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Radiohead confirm rescheduled show dates following Toronto stage collapse

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Radiohead confirm rescheduled show dates following Toronto stage collapse
Radiohead have rescheduled seven shows following last week's stage collapse in Toronto, which killed crew member Scott Johnson and injured three others. The shows, which were due to take place in Italy, Germany and Switzerland, have all been moved to late September, following their postponement las...

Radiohead have rescheduled seven shows following last week’s stage collapse in Toronto, which killed crew member Scott Johnson and injured three others.

The shows, which were due to take place in Italy, Germany and Switzerland, have all been moved to late September, following their postponement last week.

The band’s show Rome Hippodrome Capanelle has been moved from June 30 to September 22, with their date at Florence Parco delle Cascine moving from July 1 to Septembe 23.

The band’s gig in Bologna Arena Parco Nord has moved from July 3 to September 25, their gig at Codroipo Villa Manin from July 4 to September 26 and their two dates at Berlin Wuhlheide from July 6-7 to September 29 and 30. Finally, the band’s show at St Triphon Carriere des Andonces has moved from July 9 to September 20.

The band have had to postpone the shows, as the accident also destroyed the band’s ‘unique’ lightshow and parts of their backline setup, all of which now needs to be replaced in order for the tour to continue.

The statement reads: “Whilst we all are dealing with the grief and shock ensuing from this terrible accident there are also many practical considerations to deal with.”

The band will now pick up the tour in France at Les Arenes Nimes (July 10) and will go on to play the Bilbao BBK and Lisbon Optimus Alive festivals.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that four companies, including one run by the members of Radiohead, have been asked to comply with an investigation by the Canadian government into the stage collapse. Ticker Tape Touring LLP, which lists Johnny Greenwood, Philip Selway, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien and Thom Yorke as board members has been identified by the Canadian Ministry of Labour as one of at least four companies involved in the collapse, the Toronto Star reported.

Toronto-based Optex Staging and Services, Nasco Staffing Solutions and concert promoter Live Nation have all been asked to comply with the investigation into the tragedy at Downsview Park.

The stage collapsed an hour before the gates opened to the public and queues were already forming outside the 40,000 capacity venue. Emergency crews were quick on the scene and the area was evacuated. The victims were all part of the team setting up equipment.

Both Radiohead and Keane, with whom Johnson also worked, have paid tribute to him.

Muse’s new single “Survival” to be London 2012 Olympics official song

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Muse’s new single “Survival” to be London 2012 Olympics official song
Muse have revealed that they have been chosen to provide the official song of the London 2012 Olympics. The track, which is titled "Survival", will be played when athletes enter the stadium, in the lead up to the medal ceremony and also as the theme for all international TV coverage. The track, w...

Muse have revealed that they have been chosen to provide the official song of the London 2012 Olympics.

The track, which is titled “Survival“, will be played when athletes enter the stadium, in the lead up to the medal ceremony and also as the theme for all international TV coverage.

The track, which the band have said is inspired by “total conviction and pure determination to win”, will be debuted on Radio 1 tonight [June 27] at 7.30pm (GMT).

Writing about “Survival“, the band said: “We are very excited to announce that a Muse song, Survival, has been selected by the London Olympic committee to be the main official song for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Matt wrote the song with the Olympics in mind. It’s about total conviction and pure determination to win.”

They continued: “The song will be played throughout the Games including when athletes enter the stadium, in the lead up to the medal ceremony and also as the theme for all international TV coverage. The worldwide radio exclusive will be tonight on BBC Radio 1 around 19:30 and will be available to buy on iTunes and in the muse.mu store immediately afterwards.”

They continued further: “We are honoured that the Olympics have chosen our song to officially represent the London 2012 Olympic Games across the globe.”

Hear new Joanna Newsom track

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Hear new Joanna Newsom track
Joanna Newsom has debuted a new song, "The Diver's Wife". On performed the song on Monday [June 25], when she appeared with Philip Glass at San Francisco's Warfield Theater as part of a benefit for Big Sur's Henry Miller Memorial Library. This is Newsom's first new material since 2010's Have One O...

Joanna Newsom has debuted a new song, “The Diver’s Wife”.

On performed the song on Monday [June 25], when she appeared with Philip Glass at San Francisco’s Warfield Theater as part of a benefit for Big Sur’s Henry Miller Memorial Library.

This is Newsom’s first new material since 2010’s Have One On Me, Uncut’s Album Of The Year.

You can hear the song here.

Mike Love plans Beach Boys shows without Brian Wilson

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Mike Love plans Beach Boys shows without Brian Wilson
Mike Love has apparently booked Autumn dates with his touring version of the Beach Boys, without the group's other principal founding members. The reunited Beach Boys are currently in the middle of a 50th anniversary tour. But, according to Rolling Stone, Love is already planning his own shows, inc...

Mike Love has apparently booked Autumn dates with his touring version of the Beach Boys, without the group’s other principal founding members.

The reunited Beach Boys are currently in the middle of a 50th anniversary tour. But, according to Rolling Stone, Love is already planning his own shows, including South America in October.

When asked by Rolling Stone whether he was aware of Love’s plans, Brian Wilson said: “I wasn’t aware that Mike had some shows in South America. News to me.”

The various former members of the Beach Boys have all toured under different names, with their own bands. Mike Love has licensed the Beach Boys name since 1998, Al Jardine has performed with his Endless Summer Band and Wilson with his own band.

The band – Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks – will play London’s Royal Albert Hall on September 27 and Wembley Arena on September 28.

“Dr Dee” by Damon Albarn & Rufus Norris, London Coliseum, June 27, 2012

John Mulvey
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“Dr Dee” by Damon Albarn & Rufus Norris, London Coliseum, June 27, 2012

Do opera-goers have low boredom thresholds? It certainly seems that way watching the production of Damon Albarn’s “Dr Dee” at the English National Opera – or at least that director Rufus Norris assumes they do. There are beds in perpetual motion, levitating queens, dazzling projected screes of Enochian code, spymasters on stilts, rapidly shifting tableaux between rustling walls of paper, hydraulics, winches, fire, balloons, planets in orbit, revolving spiral staircases, and, at the climax, three live crows, one of which goes rogue for a few orbits of the Coliseum, while the other two get into a fight above the heads of Albarn’s band. I can’t pretend to know whether all this visual hyperactivity is the norm for opera, this neurotic obligation to provide a spectacle every couple of minutes or so (an almost parodically sniffy review in The Independent suggests not, while also chastising Albarn for his “dour little voice”). Couple of things, though: opera critics clearly have a lot more to write about than rock reviewers, mostly; and it all makes you wonder whether Norris felt he had to overcompensate for Albarn’s music. I’ve already written at length about Albarn’s “Dr Dee”, or at least the recorded version of it, in this review. Live, much of it still sounds terrific, in spite of the distractions presented by Norris’ tricksy theatricals: a cavalcade of British stereotypes accompany the opening “Apple Carts”, scrolling backwards through time from the unpromising start of a pantomime punk. After that, however, the action restricts itself to the Elizabethan period, leaving Albarn’s lyrics and quixotic band set-up (the masterful Tony Allen is barely employed for two hours, in what must be one of the odder and less physically demanding gigs of his career) to draw the occasional historical parallel. There was a lot of talk after the performance – echoed by that Independent review – about the story being hard to follow, even though Albarn recently told me that the narrative had been substantially tightened up since “Dr Dee” was performed in Manchester last summer. Again, out of ignorance, I’m unsure how much opera-goers can typically divine of an opera’s plot without prior knowledge. A close listen to Albarn’s record and a decent grasp of Dee’s biography made it seem reasonably straightforward to me – it is tantalising to imagine quite how obtuse “Dr Dee” might have been had the original plan of using Alan Moore as librettist come to fruition. What ultimately emerges is a sense that the trappings of notionally ‘high’ culture, the exaggerated theatricality and technical stunts, can be substantially crasser and more pandering than those of rock. Albarn is onstage throughout, mostly sat dangling on the edge of the band platform as a sort of self-effacing MC. The way he threads his subtle little songs, often beautifully underpinned by kora and lute, into a broader tapestry of operatic voices and full orchestrations, is, I think, really successful. A lot of the music in the production – especially in the second half - that doesn’t appear on the album tends toward full-blooded flurries in the vein of Phillip Glass, or the way Michael Nyman (an old Albarn collaborator, of course) turbocharged Purcell circa “The Draughtsman’s Contract”. Some of the operatic narrations can be a little awkward, though the female singers, especially Victoria Couper and Melanie Pappenheim (who spends plenty of the first half dangling above the action as Queen Elizabeth) provide a surprisingly smooth complement to Albarn’s less tutored tones. The highlight, as on the record, comes in the most harmonious blending of the folkish and operatic sides, “The Moon Exalted”. Suitably enough, it soundtracks the coupling of Dee and his wife – and recurs, less serendipitously, for a fraught threesome incorporating the scryer Kelley in the second half. An interesting evening, I guess, with some lovely music, but I’m floundering a bit to manage my “dour little” prejudices and rate this as a theatrical experience rather than as a concert with visuals. If anyone else sees the production, please let me know your thoughts. As an ambitious statement, does it beat bawling out “Park Life” to the nostalgists in Hyde Park? Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey

Do opera-goers have low boredom thresholds? It certainly seems that way watching the production of Damon Albarn’s “Dr Dee” at the English National Opera – or at least that director Rufus Norris assumes they do.

There are beds in perpetual motion, levitating queens, dazzling projected screes of Enochian code, spymasters on stilts, rapidly shifting tableaux between rustling walls of paper, hydraulics, winches, fire, balloons, planets in orbit, revolving spiral staircases, and, at the climax, three live crows, one of which goes rogue for a few orbits of the Coliseum, while the other two get into a fight above the heads of Albarn’s band.

I can’t pretend to know whether all this visual hyperactivity is the norm for opera, this neurotic obligation to provide a spectacle every couple of minutes or so (an almost parodically sniffy review in The Independent suggests not, while also chastising Albarn for his “dour little voice”). Couple of things, though: opera critics clearly have a lot more to write about than rock reviewers, mostly; and it all makes you wonder whether Norris felt he had to overcompensate for Albarn’s music.

I’ve already written at length about Albarn’s “Dr Dee”, or at least the recorded version of it, in this review. Live, much of it still sounds terrific, in spite of the distractions presented by Norris’ tricksy theatricals: a cavalcade of British stereotypes accompany the opening “Apple Carts”, scrolling backwards through time from the unpromising start of a pantomime punk.

After that, however, the action restricts itself to the Elizabethan period, leaving Albarn’s lyrics and quixotic band set-up (the masterful Tony Allen is barely employed for two hours, in what must be one of the odder and less physically demanding gigs of his career) to draw the occasional historical parallel. There was a lot of talk after the performance – echoed by that Independent review – about the story being hard to follow, even though Albarn recently told me that the narrative had been substantially tightened up since “Dr Dee” was performed in Manchester last summer.

Again, out of ignorance, I’m unsure how much opera-goers can typically divine of an opera’s plot without prior knowledge. A close listen to Albarn’s record and a decent grasp of Dee’s biography made it seem reasonably straightforward to me – it is tantalising to imagine quite how obtuse “Dr Dee” might have been had the original plan of using Alan Moore as librettist come to fruition.

What ultimately emerges is a sense that the trappings of notionally ‘high’ culture, the exaggerated theatricality and technical stunts, can be substantially crasser and more pandering than those of rock. Albarn is onstage throughout, mostly sat dangling on the edge of the band platform as a sort of self-effacing MC. The way he threads his subtle little songs, often beautifully underpinned by kora and lute, into a broader tapestry of operatic voices and full orchestrations, is, I think, really successful. A lot of the music in the production – especially in the second half – that doesn’t appear on the album tends toward full-blooded flurries in the vein of Phillip Glass, or the way Michael Nyman (an old Albarn collaborator, of course) turbocharged Purcell circa “The Draughtsman’s Contract”.

Some of the operatic narrations can be a little awkward, though the female singers, especially Victoria Couper and Melanie Pappenheim (who spends plenty of the first half dangling above the action as Queen Elizabeth) provide a surprisingly smooth complement to Albarn’s less tutored tones. The highlight, as on the record, comes in the most harmonious blending of the folkish and operatic sides, “The Moon Exalted”. Suitably enough, it soundtracks the coupling of Dee and his wife – and recurs, less serendipitously, for a fraught threesome incorporating the scryer Kelley in the second half.

An interesting evening, I guess, with some lovely music, but I’m floundering a bit to manage my “dour little” prejudices and rate this as a theatrical experience rather than as a concert with visuals. If anyone else sees the production, please let me know your thoughts. As an ambitious statement, does it beat bawling out “Park Life” to the nostalgists in Hyde Park?

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey

Elbow – “It’s a massive thing to be asked to write a song for the Olympics”

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Elbow – “It’s a massive thing to be asked to write a song for the Olympics”
Elbow have said it was a "massive thing" to be asked to write a song for the Olympics in an exclusive interview taken backstage at Isle of Wight festival last weekend. Speaking of their track "First Steps", which will soundtrack the BBC's coverage of the momentous sporting event, keyboardist Craig ...

Elbow have said it was a “massive thing” to be asked to write a song for the Olympics in an exclusive interview taken backstage at Isle of Wight festival last weekend.

Speaking of their track “First Steps“, which will soundtrack the BBC’s coverage of the momentous sporting event, keyboardist Craig Potter said: “The closer the Olympics get, the more exciting it is and the more we realise what a massive thing it is to be asked to do that. So many people are gonna hear it and it’s going to be in the background of some momentous events, so we’re really proud of it.”

Bassist Pete Turner updated fans about the progress of their follow-up to Mercury Prize-nominated LP Build A Rocket, Boys!: “With the next album, we’re a little bit in there,” he said. “We’ve got about ten ideas we’re gonna work on and they’re sounding pretty good.” he added:

“There’s no title or release date yet, we’re just knocking around idea and seeing where it’s going. It’s quite groove-based initially and there are more guitars than we would usually do, but things always change.”

Elbow are playing at this year’s T In The Park, which is taking place July 6-8 in Balado Park, Kinross.

Iggy Pop and Best Coast join forces for True Blood soundtrack

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Iggy Pop and Best Coast join forces for True Blood soundtrack
Iggy Pop and Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino have teamed up to record a song for the TV show True Blood. The pair have apparently recorded a track called "Let's Boot And Rally", which will appear in the episode which airs in the US on July 8. Pitchfork reports that the song will receive its radio de...

Iggy Pop and Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino have teamed up to record a song for the TV show True Blood.

The pair have apparently recorded a track called “Let’s Boot And Rally”, which will appear in the episode which airs in the US on July 8. Pitchfork reports that the song will receive its radio debut a few days before the television broadcast date, on July 5.

Of the collaboration Iggy Pop said: “I’ve always liked to bite. I guess this makes me a singing vampire, does this mean I have a license to suck? Hi Bethany…”

Last year Nick Cave and Neko Case also duetted for True Blood, recording a version of The Zombies’ classic track ‘She’s Not There’.

Meanwhile, in other Iggy Pop news, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has signed on to play The Stooges’ frontman in CBGB, a new film about the legendary New York venue.

The movie will be directed by Randal Miller – who has co-written the script with Jody Savin – and is set to start shooting in Savannah, Georgia, before moving to New York. The pair are also currently putting together a biopic about Dennis Wilson, the late solo musician and drummer with The Beach Boys.

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion to release first new album in eight years

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The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion to release first new album in eight years
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are set to release their first new album in eight years. The 12 track Meat And Bone will be released on September 17 and follows 2004's Damage – which was released under the shortened name of Blues Explosion. It features 12 tracks, and will be the band's ninth LP. ...

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are set to release their first new album in eight years.

The 12 track Meat And Bone will be released on September 17 and follows 2004’s Damage – which was released under the shortened name of Blues Explosion. It features 12 tracks, and will be the band’s ninth LP. Scroll down to listen to the album’s opening track “Black Mold”.

Recorded at the Key Club Recording Studio in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the album was then mixed in New York. Of the album and the band, made up of Jon Spencer, Judah Bauer and Russell Simins, Spencer says:

“We still have that psychic glue that allows us to create music together. Over the course of a year touring and writing new songs and recording, we rediscovered our shared history as a band. We circled the wagons, and went back to our roots. In a way this is almost like another first album.”

The band released their debut, self-titled record in 1992.

The Meat And Bone tracklisting is:

‘Black Mold’

‘Bag Of Bones’

‘Boot Cut’

‘Get Your Pants Off’

‘Ice Cream Killer’

‘Strange Baby’

‘Bottle Baby’

‘Danger’

‘Black Thoughts’

‘Unclear’

‘Bear Trap’

‘Zimgar’

Jack White: “A White Stripes reunion could never happen”

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Jack White: “A White Stripes reunion could never happen”
Jack White has said that The White Stripes will never get back together. When asked if a reunion would ever be on the cards, the Nashville singer told Dutch news station Newsuur, "No. I don't think that could ever happen; it's all done. But the lord works in mysterious ways so there'll probably be ...

Jack White has said that The White Stripes will never get back together.

When asked if a reunion would ever be on the cards, the Nashville singer told Dutch news station Newsuur, “No. I don’t think that could ever happen; it’s all done. But the lord works in mysterious ways so there’ll probably be something better come out of me one day. I hope so, I’ve got nothing better to do.”

White also opened up about his views on being an artist, elaborating that he’d only had three holidays in his life which were all “very short” and that he had never had any desire to spend time at parties or doing drugs. He said:

“I feel a responsibility to the music; I’ve given myself away a long time ago. That’s what I do and that’s what consumes me every day. I can have a house and a car and have children, and I can go out to eat and do that stuff too, but it’s all second and third place to what I’ve already given myself away to. I can’t help myself.”

The multi-instrumentalist, who also runs vinyl-only label Third Man Records, recently spoke about his feelings regarding the lack of romance involved in modern music technology, explaining that “digital and invisible things make you feel like some other being is in charge of this somewhere else”.

White also played at UK at London’s O2 Academy Brixton and BBC Radio One’s Hackney Weekend last week, following the release of his debut solo LP Blunderbuss. He will headline London’s Roundhouse on September 8 as part of the iTunes festival.

The Black Keys hit out at ‘partial’ Black Sabbath and Van Halen reunions

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The Black Keys hit out at ‘partial’ Black Sabbath and Van Halen reunions
The Black Keys' drummer Patrick Carney has hit out at the recent reunions of Black Sabbath and Van Halen and their failure to include all their original members. The full original line-up of Sabbath reunited last year, but have subsequently parted ways with drummer Bill Ward over a contract disput...

The Black Keys‘ drummer Patrick Carney has hit out at the recent reunions of Black Sabbath and Van Halen and their failure to include all their original members.

The full original line-up of Sabbath reunited last year, but have subsequently parted ways with drummer Bill Ward over a contract dispute. Van Halen released their first album for 14 years earlier this year, but recorded it without long-time bass player Michael Anthony, with mainman Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang Van Halen taking the role.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Carney said he had no interest in “a partial reunion” and that the experience of watching Van Halen had been “a fucking bummer”.

He said of this: “I love Black Sabbath, but I don’t know if I’d want to watch Black Sabbath without Bill Ward. The band is Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Ozzy. I have no interest in seeing bands with partial line-ups. I just saw Van Halen without Michael Anthony. I’m not a very big Van Halen fan but it was such a fucking bummer. Like, what the hell is the point?”

Then asked what he thought of the new Van Halen line-up, he added: “I mean, sure, Eddie Van Halen’s son is a pretty good bass player and he’s a 20-year-old kid and that’s cool, but like, what the fuck is that? That’s fucking retarded. If someone is able to be in a band for 30 years and then people are okay with replacing him with a 17-year-old, they’re obviously motherfucking assholes, right?”

Last week, it was reported that The Black Keys are suing both Pizza Hut and DIY store Home Depot for allegedly using songs from El Camino without permission.

The band are also set to release their own documentary. Noah Abrams, the director behind the yet-untitled film, has said he had no plans to shoot a straight band documentary and revealed that the movie is a “buddy movie with perhaps the greatest soundtrack of all time”.

Alabama Shakes announce November UK tour

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Alabama Shakes announce November UK tour
Alabama Shakes have announced a short UK tour for this November. The band, who released their critically acclaimed debut album Boys & Girls earlier this year, will play four shows in November, including two in London. The run of shows begins at Manchester Academy on November 12, before moving ...

Alabama Shakes have announced a short UK tour for this November.

The band, who released their critically acclaimed debut album Boys & Girls earlier this year, will play four shows in November, including two in London.

The run of shows begins at Manchester Academy on November 12, before moving onto Glasgow Barrowlands on November 13, the band will then play two dates in the UK capital, first day at the Coronet on November 16 and then at the HMV Forum on November 17.

The band are also booked to play two further dates in September in Oxford and Brighton as well as festival slots at Latitude, Bestival, End Of The Road Festival and Secret Garden Party.

Peter Hook helps launch university master’s course inspired by the Haçienda

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Peter Hook helps launch university master’s course inspired by the Haçienda

Former New Order bassist Peter Hook has announced that Factory251, the music venue inside the former Factory Records office, will help launch a master's degree in Music Industry Management and Promotion alongside the University of Central Lancashire, reports The Guardian. Hook, bassist in Joy Division and New Order, will also be a mentor on the course, offering advice based on his experiences of co-running notoriously financially-crippling Manchester venue, The Haçienda. Speaking of his involvement, he said, "I am excited to be involved in a project that's going to offer genuine opportunities to help support the future of the British music industry." In 2009, Hook published a memoir on his time running the space entitled The Hacienda: How Not To Run A Club. He has previously been quoted as saying that it would have been cheaper for New Order to have handed everyone in the queue a tenner each and turned them away than to keep financing the venue. Last week, the bassist also spoke about Joy Division's single "Love Will Tear Us Apart", after it was named NME's greatest track of the last 60 years. He revealed: "It still sends a shiver down my spine. Especially because I know the people involved. It masquerades as this cute little pop song, which is one of its delightful ironies. I would've hated it to be about me."

Former New Order bassist Peter Hook has announced that Factory251, the music venue inside the former Factory Records office, will help launch a master’s degree in Music Industry Management and Promotion alongside the University of Central Lancashire, reports The Guardian.

Hook, bassist in Joy Division and New Order, will also be a mentor on the course, offering advice based on his experiences of co-running notoriously financially-crippling Manchester venue, The Haçienda. Speaking of his involvement, he said, “I am excited to be involved in a project that’s going to offer genuine opportunities to help support the future of the British music industry.”

In 2009, Hook published a memoir on his time running the space entitled The Hacienda: How Not To Run A Club. He has previously been quoted as saying that it would have been cheaper for New Order to have handed everyone in the queue a tenner each and turned them away than to keep financing the venue.

Last week, the bassist also spoke about Joy Division’s single “Love Will Tear Us Apart“, after it was named NME’s greatest track of the last 60 years. He revealed:

“It still sends a shiver down my spine. Especially because I know the people involved. It masquerades as this cute little pop song, which is one of its delightful ironies. I would’ve hated it to be about me.”

Jarvis Cocker opens up about Pulp’s future plans

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Jarvis Cocker opens up about Pulp’s future plans
Jarvis Cocker has spoken about Pulp's future plans and says that he and his bandmates haven't ruled out recording new material. The band reunited in late 2010 and played a number of festivals and well-received gigs last summer, but have not as yet indicated if they will be writing or recording any...

Jarvis Cocker has spoken about Pulp’s future plans and says that he and his bandmates haven’t ruled out recording new material.

The band reunited in late 2010 and played a number of festivals and well-received gigs last summer, but have not as yet indicated if they will be writing or recording any new material.

Speaking in an interview which you can read in the new issue of NME, the singer refused to be definitely drawn either way on the prospect of new material, but also ruled out the band breaking up once again.

Asked about the prospect of new material, he said: “I don’t know about that. I mean, I’ve enjoyed doing these shows because the idea was, could we manage to do it again, to make it feel like it was worth doing and to make it sound right? And I think we managed to do that.” He added:

I suppose once you’ve done that, the next thing is; would you make some new music? I’ve enjoyed the fact that we haven’t been doing any new stuff, because I feel that’s kept it quite simple. It’s hard one. We haven’t been in the studio or anything. I don’t know what will happen in the future.

To read the rest of the interview with the Pulp singer, in which he discusses his solo plans and the new album he’s producing, pick up the new issue of NME, which is on newsstands today (June 26) or available digitally.

Keith Richards reveals he and Jack White have recorded tracks together

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Keith Richards reveals he and Jack White have recorded tracks together

The Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards has revealed that he and Jack White have "recorded a couple of tracks" together and could release them in the coming months. Speaking to Rolling Stone, the legendary guitarist said that he and White had worked together and he'd up for releasing the songs as long as White was also onboard with the idea. He said of this: "I enjoy working with Jack. We've done a couple of tracks. I don't know if [Jack] ever considered that it was actually, like, master cuts. But at the same time if Jack wanted to do it, I'd probably say, 'Yeah.'' I know Jack pretty well. He's a lovely player." Richards also spoke about the possibility of recording new material with the Rolling Stones and said that the band would be meeting up in July to talk about their plans. Speaking about this, Richards added: "We're going to talk about that in July and see," he said. "I mean, I'd love to get some tracks down and see what songs we've got. And that goes along with part of getting the band back together and getting things moving. So I'd love to cut some tracks, yeah." The guitarist also said he was open to the possibility of White producing the Rolling Stones, replying to a question about this by saying: "That's always a possibility. The door is wide open." The Rolling Stones recently denied reports they will retire next year with a headline slot at Glastonbury. It was reported "sources" close to the band had indicated that their Glastonbury appearance will be their final date in a "handful" of shows in the UK and USA. It was also suggested that, as it is part of the group's 50-year anniversary, it will be seen as a good time to call it a day on live performances. However, representatives for the band have insisted there is no truth in the claim.

The Rolling Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards has revealed that he and Jack White have “recorded a couple of tracks” together and could release them in the coming months.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, the legendary guitarist said that he and White had worked together and he’d up for releasing the songs as long as White was also onboard with the idea.

He said of this: “I enjoy working with Jack. We’ve done a couple of tracks. I don’t know if [Jack] ever considered that it was actually, like, master cuts. But at the same time if Jack wanted to do it, I’d probably say, ‘Yeah.” I know Jack pretty well. He’s a lovely player.”

Richards also spoke about the possibility of recording new material with the Rolling Stones and said that the band would be meeting up in July to talk about their plans.

Speaking about this, Richards added: “We’re going to talk about that in July and see,” he said. “I mean, I’d love to get some tracks down and see what songs we’ve got. And that goes along with part of getting the band back together and getting things moving. So I’d love to cut some tracks, yeah.”

The guitarist also said he was open to the possibility of White producing the Rolling Stones, replying to a question about this by saying: “That’s always a possibility. The door is wide open.”

The Rolling Stones recently denied reports they will retire next year with a headline slot at Glastonbury.

It was reported “sources” close to the band had indicated that their Glastonbury appearance will be their final date in a “handful” of shows in the UK and USA. It was also suggested that, as it is part of the group’s 50-year anniversary, it will be seen as a good time to call it a day on live performances. However, representatives for the band have insisted there is no truth in the claim.

The 26th Uncut Playlist Of 2012

John Mulvey
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The 26th Uncut Playlist Of 2012

Plenty of gold in this week’s haul, and not much better than the Duane Pitre album whose sleeve is posted above – a truly excellent record that I must admit I missed when it was released a few months back. Elsewhere, another plug/link to that Frank Ocean track, and a prompt to download the first track from the new Thurston Moore/Keith Wood/John Moloney/Samara Lubelski configuration, Chelsea Light Moving. There’s an amazing archival find in the shape of a big Laurie Spiegel retrospective: a new name to me, but one I’d vigorously recommend for those of you interested in that whole electronic composition/kosmische process. And while I keep hyping the forthcoming Six Organs album in tandem with Comets On Fire (check this track leaked at NPR: http://www.npr.org/2012/06/26/155705361/summer-music-preview-premieres-from-cat-power-avett-brothers-grizzly-bear-and-mo), Ben Chasny has made a very different and very good jam record with Lisbon’s Gala Drop. Plenty more goodness here, too, as you can probably work out. I’ll try and blog about Damon Albarn’s “Dr Dee” show tomorrow: my first opera, I think, since the Gavin Bryars/Atom Egoyan show that must be 15 years ago now… Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey 1 Blues Control – Valley Tangents (Drag City) 2 Lynyrd Skynyrd - Last Of A Dyin' Breed (Roadrunner) 3 Chelsea Light Moving – Burroughs (http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2012/06/22/tell-us-about-your-new-band-thurston-moore/) 4 5 Frank Ocean – Pyramids (https://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/wild-mercury-sound/the-24th-uncut-playlist-of-2012) 6 Dinosaur Jr – Bet On Sky (PIAS) 7 Six Organs Of Admittance – Ascent (Drag City) 8 Dan Deacon – America (Domino) 9 Rhyton – The Emerald Tablet (Three- Lobed) 10 Laurie Spiegel – The Expanding Universe (Unseen Worlds) 11 Mark Knopfler – Privateering (Mercury) 12 The Fresh & Onlys – Long Slow Dance (Souterrain Transmissions) 13 Ben Chasny/Gala Drop – Broda (Gala Drop) 14 Andre Popp – Le Coeur En Fête (Wah Wah) 15 Duane Pitre – Feel Free (Important) 16 John Cale – Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood (Double Six)

Plenty of gold in this week’s haul, and not much better than the Duane Pitre album whose sleeve is posted above – a truly excellent record that I must admit I missed when it was released a few months back.

Elsewhere, another plug/link to that Frank Ocean track, and a prompt to download the first track from the new Thurston Moore/Keith Wood/John Moloney/Samara Lubelski configuration, Chelsea Light Moving. There’s an amazing archival find in the shape of a big Laurie Spiegel retrospective: a new name to me, but one I’d vigorously recommend for those of you interested in that whole electronic composition/kosmische process.

And while I keep hyping the forthcoming Six Organs album in tandem with Comets On Fire (check this track leaked at NPR: http://www.npr.org/2012/06/26/155705361/summer-music-preview-premieres-from-cat-power-avett-brothers-grizzly-bear-and-mo), Ben Chasny has made a very different and very good jam record with Lisbon’s Gala Drop.

Plenty more goodness here, too, as you can probably work out. I’ll try and blog about Damon Albarn’s “Dr Dee” show tomorrow: my first opera, I think, since the Gavin Bryars/Atom Egoyan show that must be 15 years ago now…

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey

1 Blues Control – Valley Tangents (Drag City)

2 Lynyrd Skynyrd – Last Of A Dyin’ Breed (Roadrunner)

3 Chelsea Light Moving – Burroughs (http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2012/06/22/tell-us-about-your-new-band-thurston-moore/)

4

5 Frank Ocean – Pyramids (https://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/wild-mercury-sound/the-24th-uncut-playlist-of-2012)

6 Dinosaur Jr – Bet On Sky (PIAS)

7 Six Organs Of Admittance – Ascent (Drag City)

8 Dan Deacon – America (Domino)

9 Rhyton – The Emerald Tablet (Three- Lobed)

10 Laurie Spiegel – The Expanding Universe (Unseen Worlds)

11 Mark Knopfler – Privateering (Mercury)

12 The Fresh & Onlys – Long Slow Dance (Souterrain Transmissions)

13 Ben Chasny/Gala Drop – Broda (Gala Drop)

14 Andre Popp – Le Coeur En Fête (Wah Wah)

15 Duane Pitre – Feel Free (Important)

16 John Cale – Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood (Double Six)

Isle of Wight, Hop Farm and Doctor Dee

Michael Bonner
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Isle of Wight, Hop Farm and Doctor Dee

Hi there, I hope those of you who braved the abysmal weather last weekend to go to the Isle of Wight festival had a good time and made it back unscathed. I realise I'm probably damning myself as I write this, but at this point I’m cautiously optimistic that the weather will hold for Hop Farm this coming weekend. That said, it’s only Tuesday and the summer’s not exactly covered itself in glory this year, has it? Anyway, rain or shine, Allan and I will be heading down on Saturday, and both of us are predictably excited to see Patti Smith and, of course, Bob Dylan. I must admit, the prospect of a set from Bruce Forsyth also holds a strange appeal. Allan will, I’m sure, write about the show over on his blog when he’s back in the office. At the moment, we’re eagerly anticipating the arrival of some early copies of the new issue of Uncut. I don’t want to tease you too much about the content, but look out for an exclusive interview with one of our favourite artists. Needless to say, we’re very, very pleased with the issue – and we think you’ll be thrilled, too. Over on the blogs, John’s report on the Best Of 2012 So Far continues to generate debate, while I’ve filed an early preview piece on Lawless, the new film written by Nick Cave and anchored by a typically muscular performance from Tom Hardy. This evening, John and I are off to see Damon Albarn’s opera, Doctor Dee, so expect one of us to report back on that tomorrow. Anyway, I hope the rest of your week passes peacefully. And if you see Allan at Hop Farm, do please come up and say hi. I’m sure he’d be delighted to stop for a blether. Especially if you buy him a pint, too. Cheers! Michael Photo: Andy Willsher/NME/IPC+ Syndication

Hi there,

I hope those of you who braved the abysmal weather last weekend to go to the Isle of Wight festival had a good time and made it back unscathed.

I realise I’m probably damning myself as I write this, but at this point I’m cautiously optimistic that the weather will hold for Hop Farm this coming weekend. That said, it’s only Tuesday and the summer’s not exactly covered itself in glory this year, has it? Anyway, rain or shine, Allan and I will be heading down on Saturday, and both of us are predictably excited to see Patti Smith and, of course, Bob Dylan. I must admit, the prospect of a set from Bruce Forsyth also holds a strange appeal. Allan will, I’m sure, write about the show over on his blog when he’s back in the office.

At the moment, we’re eagerly anticipating the arrival of some early copies of the new issue of Uncut. I don’t want to tease you too much about the content, but look out for an exclusive interview with one of our favourite artists. Needless to say, we’re very, very pleased with the issue – and we think you’ll be thrilled, too.

Over on the blogs, John’s report on the Best Of 2012 So Far continues to generate debate, while I’ve filed an early preview piece on Lawless, the new film written by Nick Cave and anchored by a typically muscular performance from Tom Hardy. This evening, John and I are off to see Damon Albarn’s opera, Doctor Dee, so expect one of us to report back on that tomorrow.

Anyway, I hope the rest of your week passes peacefully. And if you see Allan at Hop Farm, do please come up and say hi. I’m sure he’d be delighted to stop for a blether. Especially if you buy him a pint, too.

Cheers!

Michael

Photo: Andy Willsher/NME/IPC+ Syndication

Beachwood Sparks – The Tarnished Gold

Uncut
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Beachwood Sparks – The Tarnished Gold

Zen and the art of twang: LA's cosmic psych cowboys return after a decade-long hiatus... Picking up nearly where they left off in their early-2000s prime, Los Angeles’ Beachwood Sparks’ reunion renews their kaleidoscopic, Californian approach to country-rock—a good-natured, soul-searching wash of sound in which vibe is everything. The Tarnished Gold, mature, with a revelatory appreciation for the simple life, might prove to be the true spiritual heir to their auspicious 2000 debut: winsome Zen-like roots/rock bursting from the heart with rich, ebullient harmonies, and atmospheric smears of steel guitar amid gentle sun-baked melodies. In their original 1997-2002 run, Beachwood Sparks were a band out of time. Too late for much notice by the No Depression generation, but appearing well in advance of the waves of Fleet Foxes and Bon Ivers, their timing was questionable. Yet in their unassuming way, they were perhaps the most convincing descendants yet in a cross-generational lineage of classic LA country-rockers, starting with the Byrds, and winding through the Flying Burritos, the Long Ryders, Minneapolis transports the Jayhawks, and Sparklehorse—though with an Elephant 6 twist: a raw sense wonder in their voices (and those heavenly harmonies), and a fascinatingly trippy bit of noise/rock and psychedelic experimentation in their sound. All four Sparks principals—including main songwriters Chris Guntz and Brent Rademaker—plus guitarist and frequent Ryan Adams collaborator Neal Casal, are on board for the rebirth, recorded essentially live in the studio. From the ease-in of the opener, "Forget the Song," softly burnished vocals enveloped in electric guitar curlicues and ethereal steel, the group pulls off their particular and peculiar world-unto-itself, floating-dream ambiance. While the self-explanatory “Sparks Will Fly,” a relatively rambunctious tribute-to-themselves replete with exhortative Beach Boys-style backing vocals—“Tampa to LA on a West Coast flight!” sings Farmer Dave Scher with a radiance worthy of Chuck Berry on “Promised Land”—kicks up some dust (especially given its shimmering Notorious Byrd Brothers guitar break), most of The Tarnished Gold inhabits those groggy moments between dreamland and wakefulness—gauzy, pensive mindtrips atop simple folk structures, lyrics zeroing in on love and loneliness, dead-ends and simple acceptance, basic human existence. “Water From the Well” is a case in point: With its gentle, stair-step guitar and rolling-river melody—rustic contemplations on freedom and the wonder of nature—it's a kind of salve, soul music for complicated times. “Nature’s Light” and "Leave That Light On," sister songs both, follow suit, sprawling, expansive pieces, hushed voices merging with gentle cascades of fingerpicked guitar. Not everything works to perfection: “No Queremos Oro,” a mariachi-style tribute to Gunst’s LA roots, ambitious and warmly executed, simply doesn't fit in; Rademaker’s down-home “Talk About Lonesome” is surely the album’s catchiest, most straight-ahead number, exuding pure Nashville-style songcraft, with harmonica accents and a sing-songy chorus. But it doesn't play to the band's strengths, its lack of depth rendering it (admittedly, over many listens) as a kind of throwaway. “Earl Jean,” showing off their innate pop sense, though, might be Tarnished Gold's most impressive cut. Buried toward discs' end, it's a love song, its laidback seesaw melody ushering listeners into their own personal daydream, before pin-prick guitar leads explode into an open-hearted vocal. “Don’t feel so strange/As there could be at any moment a change,” goes one lyric, reminiscent of Dillard & Clark's "Out On the Side." Other highlights abound: "The Orange Grass Special," echoes of Johnny Cash and Carter Family Americana, is a nice detour; brief closer, "Goodbye," verging on lullaby, wraps things up as pure dreamscape. Still, Tarnished Gold's gorgeous title track is its centerpiece—musically and philosophically—and definitive Beachwood Sparks: with Gunst's vocal cradling its evergreen melody like a newborn baby amid tender harmonies and sunrays of steel guitar, it's part love song, part elegy to the mysteries of life: "Funny how when you find what you’re looking for/It was already there.” Luke Torn Q&A Chris Gunst What is it about Byrds/Burritos country-rock that holds such sway? I think that the connection to Byrds, Burritos, etc. became more of a talking point for press rather than how we felt, and I think it kind of pigeonholed us a bit. I mean obviously the sound of some of those records was influential, but so was . . . Felt, Ride, Spiritualized, Joy Division etc. But how do you wrap that craziness up in a soundbite? How would you characterize it then? I don't think it was a desire to live in the 70's or something. I think the style was influential as well as enjoyment of the aesthetic. It is in our collective conscious as a band, and a place where we have common ground and meet. When we are together, this is the music we make. The band seems to take on a meta-identity of its own. What does "Cosmic American Music" mean to you? Two things: When I hear that, I have attachments to certain music or bands--such as Parsons, Byrds, Burritos, Beach Boys, but I also have a more literal understanding: America, the openness of the landscape, independent nature as a tradition of some Americans, connection to the land, mixing of cultures, creating new traditions, reinvention, alchemy. INTERVIEW: Luke Torn Photo: Jim Goodrich

Zen and the art of twang: LA’s cosmic psych cowboys return after a decade-long hiatus…

Picking up nearly where they left off in their early-2000s prime, Los Angeles’ Beachwood Sparks’ reunion renews their kaleidoscopic, Californian approach to country-rock—a good-natured, soul-searching wash of sound in which vibe is everything. The Tarnished Gold, mature, with a revelatory appreciation for the simple life, might prove to be the true spiritual heir to their auspicious 2000 debut: winsome Zen-like roots/rock bursting from the heart with rich, ebullient harmonies, and atmospheric smears of steel guitar amid gentle sun-baked melodies.

In their original 1997-2002 run, Beachwood Sparks were a band out of time. Too late for much notice by the No Depression generation, but appearing well in advance of the waves of Fleet Foxes and Bon Ivers, their timing was questionable. Yet in their unassuming way, they were perhaps the most convincing descendants yet in a cross-generational lineage of classic LA country-rockers, starting with the Byrds, and winding through the Flying Burritos, the Long Ryders, Minneapolis transports the Jayhawks, and Sparklehorse—though with an Elephant 6 twist: a raw sense wonder in their voices (and those heavenly harmonies), and a fascinatingly trippy bit of noise/rock and psychedelic experimentation in their sound.

All four Sparks principals—including main songwriters Chris Guntz and Brent Rademaker—plus guitarist and frequent Ryan Adams collaborator Neal Casal, are on board for the rebirth, recorded essentially live in the studio. From the ease-in of the opener, “Forget the Song,” softly burnished vocals enveloped in electric guitar curlicues and ethereal steel, the group pulls off their particular and peculiar world-unto-itself, floating-dream ambiance.

While the self-explanatory “Sparks Will Fly,” a relatively rambunctious tribute-to-themselves replete with exhortative Beach Boys-style backing vocals—“Tampa to LA on a West Coast flight!” sings Farmer Dave Scher with a radiance worthy of Chuck Berry on “Promised Land”—kicks up some dust (especially given its shimmering Notorious Byrd Brothers guitar break), most of The Tarnished Gold inhabits those groggy moments between dreamland and wakefulness—gauzy, pensive mindtrips atop simple folk structures, lyrics zeroing in on love and loneliness, dead-ends and simple acceptance, basic human existence.

“Water From the Well” is a case in point: With its gentle, stair-step guitar and rolling-river melody—rustic contemplations on freedom and the wonder of nature—it’s a kind of salve, soul music for complicated times. “Nature’s Light” and “Leave That Light On,” sister songs both, follow suit, sprawling, expansive pieces, hushed voices merging with gentle cascades of fingerpicked guitar.

Not everything works to perfection: “No Queremos Oro,” a mariachi-style tribute to Gunst’s LA roots, ambitious and warmly executed, simply doesn’t fit in; Rademaker’s down-home “Talk About Lonesome” is surely the album’s catchiest, most straight-ahead number, exuding pure Nashville-style songcraft, with harmonica accents and a sing-songy chorus. But it doesn’t play to the band’s strengths, its lack of depth rendering it (admittedly, over many listens) as a kind of throwaway.

“Earl Jean,” showing off their innate pop sense, though, might be Tarnished Gold’s most impressive cut. Buried toward discs’ end, it’s a love song, its laidback seesaw melody ushering listeners into their own personal daydream, before pin-prick guitar leads explode into an open-hearted vocal. “Don’t feel so strange/As there could be at any moment a change,” goes one lyric, reminiscent of Dillard & Clark‘s “Out On the Side.”

Other highlights abound: “The Orange Grass Special,” echoes of Johnny Cash and Carter Family Americana, is a nice detour; brief closer, “Goodbye,” verging on lullaby, wraps things up as pure dreamscape. Still, Tarnished Gold’s gorgeous title track is its centerpiece—musically and philosophically—and definitive Beachwood Sparks: with Gunst’s vocal cradling its evergreen melody like a newborn baby amid tender harmonies and sunrays of steel guitar, it’s part love song, part elegy to the mysteries of life: “Funny how when you find what you’re looking for/It was already there.”

Luke Torn

Q&A

Chris Gunst

What is it about Byrds/Burritos country-rock that holds such sway?

I think that the connection to Byrds, Burritos, etc. became more of a talking point for press rather than how we felt, and I think it kind of pigeonholed us a bit. I mean obviously the sound of some of those records was influential, but so was . . . Felt, Ride, Spiritualized, Joy Division etc. But how do you wrap that craziness up in a soundbite?

How would you characterize it then?

I don’t think it was a desire to live in the 70’s or something. I think the style was influential as well as enjoyment of the aesthetic. It is in our collective conscious as a band, and a place where we have common ground and meet. When we are together, this is the music we make. The band seems to take on a meta-identity of its own.

What does “Cosmic American Music” mean to you?

Two things: When I hear that, I have attachments to certain music or bands–such as Parsons, Byrds, Burritos, Beach Boys, but I also have a more literal understanding: America, the openness of the landscape, independent nature as a tradition of some Americans, connection to the land, mixing of cultures, creating new traditions, reinvention, alchemy.

INTERVIEW: Luke Torn

Photo: Jim Goodrich

Jack White: “There’s no romance in singing about an iPod”

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Jack White: “There’s no romance in singing about an iPod”
Jack White has spoken about his issues with digital format music and his love of vinyl records. Speaking in a video interview with the BBC, the former frontman of The White Stripes said that he enjoys the "romance" of vinyl, adding that "invisible" digital music "makes you feel like some other bein...

Jack White has spoken about his issues with digital format music and his love of vinyl records.

Speaking in a video interview with the BBC, the former frontman of The White Stripes said that he enjoys the “romance” of vinyl, adding that “invisible” digital music “makes you feel like some other being is in charge”.

White, whose Third Man Records label uses a vinyl plant local to its base in Nashville to press their records, said: “The whole experience of vinyl is what we’re after, the romance of it… The smell of vinyl, the smell of a newly opened record. If we don’t see something moving, we lose romance. There’s no romance for me to sing to you about an iPod.”

He continued: “But why? Because nothing’s moving. I think digital and invisible things, they make you feel like some other being is in charge of this somewhere else, ‘I’m just a witness to this and I’ll just sit here politely’.”

White also explained his reasoning for giving Third Man Records a yellow, white and black colour theme. “I don’t like image for the sake of image,” he said. “It has to come from a place that means something. The colours yellow, white and black go all the way back to my upholstery hand tools from my upholstery shop.”

Earlier this month Radiohead’s Thom Yorke hinted that he could be set to collaborate with Jack White. According to Billboard, the singer made a cryptic announcement from the stage during the band’s set at the Bonnaroo Music And Arts Festival in Tennessee, suggesting that he and White had some exciting plans in the pipeline.

Dedicating the track “Supercollider” to the Blunderbuss singer, he said: “This song is for Jack White. We saw him yesterday. A big thank-you to him, but we can’t tell you why. You’ll find out.”

Photo: Jo McCaughey/Press

Sex Pistols to re-release Pretty Vacant for 35th anniversary

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Sex Pistols to re-release Pretty Vacant for 35th anniversary
The Sex Pistols are to reissue their 1977 single, "Pretty Vacant". A limited edition seven-inch picture disc will be released via Universal Music on July 2 - 35 years to the day that the single originally came out. "Pretty Vacant", released as the band's third single following "Anarchy In The UK" ...

The Sex Pistols are to reissue their 1977 single, “Pretty Vacant”.

A limited edition seven-inch picture disc will be released via Universal Music on July 2 – 35 years to the day that the single originally came out.

“Pretty Vacant”, released as the band’s third single following “Anarchy In The UK” and “God Save The Queen”, peaked at number 6 in its fourth week on the UK singles chart.

Reissued versions of the single charted again in 1992 and 2007, while a live version of the song cracked the top 20 in 1996.

In a press release announcing the latest reissue, Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon simply said: “This is the Pretty Vacünt press release. Thank you.”

The new picture disc will receive a limited pressing of 3,500 copies. An expanded edition of the band’s legendary debut album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols, will follow in September.

Blur on their Hyde Park show: ‘Who knows if it will ever happen again?’

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Blur on their Hyde Park show: ‘Who knows if it will ever happen again?’
Blur have cast doubt on their future once again, with bassist Alex James hinting that the band's show in Hyde Park this summer could be their last. The band will headline a huge outdoor gig at London's Hyde Park on August 12, which sees them topping a bill that also includes New Order and The Speci...

Blur have cast doubt on their future once again, with bassist Alex James hinting that the band’s show in Hyde Park this summer could be their last.

The band will headline a huge outdoor gig at London’s Hyde Park on August 12, which sees them topping a bill that also includes New Order and The Specials. The gig has been put on to coincide with the closing ceremony of the Olympic games.

Speaking in a new video, which you can see by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and clicking, James said that the band are expecting “an emotional show” when they play Hyde Park and are unsure “if it will ever happen again”.

He said of the band’s plans for their Hyde Park show: “The shows we did in 2009 were the best we’ve ever done and to be asked to close the Olympics was something we didn’t feel we could turn down. I think it’s going to be quite an emotional show, we certainly get quite overwhelmed by playing the songs, which doesn’t happen if you’re playing them all the time.”

He continued: “This is something that happens incredibly rarely and who knows if it will ever happen again? Or if this is the end or the beginning of the next chapter.”

James also gave more details on the band’s planned release of new tracks “Under The Westway” and “The Puritan”, which will debut next Monday (July 2) in a live video stream performance on Twitter.

Speaking about the premiere, James said: “Monday 2nd of July, somewhere in London, on a rooftop, we will be performing both new songs, live on Twitter, which is the first time anything like that’s happened.”

He then gave more details about the tracks, adding: “The two new tracks have been written specifically for the Hyde Park show. Two tracks that show completely different sides of Blur. ‘The Puritan‘ is a big, up and at em’, bouncy, sing-a-long special and ‘Under The Westway’ is more of a hymn, but I think they’ll go down really well.”

Blur will embark on an intimate UK tour this August. The Britpop icons will play four shows, beginning at Margate’s Winter Gardens on August 1. They will then play two shows at Wolverhampton’s Civic Hall on August 5 and 6, before finishing off at Plymouth’s Pavilions on August 7.

Blur will release a career-spanning boxset on July 30. Titled 21, the collection includes the band’s seven studio albums as well as over five hours of previously unreleased material including 65 tracks, rarities, three DVDs, a collector’s edition book and special limited edition Seymour seven-inch vinyl.

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