentless lightsabre attack. The film’s final line of dialogue is delivered by yet another franchise veteran – a moment designed to seamlessly stitch Rogue One into A New Hope and also presumably to give the audience a closing lift after the death of so many major characters.

Going forward, it will be interesting to see whether Rogue One proves to be the exception or the rule for this auxiliary series of stand-alone films (do we count the 1978 Holiday Special or the Ewoks’ Caravan Of Courage?). If we can assume the main Star Wars films will stick assiduously to an established template, how far will directors be allowed to stray for these spin-off films? Perhaps, like the lesser Marvel movies – Ant-Man comes to mind – these Star Wars spin-off films will provide filmmakers with greater creative freedom. Or, perhaps, the illusion of it.

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner

The February 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on Leonard Cohen. Elsewhere in the issue, we look at the 50 Great Modern Protest Songs and our free CD collects 15 of the very best, featuring Ry Cooder, Jarvis Cocker, Roy Harper, Father John Misty, Hurray For The Riff Raff and Richard Thompson. The issue also features our essential preview of the key albums for 2017, including Roger Waters, Fleet Foxes, Paul Weller, The Jesus And Mary Chain, the Waterboys and more. Plus Leon Russell, Mike Oldfield, Ty Segall, Tift Merritt, David Bowie, Japandroids, The Doors, Flaming Lips, Wilco, The XX, Grateful Dead, Mark Eitzel and more plus 139 reviews

Alice Cooper announces UK tour dates

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Alice Cooper has announced his first UK headline tour for five years. He will play five arena shows next November, including a show at London's Wembley Arena. Tour support comes from The Mission and The Tubes. Cooper will play: November 11, 2017 – Leeds – First Direct Arena 12 – Glasgow â€...

Alice Cooper has announced his first UK headline tour for five years.

He will play five arena shows next November, including a show at London’s Wembley Arena.

Tour support comes from The Mission and The Tubes.

Cooper will play:

November 11, 2017 – Leeds – First Direct Arena
12 – Glasgow – The SSE Hydro
14 – Birmingham – Barclaycard Arena
15 – Manchester – Manchester Arena
16 – London – The SSE Arena, Wembley

Cooper is reportedly in talks with former band mates Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith and Michael Bruce about working on a new album with producer Bob Ezrin.

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

Reviewed! Martin Scorsese’s Silence

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“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a Jesuit missionary.†Sadly, this sentence isn’t actually spoken in Silence, Martin Scorsese’s latest film; though it certainly would not be out of place. We are, after all, deep in Scorsese’s laundry list of usual themes – faith, gui...

“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a Jesuit missionary.†Sadly, this sentence isn’t actually spoken in Silence, Martin Scorsese’s latest film; though it certainly would not be out of place. We are, after all, deep in Scorsese’s laundry list of usual themes – faith, guilt, male bonding, violence – although on this occasion there are subtle differences. Silence is not set in a familiar urban milieu involving the rapacious schemes of hot-headed gangsters; the Rolling Stones do not appear on the soundtrack; Joe Pesci is not called upon to stamp anyone to death.

In fact, Silence is one of Scorsese’s long-cherished personal projects – like The Last Temptation Of Christ or Kundun (the latter, the punchline of a brilliant joke in an early episode of The Sopranos). This sombre and stately film is the story of two 17th century Portuguese missionaries who undertake a perilous journey to Japan to search for their missing mentor, Father Christavao Ferreira (Liam Neeson) – the superior of the Jesuits in Japan. But they learn that Ferreira might well have apostatized and in doing so, turned native. Scorsese follows Fathers Sebastian Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver), as they head into the foreboding hinterlands of rural Japan – enemy territory, essentially, as Japan’s feudal lords and ruling Samurai are determined to eradicate Christianity. On paper, then, you could be forgiven for thinking that Fathers Rodrigues and Garupe’s quest resembles the plot of The Searchers – or perhaps even Apocalypse Now, as the myths around Ferreira shift and grow.

Co-adapted by Scorsese and Jay Cocks – his old collaborator on The Age Of Innocence and Gangs Of New York – Silence is based on a celebrated novel by Shûsaku Endô that examines the notion of God’s silence in the face of human suffering. And there is an abundance of suffering in Scorsese’s film. It opens with a scene in which a number of priests are scalded with boiling water. Later, Scorsese shows us drowning, beheading, crucifixion and burning alive, as Japanese Christians are killed for refusing to renounce their religion. But how do these physical acts compare to the religious suffering of his two priests, who are witness to these appalling acts? And where is God while his faithful are so viciously tortured? Such weighty themes, admittedly, a hard sell – and anyone expecting a revved-up Scorsese, on the back of the razzle dazzle bacchanalia of The Wolf Of Wall Street, might feel disappointed. This is hardly GodFellas – though the inquisitor Inoue (Issey Ogata) has an urbane, loquacious manner that recalls Christoph Waltz’ Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds.

While Silence opens big – with mountains wreathed in mist or tracking shots through bamboo fields – it telescopes in on the plight of the two padres. Of course, Scorsese has been testing his protagonists faith since Harvey Keitel’s J.R. in Who’s That Knocking At My Door?, and in Garfield and Driver he evidently has two willing new disciples. Driver has a crusader’s zeal that is tempered by Garfield’s deep-seated sense of humanity. As the film progresses and Garfield’s hair becomes more-man-like and his beard ever shaggier, he comes to resemble Barry Gibb after a particularly heavy night out. Perhaps the more interesting character here is the crafty Kichijiro (Yôsuke Kubozuka), who has apostatized more than once as an act of self-preservation, yet returns to beg forgiveness from Rodrigues despite repeatedly betraying his faith. Compared to the spiritual conflicts of the priests, his outward agony and his strange convulsive behaviour seem a more natural – more human – response to the Big Questions that Scorsese asks of his characters. And then there is Neeson’s Father Ferreira, whose appearances bookend the film. It is a subtle, complex performance, where we are invited to conclude that Ferreira has identified the challenge to be located in the spiritual realm and also on the physical level. His understanding seems to be that in order to alleviate the physical suffering of others, he must suffer spiritually himself. It is, by the standards of this film, a most exquisite and prolonged torture.

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks announced for British Summer Time Hyde Park

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Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers have announced their only European date of 2017. They will play Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park on Sunday July 9, as part of the band’s 40th anniversary. This will be Petty's first UK date since two nights at the Royal Albert Hall in June 2012...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers have announced their only European date of 2017.

They will play Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park on Sunday July 9, as part of the band’s 40th anniversary.

This will be Petty’s first UK date since two nights at the Royal Albert Hall in June 2012.

They will be supported by Stevie Nicks; a long-standing friend of the band and occasional collaborator. “In 1976, I’d been in Fleetwood Mac for about a year when I heard Tom Petty’s debut,†Nicks told Rolling Stone in 2010. “I became such a fan that if I hadn’t been in a band myself, I would have joined that one.â€

They will also be joined on the bill by The Lumineers.

Tickets for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers headline show go on general sale on Friday December 16 at 9am.

You can find more information about tickets by clicking here.

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

Read Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech: “My aspirations for these songs only went so farâ€

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Bob Dylan received the Nobel Prize for Literature on December 10. He was announced as the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in October, but appeared to be unwilling to publicly acknowledge the prize for over two weeks. After some toing and froing, he later confirmed he wouldn’t be able ...

Bob Dylan received the Nobel Prize for Literature on December 10. He was announced as the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in October, but appeared to be unwilling to publicly acknowledge the prize for over two weeks.

After some toing and froing, he later confirmed he wouldn’t be able to attend due to other commitments.

Taking place in Stockholm, Dylan’s acceptance speech was read aloud by United States Ambassador to Sweden Azita Raji.

You can read Dylan’s full acceptance speech below, as transcribed by COS.

“Good evening, everyone. I extend my warmest greetings to the members of the Swedish Academy and to all of the other distinguished guests in attendance tonight.

“I’m sorry I can’t be with you in person, but please know that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize. Being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature is something I never could have imagined or seen coming. From an early age, I’ve been familiar with and reading and absorbing the works of those who were deemed worthy of such a distinction: Kipling, Shaw, Thomas Mann, Pearl Buck, Albert Camus, Hemingway. These giants of literature whose works are taught in the schoolroom, housed in libraries around the world and spoken of in reverent tones have always made a deep impression. That I now join the names on such a list is truly beyond words.

“I don’t know if these men and women ever thought of the Nobel honor for themselves, but I suppose that anyone writing a book, or a poem, or a play anywhere in the world might harbor that secret dream deep down inside. It’s probably buried so deep that they don’t even know it’s there.

“If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I’d have about the same odds as standing on the moon. In fact, during the year I was born and for a few years after, there wasn’t anyone in the world who was considered good enough to win this Nobel Prize. So, I recognize that I am in very rare company, to say the least.

“I was out on the road when I received this surprising news, and it took me more than a few minutes to properly process it. I began to think about William Shakespeare, the great literary figure. I would reckon he thought of himself as a dramatist. The thought that he was writing literature couldn’t have entered his head. His words were written for the stage. Meant to be spoken not read. When he was writing Hamlet, I’m sure he was thinking about a lot of different things: ‘Who’re the right actors for these roles?’ ‘How should this be staged?’ ‘Do I really want to set this in Denmark?’ His creative vision and ambitions were no doubt at the forefront of his mind, but there were also more mundane matters to consider and deal with. ‘Is the financing in place?’ ‘Are there enough good seats for my patrons?’ ‘Where am I going to get a human skull?’ I would bet that the farthest thing from Shakespeare’s mind was the question ‘Is this literature?’

“When I started writing songs as a teenager, and even as I started to achieve some renown for my abilities, my aspirations for these songs only went so far. I thought they could be heard in coffee houses or bars, maybe later in places like Carnegie Hall, the London Palladium. If I was really dreaming big, maybe I could imagine getting to make a record and then hearing my songs on the radio. That was really the big prize in my mind. Making records and hearing your songs on the radio meant that you were reaching a big audience and that you might get to keep doing what you had set out to do.

“Well, I’ve been doing what I set out to do for a long time, now. I’ve made dozens of records and played thousands of concerts all around the world. But it’s my songs that are at the vital center of almost everything I do. They seemed to have found a place in the lives of many people throughout many different cultures and I’m grateful for that.

“But there’s one thing I must say. As a performer I’ve played for 50,000 people and I’ve played for 50 people and I can tell you that it is harder to play for 50 people. 50,000 people have a singular persona, not so with 50. Each person has an individual, separate identity, a world unto themselves. They can perceive things more clearly. Your honesty and how it relates to the depth of your talent is tried. The fact that the Nobel committee is so small is not lost on me.

“But, like Shakespeare, I too am often occupied with the pursuit of my creative endeavors and dealing with all aspects of life’s mundane matters. ‘Who are the best musicians for these songs?’ ‘Am I recording in the right studio?’ ‘Is this song in the right key?’ Some things never change, even in 400 years.

“Not once have I ever had the time to ask myself, ‘Are my songs literature?’

“So, I do thank the Swedish Academy, both for taking the time to consider that very question, and, ultimately, for providing such a wonderful answer.

“My best wishes to you all,

“Bob Dylan”

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

Peter Green: Man Of The World

Revered by BB King, drafted in as Eric Clapton’s replacement in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers – “this guy’s much better,†said Mayall – Peter Green was more than just a gifted guitar stylist. During Steve Graham’s two-hour documentary, made in 2007 and now being released on DVD and Blu...

Revered by BB King, drafted in as Eric Clapton’s replacement in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers – “this guy’s much better,†said Mayall – Peter Green was more than just a gifted guitar stylist. During Steve Graham’s two-hour documentary, made in 2007 and now being released on DVD and Blu-ray, Noel Gallagher bigs up the songwriting skills of the fellow who wrote “Man Of The Worldâ€, “Oh Wellâ€, “Albatross†and “Black Magic Womanâ€, while Mick Fleetwood makes the case for his under-rated voice. Yet for all his talents, or perhaps because of them, Green’s has been a somewhat tortured existence.

This is a solid, no-frills telling of his story, pieced together mainly via talking heads, among them Fleetwood, Mayall, John McVie, Jeremy Spencer, Carlos Santana and Green’s two brothers. There’s also face time with a benign but foggy Green, as he revisits his family home in Bethnal Green, goes river fishing, and pores poignantly over old photos. “I’m not as good looking as that…â€

As ever, the early years seem to have been the happiest. Forming Fleetwood Mac in 1967, Green led them from grass roots blues act to Top Of The Pops. Unwilling to become part of the “material orthodoxy he was rebelling againstâ€, says manager Clifford Davis, the spiritually inquisitive Green grew fractious and disillusioned. The beautiful but terribly anxious “Man Of The World†was “his first cry for helpâ€, according to journalist Keith Altham, but it wasn’t one the band picked up on. “I have regrets,†admits Fleetwood, sadly.

Turned on by Grateful Dead’s lysergic guru Owsley Stanley, in 1969, while in Munich, Green was drawn into the dark web of a moneyed, cultish, “acid-fuelled elitist commune†which, believe McVie and Fleetwood, had catastrophic effects on his psyche. “They stripped him of his personality, and he never really came back,†says Fleetwood. Green left Mac shortly afterwards and embarked on a solo career, increasingly ambushed by severe mental illness. He started eating with his hands; his fingernails grew to four inches. Diagnosed as schizophrenic – “I was having a lot of strange experiences inside my head†– he ended up in a psychiatric hospital, undergoing ECT treatment, and spent much of the 70s and 80s out of circulation.

It’s a sad tale, but there are moments of levity. We learn that “Black Magic Woman†was inspired by former girlfriend Sandra Elsdon, who helpfully points out that the “magic stick†in the song “was his cockâ€. Green has a mescaline inspired vision to send cheese and tomato sandwiches direct to victims of the Biafran famine, and later threatened to shoot his accountant for not giving away enough of his money. In the mid-nineties, somewhat restored, he began performing again, and has recorded several albums. Now 70, he’s been less active of late.

Thorough as it is, the film never solves the riddle of a unique talent dammed in midstream. “He could have been so much more,†says McVie. “He never quite understood the power of what he’d been handed.†Gnomic though he is, Green perhaps comes closest to providing illumination. “Whatever I’m expecting,†he says at one point, “it never arrives.â€

EXTRAS: Half an hour of interview footage 5/10

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

Kate Bush – Before The Dawn

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In the immediate aftermath of Kate Bush’s return to live performance in August 2014, following an absence of 35 years, it was almost impossible to take an objective reading. Bushmania had taken hold in the lead up to her run of 22 dates at London’s Eventim Apollo. Every newspaper and magazine se...

In the immediate aftermath of Kate Bush’s return to live performance in August 2014, following an absence of 35 years, it was almost impossible to take an objective reading. Bushmania had taken hold in the lead up to her run of 22 dates at London’s Eventim Apollo. Every newspaper and magazine seemed awash with profiles, puff and feverish speculation; the BBC aired a new documentary; two photographic exhibitions opened in London; her songs were all over the radio, and most of her albums were heading back into the charts.

Expectations were not so much high as stratospheric. Oddness abounded. On the night on which I attended, a man along the row shook everybody’s hand before the show began. Strangers hugged. Couples wept. This was most assuredly not Shed Seven reconvening at the Astoria.

Thankfully, Before The Dawn was built to withstand such madness. Pivoting on two conceptual pieces, released 20 years apart, it was an intoxicating mix of music, theatre, film, art, puppetry and bad comedy. Revisiting The Ninth Wave, from her 1985 masterwork Hounds Of Love, and A Sky Of Honey, the second disc of her 2005 double Aerial, Bush took the audience to the depths of the ocean, through the arc of a summer’s day, and finally into the air. There were shipwrecks, skeletal sea creatures, witch trials, helicopters, bird masks and Moorish walled cities. Before The Dawn demanded complete immersion – no smartphones allowed, on pain of death, or at least expulsion – but our dutiful dedication was rewarded. At the end, we were decanted back into the west London night as though returning from some distant dream of a country.

Some of the shows were filmed, but so far there has been no word of a DVD or cinematic release. Perhaps the rigours of transferring stage magic to screen gold proved too exacting. Instead, after a cooling-off period of two years, Before The Dawn is presented as a purely musical experience. Released as download, triple-CD and quadruple vinyl, this live album documents the entire show, in sequence. For those invested in the historic drama surrounding Bush’s return to live performance, it’s a godsend. For those less committed souls, it may present some challenges.

You could certainly spend time grumbling about what this album *isn’t*. It’s definitively not Kate Bush exploring all corners of her criminally underperformed catalogue. Nothing here pre-dates 1985, and the vast majority of the 27 songs are taken from just two albums: Hounds Of Love and Aerial, alongside one each from The Sensual World and 50 Words For Snow, and two from The Red Shoes. A new song, “Tawny Moonâ€, is slotted into A Sky Of Honey, and it’s good, a churning, mechanical piece of modern blues, sung gamely by Bush’s teenage son Bertie McIntosh.

Rather than present one full show in its entirety, Bush has chosen to stitch together performances from throughout the run. This allows for the inclusion of a wonderful rehearsal version of “Never Be Mineâ€, a piece of pastoral ECM restored to the running order after being dropped at the eleventh hour. It appears during Act One, the part of Before The Dawn which most resembles a conventional concert. This is the opening seven-song sequence where Bush ticks off some hits and performs them straight.

The rolling rhythm and quicksilver synthetic pulse of “Running Up That Hill†is beautifully realised, while a rapturous “Hounds Of Love†locates the taut, wolverine snap of the original. She toys with the chorus melody, throwing in a Turner-esque entreaty to “tie me to the mastâ€, a measured tinkering in keeping with the prevailing musical sensibility. Bush, the ultimate studio artist, opts for faithful reproductions of her oeuvre with just a few twists. Nothing has been re-recorded or overdubbed; presumably there was no need. The band of stellar sessionmen are supple, empathetic and meticulous, as is the Chorus of supporting actors and singers recruited mainly from musical theatre. Among their ranks young Bertie, only 16 at the time, does a remarkably proficient job.

Bush’s voice remains a wonder. These days it’s deeper and huskier, cross-hatched with bluesy ululations and soulful stylings. On the opening “Lilyâ€, she sings like a lioness, drawing sparks from the words “fire†and “darkness†over a thick, plush groove. During a terrifically showbizzy “Top Of The Cityâ€, she rises from a serene whisper to a banshee howl. Riding the chimeric reggae of “King Of The Mountain†she transitions from sensuous earth mother to lowering Prospero, summoning the tempest during the tumultuous, drum-heavy, propulsive climax.

This is a key moment in Before The Dawn, a hinge between the straight gig and the theatrics which follow. From now on, listening to the album is sometimes akin to hearing the soundtrack to a film being screened in another room. Act Two, The Ninth Wave, is particularly tricky in this regard. The conceptual suite about a woman lost at sea after a ship sinks lends itself to a sustained visual experience, but has to work harder on record. At Hammersmith, “Hello Earth†was staggeringly operatic, as dramatic and contemporary as any modern staging of The Ring or Parsifal. Here, it is merely – *merely* – a magnificent piece of music.

Similarly, onstage, “Astronomer’s Callâ€, co-written with novelist David Mitchell and voiced by Kevin Doyle, aka Molesley in Downton Abbey, was a technical necessity, a chance to lay out some slightly clumsy exposition while the stage was being re-set. Arguably, there is no virtue in its being included here aside from historical accuracy. The same is true of a sub-Outnumbered, hammy am-dram domestic skit – “shitty shitty bang bangâ€, “jellyvision†and all – featuring Bertie McIntosh and Bob Harms. It has been shortened, but should probably have been removed entirely.

At times like these, Before The Dawn is unsure whether it’s a cast recording of a West End musical or a live album. The music, however, is uniformly wonderful. On “Under Ice†the band lock into the song’s oppressive, jagged rhythm, perfectly articulating its chilly claustrophobia. “Waking The Witch†becomes a frantic six-minute soul-funk work-out, stabs of organ and distorted guitar merging over the screams of the Witchmaster, played with terrifying plausibility by Jo Servi. “Jig Of Life†is all flinty Celtic rhythm, with Kevin McAlea – the sole remaining member from Bush’s Tour Of Life band – excelling on the uilleann pipes. After the dark drama of “Hello Earthâ€, “Morning Fog†arrives like light flooding the room. It’s easeful and organic, burnished with acoustic guitar and accordion. Saved from the sea, Bush has slipped out of character and is restored to herself, murmuring like a newly woken lover. When she softly sings “You know what, I love you betterâ€, the crowd embrace it as an affirmation of their enduring loyalty and cheer wildly. It’s a lovely moment.

The meditative feel holds for the opening part of Act Three, A Sky Of Honey. It’s a more unified piece than The Ninth Wave, the songs eliding seamlessly, allowing for full immersion. The mood is slow, stoned, dream-like. “Prologueâ€, a ten-minute tour de force dominated by Bush’s rippling piano and John Giblin’s lyrical bass, is lifted by a new, jubilant coda. “Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong/Bring it on, break it down… summer!†Bush sings, harmonising with the peal of distant bells. “An Architect’s Dream†and “Somewhere In Between†are spotlit as slinky, sensuous explorations of the creative connections which occur in the liminal spaces. The sultry “Sunset†climbs towards a rattling flamenco climax, Mino Cinélu’s percussive power pushing the song “all the way up to the top of the nightâ€. As Bush sings in her most headily perfumed purr, the thought occurs that her voice has never sounded better. Her maverick instincts, too, remain on point. On “Aerial Tal†she mimics the song of the blackbird over a new-agey wash of synths.

It all leads to the rising, rhythmic 20-minute climax of “Nocturn†and “Aerialâ€. Amid bells and birdsong, a new tension informs the music. Over an angry squall of guitar and a heavy artillery of bass and drums, Bush wails about her “beautiful wings†– shades of PJ Harvey here – as the music pushes up and up. It ends with frenzied chanting and what sounds like an explosion. Listeners may imagine Bush disappearing in a puff of smoke; in fact, she was hoisted into the air, black wings and all, airborne at last.

The encores wheel back to the show’s no-concept beginnings. She sings “Among Angels†alone at the piano. Almost unspeakably intimate, it’s a timely reminder that, for all the theatrics, if Bush were ‘just’ a singer she would still be utterly remarkable. This is followed by a celebratory “Cloudbusting†– another of her classics which you suddenly realise you’ve never heard performed live, whether by Bush or anybody else – which sounds like the best kind of circus music. Long and loose, it’s a musical smile, “like the sun coming outâ€. And then it’s over.

At the start of Before The Dawn, after the rousing crowd response to “Lilyâ€, Bush chirps, “Oh thank you, what a lovely welcome!†She says little else until the end of “Cloudbusting†when, clearly moved, she exclaims, “Oh my God! What a beautiful sight! Look at you all, I will always remember this.†Above all else, the album seems to seek to honour that sentiment, a physical testament to an extraordinary shared moment between artist and audience.

There may be an argument for excising the dramatic interludes, and perhaps even a handful of songs, in favour of something leaner and more sculpted. But that would be to bind Bush to the conventions she has spent an entire career challenging, and to misunderstand the ambition and intention behind Before The Dawn. What we have instead is an exhaustive audio souvenir of a momentous event, simply to remind us – and perhaps Bush, too – that it really did happen after all.

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

The 43rd Uncut Playlist Of 2016

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A couple of big headline albums arrived this week, to make a fuss about: Hurray For The Riff Raff’s “The Navigator†and Six Organs Of Admittance’s “Burning The Thresholdâ€. Very strong lead tracks from both of them embedded below. Also, we’ve listened to all 50 of Stephin Merritt’s n...

A couple of big headline albums arrived this week, to make a fuss about: Hurray For The Riff Raff’s “The Navigator†and Six Organs Of Admittance’s “Burning The Thresholdâ€. Very strong lead tracks from both of them embedded below.

Also, we’ve listened to all 50 of Stephin Merritt’s new songs, very much enjoyed an all-new Chris Forsyth and Solar Motel Band live set, loved William Basinski’s tribute to David Bowie, and spent some time deep in a live set by an exceptionally good Grateful Dead tribute band (with a walk-on part from Bob Weir). Here you go…

Follow me on Twitter @JohnRMulvey

1 Glenn Jones – This Is The Wind That Blows It Out (Thrill Jockey)

2 Michael Chapman – 50 (Paradise Of Bachelors)

3 The Magnetic Fields – 50 Song Memoir (Nonesuch)

4 Brian Eno – Reflection (Warp)

5 Nadia Reid – Preservation (Basin Rock)

6 A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service (Epic)

7 Hurray For The Riff Raff – The Navigator (ATO)

8 The Dead Tongues – Montana (Self-Released)

9 Tift Merritt – Stitch Of The World (Yep Roc)

10 Six Organs Of Admittance – Burning The Threshold (Drag City)

11 Laura Marling – Semper Femina (More Alarming/Kobalt)

12 Wes Tirey – Black Wind (Scissor Tail)

13 Elbow – Little Fictions (Fiction)

14 Visible Cloaks – Reassemblage (RVNG INTL)

15 Graeme Miller & Steve Shill – The Moomins (Finders Keepers)

16 Various Artists – The Hired Hands: A Tribute To Bruce Langhorne (Scissor Tail)

17 Mike Oldfield – Return To Ommadawn (Virgin)

18 Mike Oldfield – Hergest Ridge (Virgin)

19 Mose Allison – I’m Not Talkin’: The Song Stylings Of Mose Allison 1957-1971 (BGP)

20 Jeff Parker – Slight Freedom (Eremite)

21 Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band – Live At Union Pool, New York 03/12/2016 (nyctaper.com)

22 Joe Russo’s Almost Dead – Live At Fox Theater, Oakland, 12/11/2016 (archive.org)

23 William Basinski – A Shadow In Time (Temporary Residence)

24 The xx – I See You (Young Turks)

25 Aurelio – Darandi (Real World)

26 Ty Segall – Ty Segall (Drag City)

27 High Plains – Cinderland (Kranky)

 

Photo credit: Sarrah Danziger

The Jesus And Mary Chain announce new album, Damage And Joy

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The Jesus And Mary Chain have announced details of a new album, . Damage And Joy is released on March 24 on ADA / Warner Music. The album is their first since Munki in 1998. “We started to – can you believe? – listen to each other a bit more,†explains Jim Reid. “In the last couple of y...

The Jesus And Mary Chain have announced details of a new album, .

Damage And Joy is released on March 24 on ADA / Warner Music.

The album is their first since Munki in 1998.

“We started to – can you believe? – listen to each other a bit more,†explains Jim Reid. “In the last couple of years, we’ve buried the hatchet to some degree, and thankfully not into each other. Most people who know us would say that we haven’t mellowed that much. I think it was to do with the fact, dare I say it, that wisdom comes with age. Let’s live and let live, and let’s take each other’s opinions into account.â€

The album has been produced by Youth, who plays bass, and also features performances from the band’s touring drummer Brian Young as well as former Lush bassist Phil King.

“The interesting thing about this record is what comes out of the speakers,†declares Jim. “To make a good record is an achievement if you’re twenty-two, but to do it in your fifties, the way we are, I think is a minor miracle.â€

Damage And Joy will be released on digital, CD, vinyl and cassette formats.

The full album tracklisting is:

Amputation
War On Peace
All Things Pass
Always Sad
Song For A Secret
The Two Of Us
Los Feliz (Blues and Greens)
Mood Rider
Presidici (Et Chapaquiditch)
Get On Home
Facing Up To The Facts
Simian Split
Black And Blues
Can’t Stop The Rock

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

Bob Dylan announces new UK tour dates

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Bob Dylan has announced a new set of UK tour dates. He will play six shows in the UK next May, including one at London's SSE Wembley Arena. May 3: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff May 4: The BIC, Bournemouth May 5: Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham May 7: SECC Arena, Glasgow May 8: Echo Arena, Liverpool May 9...

Bob Dylan has announced a new set of UK tour dates.

He will play six shows in the UK next May, including one at London’s SSE Wembley Arena.

May 3: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
May 4: The BIC, Bournemouth
May 5: Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
May 7: SECC Arena, Glasgow
May 8: Echo Arena, Liverpool
May 9: The SSE Arena Wembley, London

Dylan recently released The Live 1966 Recordings, a monumental chronicle of the legendary “Judas†tour. You can read Uncut’s review by clicking here.

Meanwhile, a deluxe edition of Uncut’s Ultimate Music Guide to Dylan is available now by clicking here

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews

How much would you pay for one of Prince or Jimi Hendrix’s guitars?

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Two guitars, once owned by Jimi Hendrix and Prince, are up for auction. The sale will take place Thursday, December 15 at 12 midday at Bonhams, Knightsbridge. Jimi Hendrix’s guitar - estimated at £80,000-120,000 - will lead the sale. An Epiphone acoustic in sunburst finish, it was in Hendrix’...

Two guitars, once owned by Jimi Hendrix and Prince, are up for auction.

The sale will take place Thursday, December 15 at 12 midday at Bonhams, Knightsbridge.

Jimi Hendrix’s guitar – estimated at £80,000-120,000 – will lead the sale. An Epiphone acoustic in sunburst finish, it was in Hendrix’s possession for almost three years. He then gave the guitar to Blue Mink’s Alan Parker in 1970. It was subsequently used on recordings including those by Dusty Springfield, Walker Brothers, Blue Mink, Paul McCartney and David Bowie.

Prince’s Cloud Guitar is estimated at £25,000-30,000. He used the Cloud model throughout his career, re-spraying the colour to co- ordinate with new looks. This Cloud was taken on the Act I & II, Prince and the New Power Generation Tours of 1993.

Other highlights include a silk jacket worn on stage (London Palladium, 22 January 1967) by Keith Richards, estimated at £10,000-15,000, and an Imperial Bösendorfer concert grand piano played by Queen, Coldplay, Robbie Williams and Talk Talk, estimated at £20,000-30,000.

The January 2017 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – featuring our cover story on the Rolling Stones, plus a free CD of the year’s best music featuring Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wilco, Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Teenage Fanclub and more. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s Uncut’s review of 2016 – the 75 Best Albums and 30 Best Reissues alongside our films and books of the year. Plus Gillian Welch, Drive-By Truckers, Phil Collins, Ryley Walker, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Frank Zappa, 75 Dollar Bill, Dave Mason and more plus 108 reviews