Sharon Jones has announced her return to music, following her recent successful cancer surgery.

In June of this year, Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings cancelled plans for a new album and tour after doctors found a stage-one tumour on the singer’s bile duct. The tumour was removed that month.

Jones has now revealed plans for the next Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings album. Give The People What They Want is set for release on January 13, 2014. Listen to the record’s opening track, ‘Retreat!’ below:

Speaking about Jones’ return, the band’s bassist and bandleader Bosco Mann commented: “The entire Daptone Family is overjoyed and inspired to see Sharon’s recovery. Without a doubt, this album is the greatest thing we’ve ever recorded and I’ve been anxious for the world to hear it. That moment when Sharon walks out to join us on stage again is going to be insane.”

Last month, Jones wrote on Facebook: “Although my surgery to remove my cancer in June was successful, my doctor recommended that I do a 6 month course of preventative chemotherapy, which I started a month ago… I wish I could say it’s been a breeze, but this is looking to be the most challenging part yet. Thankfully, I’m feeling stronger and more focused on getting back out on stage every day. I want you all to know that YOU are the reason why I am so motivated and driven to stay healthy and work through my recovery. Can’t wait to see you all soon!”

Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings have released six albums since their 2002 debut, Dap Dippin’ with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.

The Give The People What They Want tracklisting is:

‘Retreat!’

‘Slow Down, Love’

Atoms For Peace covered Marvin Gaye’s 1977 single “Got To Give It Up” last night at a gig in Mexico City.

Click below to watch fan shot footage of the performance, via Consequence of Sound.

Atoms For Peace are currently in the news following their comments about streaming service Spotify. They recently revealed that they were pulling their music from Spotify after claiming that the streaming service was “bad for new music”. Thom Yorke also called Spotify “the last desperate fart of a dying corpse.”

The Animals reveal the worldwide impact of “We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place” in the new issue of Uncut (dated November 2013), out now.

The group’s 1965 hit became an anthem for American soldiers during the Vietnam War.

“We only realised its impact after the band had split [in 1966],” says guitarist Hilton Valentine. “We reformed in 1976 and did a world tour, and it was only then we realised the profound effect it had on US forces in Vietnam. We were meeting vets backstage who told us the song got them through Vietnam. It was No 1 on the American Forces network for years.”

“I’ve had guys come up to me and tell me that I saved their lives,” explains vocalist Eric Burdon, “people I’ve never met. Guys who went out on a patrol for a few hours and came back to the camp and found all their friends had been blown up. It was Vietnam, and then it was Iraq. That song means so much to people.”

Burdon, Valentine and drummer John Steel take us through the creation of “We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place”, originally a Brill Building folk song, in the piece.

The November 2013 issue of Uncut is out now.

Photo: Courtesy of ABKCO Records ©Marianna Burdon

Tom Stoppard’ BBC Radio 2 play Darkside is to be released as a deluxe CD package on November 25.

The play, which incorporates music from Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, was an original commission by Radio 2 to mark the 40th anniversary of the album, and broadcast on August 26, 2013.

Tom Stoppard said: “When The Dark Side of the Moon was a new album in 1973, a friend of mine walked into my room where I was working with a copy in his hand and said ‘You really have to do a play about this album.’ So, when, roughly 39-and-a-half years later, Jeff Smith from Radio 2 asked me if I’d like to do some kind of play around the 40thbirthday of the Pink Floyd album, it really wasn’t a very difficult decision.”

Produced in collaboration with Faber And Faber, the package resembles a hard-backed book, including a CD carrying the 54-minute play, which includes the majority of the Dark Side of the Moon album, plus a 56-page bound insert of the play’s script.

The cover features artwork by Hipgnosis designer Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell in collaboration with StormStudios, based on the specially-created Aardman Animations piece used to publicise the broadcast.

The full play script includes all the dialogue and stage directions, plus Roger Waters’ original lyrics from the album. The package will feature a bonus disc with text translations in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, Mandarin and Russian.

“I found the script of Tom’s play fascinating,” said Dave Gilmour. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate The Dark Side of The Moon’s 40 year anniversary.”

“I love it,” said Nick Mason. “If anyone is going to mess with the crown jewel of albums, Tom is a very good choice.”

Pink Floyd and Dark Side Of The Moon are on the cover of the current issue of Uncut.

The Grateful Dead are releasing their own craft beer.

Called American Beauty, the pale ale has been developed with Delaware brewery Dogfish Head.

The brewery and the band asked fans to help decide on one ingredient to add to the recipe that would complement the pale ale base.

They received more than 1,500 entries, before settling on granola – an idea submitted by Thomas Butler, a 39-year-old chemist and homebrewer who saw his first Dead show when he was nine.

According to a report on Rolling Stone, “The components of granola – honey, toasted grains, oats and fruit – offer a lot from a beer perspective,” Butler said on the Dogfish Head website. “The idea is to have a sessionable ale that highlights the oats and honey with a nice ‘dank’ hop selection.”

American Beauty will be available on draft and in 750-ml bottles in America – at least for now. To find retailers selling the beer, try Dogfish Head’s “Fish Finder” app here.

John Lennon‘s star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame has been defaced by vandals.

The damage was noticed by a Beatles tour guide Gillian Lomax, who organises A Magical Mystery Tour around California. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she was showing a group of tourists John Lennon’s star on Vine Street on October 5 when she discovered that vandals had covered it with graffiti, which included drawings and the words “I love you,” and “Blackbird… Rain was here.”

“Morons did it,” Lomax said. “Rather tacky. There was a group of them, judging from the different coloured pens. I tried to rub it out, but to no avail.”

Representatives from the Hollywood Walk Of Fame reacted promptly when alerted to the damage, by October 7 the graffiti had gone. “We don’t mess around,” Ana Martinez from the Hollywood Walk Of Fame said. “I think Capitol is looking into seeing if there’s any video [of the crime]. They’re registered state landmarks. Those are my babies! We’ve had people destroy stars, cracking or prying out parts of the stars, and they do go to jail and they have to pay back for the repairs. We just had one recently damaged – Arsenio Hall‘s, and a couple near him.”

Nigel Godrich has said he is “distraught” over a report published by London School of Economics which claims that digital filesharing has not had an adverse affect on music industry profits.

The briefing paper sent to MPs, published by the university, counters claims that the creative industries are suffering an overall revenue decline because of digital filesharing and streaming services.

“We show that new business models are enabling the industry to gain advantage by building on a digital culture based on sharing and co-creating,” it reads. “Taking total revenues of the music industry into account – i.e. including revenues from concerts and publishing rights, these revenues have not declined as dramatically has been suggested; they have increased considerably from 1998 to the 2000s. These revenues have stagnated in the last few years, but the claims of many in the music industry about a dramatic decline in revenue apply specifically to the sale of CDs and vinyl. As Figure 1 shows, overall revenue of the industry in 2011 was almost USD 60 bn, and revenues from live performances and publishing rights largely offset the revenue decline associated with sales of CDs and vinyl.”

Writing on Twitter, the producer and Atoms For Peace member said: “The recorded music industry has been so decimated by piracy that the only way for artists to survive is by gaining visibility at any cost, which includes allowing piracy itself, or virtual piracy like subscription streaming services, and earning from other means like merchandise or concert tickets, none of which are ‘content’.”

He continued: “That is not an argument for relaxing copyright law! T-shirts and tickets are nothing to do with ‘copyright and creation’, which is the supposed subject of this document. I hope the government sees how ridiculous this document seems to people who make records. The authors are ‘pro piracy’ and they wish to influence the UK government’s upcoming review of digital copyright law. It’s madness.”

David Bowie has released his “Sound And Vision 2013” remix.

The new version of 1977 track was originally recorded for an Xperia Z smartphone advert and mixed from the original recording session tapes by Sonjay Prabhakar.

The track, which is only one minute and 48 seconds long, is available to download digitally here.

It has been uploaded to the official David Bowie YouTube page, and you can hear it at the bottom of this page.

A description of the song on YouTube reads, “By stripping away much of the original instrumentation to just leave Roy Young’s plaintive piano, Mary Hopkin’s backing vocal and the lead vocal, the song takes on a new reflective resonance.”

Meanwhile, James Murphy‘s reworking of “Love Is Lost” from The Next Day will debut tomorrow.

Sinéad O’Connor has claimed that she has received threatening messages from Miley Cyrus fans urging her to commit suicide since publishing her open letter urging the pop star not to let the music industry take advantage of her.

The latest exchange in a week-long war of words between the pair, O’Connor addresses the dangers in mocking people with mental health problems in another lengthy letter published on her website, and calls on Cyrus to apologise to both herself and the actress Amanda Bynes, whom Cyrus referred to in earlier Twitter posts about the Irish singer.

“As a result of what you did I have had numerous communications from people urging me to commit suicide,” O’Connor writes. “Not to mention I have been the subject of literally thousands of abusive articles and or comments left after articles, which state that I and therefore all perceived mentally ill people, should be bullied and be invalidated.” Read the full post here.

Cyrus and O’Connor had a disagreement last week after O’Connor published an open letter warning Cyrus not let the music industry make a “prostitute” out of her. Cyrus has since been criticised by mental health charities for mocking O’Connor’s battles with psychological illnesses over the years, although O’Connor subsequently claimed that their spat was “over”.

Phil Chevron, the guitarist with the Pogues, has died, aged 56.

A post on the Pogues website reads: “After a long illness Philip passed away peacefully this morning [October 8]. We all send our sincere condolences to his family.”

Chevron, whose real name was Philip Ryan, was first diagnosed with esophageal cancer in June 2007 and had been undergoing treatment since. Despite being given an all-clear in 2008, in May 2013, it was announced that the cancer had returned.

Chevron formed one of Ireland’s first punk bands, The Radiators From Space, in Dublin 1976. He lived in London in the early 1980s, where he met Shane MacGowan in 1981; in 1984, Chevron was invited to tour with the Pogues, initially as a temporary replacement for Jem Finer, although he became a full-time member of the band in time for the recording of their second album, Rum, Sodomy And The Lash.

He continued to play with the Pogues after they reformed in 2001, and in 2004, Chevron oversaw the remastering of the Pogues‘ back catalogue ahead of its reissue on CD.

Chevron was last seen in public in August, during a fundraiser for the guitarist which saw actor Aidan Gillen and writer Roddy Doyle pay tribute; the Irish Independent reports that Shane MacGowan also performed.

At the event, Joseph O’Connor, author of Star Of The Sea and Redemption Falls, said, “Philip Chevron is one of the greatest Irish songwriters of all time, certainly the best of my generation, an artist of a unique and absolutely compelling sensibility.

“To any Irish person of my age who loves music, Philip is nothing less than a hero.”

A full obituary will appear in the next issue of Uncut.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M0h_nPTq2k

The Ramones first six albums are to be collected in a new box set.

The Sire Years 1976-1981 contained Ramones (1976), Leave Home (1977), Rocket to Russia (1977), Road to Ruin (1978), End of the Century (1980) and Pleasant Dreams (1981).

The set will be released on October 29.

An expanded digital version of the set, titled The Sire Years 1976-1989, features a total of 11 studio albums, including the six in the physical box as well as Subterranean Jungle (1983), Too Tough To Die (1984), Animal Boy (1986), Halfway To Sanity (1987), and Brain Drain (1989).

According to a report on Slicing Up Eyeballs, the discs on this box set will feature the 2002 remasters of the original albums, but without the bonus material.

Amnesty International has announced the release of a major box set featuring live performances from artists including Radiohead, Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.

James Murphy’s remix of David Bowie‘s “Love Is Lost” will be revealed on Thursday (October 10).

Murphy’s reworking of the track will premiere on BBC 6Music at 8.50am on Thursday and will be available to stream on David Bowie’s website from midnight the same day. The new mix, titled “Love Is Lost’ (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy For The DFA)”, is longer than ten minutes in duration, it has been revealed. Artwork for the release, pictured below, is by Jonathan Barnbrook.

Murphy’s remix is set to appear on The Next Day Extra, the extended, three-disc version of Bowie’s 2013 album The Next Day.

Set for a November 4 release, The Next Day Extra includes the original 14-track album, a 10-track CD of bonus songs and a DVD featuring the four videos made for the album. The bonus CD features four previously unreleased tracks titled “Atomica”, “The Informer”, “Like A Rocket Man” and “Born In A UFO”. The bonus disc also contains “God Bless The Girl”, which was previously only released on the Japanese version of the album.

The Wicker Man, the granddaddy of British cult horror movies celebrates its 40th anniversary with what we’re told is ‘The Final Cut’ making an appearance in cinemas this month before a Blu-ray and DVD release.

Coincidentally, the BFI are releasing on DVD a near-forgotten BBC Play For Today, Robin Redbreast, that shares similar themes with The Wicker Man. Although today the farming methods practised in most rural communities are sophisticated and modern, a cold, miserable spring can still prove disastrous for a crop. Such a failure might prompt a correspondence with DEFRA, or perhaps a concerned editorial on Farming Today; in these two films, however, a successful harvest is secured by other means.

Robin Redbreast – which originally aired in December 1970 as part of the BBC’s Play For Today strand – and 1974’s The Wicker Man are part of a wider cultural re-engagement with England’s folkloric history during the late Sixties and early Seventies. Led Zeppelin got it together at Bron-Yr-Aur, folk musicians embraced the spirit of old Albion, and authors Alan Garner and Susan Cooper delved into Arthurian magic, Gaia myths and the occult history of Britain. In cinemas, Blood On Satan’s Claw, Winstanley and Witchfinder General revisited an older, agrarian landscape. But Robin Redbreast and The Wicker Man – along with another BBC Play For Today, Penda’s Fen – had slightly different heads on. They were not so much concerned with reviving the past as they were with illustrating the continued existence of pagan traditions in contemporary life. They also both drew inspiration from the same real life incident: the 1945 murder of farmer Charles Walton in Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, who was discovered in a field with a cross carved on his face and neck and his body pinned to the ground by his pitchfork.

Both pieces follow broadly the same narrative: an outsider enters a remote community; a specific set of events must be played out to ensure a successful harvest ensues for the locals. In Robin Redbreast, the outsider is Norah Palmer (Anna Cropper) a TV script editor who moves to the country to get her head together following a relationship break-up. “You don’t speak the Old Tongue, I suppose?” asks local historian Fisher (Bernard Hepton). “If you mean Anglo Saxon, not since Oxford,” replies Norah. At first, Norah finds the aarr-thee isms of the locals eccentric but harmless; less so later. Norah is presented as a modern, liberated woman, self-aware and articulate (at one point, she chides herself: “Stop talking to yourself, you’re making me nervous.”). Her counterpart in The Wicker Man, sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) is very much the opposite – an uptight man of strong Christian values, purse-lipped throughout. But whatever their differences, both Norah and Howie make the same mistake of failing to fully comprehend what’s going on around them until it’s too late. At the heart of the respective communities in Robin Redbreast The Wicker Man are Fisher and Lord Summerisle. Both are very different men: Fisher is a peculiar, owlish man – he works for the council by day – with none of the apparent charisma of the more urbane, intellectual Lord Summerisle.

Robin Redbreast has been largely unseen since 1971. Watched today, it stands up well, accents of tharr locals notwithstanding. Director James McTaggart – a former producer of The Wednesday Play who helped launch the careers of Dennis Potter and Ken Loach – shoots Robin Redbreast straight, with the minimum of fuss and no histrionics. The Wicker Man is still very creaky, though Anthony Shaffer’s discursive script is full of compelling ideas – the clash of oppositional belief systems, the pursuit of an alternative lifestyle, the enduring power of myth – complimented by plenty of memorable images: a breast-feeding woman holding an egg in the ruined churchyard, a beetle attached by a piece of string to a pin in a school desk, the wicker man itself. The first 20 minutes or so are Hauntology 1.0: ambient noise, hymns, folk songs. But The Wicker Man doesn’t entirely live up to its reputation. The tone is inconsistent, with half the cast playing their parts as grotesques (especially Lindsay Kemp’s pub landlord) and the other half playing it straight – or trying to. As actors, Ingrid Pitt and Britt Ekland are slow to reveal their talents. Meanwhile, cast as Lord Summerisle, Christopher Lee plays Christopher Lee: ripe. The final sequence still feels genuinely transgressive, but there’s a lot of woody undergrowth to hack through before you get there.

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner.

Gorillaz have debuted a new track titled “Whirlwind” – scroll down to the bottom of the page and click to listen.

The song was originally recorded for the band’s 2010 album Plastic Beach but failed to make the LP’s final tracklisting. However, singer Damon Albarn appeared as a guest DJ on BBC Radio 2 over the weekend (October 5) and played the track, which features the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra, during the show.

In May of last year, Albarn suggested that there could be another Gorillaz album without his partner Jamie Hewlett, and also said that the pair could work together again once they had reconciled from falling out. “Jamie wants to do other things and I understand,” he said. “But you never know, in a few years he might have a burning desire to draw those pictures again, and as soon as he does that, as far as I’m concerned, there could be another Gorillaz album.”