Lush have announced details of their first live show in almost twenty years, playing London’s Roundhouse on Friday, May 6, 2016.
Tickets for the show go on sale on Wednesday 30th September 2015 at 9am via www.alt-tickets.co.uk/lush-tickets and are priced at £27.50.
More live dates are expected ...
Lush have announced details of their first live show in almost twenty years, playing London’s Roundhouse on Friday, May 6, 2016.
Tickets for the show go on sale on Wednesday 30th September 2015 at 9am via www.alt-tickets.co.uk/lush-tickets and are priced at £27.50.
More live dates are expected to be announced soon.
The band last played live in Tokyo in September 1996.
“The opportunities and practicalities of reforming Lush meant that for 20 years it was an impossible undertaking,” explained vocalist/guitarist Miki Berenyi. “But we all loved what we did, and the time is finally right for us to do it again.”
The band’s UK label, 4AD, are also releasing a vinyl reissue of Lush’s ‘best of’ compilation Ciao! in November, followed by a limited edition box set titled Chorus at the beginning of December.
The box is a five-disc set, comprising the early compilation Gala (1990), the three studio albums Spooky (1992), Split (1994) and Lovelife (1996) and the B-sides collection Topolino (the Canadian version, also 1996), plus B-sides, radio sessions, remixes and demos, some previously unreleased. The artwork is by Chris Bigg.
The line-up for forthcoming live shows is Berenyi, vocalist/guitarist Emma Anderson, bassist Phil King and Justin Welch, formerly of Elastica.
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
Few things to highlight this week, not least a mighty Neil Young live set in which he dusts down "Alabama" for the first time (I'm reliably informed; thanks, Mark) in over 40 years. Please have a listen, too, to the Grand Rapids jam, Patrick Higgins, Nadia Reid and Lubomyr Melnyk. Also, I have nothi...
Few things to highlight this week, not least a mighty Neil Young live set in which he dusts down “Alabama” for the first time (I’m reliably informed; thanks, Mark) in over 40 years. Please have a listen, too, to the Grand Rapids jam, Patrick Higgins, Nadia Reid and Lubomyr Melnyk. Also, I have nothing whatsoever of interest to say about the Ryan Adams album.
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey
1 Duane Pitre – Bayou Electric (Important)
2 Byron Westbrook – Precipice (Root Strata)
3 Neil Young & The Promise Of The Real – Live At Farm Aid
4 Elle Osborne – It’s Not Your Gold Shall Me Entice (House)
5 Ryan Adams – 1989 (Columbia)
6 Kelley Stoltz – In Triangle Time (Castle Face)
7 Kohoutek – Curious Aroma (MIE Music)
8 3 Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts – Manhattan (Rough Trade)
9 Floating Points – Elaenia (Pluto)
10 Grand Banks – Live 9-16-2015 (https://grand-banks.bandcamp.com/album/grand-banks-live-9-16-2015)
11 Glenn Mercer – Incidental Hum (Bar None)
12 Patrick Higgins – Bachanalia (Telegraph Harp)
13 Nadia Reid – Listen To Formation, Look For The Signs (Scissor Tail/Spunk)
14 Van Morrison – Astral Weeks (Rhino)
15 Kurt Stenzel – Jodorowsky’s Dune: Motion Picture Soundtrack (Light In The Attic)
16 Tortoise – Djed/Cliff Dweller Society (Duophonic)
17 Bill MacKay & Ryley Walker – Land Of Plenty (Whistler)
18 Bill Ryder-Jones – West Kirby County Primary (Domino)
19 The Wainwright Sisters – Songs In The Dark (PIAS)
20 Sexwitch – Sexwitch (Echo)
21 Weyes Blood – Cardamom Times (Mexican Summer)
22 Bing & Ruth – City Lake (RVNG INTL)
23 The Chills – Silver Bullet (Fire)
24 The Necks – Vertigo (ReR/Northern Spy)
25 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Paper Mâché Dream Balloon (Heavenly)
26 Six Organs Of Admittance – Hexadic II (Drag City)
27 Lubomyr Melnyk – Rivers and Streams (Erased Tapes)
Since self-releasing their 1978 debut, Just Another Band From East LA, Los Lobos have operated outside the mainstream, making consistently brilliant LPs on limited resources. Drummer Louie Pérez, singer/guitarists David Hidalgo and César Rosas, and bass player Conrad Lozano formed the band soon af...
Since self-releasing their 1978 debut, Just Another Band From East LA, Los Lobos have operated outside the mainstream, making consistently brilliant LPs on limited resources. Drummer Louie Pérez, singer/guitarists David Hidalgo and César Rosas, and bass player Conrad Lozano formed the band soon after graduating from Garfield High School in 1973, stirring together trad Mexican music, rock’n’roll, blues, R’n’B, country, folk and Tex-Mex, eventually rising to the exalted status of Great American Band. Lobos reminded audiences of their greatness while touring the US and Europe this summer with Neil Young & Crazy Horse. “It’s a great match – two bands who love to play real raw rock’n’roll, says Hidalgo. “It’s a real honour and treat to get to play with our friends and musical compadres.” From Uncut’s September 2013 issue (Take 196).
______________________
LOS LOBOS …AND A TIME TO DANCE SLASH, 1983
Los Lobos’ seven-track Slash Records debut formed their blueprint with its mix of originals, a Mexican folk song and a Ritchie Valens cover.
DAVID HIDALGO: When the Lobos started, we were learning Mexican folk. It was like looking for the blues; we were trying to find our roots. We grew up with Mexican music all around, but we didn’t pay attention. When we tried to play it, it opened the door to our own culture. The EP was pretty much what we were playing live and our first attempt at writing for the band.
STEVE BERLIN (saxophonist/producer): I was a member of the Blasters, who were in the process of falling apart, so I threw myself into being around Lobos as much as possible, which wasn’t hard to do since they were playing so much, not only all over town in the clubs but also their neighborhood thing, where they’d play for weddings, quinceañeras, political rallies. I was also hangin’ around Slash and bugging [label head] Bob Biggs to sign Los Lobos, which he did, although he didn’t think there was anything there. The deal was, I was gonna produce them and, as I had produced hardly anything, Biggs said, “Why don’t we get T Bone [Burnett] in?” We cut the EP in less than two weeks. Since Biggs had signed them just to get his friends off his back, we just wanted to get it out and see what happened. We wound up winning a Grammy, and somewhere in there, I ceased being a Blaster and became a Lobo.
________________________
LOS LOBOS HOW WILL THE WOLF SURVIVE? SLASH/WARNER BROS, 1984
The band’s first widely heard record puts them on the map. They tied for ‘artist of the year’ with Springsteen in the Rolling Stone critics’ poll.
HIDALGO: After the EP came out, we realised that somebody’s listening, so we should have something to say, and “Matter Of Time” was the first commentary about our situation.
BERLIN: We had risen up the food chain, and Slash had been subsumed by Warners, so this time we weren’t trying to sneak in the back door any more – we were making a real record. One day in rehearsal, Dave came in and started playing the chords of “Will The Wolf Survive?”, and I thought to myself, ‘This song changes everything’, and it did. It was the first time we’d assimilated all our stuff and created something that was quintessentially us. It was an epiphany.
HIDALGO: The way “Will The Wolf Survive?” came about was, Dave Alvin [of the Blasters] said, “You guys need an anthem,” and I took it to heart. We were flippin’ through a National Geographic and it had a wolf running across a frozen lake. The next story showed this old farm hand sitting by the side of the road. We put the last verse together about the punk rockers, because the punk scene blew it wide open for the roots-rock movement. That was our in, because we were playing Mexican folk music and started mixing up Tex-Mex with rock’n’roll.
______________________
LOS LOBOS KIKO SLASH/WARNER BROS, 1992
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPoXM4LFZsc
The title song from Taylor Hackford’s 1987 Valens biopic La Bamba vaulted Lobos to No 1, but the next few years proved to be a dispiriting slog. Figuring they had nothing to lose, Hidalgo and Pérez let their imaginations run wild. Cue dreamlike excursions (“Dream In Blue”), hardscrabble narratives (“Short Side Of Nothing”), and fiery blues-rock (“Whiskey Trail”).
HIDALGO: Sometimes the most painful stuff you go through results in your best work.
BERLIN: This was post-“La Bamba”, La Pistola Y El Corazón [1988] and The Neighborhood [1990], which was really hard to make and took forever. We came home from the tour that followed The Neighborhood broke, frustrated and pissed off. So we licked our wounds for a while, and when it came time to think about the next record, it was a tough time because we’d wasted so much money. We figured we had nothin’ to lose – we were just gonna do what we wanted and not listen to anybody. We cut about six demos, and me, Louie and Dave went over to Warners to play them for [label president] Lenny Waronker. He loved them and gave us the green light – every one of those demos wound up on the album – but he wanted us to work with Mitchell [Froom] again.
HIDALGO: Mitchell had produced the single of “La Bamba” and “Angel Dance” on The Neighborhood, so we were friends, and he brought in [engineer] Tchad [Blake]. We had a few things started when we got back to the studio, and I remember saying, “Man, some backwards guitar would sound good on this.” Tchad flips the tape and says, “Go ahead, try it.” “Just like that? It’s that easy? Wow.” That’s when I discovered you can have fun in the studio. Before that, it was always a pain. Louie and I had a few ideas, and we took them in, and we’d just go in and try to capture that first impression. So that was a big step for us, and we learnt a whole lot. It was a great time. Thank God the material was comin’. When it’s time to do an album and you try to put material together, you don’t know what you’re gonna come up with, and sometimes you get lucky.
BERLIN: A lot of the sound of that record was us not knowing the songs at all – it was the spark and the heart and the sound of searching. Pete Thomas played drums, and he was really key to the process as well. He was so inventive and always wanted to try crazy shit. Everybody who was involved in that record was pulling on the same side of the rope. It was an extraordinary experience – every initial idea sounded magical.
LOUIE PEREZ: With Kiko, there was just something going on that was otherworldly while it was happening; we just watched it twist and turn and float around in front of us.
Columbia Records have announced details of Bob Dylan's The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Nov. 12. The deluxe six-CD anthology will be released by Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings on November 6, and features previously unheard songs, outtakes, rehearsal tracks and alternate versions fr...
Columbia Records have announced details of Bob Dylan‘s The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Nov. 12. The deluxe six-CD anthology will be released by Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings on November 6, and features previously unheard songs, outtakes, rehearsal tracks and alternate versions from the sessions for Bringing It all Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde. All the recordings have been mixed from the original studio tracking tapes. The set includes an annotated book featuring rare and previously unseen photographs, memorabilia and new essays written by Bill Flanagan and Sean Wilentz.
An “ultra deluxe”18-CD edition (available exclusively through BobDylan.com) includes every note recorded in the studio during the sessions. It will be limited to 5,000 copies worldwide, and has been mixed from the original studio tracking tapes, eliminating vestiges of the 1960s studio processing. Dylan’s original nine mono 45 RPM singles from the period are also included, packaged in newly created picture sleeves, along with rare hotel room recordings from London’s Savoy Hotel (May 4, 1965), the North British Station Hotel in Glasgow (May 13, 1966) and a Denver, Colorado hotel (March 12, 1966) as well as a strip of original film cels from Don’t Look Back.
Meanwhile a condensed version of the set will be released as The Best Of The Cutting Edge 1965-1966, in 2-CD and 3-LP sets.
Explore the tracklist for the release below, and watch The Story Behind The Cutting Edge.
The Best of The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12
DISC 1
Love Minus Zero/No Limit – Take 2 (1/13/1965) acoustic
I’ll Keep It with Mine – Take 1 (1/13/1965) piano demo
Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream – Take 2 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic
She Belongs to Me – Take 1 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic
Subterranean Homesick Blues – Take 1 (1/14/1965) alternate take
Outlaw Blues – Take 2 (1/13/1965) alternate take
On the Road Again – Take 4 (1/14/1965) alternate take
Farewell, Angelina – Take 1 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic
If You Gotta Go, Go Now – Take 2 (1/15/1965) alternate take
You Don’t Have to Do That – Take 1 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic
California – Take 1 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic
Mr. Tambourine Man – Take 3 (1/15/1965) with band, incomplete
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry – Take 8 (6/15/1965) alternate take
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 5 (6/15/1965) rehearsal
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 11 (6/16/1965) alternate take
Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence – Take 2 (6/15/1965) unreleased take
Medicine Sunday – Take 1 (10/5/1965) early version of Temporary Like Achilles
Desolation Row – Take 2 (8/4/1965) piano demo
Desolation Row – Take 1 (8/4/1965) alternate take
DISC 2
Tombstone Blues – Take 1 (7/29/1965) alternate take
Positively 4th Street – Take 5 (7/29/1965) alternate take
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window – Take 1 (7/30/1965) alternate take
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues – Take 3 (8/2/1965) rehearsal
Highway 61 Revisited – Take 3 (8/2/1965) alternate take
Queen Jane Approximately – Take 5 (8/2/1965) alternate take
Visions of Johanna – Take 5 (11/30/1965) rehearsal
She’s Your Lover Now – Take 6 (1/21/1966) rehearsal
Lunatic Princess – Take 1 (1/27/1966)
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat – Take 8 (2/14/1966) alternate take
One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) – Take 19 (1/25/1966) alternate take
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again – Take 13 (2/17/1966) alternate take
Absolutely Sweet Marie – Take 1 (3/7/1966) alternate take
Just Like a Woman – Take 4 (3/8/1966) alternate take
Pledging My Time – Take 1 (3/8/1966) alternate take
I Want You – Take 4 (3/10/1966) alternate take
Highway 61 Revisited – Take 7 (8/2/1965) false start
All tracks previously unreleased except Disc 1, track 2, Biograph; Disc 1, track 8, The Bootleg Series, Volume 1-3.
The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12
(6-CD Deluxe Edition)
DISC 1:
Love Minus Zero/No Limit – Take 1 (1/13/1965) acoustic, incomplete
Love Minus Zero/No Limit – Take 2 (1/13/1965) acoustic
Love Minus Zero/No Limit – Take 3 remake (1/13/1965) acoustic
Love Minus Zero/No Limit – Take 1 remake (1/14/1965) electric
I’ll Keep It with Mine – Take 1 (1/13/1965) piano demo, previously released on Biograph, 1985
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue – Take 1 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic, previously released on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7, 2005
Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream – Take 1 (1/13/1965) acoustic, incomplete
Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream – Take 2 (1/13/1965) acoustic
She Belongs to Me – Take 1 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic
She Belongs to Me – Take 2 Remake (1/13/1965) acoustic
She Belongs to Me – Take 1 Remake (1/14/1965) electric
Subterranean Homesick Blues – Take 1 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic, previously released on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1-3, 1991
Subterranean Homesick Blues – Take 1 remake (1/14/1965) electric
Outlaw Blues – Take 1 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic
Outlaw Blues – Take 2 Remake (1/13/1965) electric
On the Road Again – Take 1 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic
On the Road Again – Take 4 (1/14/1965) electric
On the Road Again – Take 1 remake (1/15/1965) electric
On the Road Again – Take 7 remake (1/15/1965) electric
Farewell, Angelina – Take 1 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic, previously released The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1-3, 1991
If You Gotta Go, Go Now – Take 1 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic
If You Gotta Go, Go Now – Take 2 (1/15/1965) electric
You Don’t Have to Do That – Take 1 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic, incomplete
DISC 2:
California – Take 1 (1/13/1965) solo acoustic
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) – Take 1 (1/15/1965) acoustic, demo
Mr. Tambourine Man – Takes 1 – 2 (1/15/1965) incomplete, with band
Mr. Tambourine Man – Take 3 (1/15/1965) incomplete, with band
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry – Take 1 (6/15/1965)
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry – Take 8 (6/15/1965)
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry – Take 3 (7/29/1965)
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry – Take 3 remake (7/29/65)
Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence – Take 2 (6/15/1965)
Tombstone Blues – Take 1 (7/29/1965)
Tombstone Blues – Take 9 (7/29/1965) previously released on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7, 2005
Positively 4th Street – Takes 1-3 (7/29/1965)
Positively 4th Street – Take 4 (7/29/1965)
Positively 4th Street – Take 5 (7/29/1965)
Desolation Row – Take 1 (8/4/1965)
Desolation Row – Take 2 (8/4/1965) piano demo
Desolation Row – Take 5 remake (8/2/1965)
From a Buick 6 – Take 1 (7/30/1965)
From a Buick 6 – Take 4 (7/30/1965) released in error on first pressing of Highway 61 Revisited, 1965
DISC 3:
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 1-3 (6/15/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 4 (6/15/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 5 (6/15/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Rehearsal (6/16/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 1 (6/16/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Takes 2-3 (6/16/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 4 (6/16/1965) released on Highway 61 Revisited, 1965
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 5 (6/16/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 6 (6/16/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone -Take 8 (6/16/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Takes 9-10 (6/16/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 11 (6/16/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 12 (6/16/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 13 (6/16/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 14 (6/16/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Take 15 (6/16/1965)
Like a Rolling Stone – Master take – lead guitar isolated track
Like a Rolling Stone – Master take – vocal and guitar isolated track
Like a Rolling Stone – Mast take – drums and organ isolated track
Like a Rolling Stone – Master take – piano and bass isolated track
DISC 4:
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window – Take 1 (7/30/1965)
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window – Take 17 (7/30/1965 released in error on the first pressing of Positively 4th Street single
Highway 61 Revisited – Take 3 (8/2/1965)
Highway 61 Revisited – Take 5 (8/2/1965)
Highway 61 Revisited – Take 7 (8/2/1965)
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues – Take 1 (8/2/1965)
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues – Take 3 (8/2/1965)
Just Like Tom Thumb’s blues – Take 13 (8/2/1965)
Queen Jane Approximately – Take 2 (8/2/1965)
Queen Jane Approximately – Take 5 (8/2/1965)
Ballad of a Thin Man – Take 2 (8/2/1965) incomplete
Medicine Sunday – Take 1 (10/5/1965)
Jet Pilot – Take 1 (10/5/1965) Previously released on Biograph, 1985
I Wanna Be Your Lover – Take 1 (10/5/1965)
I Wanna Be Your Lover – Take 6 (10/5/1965)
Unknown Instrumental – Take 2 (10/5/1965)
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window – Takes 5-6 (11/30/1965)
Visions of Johanna – Take 1 (11/30/1965)
Visions of Johanna – Take 5 (11/30/1965)
DISC 5:
Visions of Johanna – Take 7 (11/30/1965)
Visions of Johanna – Take 8 (11/30/1965) previously released on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7, 2005
Visions of Johanna – Take 14 (11/30/1965)
She’s Your Lover Now – Take 1 (1/21/1966)
She’s Your Lover Now – Take 6 (1/21/1966)
She’s Your Lover Now – Take 15 (1/21/1966) previously released on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1-3, 1991
She’s Your Lover Now – Take 16 (1/21/1966) solo piano
One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) – Take 2 (1/25/1966)
One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) – Take 4 (1/25/1966)
One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) – Take 19 (1/25/1966)
Lunatic Princess – Take 1 (1/27/1966)
Fourth Time Around – Take 11 (2/14/1966)
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat – Take 3 (2/14/1966)
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat – Take 8 (2/14/1966)
DISC 6:
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again – Take 1 (2/17/1966)
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again – Rehearsal (2/17/1966)
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again – Take 5 (2/17/1966) previously released on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7, 2005
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again – Take 13 (2/17/1966)
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again – Take 14 (2/17/1966)
Absolutely Sweet Marie – Take 1 (3/7/1966)
Just Like a Woman – Take 1 (3/8/1966)
Just Like a Woman – Take 4 (3/8/1966)
Just Like a Woman – Take 8 (3/8/1966)
Pledging My Time – Take 1 (3/8/1966)
Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine) – Take 1 (3/9/1966)
Temporary Like Achilles – Take 3 (3/9/1966)
Obviously 5 Believers – Take 3 (3/10/1966)
I Want You – Take 4 (3/10/1966)
Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands – Take 1 – (2/16/1966)
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
The BFI London Film Festival takes place from October 7 - 18, and features the UK premieres of several music documentaries.
Among the highlights is The American Epic Sessions, Jack White and T Bone Burnett's tribute to the Western Electric lathe, which "pioneered the recording of American music." T...
The BFI London Film Festival takes place from October 7 – 18, and features the UK premieres of several music documentaries.
Among the highlights is The American Epic Sessions, Jack White and T Bone Burnett‘s tribute to the Western Electric lathe, which “pioneered the recording of American music.” The film features live performances from Elton John, Nas, Willie Nelson, Alabama Shakes, Steve Martin, Ana Gabriel, Merle Haggard and Taj Mahal among others.
Amy Berg’s Janis Joplin documentary, Janis: Little Girl Blue, also receives its UK premiere, and offers a portrait of “a hugely witty and talented free spirit who rebelled against her own youth in a town populated by bigotry, where she was targeted for her boyish looks and for being pro-integration.”
Elsewhere, there’s Danny Says, Brendan Toller’s film about Ramones manager Danny Fields; Stretch And Bobito: Radio That Saved Lives features the likes of Jay Z, Eminem and Nas paying tribute to the legendary ’90s hip-hop DJs Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Garcia; Fresh Dressed documents the evolution of hip-hop style, and They Will Have To Kill Us First: Malian Music In Exile captures the tensions between northern Mali musicians and the Islamic Jihadists that took control of the area in 2010, to a soundtrack featuring the Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ Nick Zinner, Khaira Arby, Fadimata ‘Disco’ Walet Oumar, Amkoullel and Moussa Sidi.
Check out the rest of the BFI’s Sonic programme here, and watch more trailers below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gm5OhJszpU
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
In this month's issue, Uncut holds An Audience With... John Grant, as the Iceland-based singer-songwriter prepares to release his third solo album, Grey Tickles, Black Pressure.
Responding to questions from readers as well as Elton John, Holly Johnson, Midlake's Eric Pullido and Villagers' Conor O'...
In this month’s issue, Uncut holds An Audience With… John Grant, as the Iceland-based singer-songwriter prepares to release his third solo album, Grey Tickles, Black Pressure.
Responding to questions from readers as well as Elton John, Holly Johnson, Midlake‘s Eric Pullido and Villagers‘ Conor O’Brien, Grant calls Freddie Mercury and The Divinyls’ Christina Amphlett his ideal dinner party companions, and discloses the advice that Sinead O’Connor gave him.
Of his new album cover, in which he appears alongside a pair of ornamental owls with his eyes scratched out, Grant says:
“If I’m honest, I suppose there’s something I don’t want people to see in my eyes. They really are the window to the soul. It looks like a photo that you’d take of a child, maybe through the eyes of David Lynch. And so I wanted to take away the innocence. I was trying to express what was expected of me and what I have become.”
Grey Tickles, Black Pressure is released through Bella Union on October 9. Watch the video for “Disappointing”, featuring Tracey Thorn.
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
Morrissey has detailed the plot of his debut novel. The List Of The Lost is released today (September 24) through Penguin Books, and concerns a relay team plagued by a demon. He released a statement about the book to fansite True To You:
"The theme is demonology ... the left-handed path of black mag...
Morrissey has detailed the plot of his debut novel. The List Of The Lost is released today (September 24) through Penguin Books, and concerns a relay team plagued by a demon. He released a statement about the book to fansite True To You:
“The theme is demonology … the left-handed path of black magic. It is about a sports relay team in 1970s America who accidentally kill a wretch who, in esoteric language, might be known as a Fetch … a discarnate entity in physical form. He appears, though, as an omen of the immediate deaths of each member of the relay team. He is a life force of a devil incarnate, yet in his astral shell he is one phase removed from life. The wretch begins a banishing ritual of the four main characters, and therefore his own death at the beginning of the book is illusory.”
List Of The Lost follows 2013’s Autobiography, which was released as a Penguin Classic. This week (September 21) Morrissey played supposedly his last UK gig ever, at London’s Eventim Hammersmith Apollo.
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
Pop culture website The AV Club have a long-running series called AV Undercover, in which they invite artists to cover an old hit in their graffiti-strewn bunker. This week, Canadian folk band The Weather Station took on Joy Division's "Transmission".
Watch the unconventional cover below, and revis...
Pop culture website The AV Club have a long-running series called AV Undercover, in which they invite artists to cover an old hit in their graffiti-strewn bunker. This week, Canadian folk band The Weather Station took on Joy Division‘s “Transmission”.
Watch the unconventional cover below, and revisit Uncut’s interview with Weather Station lynch pin Tamara Lindeman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDI7mvy5wsQ
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
Kim Gordon has interviewed Kurt Vile for the new issue of Dazed magazine. They discuss his new album, b'lieve i'm goin down, along with Gordon's memoir, their shared love of Neil Young's On The Beach, and melancholy.
Read the whole interview at Dazed. Watch the video for Vile's "Life Like This" bel...
Kim Gordon has interviewed Kurt Vile for the new issue of Dazed magazine. They discuss his new album, b’lieve i’m goin down, along with Gordon’s memoir, their shared love of Neil Young‘s On The Beach, and melancholy.
Read the whole interview at Dazed. Watch the video for Vile’s “Life Like This” below, and revisit Uncut‘s 2011 feature with Vile.
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
To accompany November's home video release of biopic Montage Of Heck, there's a Kurt Cobain "solo album" on the way that features previously unreleased music from the film. In the meantime, Universal have confirmed the release of Cobain's cover of The Beatles' "And I Love Her" (which features in the...
To accompany November’s home video release of biopic Montage Of Heck, there’s a Kurt Cobain “solo album” on the way that features previously unreleased music from the film. In the meantime, Universal have confirmed the release of Cobain’s cover of The Beatles‘ “And I Love Her” (which features in the film) on a forthcoming seven-inch. The track will be backed with “Sappy”, a Nirvana rarity. According to Spin, full details of the release will be announced next week.
For the making of Montage Of Heck, director Brett Morgen was given unprecedented access to Cobain’s personal archives, where he discovered over 100 cassette tapes of previously unheard recordings made by the Nirvana frontman.
“When I first heard it, I was in the storage facility and I had no prior knowledge of it. I put it on and I immediately felt like there was some sort of portal into his mind, like it was one of the most pure expressions of Kurt that I encountered — maybe more than in most of his songs,” Morgen told AFP.
Listen to Cobain’s cover of “And I Love Her” below.
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
To coincide with the release this week on DVD of Alejandro Jodorowsky's first film in 22 years, The Dance Of Reality, I thought I'd post the full transcript of the interview I conducted with the filmmaker for our April 2015 issue... We began by discussing the soundtrack for Jodorowsky's 1973 film, T...
To coincide with the release this week on DVD of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s first film in 22 years, The Dance Of Reality, I thought I’d post the full transcript of the interview I conducted with the filmmaker for our April 2015 issue… We began by discussing the soundtrack for Jodorowsky’s 1973 film, The Holy Mountain, before the conversation turned to take in delicate negotiations with George Harrison, the transformative properties of psychoactive drugs and Jodorowsky’s views on immortality. Enjoy.
Are you pleased that the soundtrack for The Holy Mountain is finally coming out?
Yes. I had problems with the producer [Allen Klein] for thirty years. Later, with his son, we make peace and I remastered the picture, and the public can see it now. But the music in the picture is not the complete music we composed. On the record, you have all the music not in the picture. So I am very happy.
What was the problem with Allen Klein?
We have a little…. He wanted me to make a picture, so I escaped, I didn’t want to do it. Evidently, he hated me. And then we fought.
How did you first meet John Lennon?
[Hendrix producer] Alan Douglas had a little company. They had El Topo because no one wanted to buy it. He was a friend of John Lennon and Yoko Ono and said to them, ‘See the picture? If you like the picture, show your public the picture.’ And they did. Then they recommended Allen Klein buy El Topo, and he did it.
Wasn’t George Harrison meant to be in The Holy Mountain?
He was staying in the Plaza Hotel [in New York], in a big suite. He was dressed all in white. Very, very spiritual. He said, ‘I like the script, I want to do the picture. But there is one little part I cannot do.’ I said, ‘What little part?’ He said, ‘In a swimming pool, with a hippopotamus, I must clean my asshole in front of the camera. I don’t want to do that.’ I said to him, ‘I am very happy that you like my picture. But this moment is very important for the picture and you are the biggest star and if you show your anus it will be the most fantastic illustration of how humble your ego is.’ And then he said, ‘No, I can’t do it.’ So I said, ‘Well, I can’t work with you.’ I lost millions of dollars! I lost another picture!
What do you think are the abiding themes of The Holy Mountain?
The search of reality and to escape authorities. Everything you need to find to make you immortal and find a good life. That is the meaning. I think these are very strong themes today. But I was in advance 30 years, maybe 50!
How did Don Cherry become involved with the score?
I was searching for a spiritual musician of modern music. Allen Klein made me listen to a lot of musicians, and the only one who had the spiritual feeling was Don Cherry. I wanted to know him. I was not disappointed. He improvised the score. One day, he make music with 100 friends and they improvised. We worked very well. He was a jazz man. What is curious is he was married to this actress from northern Europe. His aim is to have a life only of things she found in the street. He had a broken trumpet. He played that very well at right angles.
You received spiritual training in Mexico while shooting The Holy Mountain.
There was a Zen master at the time whose name was Oscar Ichazo. He was a Bolivian master. He came to Mexico City. I paid $17,000 to him in order to learn how to be a guru. He fed me LSD. There was also María Sabina, a very old woman, the priestess of the sacred mushrooms. She had a vision that I would make a picture that would help the world realise the true value of our culture. She sent me mushrooms in a jar of honey. When I ate them, I became a lion. I went up to the roof and then I made a connection with every one of the stars.
Tell us about the influence of Gurdieff and the i-Ching on the film?
Gurdjieff is a great master who said every one of us is sleeping. Because we have an ego, and we are not really what we are. We need to be awakened. Oscar Ichazo at Arica training was a disciple of Gurdjieff. I myself like Gurdjieff, but also Aleister Crowley and the Tarot.
Do you regret not making Dune?
I don’t regret. Very soon, I will die because I am very old. It was not a failure because this picture influenced all the science fiction pictures that came later. You need to see Jodorowsky’s Dune.
What about Dance Of Reality?
I did it, I am happy! It is very difficult to make a picture that isn’t Hollywood shit. It’s about my life. Then I wrote a book about the Dance Of Reality.
What’s next?
The continuation of The Dance Of Reality. It is endless poetry. I will shoot this year.
How long have you lived in Paris?
I have no feeling of time. I have been living in Paris almost 100 lives. To me, there are a lot of Alejandro Jodorowskys who died. And then I am reborn. Everything is changing. You, me, the universe. Everything is changing. To be old doesn’t exist. Inside, I am the same. In order not to get old, I don’t see myself in the mirror.
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
In a new interview with Uncut, Rod Stewart has revealed why it's taken so many years to get the Faces back together. Having not played in public since 1993, the band reunited on September 6 for a Prostate Cancer UK benefit gig. Stewart explained the role of late Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan in the ...
In a new interview with Uncut, Rod Stewart has revealed why it’s taken so many years to get the Faces back together. Having not played in public since 1993, the band reunited on September 6 for a Prostate Cancer UK benefit gig. Stewart explained the role of late Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan in the delay:
Mac was a bit of a fly in the ointment when it came to getting the band back together, so once he passed, it became a lot easier, because every time I’d say, “Right, we’re going to do it next year”, Mac would go, “No, you’re not doing it next year because we’re not ready. We’ve got a Small Faces album coming out.” Or something like that. So it was always a bit of negativity with Mac. Funny guy, but…
He also said of their relationship, “In Mac’s case I don’t think he ever really accepted me, but we did become friends.”
The Faces split up in 1975, and Stewart has not appeared with the band since a one-off gig at the 1993 Brit Awards; Stewart, Ron Wood and Kenney Jones briefly reunited for a private, one-off event at Stewart’s 70th birthday party earlier this year. A version of the Faces did tour in 2011, with Mick Hucknall filling in for Stewart and Glen Matlock for Laine. Watch footage of the 2015 reunion below:
The November issue of Uncut is in stores today (September 22), in which Stewart also discusses style, the Faces’ drinking habits, his relationship with Ron Wood, whether he’s a “rock’n’roll traitor” for embarking on his Great American Songbook project, his throat cancer scare, procrastination, family and not taking anything for granted.
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
David Bowie has written and recorded the title track for the forthcoming European crime series The Last Panthers. The song will accompany the opening credits of the six-part series, a collaboration between Sky and France's CANAL + network that delves into the world of European gangsters.
It's Bowie...
David Bowie has written and recorded the title track for the forthcoming European crime series The Last Panthers. The song will accompany the opening credits of the six-part series, a collaboration between Sky and France’s CANAL + network that delves into the world of European gangsters.
It’s Bowie’s first original music for film or television in 20 years. Series director Johan Renck commented:
“I was looking for one of the icons of my youth to write the music for the title sequence, but was presented with a God. His first response was precise, engaged and curious. The piece of music he laid before us embodied every aspect of our characters and the series itself – dark, brooding, beautiful and sentimental (in the best possible incarnation of this word). All along, the man inspired and intrigued me and as the process passed, I was overwhelmed with his generosity. I still can’t fathom what actually happened…”
The Last Panthers stars Samantha Morton alongside John Hurt, French actor Tahar Rahim and Croation star Goran Bogdan. It will screen on Sky Atlantic in the UK this autumn.
Watch a trailer for the series below:
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
Rod Stewart, Joanna Newsom, John Grant and The Doors all feature in the new issue of Uncut, out on September 22.
In our cover feature, we visit Rod in Los Angeles on the eve of his new album and the Faces reunion, and discover why he was never much of a natural songwriter.
"I was too busy – as I...
Rod Stewart, Joanna Newsom, John Grant and The Doors all feature in the new issue of Uncut, out on September 22.
In our cover feature, we visit Rod in Los Angeles on the eve of his new album and the Faces reunion, and discover why he was never much of a natural songwriter.
“I was too busy – as I said in my autobiography – having a good time,” he says. “I couldn’t be bothered to sit down and write songs, especially in the early ’70s. In the Faces, you literally had to lock me in a room to get the lyrics finished. Now, with the coming of age and with a few stories to tell, it’s a luxury. I love it. Now, when I’m not making an album, I miss it. But yeah, it was like being at school for me.”
Joanna Newsom also invites Uncut into her LA home, to discuss her new album Divers, four years in the making. “I took time off to do the movie [Inherent Vice],” she says. “It did maybe defer some of my music work for a while. But it was totally worth it. What really happened is I spent four years in this suspended state of agitation, waiting for things to make sense. But then it was just sustained, slow work.”
John Grant answers questions from fans and collaborators, taking on topics such as The Czars, Elton John, Sinéad O’Connor and his current vices. “The Coke Zero, and there’s a chocolate from Green & Black’s, Sea Salt,” he reveals. “It’s a blue packaging. Oh God, the No 1 thing, which I can’t get my hands on very often – luckily – is this stuff made in Norway, Smash! It’s just insane. Do you know what Bugels are? They’re cone-shaped corn crisps that’ve been around for decades. So they’re Bugels covered in milk chocolate and salt. And you just cannot believe, I mean, it’s like crack. For real. And I’ve smoked crack, so I’m telling you, man.”
With the help of John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Bruce Botnick and more, Uncut looks into the strange tale of what The Doors did after Jim Morrison‘s death – namely, two albums, now reissued. “You needed three stable guys to balance Dionysus,” says Densmore, recalling their relationship with Morrison. But after his death, who could replace a frontman of such terrifyingly “strong energy”? Paul Rodgers? Kevin Coyne? Joe Cocker? Paul McCartney?
Elsewhere, Julian Cope remembers the making of his first two solo albums, World Shut Your Mouth and Fried, and a period that included Mars Bars, suppository-sized speed pills and a giant turtleshell… ““It was ridiculous,” he tells us. “But at least it was valiantly ridiculous.”
On a similarly cosmic trip, Harmonia recall the making of their only single, “Deluxe (Immer Wieder)”, and their members’ work with Neu!, Cluster, Kraftwerk and Brian Eno.
Friends and collaborators remember the great soul singer Otis Redding and his classic Otis Blue album – “He was a whirlwind of a guy,” they say; Linda Ronstadt takes us through her greatest albums including her work with the Eagles and Neil Young; and Depeche Mode‘s Dave Gahan reveals the albums that have shaped his life.
Our front section features Sid Vicious, Captain Beefheart, John Cooper Clarke and The Bodysnatchers, while our albums section includes The Dead Weather, John Grant, Israel Nash, Deerhunter, Peter Gabriel, The Velvet Underground and Slade.
Films and DVDs previewed this month include Rubble Kings and The Lobster, while End Of The Road festival is reviewed in our live section.
Our free CD, Reason To Believe, features music from Los Lobos, Patty Griffin, Joanna Newsom, John Grant, Fuzz, Gospelbeach, Martin Courtney and Euros Childs.
The new Uncut, dated November 2015, is out on September 22.
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
Jenny Lewis has announced a reissue of Rabbit Fur Coat, her 2006 album with the Watson Twins. The reissue - on red vinyl - is due on January 29, to mark the record's 10th anniversary.
Lewis has also announced a short US tour in its honour, with the Watson Twins and M Ward as support. Check out the ...
Jenny Lewis has announced a reissue of Rabbit Fur Coat, her 2006 album with the Watson Twins. The reissue – on red vinyl – is due on January 29, to mark the record’s 10th anniversary.
Lewis has also announced a short US tour in its honour, with the Watson Twins and M Ward as support. Check out the dates and watch the video for ‘Rise Up (With Fists!!)’ below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cHF6JN1I-Q
Sep. 24 – Marfa, TX @ El Cosmico Transpecos Festival of Music and Love
Oct. 11 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan
Oct. 13 – La Jolla, CA @ Rimac Area at UCSD
Jan. 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Cathedral Sanctuary at Immanuel Presbyterian Church
Feb. 03 – New York, NY @ The Beacon Theatre
Feb. 06 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
Morrissey has added his voice to the #PigGate storm, commenting on allegations surrounding David Cameron and a dead pig from the Prime Minister's time at Oxford University.
On fan website/mouthpiece TrueToYou, Morrissey posted an amended version of PETA's statement on the alleged events, which were...
Morrissey has added his voice to the #PigGate storm, commenting on allegations surrounding David Cameron and a dead pig from the Prime Minister’s time at Oxford University.
On fan website/mouthpiece TrueToYou, Morrissey posted an amended version of PETA’s statement on the alleged events, which were revealed in an extract of a new biography by Michael Ashcroft:
No, boys won’t be boys – not when it’s sexual perversion and also involves a vulnerable victim of slaughter, a feeling being who lost his or her life and then was used for a prank. Where have we seen other people in power misusing and sexually abusing corpses? This conduct is not excusable just because the perpetrator is prejudiced against and sneers at the other individual’s identity. A prime minister is supposed to protect the most vulnerable. Most pigs in the UK already live lives filled with pain and fear, confined to severely crowded, filthy sheds and denied the opportunity to engage in any natural behaviour. They are routinely mutilated, usually without any anaesthetics, including castration and cutting off their tails and teeth. If the allegations made by Lord Ashcroft are true, that Mr Cameron performed a sexual act on a dead pig while at Oxford University, then it shows a callousness and complete lack of empathy entirely unbefitting a man in his position, and he should resign.
Meanwhile, last night Morrissey played what he claimed was his last ever UK show, at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. He has blamed the decision on a lack of interest from UK record labels, having been dropped by Harvest last year.
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
It's hard to imagine two more disparate musical figures than Rod Stewart and Joanna Newsom, but last month Jaan Uhelszki paid LA house calls on both of them to file a couple of noteworthy exclusives for the new issue of Uncut, on sale in the UK today. Among other things, we learn that Newsom enjoys ...
It’s hard to imagine two more disparate musical figures than Rod Stewart and Joanna Newsom, but last month Jaan Uhelszki paid LA house calls on both of them to file a couple of noteworthy exclusives for the new issue of Uncut, on sale in the UK today. Among other things, we learn that Newsom enjoys two breakfasts, one of them involving fennel pollen mayonnaise, and hear Stewart’s surprising explanation for why The Faces held off reforming until after the death of Ian McLagan. We also find out that Stewart doesn’t know what Americana is. “I’ve never quite understood what that term means,” he admits. “It was a name that people were bandying around this time last year. I’d be, ‘what the fuck’s that?'”
In fairness, a similar question has probably been asked in the Uncut office a few times over the years, given the elastic possibilities of what Americana can represent – a music that in some artful way taps into the traditions of the States, maybe? That at least has a working understanding of what listeners want when they talk about authenticity, though the term “authenticity” is probably even harder to define and understand than Americana.
Newsom, meanwhile, provides us with a playlist of the records she was listening to while putting together her astonishing fourth album, “Divers”. Plenty of these, I think, would qualify as Americana – not just Mickey Newbury’s “Lovers”, but “Nilsson Sings Newman”, Judee Sill’s “Heart Food”, Jimmy Webb’s phantasmagorically overblown “Land’s End”, too. To that list, you could usefully add “Divers” itself, an album that sounds at once arcane and timeless, and which revels in an absorbing degree of lyrical craft and reference.
“Divers” is packed with allusion and discoveries – beginning with the mapping of Greenwich Village on an ancient Native American settlement called Sapokanikan. There are burial sites beneath Washington Square, New York mayors and Lenape Indian chiefs, all in the text of a single song; “Sapokanikan”, which you can also hear on this month’s free Uncut CD.
To understand America, and Americana too, historical perspectives can be useful. “For someone to dig that much into the songs is such an investment of faith,” Newsom tells Jaan Uhelszki. But it’s one way in which songs can endure and keep revealing new details and nuances, hundreds of listens down the line. To paraphrase our cover star, they can make us dance, sing, or anything…
Keith Richards is the latest guest to appear on US comedian Marc Maron's WTF podcast. In the 70-minute interview, Richards dicusses his new album, Crosseyed Heart, drugs, fights, and the evolution of the Rolling Stones.
Download the podcast here, and watch Richards' appearance on the BBC's Culture ...
Keith Richards is the latest guest to appear on US comedian Marc Maron‘s WTF podcast. In the 70-minute interview, Richards dicusses his new album, Crosseyed Heart, drugs, fights, and the evolution of the Rolling Stones.
Download the podcast here, and watch Richards’ appearance on the BBC’s Culture Show below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT-ArKNdtKY
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
Verve Music Group have announced details of a 50th anniversary edition of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. The Complete Masters - including every take, recorded conversation and overdub from the two-day recording session in 1964 - will be released on November 6.
The box also includes the reportedly ...
Verve Music Group have announced details of a 50th anniversary edition of John Coltrane‘s A Love Supreme. The Complete Masters – including every take, recorded conversation and overdub from the two-day recording session in 1964 – will be released on November 6.
The box also includes the reportedly “long-lost session reels” documenting the second day session, featuring Coltrane, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrison and McCoy Tyner, along with Archie Shepp and Dr. Art Davis.
The album will be released in two formats: a three-CD “Super Deluxe Edition” that includes Coltrane’s July 1965 performance at the Festival Mondial du Jazz Antibes, with an introduction by Carlos Santana. A two-CD set features the original album, along with mono reference versions of two tracks, and seven unreleased performances. There’s also a 32-page booklet featuring an essay written by music historian Ashley Kahn, rare photos, and Coltrane’s sketches and written works that underpinned the album.
The History Of Rock – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – a brand new monthly magazine from the makers of Uncut – is now on sale in the UK. Click here for more details.
With the imminent release of Morrissey's debut novel, List Of The Lost, now seems like a good time to post my Smiths' Meat Is Murder cover story from the February 2015 issue of Uncut...
Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner
--------
The Pleasures Of The Flesh
If their first album set out the emot...
The Pleasures Of The Flesh If their first album set out the emotional terrain of THE SMITHS, Meat Is Murder provided a radical manifesto for troubled times, one overshadowed by the “violence, oppression and horror” of Margaret Thatcher. Thirty years on, Uncut tracks down bandmembers, intimate associates, contemporaries (and even Neil Kinnock!) to tell the full story of a band at their closest and most adventurous… A tale of brotherhood, marriage, “live-wire spitfire guitar sounds”, awkward moments in Little Chefs, car races with OMD and the use of sausages as an offensive weapon. “Unruly boys who will not grow up”?
The distance travelled by The Smiths in late 1984 can be measured, to some extent, in car journeys. En route with the rest of The Smiths from their respective homes in Manchester to Amazon Studios in Kirkby during the winter of 1984, Morrissey would sit at the back, to best enjoy the full benefit of the car’s central heating system. The vehicle – a 1970s white stretch Mercedes rented from R&O Van Hire, Salford – had once been used for weddings. Now it was being used for another type of celebration. The Smiths – along with their fledgling co-producer, Stephen Street – were heading to Amazon to record their second LP, Meat Is Murder. “We had a feeling the grown-ups had left the building and it was left to us to break some rules and have some fun,” Johnny Marr told Uncut.
Despite the weather, the daily trips shuttling to and from Kirkby were conducted in high spirits, characterised by an air of anticipation for what the coming sessions would bring. The interior of the car featured two rows of seats, facing each other like a cab. Morrissey and Johnny Marr would face forward on the back seats, while Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce sat in front of them, facing the rear of the car. If there were any disagreements between the band members, it was usually to do with the heating – which Morrissey would complain wasn’t turned up high enough. “Amazon was on an industrial estate in the middle of nowhere,” says Andy Rourke. “It was the freezing winter. We’d stop for a cup of tea at this mobile café and carry that into the studio. That was our routine for two or three weeks.”
An industrial estate in Kirkby, on the outskirts of Liverpool, in the depths of winter, hardly seems the most auspicious setting from which to storm the citadel. All the same, the work started here by The Smiths on Meat Is Murder was freewheeling and stimulating. “It was very exciting,” acknowledges Stephen Street. “It felt like all the stars were in alignment, everything seemed to be working.”
While historically Morrissey’s songs had lingered on a nostalgic, post-war vision of England – one of juvenile delinquents, underworld spivs and “jumped-up pantry boy”s – Meat Is Murder presented a different, highly politicised side to the band. The songs on the album addressed powerful, contemporary themes including animal rights, domestic and institutionalised violence.
“The Smiths were out there on their own,” Paul Weller tells Uncut. “I thought they were similar to The Jam, really. It wasn’t a party line thing, and the lyrics weren’t always overly political. But they still seemed to reflect what was going on in people’s lives.”
“The issues they were addressing in the songs on Meat Is Murder were socio-political,” adds Billy Bragg. “My politics were more ideological, but The Smiths were more involved in broader issues; we lived in a time when those issues were right to the forefront of debate.”
“The politics of the day had a big effect on the music and Morrissey’s lyrics,” admits Andy Rourke. “That’s what we wrote songs about: our experiences. That comes across in the music, also.”
If Meat Is Murder helped establish The Smiths as a radical force, it had other, equally far-reaching implications for their career. These were fluid and fast-moving times for the group: since releasing their first single, “Hand In Glove”, in May 1983, their ascent had been rapid and exhilarating, building on a brace of thrilling singles and, in February 1984, a self-titled debut album. Meat Is Murder, though, is best characterised as an exchange of ideas at a higher level. It moved their story forward credibly, giving them their only No 1 album, in the process dislodging Springsteen’s Born In The USA from the top of the UK album charts. It also represented a point where Morrissey and The Smiths were at their tightest. “Morrissey always wanted to be part of a gang,” says Richard Boon, then production manager at Rough Trade Records. “He’d never been, because he was such an outsider character.I remember being in the band’s van once when they were coming down to London. They were all wearing white T-shirts because that would make us stand out and they wanted to stand out. By Meat Is Murder, The Smiths had cohered as a gang.”
“It all happened very quickly,” reflects Rourke. “Especially at that time, things picked up even more, and the records started selling better than they had done. I think it always continued upwards, but around Meat Is Murder, it definitely stepped up a gear. They were crazy, busy times.”
