Page 393 – UNCUT

Blur: the making of The Magic Whip. “We didn’t want to tempt fate…”

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26th March 2015

Blur: the making of The Magic Whip. “We didn’t want to tempt fate…”

As you may have gathered, there's a new Blur album on the way: The Magic Whip, the band's first as a four-piece for 16 years. My review of the album appears in the current issue of Uncut. But in the meantime, here's the full transcript of my interview with Graham Coxon; an excerpt of which you can f...

What made you want to revisit the material?

Damon had been saying, “I don’t think anything will come of it. Lyrically, I wouldn’t know where to start. I’m so disconnected now to Hong Kong and when we were there.” Which was fair enough, but that made me more determined to really have a good look at it; at least, musically try to organize it. But I knew I couldn’t do it on my own, I needed someone to help. I went over to see Damon, I hadn’t seen him for ages. He went, “What do you want, then?” I said, “Well, these recordings…” He’s like, “Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” I said, “I really want to take Stephen Street. I really think Stephen is the bloke. He loves us, he’ll have super respect for the recordings we made, he’ll really look through them, he’ll find all the good bits. Me and him will just organize it, like organizing someone’s sprawling diary into something you can publish.” That what I looked at that task. I thought, “Well, if nothing comes of it, at least I had a go.” It’s a complicated, emotional thing. I wanted to make amends and put things right for the ups and downs we’ve had over the years. If there was going to be one more chapter in Blur, I wanted to be part of making it good and mending it all. Our friendships have got better. We got back together and it was great to be friends again. The music side of it, I still thought I had some mending to do. But it was really weird, it went so bloody well. Stephen had it for a few days, and said, “I’ve been listening through. It’s great. Come on in, let’s do some graft on it.” Then about four working weeks later, working on it, writing new parts to it, writing new chord sequences for melody lines that had appeared… I just wanted to change some of the chord sequences at times but still support the same melody line, just so the songs had tension, dynamics, some sort of structure. It’s like this big fat sausage of sound. Thank God for ProTools, because you can go into it and mess it around and write new bits and slot it in here. So that’s what we did for about 12 songs. Then we went to play it to Damon…

When was this?

I had the idea last September. Then throughout October, Stephen had to go away to Belgium for a little while. Pretty much September, October, I was doing it then. End of September? I’m not really sure.

What did Damon think when you first played it to him?

We were all scared to death. I was looking forward to it. I thought what we’d done was really brilliant. I’d been leaving a lot of carrots within the music, not smothering it with myself and my own flavor so much. I was doing a bit of work with keyboards, not just putting guitars everywhere. I wanted to give it to Damon and I wanted him to feel that it was nearly finished and I was hoping that it would inspire him. After the first track, he started to warm up. Then he started swearing. Then he started dancing around a bit. Then it was like, “This is great!” So Damon thinks it’s great, and all the rest of it. Then Dave and Alex shoved some drums and bass on here and there where it needed to be redone because the sound wasn’t that brilliant, the Hong Kong recordings. Then Damon started, only a few weeks ago, on vocals. But not before dragging himself round Hong Kong for 48 hours on his way home from Australia to re-immersed himself in the city. It was a pretty amazing commitment. I don’t know whether I would have done that. I would have faked it. But he’s like that. He got himself there for 48 hours and he went on boats and he went on the same tube journey. He really the environment he was in really hard.

Where does The Magic Whip sit in the canon?

It was made with no pressure, which I think is a good thing. It’s experimental, not forcibly experimental. I got into this idea that it’s sci-fi folk music. That English thing of melancholia was there. So I had these ideas with “New World Tower” to make a sci-fi “Greensleeves” part in the middle. I think us English boys, at our age now, we’ve seen the music industry take this long dive over three decades, and also the world since we last made an album all together has changed radically. I think it reflects all of those things but also it reflect us at our age in this space and time. That’s what really excites me about this telepathic link with Damon, interpreting his words. I seem to channel it very easily and I’ve never really seen it that way before.

Is it the start of a new chapter? Or the end of one..?

I view it as a great big positive punctuation mark. I don’t know whether it’s the full stop at the end of a book or whether it’s a full stop at the end of a chapter. I don’t think any of us know that yet. That doesn’t mean any of us are going to stop making music. Music is a constant with us. Damon will make music whether it’s with Blur or doing other things, he’ll always be meandering along making music.

Damon is fully behind The Magic Whip?

Damon is? Yeah, yeah. He is. It was brilliant when Damon heard it for the first time, I would have loved to have had that experience. To hear it playing, the familiarity of it from Hong Kong, yet it had now been organized. I guess it was amazing for him.

What are your favourite tracks?

‘Thought I Was A Space Man’, just because I really got into the narrative of it. I really enjoyed making the song take off at the end, hearing the bits and bobs falling back down to the sea. I saw it very visually. “There Are Too Many Of Us”. I really like those big, weary ones. I like the melancholy ones. And “Pyongyang” and “My Terracotta Heart”. I love them because I get this real proper sense of who we are. I get this sense of quite an amazingly astute period of where we areas people in the world. I like them better than the punky ones!

I wish you’d do a gig when you just did the sad songs.

I’d like that, too!

The Magic Whip is released by Parlophone on April 27, 2015

Radiohead’s OK Computer to be preserved by Library of Congress

News

Michael Bonner

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26th March 2015

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Radiohead’s OK Computer to be preserved by Library of Congress

Radiohead's album OK Computer has been selected for induction into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. Each year, The Library of Congress selects 25 recordings that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and at least 10 years old. Other recordings highlighted...

Radiohead‘s album OK Computer has been selected for induction into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

Each year, The Library of Congress selects 25 recordings that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” and at least 10 years old.

Other recordings highlighted for the 2015 entries include Ben E King, The Doors, Joan Baez and Lauryn Hill.

BBC News quotes curator Matt Barton, who says of Radiohead’s inclusion, “I sort of see it as part of a certain ongoing phenomenon in rock music that maybe begins with the Velvet Underground but also The Doors, who are on the list this year.

“Pop music is not entirely positive in its outlook, shall we say. I think we can say that OK Computer really sums a lot of that up.”

You can order Radiohead: The Ultimate Music Guide as a print or digital edition here

Paul Westerberg: “The Replacements aren’t broke, but we’re badly bent”

News

Tom Pinnock

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26th March 2015

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Paul Westerberg: “The Replacements aren’t broke, but we’re badly bent”

The Replacements discuss their storied history and raucous reunion in the new issue of Uncut, dated May 2015 and out now. Original members Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson tell the complete story of their reformation, a journey from member Slim Dunlap’s hospital bed to the megafestivals of North...

The Replacements discuss their storied history and raucous reunion in the new issue of Uncut, dated May 2015 and out now.

Original members Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson tell the complete story of their reformation, a journey from member Slim Dunlap’s hospital bed to the megafestivals of North America, from new recording sessions to imminent UK shows.

“We’re not broke,” Westerberg says, wryly acknowledging the many different benefits of the reunion, “but we’re badly bent.

“The reunion was the kick in the ass that I needed. It felt good to be part of a group again, to get back with Tommy and get someone else’s opinion… So strap around the guitar, you know…”

The new issue of Uncut is out now.

Photo: Dennis Keeley-Reprise Records

Blur’s Graham Coxon on The Magic Whip: “We were all scared to death…”

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Uncut

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25th March 2015

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Blur’s Graham Coxon on The Magic Whip: “We were all scared to death…”

Graham Coxon has shed light on the making of Blur’s new album, The Magic Whip, speaking in the new issue of Uncut, out now. The guitarist recalled the initial lo-fi recording sessions in Hong Kong, his later work finessing and expanding on the jams in London with Stephen Street, and his trepidati...

Graham Coxon has shed light on the making of Blur’s new album, The Magic Whip, speaking in the new issue of Uncut, out now.

The guitarist recalled the initial lo-fi recording sessions in Hong Kong, his later work finessing and expanding on the jams in London with Stephen Street, and his trepidation at playing what he had done to Damon Albarn.

“We were all scared to death,” Coxon says. “I wanted Damon to feel that it was nearly finished and I was hoping that it would inspire him.

“After the first track, he started to warm up. Then he started swearing. Then he started dancing around a bit. Then Dave and Alex shoved some bass on here and there where it needed to be redone because the sound wasn’t that brilliant, the Hong Kong recordings.”

The Magic Whip is reviewed in full in the new issue of Uncut, dated May 2015 and out now.

Photo: Linda Brownlee

Piedra Roja

Michael Bonner

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25th March 2015

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The “Woodstock Generation” was not confined just to North America and Europe. Across the world, counter-cultural ripples amongst the young caused ructions in societies normally bound by strict traditional ways. After the Woodstock film was screened in Chile, 19-year-old student Jorge Gomez was i...

The “Woodstock Generation” was not confined just to North America and Europe. Across the world, counter-cultural ripples amongst the young caused ructions in societies normally bound by strict traditional ways. After the Woodstock film was screened in Chile, 19-year-old student Jorge Gomez was inspired to put on a free festival, Piedra Roja, which would become an emblematic moment in the life of the nation. Taking place on a stretch of land in the hills outside eastern Santiago between the October 10 and 12, 1970, it seemed to presage the election the following month of Salvador Allende as President. “We had an intuition that the world could be different,” says actress/playwright Malucha Pinto, who attended the festival. “A world in which liberty, solidarity, community, understanding and justice existed.” Through copious interviews with participants and scraps of period footage, this fascinating documentary paints a picture not just of the festival but of the social conditions which spawned it, and the repercussions which followed.

In the late ‘60s, the Chilean music scene was on the cusp of change. Bands like Los Ripios, Trapos and Blops were beginning to explore the boundaries between pop, traditional Chilean music and more exploratory modes, producing a sort of local variant of Tropicalismo with flute-based folk-rock and harmonies. Los Jaivas ditched their bowties and gold-buttoned blazers in favour of a more freewheeling look, and changed their sound accordingly: within months, they had produced their first “symphonic” work, a Zappa-esque piece “based on sonic distortion”. And inspired by Lennon & Ono’s Two Virgins, the band Aguaturbia decided that they, too, would appear naked on their album sleeve. It was a sensation, instantly outselling every album in Chilean history. “We were young, naive, talented and marginalized,” laughs singer Denise Aguaturbia today.

The hippie scene in Santiago was split between two locations: rich, middle-class kids tended to stay in the upmarket suburb of Coppelia, whilst the more militant leftists, intellectuals and lower-class congregated in the Parque Forestal, across from the Military Academy, whose inmates would sometimes cause trouble for the hippies, notably in one brutal, bloody confrontation when hundreds of sword-wielding cadets put the peaceniks to flight. There was constant underlying tension: on other occasions, Blops would arrive to perform on the back of a flatbed truck, until the police turned up to disperse the crowd with water-cannon.

The establishment were genuinely scared of this new cultural shift, particularly the way rich, bourgeois kids were attracted to hippiedom. Engineer and astrologer Caroli Aparacio tells of how his professor recruited him as a spy, to infiltrate the burgeoning hippie movement and discover what its motives and aims were. It was the kind of request that, once made, can’t be refused. But when he infiltrated the hippies at Parque Forestal, he soon went native and joined them.

So when Jorge Gomez decided to stage a free festival, he was preaching to a swelling congregation – far bigger than he had anticipated. The naive teenager was fundamentally ill-equipped for the challenge. Sure, he was able to persuade Coca Cola to provide a stage (12ft x 20ft!) in return for the drinks franchise; and while his mother wrote blank cheques to cover local damage, and the cost of bringing electricity from a pylon 3km away, he was soon overwhelmed by events. There was no PA. The entire lighting system was one bulb in a coffee-can. The single cable couldn’t carry enough electricity to power bands’ equipment fully. Some performers could find neither the tiny stage, nor any organiser, and departed without playing. It was chaos.

But a kindly chaos. Bands jammed enthusiastically, the crowd eagerly expressed the peace and love vibe, and as at festivals throughout the years, youngsters had their first tastes of sex and drugs and rock and roll. It was front-page news, and by the second day, bus companies had organised trips for gawkers to come see the hippies. Spotting an opportunity, vanloads of booze-sellers and prostitutes arrived at the site. The following day, the police arrived and shut the festival down.

The repercussions were quick in coming. Questions were asked in parliament. There was widespread persecution. Hippies became outcasts, attacked by both sides – by the church and right-wingers as degenerates, by leftists as bourgeois. Jorge Gomez was expelled from school, and forced to leave home, escaping to establish a commune in the mountains. As Allende’s socialist policies began to bite, poverty spread. Suddenly, it got “hard, ugly and conflictive”.

A few years later, it got even harder and uglier. Surprised at the absence of traffic in the mountains, Gomez and a pal jumped on a motorbike and drove down towards Santiago, only to find machine-guns facing them in the road. The military coup had deposed and murdered Allende, and Pinochet was in power. Narrowly avoiding being killed or imprisoned, Gomez cut his hair and disappeared back into the mountains. Other musicians fled for Argentina or Ecuador or Europe, taking advantage of the junta’s immediate focus on hunting leftist activists rather than hippies. Those that didn’t get out got hurt. But the documentary closes on a more positive note, with young musicians, inspired by the legend of Piedra Roja, reviving the hippie spirit in a land now mercifully more open to change. “Piedra Roja occurs at a moment in which David confronts Goliath,” reflects Malucha Pinto. “And somehow, the weak won.”

World’s smallest record shop to return for Record Store Day

News

Michael Bonner

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25th March 2015

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World’s smallest record shop to return for Record Store Day

The world's smallest record shop is due to re-open for Record Store Day in Stoke Newington, North London. The pop-up shop is managed by record label Ample Play, run by Cornershop's Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres. The store will be situated at 256 Albion Road, N16 9JP, and open from 11am-5pm on April ...

The world’s smallest record shop is due to re-open for Record Store Day in Stoke Newington, North London.

The pop-up shop is managed by record label Ample Play, run by Cornershop‘s Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres.

The store will be situated at 256 Albion Road, N16 9JP, and open from 11am-5pm on April 18.

Ample Play first opened the world’s smallest record shop in 2014.

Fact magazine reports that once the pop-up shop closes, the title of tiniest record shop is expected to revert to Peterborough’s Marrs Platinum Records.

Elliott Smith documentary gets release date

News

Michael Bonner

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25th March 2015

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Elliott Smith documentary gets release date

The Elliott Smith documentary Heaven Adores You will receive a theatrical release in cinemas around the world during May 2015. The Kickstarter-funded film originally premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 2014. According to a press release, "Heaven Adores You is an intimate,...

The Elliott Smith documentary Heaven Adores You will receive a theatrical release in cinemas around the world during May 2015.

The Kickstarter-funded film originally premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 2014.

According to a press release, “Heaven Adores You is an intimate, meditative inquiry into the life and music of Elliott Smith (1969-2003). By threading the music of Elliott Smith through the dense, yet often isolating landscapes of the three major cities he lived in — Portland, New York City, Los Angeles — Heaven Adores You presents a visual journey and an earnest review of the singer’s prolific songwriting and the impact it continues to have on fans, friends, and fellow musicians.”

The film will screen in major cities during May, including New York, Los Angeles, Austin, San Francisco, Montreal and Tel-Aviv.

UK audiences can see the film at the Quad in Derby from May 5-14.

You can find full details about the UK screenings by clicking here.

Meanwhile, rare demos featuring Elliott Smith will be available on vinyl on Record Store Day.

Paul Weller previews new track, “Saturns Pattern”

News

Michael Bonner

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25th March 2015

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Paul Weller previews new track, “Saturns Pattern”

Paul Weller has previewed the title track of his forthcoming album, Saturns Pattern. Weller has posted a 24-second clip of the song on his Facebook page. You can hear it by clicking here. Weller has already released one song from the album, "White Sky", which you can hear in full below. https://...

Paul Weller has previewed the title track of his forthcoming album, Saturns Pattern.

Weller has posted a 24-second clip of the song on his Facebook page.

You can hear it by clicking here.

Weller has already released one song from the album, “White Sky“, which you can hear in full below.

Saturns Pattern is released on May 11.

Speaking to Uncut, Weller described the album as “defiantly 21st century music.”

Weller has recently played a UK tour ahead of the album’s release. At the show on March 12 in Stoke-On-Trent, he was joined on stage by Mick Jones.

Weller will next play live on March 27 at London’s Royal Albert Hall as part of this year’s Teenage Cancer Trust line-up.

An introduction to the new Uncut

News

John Mulvey

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24th March 2015

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While we were putting together the new issue of Uncut - out today, in the UK, and with Van Morrison on the cover - I was also reading Richard King's new book, Original Rockers, ostensibly a memoir of the author's years working in a Bristol record shop, Revolver, some 20 years ago. I first came acro...

While we were putting together the new issue of Uncut – out today, in the UK, and with Van Morrison on the cover – I was also reading Richard King’s new book, Original Rockers, ostensibly a memoir of the author’s years working in a Bristol record shop, Revolver, some 20 years ago.

I first came across King around that time, when he used to play guitar in certain incarnations of Flying Saucer Attack, one of the most interesting bands to develop the gauzy, cacophonous possibilities suggested by My Bloody Valentine. At live shows, he played with a physical abandon somewhat at odds with the furrowed-brow concentration favoured by most of his bandmates; afterwards, he was equally vigorous and entertaining to talk with about music.

That nuanced, eclectic knowledge, it now transpires, was mostly garnered behind the counter in that Bristol store, and is something that makes Original Rockers (reviewed properly by Allan Jones in the new Uncut) far transcend the sentimental genre epitomised by High Fidelity. Time and again through the book, King goes off on long, meticulous reveries about specific records: a Can bootleg called “Horror Trip In The Paperhouse”; Keith Hudson’s “Pick A Dub”; Virginia Astley’s “From Gardens Where We Feel Secure”; Rod Stewart’s “Every Picture Tells A Story”. These are romantic epiphanies, but they’re also fine music criticism, written with clear-eyed precision as much as literary verve.

Anyhow, I’d just finished the book the other weekend, when I found myself hanging out at a record stall on Cambridge market, watching the owner sell a copy of “A Saucerful Of Secrets” – not the first, one suspects – to a student, and trying to remember which of the dozen Bill Evans albums in front of me I already owned. Flicking through the crates, I also came across a copy of “Common One”, an album which I often think might be my favourite Van Morrison record, and which is discussed at length as part of Graeme Thomson’s engrossing cover story this month.

All my records are currently sequestered in a Hertfordshire barn (long, not remotely interesting, story…), so I had to enlist my family to stop me from buying another “Common One”. I could remember, though, buying my first edition from Woolworth’s in Retford, having been sent on a journey into the proverbial mystic by the ’80s bands who learned so much from Morrison: Dexy’s Midnight Runners and The Waterboys chief among them. For many of us, I imagine, every trip into a vinyl cave – on April 18, for Record Store Day, maybe? – can trigger the same kind of forensic memories that King articulates so well. And hopefully, every issue of Uncut can do a similar job.

Since I took over here, I’ve had more reader requests for a Van Morrison cover than for any other artist. I’ve rarely been happier to oblige, and I think it sits pretty nicely alongside some more strong exclusives in the new issue: comeback interviews with The Replacements, Ride and Blur; the gripping yarn of Motorhead, as they hit their 40^th birthday; further interviews with Bryan Ferry, Todd Rundgren, Portishead, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The B-52s, Cannibal Ox, Adam Curtis, Xylouris White, Jethro Tull, maybe some more.

For my own part, I spent some time at home with The Alabama Shakes, witnessed the magnificence of D’Angelo live, and reviewed the new Godspeed You! Black Emperor album, among other bits and pieces. Once again, I think we’re slowly starting to cover a broader spread of music in the mag, while staying loyal to the artists that we’ve loved for a long time: on this month’s CD, you’ll find the Malian Hendrix, a Swedish jazz cover of Grizzly Bear, New York rap, Pennine guitar meditations and Cretan jams alongside faithful retainers like Calexico, Bill Fay, Villagers, Bop English (a new name, but actually James from White Denim) and Jon Spencer. There’s also a significant new find from Allan, in the shape of David Corley, that a few of you might find interesting.

Let me know your thoughts, anyhow: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey. As Van once pointed out, presciently, it’s too late to stop now…

Van Morrison speaks in the new Uncut: “It’s all about playing with time”

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Uncut

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24th March 2015

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Van Morrison speaks in the new Uncut: “It’s all about playing with time”

Van Morrison explains his complex musical evolution in the new issue of Uncut, dated May 2015 and out now. The man himself discusses his roots and working practices, while musicians and producers who have worked with him lift the lid on the secret stories behind 10 of his greatest albums, including...

Van Morrison explains his complex musical evolution in the new issue of Uncut, dated May 2015 and out now.

The man himself discusses his roots and working practices, while musicians and producers who have worked with him lift the lid on the secret stories behind 10 of his greatest albums, including Astral Weeks, Moondance, Veedon Fleece and Common One.

“For singers it’s about playing with time; same for jazz,” explains Morrison. “How do you carve up the time, stretch it out? How do you bridge it, how do you make space?

“It’s all about creating space… The key is having musicians who understand this. Sometimes one is lucky and one will connect with musicians who understand what it’s all about. That’s when you can go somewhere.”

The new issue of Uncut, dated May 2015 and featuring Van the man on the cover, is out now.

David Crosby hits jogger with his car

News

Michael Bonner

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24th March 2015

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David Crosby hit a jogger while driving in California, reports Rolling Stone. CNN confirm the incident took place on Sunday [March 22, 2015], in Santa Ynez, California, near where Crosby lives. Crosby was driving at approximately 50 mph when he struck the jogger, according to California Highway Pa...

David Crosby hit a jogger while driving in California, reports Rolling Stone.

CNN confirm the incident took place on Sunday [March 22, 2015], in Santa Ynez, California, near where Crosby lives.

Crosby was driving at approximately 50 mph when he struck the jogger, according to California Highway Patrol Spokesman Don Clotworthy. The posted speed limit was 55.

Although the jogger suffered multiple fractures, his injuries are not believed to be life threatening.

“Mr. Crosby was cooperative with authorities and he was not impaired or intoxicated in any way. Mr. Crosby did not see the jogger because of the sun,” Mr Clotworthy told CNN.

Meanwhile, Crosby has recently intimated that he has made attempts to smooth over his relationship with Neil Young, after the pair appeared to fall out last October. Writing on Twitter on March 2, 2015, Crosby admitted he had “apologized” to Young.

“@ADBarker: @thedavidcrosby Hi David. How are you and Neil?”
He's pretty mad at me
I apologized
We'll see

— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) March 2, 2015

Alabama Shakes announce live dates

News

Michael Bonner

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24th March 2015

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Alabama Shakes have announced three UK tour dates in May. The shows coincide with the release of their new album, Sound & Color, which is released on April 20. Alabama Shakes, Sound & Color sleeve The band will play Birmingham O2 Academy on May 13, Manchester O2 Apollo on May 16 and Londo...

Alabama Shakes have announced three UK tour dates in May.

The shows coincide with the release of their new album, Sound & Color, which is released on April 20.

The band will play Birmingham O2 Academy on May 13, Manchester O2 Apollo on May 16 and London O2 Academy Brixton on November 18.

A previously announced show as part of The Great Escape in Brighton on May 15 at The Dome has already sold out.

Tickets for the new shows go on general sale at 9am on March 27.

You can read our exclusive interview with Alabama Shakes in the new issue of Uncut; in shops now

Elvis Costello announces memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink

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Michael Bonner

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24th March 2015

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Elvis Costello announces memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink

Elvis Costello has announced details of his forthcoming memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink. According to a press release from the book's publisher, Penguin, the career-spanning book will include his early years, work with The Attractions right up to his position "in the pantheon of eld...

Elvis Costello has announced details of his forthcoming memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink.

According to a press release from the book’s publisher, Penguin, the career-spanning book will include his early years, work with The Attractions right up to his position “in the pantheon of elder statesmen musician/rockers”.

The publisher’s promise the book will be “rich with anecdotes about family and fellow musicians, introspective about the creation of his famous songs.”

Costello, meanwhile, tours the UK in May and June.

You can order The Ultimate Music Guide: Elvis Costello as a print or digital edition here

Two Gallants – We Are Undone

Michael Bonner

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24th March 2015

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There’s an underlying air of menace that squats at the bottom of Two Gallants fifth album like yeast in a bottle of beer, fermenting future discontent. The California guitar-drum duo have always had a dark view of the world and We Are Undone opens in high gothic fashion with a reverb-laden intro t...

There’s an underlying air of menace that squats at the bottom of Two Gallants fifth album like yeast in a bottle of beer, fermenting future discontent. The California guitar-drum duo have always had a dark view of the world and We Are Undone opens in high gothic fashion with a reverb-laden intro that sounds like a Hammer House organ.

It’s a suitably dramatic introduction to the world of Two Gallants, in which singer Adam Stephens castigates the perilous state of the world and the demise of his native San Francisco against a shifting sonic palate that makes light of the supposed limitations of a two-man band. Two Gallants can swagger and rage like the Black Keys, but they can also find moments of ambient bliss to complement songs of helplessness and regret.

After its B-movie intro, opening song “We Are Undone” is embellished by a distinctive, metal-ready guitar line, as Stephens introduces one of the album’s prevailing themes – the failure of art and creativity against the onslaught of commerce and capitalism. This is something Stephens revisits consistently, scratching the scab from different perspectives, never liking what he finds underneath After the catchy grunge of “Incidental”, the rollicking “Fools Like Us” picks up the thread. While Tyson Vogel builds a march, Stephens sings arrestingly about the limitations of his trade – “you search for authenticity until you become a fake, you think you’ll find salvation in a song” – and the tricks artists pull when “hunting muses”. “You force your heart to fall in love just to feel it break,” he roars, before concluding “fools like us just don’t belong”.

With a sense of impotence established, the pair take things down a notch with the strange “Invitation To A Funeral”, slow, simmering, sullen, with an ominous beat mirroring medieval lyrics of bitter resentment which end in wailing lament. It gives way to “Some Trouble”, wicked brooding blues albeit with box-ticking lyrics that would be trite if they didn’t fit so snug. Having reached midway and rarely straying from a blues rock template, there’s now a switch of style. “My Man Go” is probably the best song on the album, an undulating shanty on epic scale with an Eno-esque handling of dynamics and a desolate, heart-felt vocal: “In the ruins of my night, I can still pretend, close my eyes and see my life as it could have been.” Stephens is a powerful singer capable of lacerating heroics, but here he holds back, giving the song almost unbearable tension.

It feeds into “Katy Kruelly”, a folky, finger-picking intermission that’s strangely reminiscent of Ian Brown in its jaunty word play. Even this tender song is stoked by regret – “I think I loved you more than most, I tried to love you truly, but I couldn’t love you half as much as I did Katy Kruelly.” The mood of personal failure is maintained through “Heartbreakdown”, with Vogel effectively mimicking a malfunctioning machine, but with an overall impact that’s too slight to excite.

A bolder, broader sense of drama returns on the boiling hard rocker “Murder The Season/The Age Nocturne”, with Stephens providing a raucous, threatening vocal that warns of a near-distant future, an artificial age in which “their devices keep them real, frame their thoughts and print their meals, tame their hearts and paint their lawns, show pictures of a world that’s gone”. Again, Stephens is decrying the end of authentic experience, and our own complicity in allowing it to happen. The brilliant “There’s So Much I Don’t Know” brings it all into focus, as Stephens mourns his home town of San Francisco, a city he feels has sold out, “where all the strange has gone”. San Francisco represents everything Stephens stands against, and the pace is sad but stately, led by piano and punctuating by shimmering cymbals, with Stephens admitting his sense of bewilderment at a place that has been rendered unrecognisable, a world that has left him behind but which he still can’t quite let go.

Q&A
Adam Stephens
What are the advantages of being in a duo?
The ideas I have wouldn’t reach their potential without us being together, they don’t get anywhere until we sit down and start messing with it together. I’ve always seen being in a duo as a necessary obstacle and if there’s a consistency it comes from that limitation. It’s a bridge that we attempt to reach across with our respective instruments to meet in the middle.

Is there a sense of regret on this album?
It’s not personal regret, I see it more as a general regret for humanity. It’s not about somebody’s life falling apart because they made a bad choice, it’s all of humanity falling apart because of bad choices that have collectively been made. That creates a feeling of helplessness. That’s my response to a lot of what I feel, a sense of helplessness that can be stifling and frustrating.

What’s wrong with San Francisco?
We’re both native San Franciscans and we have to witness all these things happening that no native considers an improvement. Pretty much every change makes the city more uninviting and not very San Franciscan. It’s not an inviting place for anybody who wants to be weird and live a life based on self-expression. But I still do these futile searches for that last untouched corner of San Francisco that hasn’t been invaded by modernity and Google, looking for those things that don’t exist anymore.

The Who, live in London

Michael Bonner

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23rd March 2015

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Approximately half way through “The Kids Are Alright”, we are visited by ghosts. John Entwistle and Keith Moon temporarily join their old band’s 50th birthday revels, their apparitions beamed at us on a giant screen suspended behind the band. We see them in glorious black and white TV footage,...

Approximately half way through “The Kids Are Alright”, we are visited by ghosts. John Entwistle and Keith Moon temporarily join their old band’s 50^th birthday revels, their apparitions beamed at us on a giant screen suspended behind the band. We see them in glorious black and white TV footage, playing along with the song; more than just a neatly synchronised nostalgic nod to fallen comrades, it acts a humble reminder that in 2015, it takes eight musicians on stage to replicate the work once done by half that number. But perhaps the spectres of Entwistle and Moon are not the most pressing business The Who have to deal with in 2015. A question mark hangs over the future of The Who; not for the first time, of course, but while previously Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend have been lured back into the fray by anniversary or album specific tours, both men have confirmed this will be the band’s last tour on this scale.

But perhaps this is not the time to speculate about what may or may not be in store for The Who as they embark on their sixth decade together. Evidently, tonight’s show – rescheduled from December – is about basking in the band’s well-seasoned body of work. Next to the merchandise stand in the foyer, you can have your photograph taken on a replica of Jimmy’s Lambretta from Quadrophenia. Meanwhile, the giant screens above the band beam down footage and graphics foregrounding the band’s heyday: in one eye-opening collage, it is possible to watch the cork fly out of a champagne bottle embedded in a wall while seconds later a giant Tommy-era Daltrey emerges from between two tower blocks, calling to mind the ‘Kitten Kong’ episode from The Goodies. The early part of the show demonstrates Townshend’s remarkable gift for lean, thrilling pop moments – “I Can’t Explain”, “Substitute”, “Who Are You” and “I Can See For Miles” among them. Even among such exalted songs, “My Generation” is an early peak. Accompanied by Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert’s celebrated footage of The High Numbers from the Railway Hotel in 1964, Townshend rousts the song into a potent R&B stomp, summoning the sulphuric energies of the band’s youth.

Read Roger Daltrey’s track-by-track commentary on The Who’s 20 best songs

But while the purpose of The Who Hits 50! is to celebrate the band’s many creative peaks, the manner in which they chose to do so is itself revealing. Part of the reason why, as Daltrey claims, the band are to curtail their live activities is ageing. Daltrey himself is 71, while Townshend turns 70 in May. Daltrey’s between song patter contains references to ageing and memory – “Why did you write so many lyrics?” he asks Townshend, only half jokingly. But both men are on sprightly form; Townshend, particularly, seems especially agile as he whips through his customary windmill moves. The exchanges between the two men, meanwhile, are in themselves equally instructive. At one point a stool is brought on stage for Townshend. “Are you alright?” asks Daltrey good-naturedly. “Am I alright? Who gives a fuck?” shoots back Townshend. “I do,” says Daltrey simply, to which Townshend snarls back: “Awwwww…” It’s a strange dynamic; a bit Pete and Dud, with Daltrey coming across as the benign, chummy of the partnership while Townshend adopts a more sardonic attitude. “So did you come far?” He asks the audience at one point. “‘Did you come far’. That’s how fucking royal I am.” Thanking the audience for coming, Daltrey says, “It’d be boring without you.” To which Townshend adds, “We’d be broke without you.”

Watching all this play out in front of a capacity crowd seems to highlight the complex, perhaps different relationship Daltrey and Townshend have to The Who. Next to Daltrey’s warmth and joviality, Townshend seems less predictable. Occasionally, he can come across as derisive; but then his lengthy introductions outlining the origins of the songs suggest an almost neurotic attachment to the material. His playful introduction, though, for “My Generation” find him teasing the audience comparing the Live At Leeds version with the single version. These weird tensions between the two men is actually quite compelling as the evening progresses. After the initial foray into their early singles, they detour into “A Quick One, While He’s Away” and a medley from Tommy, before returning to a peerless home run of “See Me Feel Me”, “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. An encore of “Magic Bus” – conveniently, my favourite Who song – closes with Daltrey and Townshend exiting together. Does it feel like the end of something; what Daltrey identified as “the beginning of the long goodbye“? It’s hard to tell at this point; they’re back in the O2 tonight, of course, and again at Hyde Park as part of the British Summer Time series in June, with overseas dates still to play. Certainly, a summation of a career so far, this was as dignified and thrilling as you could hope for.

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner

Setlist for The Who, O2 Arena, London, March 22, 2015

I Can’t Explain
Substitute
The Seeker
Who Are You
The Kids Are Alright
I Can See For Miles
Pictures Of Lily
So Sad About Us
My Generation
Behind Blue Eyes
Join Together
I’m One
Love Reign O’er Me
Slip Kid
A Quick One While He’s Away
Amazing Journey
Sparks
Pinball Wizard
See Me Feel Me
Baba O’Riley
Won’t Get Fooled Again

Encore:
Magic Bus

This month in Uncut

News

Uncut

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23rd March 2015

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Van Morrison, Alabama Shakes, The Replacements and Ride all feature in the new issue of Uncut, dated May 2015 and out now. Morrison is on the cover, and inside we discover the secret stories behind 10 of his greatest albums, including Astral Weeks, Veedon Fleece and Common One. The man himself als...

Van Morrison, Alabama Shakes, The Replacements and Ride all feature in the new issue of Uncut, dated May 2015 and out now.

Morrison is on the cover, and inside we discover the secret stories behind 10 of his greatest albums, including Astral Weeks, Veedon Fleece and Common One.

The man himself also speaks, lifting the lid on his extraordinary art. “I come from a different era,” he tells Uncut. “It was more esoteric.”

“Van was starting to go through musicians like McDonald’s go through hamburgers,” one of his musicians tells us…

Uncut editor John Mulvey heads to the Southern states to meet Alabama Shakes, hear about their brilliant and radical new album, and take a tour of their haunted Alabama homeland.

As rowdy and irrepressible as ever, The Replacements tell the complete story of their reunion, from hospitals to the megafestivals of North America, from new recording sessions to imminent UK shows. “Stop taking life so seriously,” says Paul Westerberg, “change your damn mind, and go out and do it again!”

“It wasn’t rock’n’roll, it was much more than that,” says Mark Gardener, as he and his bandmates in the reunited Ride revisit their Oxford haunts, relive their career and prepare to start all over again – in front of 70,000 people at the Coachella Festival. Uncut’s Michael Bonner hears their story.

Elsewhere in the new issue, Graham Coxon discusses the making of Blur’s new album, The Magic Whip, while the album itself is also extensively reviewed.

Motörhead’s Lemmy, “Fast” Eddie Clarke, Phil Campbell, and more, look back on 40 years of rock’n’roll overkill, remembering bad drugs, imperilled sheep and the enduring power of their mighty sound. “You’ve got to smack ’em in the mouth,” says Lemmy, “then give yourself time to get away.”

Bryan Ferry takes us through the highs of his solo career, from These Foolish Things to Avonmore, and explains just how he writes songs.

Also in the May issue, The B-52s tell Uncut how they made their offbeat classic “Rock Lobster”, inspired by ’60s adverts, Yoko Ono and broken guitar strings – and accidentally spurred John Lennon to return to the studio – while Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson answers your questions and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Gary Rossington reveals the albums and songs that changed his life.

In the front section, Todd Rundgren gives us the lowdown on his latest projects, Portishead’s Geoff Barrow talks soundtracks and Bitter Lake filmmaker Adam Curtis discusses his use of music, his next project and his dub reggae roots.

The 40-page reviews section features albums from Blur, Bill Fay, Torres, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Fotheringay and Townes Van Zandt, plus films including Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck, While We’re Young and Blade Runner: The Final Cut.

Our free CD, Into The Mystic, includes new songs from Todd Rundgren, Calexico, Waxahatchee and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, among others.

The new issue of Uncut is out now.

May 2015

Jo Weakley

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23rd March 2015

0

Van Morrison, Alabama Shakes, The Replacements and Ride all feature in the new issue of Uncut, dated May 2015. Morrison is on the cover, and inside we discover the secret stories behind 10 of his greatest albums, including Astral Weeks, Veedon Fleece and Common One. The man himself also speaks, li...

Van Morrison, Alabama Shakes, The Replacements and Ride all feature in the new issue of Uncut, dated May 2015.