Morrissey has denied reports that he ordered a security guard to attack a man who runs a fansite dedicated to the singer.

A report on TMZ sees Bradley Steyn allege that he was asked in his position as security guard to “hurt” the man in charge of fansite, Morrissey-Solo. Steyn also says that Morrissey’s tour manager asked if the fan “could be gotten rid of.” The security guard says he declined the request and was fired the following day.

The singer has subsequently responded to Steyn’s claims via another fansite, True To You . Posting a lengthy riposte on the website, the former Smiths frontman admits to having a troubled relationship with Morrissey-Solo editor David Tseng but claims that his personal involvement with Stey “has been zero.”

“I feel I must say to those who have not yet worked it out, that the story is a vexatious lie,” he adds. The very idea that I would ask a complete stranger (Bradley Steyn) to physically attack David Tseng surely cannot register with any sane person as being likely. As mildly irritating as David Tseng may be, he is not someone who troubles me enough to even bother with. The shabby truth of this drama is that Bradley Steyn has been trying to extract money from what he terms ‘the Morrissey tour’, and he has failed.”

The singer ends by stating that Steyn’s statement is now in the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department, and is subject to both criminal and civil action.

Damon Albarn has said that Blur may never finish the album they began working on in 2013.

Albarn recorded new music with his Blur bandmates in Hong Kong in May last year.

However, in an interview published in this week’s NME which is on newsstands tomorrow (July 30) and available digitally, Albarn says that because he likes to work in shorter, more concentrated periods of time he fears that he may never return to the tracks the band made while in Asia.

“There are about 15 songs we recorded in Hong Kong,” he says. “The annoying thing is, if I’d been able to write the lyrics there and then about being there, we’d have finished the record. But sometimes, if you can’t do it all at once, it dissipates really and I don’t know what I’d sing about now with that record. There’s some great tunes on there, but it may just be one of those records that never comes out.”

Although keen to push ahead with the album, Albarn states that his preferred method of working may mean that the album does not see the light of day.

“I’d do some more work on it. I like making records in short periods of time if I can. It was a different process with [solo album] Everyday Robots because that was really thought out, but sometimes it’s great to get some amazing energy and do something in 10 days. There was too much commuting between where we were staying and where we were recording and it was a bit too hot. I think that’s why we didn’t get it finished.”

Elsewhere in the interview Albarn talks about plans for his musical, a new Gorillaz album and the possibility of a second solo record.

Big Star‘s first two albums are to be remastered and reissued, according to a report on Rolling Stone.

#1 Record and Radio City, which have been bundled together as a two-for-one album for years, will be available as separate albums again on September 2 with liner notes by R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills.

Stax Records, which distributed the LPs via audio engineer John Fry’s Ardent Records label, has remastered both albums from their original analog tapes and will also be offering the records digitally in Mastered for iTunes and high-resolution audio formats.

“Songwriting has always been, for me, the most vital gauge of a band’s quality, and these guys were clearly masters,” says Mills in a press release. “Big Star gave you something satisfying to listen to, no matter how many times you heard them.”

Meanwhile, a documentary, Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, is set for release in the UK on August 1.

Beck has unveiled a video for his track “Heart Is A Drum“.

The track features on the singer’s 2013 album Morning Phase . For the video, Beck worked with British music video director Sophie Muller, who is best known for her collaborations with Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Blur, Garbage and a host of others.

The promo features the death of a young woman, who gets taken away by the Grim Reaper. A modern-day Beck is shown walking alongside a younger version of himself and with Death too.

Last weekend (July 26), Beck was joined onstage by Jack White at a gig at the Providence Performing Arts Center. You can watch footage here.

On Monday (July 28), Beck released a recorded version of his Song Reader project, which features Jack White along with Jarvis Cocker and others including Laura Marling and Norah Jones.

The Song Reader tracklist:

Moses Sumney – ‘Title Of This Song’

Gabriel Kahane with Ymusic – ‘Mutilation Rag’

Mitch Winehouse is to release a new album raising funds for the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

Winehouse states that his daughter Amy was involved in picking tracks for ‘But Beautiful’ prior to her death in 2011. The album, his second solo venture, will be released on September 29 through Amy’s label, Lioness Records, with money going to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which was set up to help young people with drink and alcohol addictions.

“This is still the album that Amy helped me make,” Winehouse told BBC News. “There were so many more songs that we could have done and here they are. It’s just great to be able to get out and sing, it’s something I love to do.”

“I feel that when I’m onstage, Amy’s onstage. She wouldn’t let a little thing like not being here stop her from jumping onstage.”

Earlier this year Mitch Winehouse rubbished reports that a hologram version of his daughter will be going out on tour. It was reported in March that businessman Alki David is masterminding a project to bring the singer back to the stage using 3D computer imagery, the same kind of technology that brought rapper Tupac to California’s Coachella festival in 2012.

Led Zeppelin have announced details of Deluxe Editions of Led Zeppelin IV and Houses Of The Holy.

The editions have been produced And newly remastered by Jimmy Page and will each be accompanied by previously unreleased companion audio.

They will be released on October 27 in multiple CD, Vinyl, And Digital formats, including Limited Edition Super Deluxe boxed set.

You can read our review of the first three Zeppelin remasters here.

Meanwhile, Robert Plant is on the cover of this month’s Uncut.

The formats are:

Single CD – Remastered album packaged in a gatefold card wallet.

Deluxe Edition (2CD) – Remastered album, plus a second disc of unreleased companion audio.

Single LP – Remastered album on 180-gram vinyl, packaged in a sleeve that replicates the LP’s first pressing in exacting detail.

Deluxe Edition Vinyl (2LP) – Remastered album and unreleased companion audio on 180-gram vinyl.

Digital Download – Remastered album and companion audio will both be available.

Super Deluxe Boxed Set – This collection includes:

o Remastered album on CD in vinyl replica sleeve.

o Companion audio on CD in card wallet featuring new alternate cover art.

o Remastered album on 180-gram vinyl in a sleeve replicating first pressing.

o Companion audio on 180-gram vinyl in a sleeve with new alternate cover art.

o High-def audio download card of all content at 96kHz/24 bit.

o Hard bound, 80 page book filled with rare and previously unseen photos and memorabilia.

o High-quality print of the original album cover, the first 30,000 of which will be individually numbered.

The tracklisting is:

Led Zeppelin IV

“Black Dog”

“Rock And Roll”

“The Battle of Evermore

“Stairway To Heaven”

“Misty Mountain Hop”

“Four Sticks”

“Going To California”

“When The Levee Breaks”

Companion Audio Disc

“Black Dog” – Basic Track With Guitar Overdubs

“Rock And Roll” – Alternate Mix

“The Battle Of Evermore” – Mandolin/Guitar Mix From Headley Grange

“Stairway To Heaven” – Sunset Sound Mix

“Misty Mountain Hop” – Alternate Mix

“Four Sticks” – Alternate Mix

“Going To California” – Mandolin/Guitar Mix

“When The Levee Breaks” – Alternate UK Mix

Houses Of The Holy

“The Song Remains The Same”

“The Rain Song”

“Over The Hills And Far Away”

“The Crunge”

“Dancing Days”

“D’yer Mak’er”

“No Quarter”

“The Ocean”

Companion Audio Disc

“The Song Remains The Same” – Guitar Overdub Reference Mix

“The Rain Song” – Mix Minus Piano“Over The Hills And Far Away” – Guitar Mix Backing Track

“The Crunge” – Rough Mix – Keys Up

“Dancing Days” – Rough Mix With Vocal

“No Quarter” – Rough Mix With JPJ Keyboard Overdubs – No Vocal

“The Ocean” – Working Mix

Welcome to the new issue of Uncut! John’s on holiday this week – he was last seen disappearing into darkest Gloucestershire – so it falls to me to show you around this month’s edition instead.

Our exclusive cover story finds us catching up with Robert Plant as he prepares to release his excellent new solo album, lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar. I was fortunate enough to spend the day with Plant in Ludlow, not too far from where he lives, for this in-depth and often wonderfully digressive interview which took in musical transcendence, dog breeding and the pursuit of a decent pint of bitter in Spanish nightclubs, via stop-offs in Nashville, Tipton and Marrakech. We also spoke, perhaps inevitably, about his current relationship with former band-mate Jimmy Page – coincidentally, when Plant and I met, the first batch of Zep remasters were about to roll out. The piece is wrapped up by a trip to Paris to see Plant and his current musical cohorts, the Sensational Space Shifters, play live at the Bataclan. You can read the full story in the new issue of Uncut; in shops today.

Elsewhere in the issue, Richard Lester, Pattie Boyd, Lionel Blair, Phil Collins, producer Denis O’Dell and more recount the making of The Beatles’ film debut, A Hard Day’s Night, Tom Petty shows us round his Malibu home studio as he reflects on the Heartbreakers’ storied career and their new album Hypnotic Eye and Richard and Linda Thompson look back at their first masterpiece, I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight. We also pay tribute to the late, great Bobby Womack, while J Mascis answers your questions, Yes talk us through their greatest albums and Josef K recall the making of “It’s Kinda Funny”. Robert Fripp speaks exclusively about the latest incarnation of King Crimson, Jenny Lewis picks the records that changed her life and we welcome Lonnie Holley and Merchandise to our pages.

Meanwhile, in our reviews pages, there’s new albums by Spoon, office favourite Ty Segall, Robyn Hitchcock, Cold Specks and Sinéad O’Connor, as well as reissues from The Allman Brothers Band, Elvis Presley and a rare gem from the Aphex Twin archives. In film and DVD, there’s brilliant new Nick Cave doc and a welcome return to Twin Peaks, plus Morrissey in concert. In books, there’s a new Alex Chilton biography while in our live section, we catch up with Jack White, Stevie Wonder and The Eagles.

Anyway, that’s enough from me, I think. Of course, we’d love to hear from you – so do please drop us a line with your thoughts, pontifications, passions, opinions, enthusiasms and so on at our new address: uncut_feedback@ipcmedia.com.

Yoko Ono, Kim Gordon and Cat Power have all signed up as virtual ‘teachers’ at an online girls’ school which is currently seeking funding via Kickstarter.

The School Of Doodle calls itself a “peer-to-peer, self-directed learning lab dedicated to activating girls’ imaginations through entertainment, education and community.” The project has also received support from Courtney Love, Pussy Riot and Sia, and other ‘teachers’ involved include JD Samson, formerlly of Le Tigre, as well as author Salman Rushdie, fashion designers Rodarte and artist John Baldessari.

The school is described as: “An extracurricular activity that complements formal education and gives girls access to today’s most extraordinary creative minds. School Of Doodle is a place where girls decide how and when to learn.”

At the time of writing, the project has received pledges of $47,306, out of a goal of $75,000. For more information, visit the school’s Kickstarter page. Sia, Pussy Riot, Courtney Love, Kim Gordon and Yoko Ono have all contributed ‘doodles’ to the project, which will be part of Kickstarter pledgders’ reward packages.

A campaign led by Billy Bragg has successfully seen prisoners in British jails allowed to use steel stringed guitars.

Musicians including Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and Philip Selway, Elbow’s Guy Garvey, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and Johnny Marr also supported the campaign to overturn the ban on steel-strung guitars in British prisons. The campaign was also led by Cardiff West MP Kevin Brennan, who has commented:

“This is a victory for common sense and I’m pleased after months of campaigning the UK Government has listened. The power of music to help prisoners to rehabilitate is well documented. I started the campaign after prisoners wrote to me explaining how they had saved from their small prison wages to buy guitars and how therapeutic learning to play the guitar had been for them before the ban.”

Bill Bragg, who founded the Jail Guitar Doors rehabilitation initiative added: “As an incentive to engage in rehabilitation individual access to steel strung guitars can really help the atmosphere on a prison wing. I’ve had a number of projects involving guitars on hold which now will be able to go ahead, and will allow those using music in prisons to get on with this important work.”

In a letter published in The Guardian earlier this year 12 musicians, whose number also included Richard Hawley, argued that “music has an important role to play in engaging prisoners in the process of rehabilitation” and that this was being undermined if inmates were not allowed to practice.

Glen Matlock has said that he has not spoken to John Lydon in five years and that the band are unlikely to reform any time soon.

The Sex Pistols last performed together in 2008 and another reunion looks unlikely after remarks by Matlock, who criticised Lydon as being “cheesy” while also calling guitarist Steve Jones “a miserable sod.”

“I haven’t seen John [Lydon] for five years and I’m quite happy about that,” Matlock told The Mirror. “I’ve had no cause to speak to him. There is nothing I know of in the offing and I’m really not that fussed about it. I have no idea if we will reform but who knows the secret of black magic box. I wouldn’t write new Sex Pistols material, we’re fine with the old stuff.”

Matlock also made reference to Lydon’s appearance in the Country Life butter TV adverts a few years ago. “I think that was a bit cheesy. I think he was trying to move on from being Johnny Rotten. It’s always measured against the Sex Pistols, whether he has moved on from that I don’t know. That is his way of trying.”

John Lydon will release his autobiography, Anger Is An Energy, in October.

Wings albums Venus And Mars and At The Speed Of Sound have been confirmed as the next releases in the Paul McCartney Archive collection.

They will be released on September 22 (UK), and September 23 (US), 2014.

Both albums will be available in a variety of physical and digital formats. Starting with a 2-disc (2 CD) Standard Edition, the first CD will feature the original remastered album and the second CD will include bonus audio made up of material including demos and unreleased tracks. The 3-disc (2CD, 1DVD) Deluxe Edition will be housed in ahardback book featuring unpublished photographs, new interviews with Paul, material from Paul’s archives and expanded track-by-track information.

The deluxe version bonus DVD will be comprised of filmed material from around the time of each release, some of which has never been seen before. The albums will also be available on special gatefold vinyl editions (vinyl editions include a download card). Digitally Venus And Mars and At The Speed Of Sound will be made available as both standard and deluxe versions – including Mastered for iTunes and Hi-Res formats.

TRACKLISTING:

Venus & Mars

CD 1 – Remastered Album

01. Venus and Mars

02. Rock Show

03. Love In Song

04. You Gave Me The Answer

05. Magneto and Titanium Man

06. Letting Go

07. Venus and Mars – Reprise

08. Spirits Of Ancient Egypt

09. Medicine Jar

10. Call Me Back Again

11. Listen To What The Man Said

12. Treat Her Gently – Lonely Old People

13. Crossroads

CD 2 – Bonus Audio

01. Junior’s Farm

02. Sally G

03. Walking In The Park With Eloise

04. Bridge On The River Suite

05. My Carnival

06. Going To New Orleans (My Carnival)

07. Hey Diddle [Ernie Winfrey Mix]

08. Let’s Love

09. Soily [from One Hand Clapping]

10. Baby Face [from One Hand Clapping]

11. Lunch Box/Odd Sox

12. 4th Of July

13. Rock Show [Old Version]

14. Letting Go [Single Edit]

DVD – Bonus Film

01. Recording My Carnival

02. Bon Voyageur

03. Wings At Elstree

04. Venus and Mars TV Ad

At the Speed of Sound

CD 1 – Remastered Album

01. Let ‘Em In

02. The Note You Never Wrote

03. She’s My Baby

04. Beware My Love

05. Wino Junko

06. Silly Love Songs

07. Cook Of The House

08. Time To Hide

09. Must Do Something About It

10. San Ferry Anne

11. Warm And Beautiful

CD 2 – Bonus Audio

01. Silly Love Songs [Demo]

02. She’s My Baby [Demo]

03. Message To Joe

04. Beware My Love [John Bonham Version]

05. Must Do Something About It [Paul’s Version]

06. Let ‘Em In [Demo]

07. Warm And Beautiful [Instrumental Demo]

DVD – Bonus Film

01. Silly Love Songs Music Video

02. Wings Over Wembley

03. Wings In Venice

Blur will release a recording of their 1995 gig at The Budokan in Tokyo this August.

The album, titled Live At The Budokan, will come out on August 11. The album artwork can be seen above while a live version of ‘Yuko And Hiro’ can be heard via the video at the bottom of the page.

Blur’s gig at The Budokan was part of The Great Escape Tour and saw the band play to 20,000 people on November 8, 1995. Though it came out in Japan, the album was never officially released in the UK. The recordings have been remastered by Frank Arkwright at London’s Abbey Road Studios.

The Live At The Budokan tracklisting is:

‘The Great Escape’

‘The Universal’

Ryan Adams has previewed songs from his new album in his performance at Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island, reports Consequence Of Sound.

The singer will release his self-titled fourteenth album on September 8 and, during his performance, he played three songs from the record, plus a new, non-album track called “Catherine”. You can watch footage of one track, “My Wrecking Ball”, below and listen to the whole set at NPR.

Adams also covered US metal band Danzig’s track “Mother” towards the end of his set. He previously debuted one of the new songs in his set, ‘Stay With Me’, at a show in Portland.

The Ryan Adams album was produced by Adams at his Pax Am Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The album follows 2011’s ‘Ashes & Fire’, and will feature recent single ‘Gimme Something Good’.

The Ryan Adams tracklisting is:

‘Gimme Something Good’

‘Let Go’

Beck was joined by Jack White last Saturday [July 26] night at the Providence Performing Arts Center.

According to The Future Heart, White was introduced by Beck as “the best bartender in the world.” They started off with “Pay No Mind” and “Loser” before closing out the show with an extended version of “Where It’s At”.

For the last song, they were also joined on tambourine by Sean Lennon, who had opened the show with his band the Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger.

Stevie Nicks has announced that she will release a double album this autumn.

24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault will be released on October 7. The album is made up of songs that were mostly written by the Fleetwood Mac member between 1969 and 1987 but were recorded recently in Nashville and Los Angeles. The album is produced by Nicks, Dave Stewart and Waddy Wachtel.

Speaking about the album, Nicks commented in a statement: “Most of these songs were written between 1969 and 1987. One was written in 1994 and one in 1995. I included them because they seemed to belong to this special group. Each song is a lifetime. Each song has a soul. Each song has a purpose. Each song is a love story… They represent my life behind the scenes, the secrets, the broken hearts, the broken-hearted and the survivors.”

Meanwhile, Fleetwood Mac recently said that they have almost finished eight songs for a possible new album. The recent recordings feature Christine McVie, who announced she was rejoining the band in January, although Nicks was not present at the sessions owing to other commitments.

The band’s guitarist Lindsey Buckingham said in an interview with Billboard: “The chemistry was just unbelievable. We’re all very excited about the new music. Knowing me, I’m going to be pushing hard for a double album.”

Minus Nicks, Fleetwood Mac spent two months at The Village Recorder studio in Los Angeles, working in the same room in which they recorded their 1979 album ‘Tusk’. Despite the eight tracks being “75 per cent done”, the sessions will be put on hold as McVie returns to the UK where she lives. The band are scheduled to begin rehearsals for their world tour this month, meaning it’s unlikely a new album will be released before 2015. Titles for the new songs include “Carnival Begin” and “Red Sun”.

Photo: Getty