Jack White has announced a new live album of his 2021 Soho rooftop performance in London – watch a clip of "Seven Nation Army" from the gig below.
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Last September, White played a surprise set on the London rooftop of Damien...
Jack White has announced a new live album of his 2021 Soho rooftop performance in London – watch a clip of “Seven Nation Army” from the gig below.
Last September, White played a surprise set on the London rooftop of Damien Hirst to celebrate the grand opening of his new Third Man Records store down the road.
Now, after his two 2022 solo albums – Fear Of The Dawnand Entering Heaven Alive – were named Albums Of The Year by Rough Trade, White has released the full Soho rooftop set as a live album on vinyl.
The Live From Marshall Street bonus LP is released alongside the two solo albums in a triple vinyl collectors’ set and can be ordered here.
Watch the performance of “Seven Nation Army” from the gig below.
At the gig, White opened with The White Stripes‘“Dead Leaves On The Dirty Ground”, going on to play “Lazarretto”, The Raconteurs track “Steady As She Goes” and more from across his career.
Of the gig’s surroundings, he added: “I wanna play a song to all the neighbours we’re upsetting now, to the neighbours we’re about to be friends with now, and to Damien Hirst who let us use his balcony.” He then performed White Stripes track “We Are Gonna Be Friends” before ending with “Seven Nation Army”.
Prior to his rooftop performance, White performed in the basement of the store itself, where he rolled through The White Stripes’ “Hello Operator”, “Why Can’t You Be Nicer To Me” and “Icky Thump” as well as solo favourites “Sixteen Saltines’” “What’s Done Is Done” and “Love Interruption”.
The idiosyncratic songsmith’s path from “very bad” debut to multi-layered latest – Uncut takes a look at Richard Dawson's finest work, in the latest issue of Uncut magazine – in UK shops from Thursday, November 10 and available to buy from our online store.
“Is it OK to big up your ow...
The idiosyncratic songsmith’s path from “very bad” debut to multi-layered latest – Uncut takes a look at Richard Dawson’s finest work, in the latest issue of Uncut magazine – in UK shops from Thursday, November 10 and available to buy from our online store.
“Is it OK to big up your own music?” asks Richard Dawson, partway into our discussion. “I’ve slagged off everything so far, but I was just paving the way for a huge self-aggrandising which will be the rest of the interview…”
While the Newcastle songwriter is certainly critical of his own work, there’s really no need: across the last decade or so, the guitarist and singer has built a compelling and deeply unique body of music. Here he takes Uncut through his records so far, from his “very bad” debut and the a cappella triumph of The Glass Trunkright through to the mighty, labyrinthine Peasant, his heavy collaboration with Finnish rockers Circle and his latest, sci-fi-inspired opus, The Ruby Cord, which appears in our 75 Best Albums Of 2022.
“It’s going to be interesting finding out what people think of the new one,” Dawson says, “because I’m prepared for all eventualities. I guess it’s probably not the most immediate record… This has been a great therapy session, anyway!”
RICHARD DAWSON SINGS SONGS AND PLAYS GUITAR DOWNBEAT, 2005
Dawson’s embryonic first long-player, released by the Newcastle record shop where he worked
I feel like this is the work of someone else. Probably there’s some nice melodies here and some nice ideas, but there’s just so many problems with it. There’s a lot of imitation, not least the awful American accent, which I think is a problem for a lot of singers when they’re starting out… But I wasn’t really starting out, so there’s no excuse! I think it’s very bad.
The lyrics are clumsy, the whole vibe is simpering, it’s too self-obsessed, it’s a mess. I don’t want to spoil it, because some people might enjoy it, and I don’t want to put anybody off releasing their bad first album. I used to work at the record shop Alt.Vinyl, and this was the first release on their label. I want to apologise to my good friend Graham for being so down about it, because the job they did was great. The open tunings didn’t come until later.
I was wrestling with a friend outside a pub, and they were gonna fall quite heavily, so I put my hand under them and snapped my little finger. It was really bad at the time because I thought it wasn’t gonna heal right at all – and it hasn’t, but it has given us a longer reach on that digit. But I had loads of gigs lined up, so I figured out how to play a bunch of songs in open tuning so I could just use one or two fingers. Then I wrote a few songs in that tuning and went from there.
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Roger Waters has recorded a new version of "Comfortable Numb". It's available on all streaming platforms from today [November 18].
ORDER NOW: David Bowie and our Review of 2022 star in the latest issue of Uncut
You can watch the video, produced and directed by Sean Evans, below:
https://w...
Roger Waters has recorded a new version of “Comfortable Numb“. It’s available on all streaming platforms from today [November 18].
You can watch the video, produced and directed by Sean Evans, below:
“Comfortably Numb 2022” was recorded during Waters This Is Not A Drill North American tour and was produced by Waters and Gus Seyffert.
Appearing on the track are:
Roger Waters – Vocals Gus Seyffert – Bass, Synth, Percussion, Vocals Joey Waronker – Drums Dave Kilminster – Vocals Jonathan Wilson – Harmonium, Synth, Guitar and Vocals Jon Carin – Synth, Vocals Shanay Johnson – Vocals Amanda Belair – Vocals Robert Walter – Organ/Piano Nigel Godrich – Strings, amp
“During Lockdown I made a demo of a new version of ‘Comfortably Numb‘ as an opener for our new show This Is Not A Drill,” says Waters. “I pitched it a whole step down, in A Minor, to make it darker and arranged it with no solos, except over the outro chord sequence, where there is a heartrendingly beautiful female vocal solo from Shanay Johnson, one of our new singers.”
Roger Waters This Is Not A Drill will tour Europe in 2023 with 40 shows across 14 European countries, starting in Lisbon on 17 March 2023 at the Altice Arena.
Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth have announced three UK events for 2023.
ORDER NOW: David Bowie and our Review of 2022 star in the latest issue of Uncut
The duo have confirmed intimate live ‘in conversation with’ stage interviews for May, taking place in Oxford, London and Leeds.
The e...
Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth have announced three UK events for 2023.
One Eleven Heavy were something of a transatlantic supergroup when they formed a few years ago. James Jackson Toth – aka Wooden Wand, the singer-songwriter behind numerous “New Weird America” outfits like Dunza, Grim Jim, Hassara and James And The Giants – met Bradford-born musician Nick Mit...
One Eleven Heavywere something of a transatlantic supergroup when they formed a few years ago. James Jackson Toth – aka Wooden Wand, the singer-songwriter behind numerous “New Weird America” outfits like Dunza, Grim Jim, Hassara and James And The Giants – met Bradford-born musician Nick Mitchell Maiato at a Manchester gig in 2010 and instantly bonded over a shared love of Neil Young, Little Featand the Grateful Dead. After forming a band with assorted members of Royal Trux, Hiss Golden Messenger and Solar Motel Band, they started wearing these influences on their sleeve; the kind of connoisseurs who sonically curate half a century of leftfield Americana.
On Poolside, you can hear shades of everything from Gram Parsons to Willie Nelson, from Michael Hurley to David Crosby, from the Allman Brothersto Santana, with nods to Led Zeppelin, Mike Cooper and the Incredible String Band for good measure. But this is also an album that buzzes with cultural references, both high and low. “You mixed up Lee Majors with Mark E Smith when I said that I liked the Fall guy” is a typically bathetic line, and there are dozens of similar lyrics that namecheck everything from Twin Peaksto Grease, from “Chatanooga Choo Choo” to Little House On The Prairie, from trashy cowboy flicks to dark literary fiction.
The opening track, “Tyrant King”, is apparently inspired by Richard Brautigan’s 1974 novel The Hawkline Monster– a gothic western about two itinerant contract killers hired by a Native American prostitute to murder a supernatural monster. The song manages to turn this dark source material into a piece of joyous, freewheeling Southern rock: one where machismo is a front for terrified, evasive men who are perpetually on the run. It’s followed by a very different kind of American gothic called “Bama Yeti”, a cheery, upbeat, Creedence-style boogie inspired by a news story about a sighting of a sasquatch crossing the Florida/Alabama border.
The band’s sound has changed considerably in recent years. Their first two LPs – 2018’s Everything’s Betterand 2019’s Desire Path– sounded like jam-band sessions, recorded quickly in the brief windows of time that all five band members could assemble in a single studio (Mitchell Maiato lives in Spain, Toth and the other band members lived in completely different parts of the US). But, under lockdown, they had to find new ways of working. Poolside was recorded remotely: Toth and Mitchell Maiato swapped audio recordings, sang harmonies on each other’s songs and enlisted Stephen Malkmus’ drummer Jake Morris.
These are more structurally detailed and carefully considered arrangements, often epic in scale. One highlight is “Fruit Loops”, an episodic suite which starts as a swaggering 12/8 Southern rock shuffle, goes into an introspective Pink Floyd-ish breakdown and features a Tropicalia-style interlude. Even the straight-up 12-bar blues workouts, like “Cici”, transform into a hypnotic jabber of musique concrète. Throughout, Mitchell Maiato plays some wonderfully untutored piano parts, often sounding like a demented cat creeping along the keyboard.
Not all the lyrics move into magical realist territory. “Billy” is a wonky piece of tribal glam rock where Mitchell Maiato pays tribute to a faded local rock star whose career has been a failure (“third on the bill and over the hill”) but who remains a hero (“I had to bend my knees to look you in the eye but I still looked up to you”). Two compositions are about recovering from horrific hangovers: “Rizzo In The Wig” appears to narrate a drug-fuelled comedown in a suitably disjointed and funky 6/4 time signature (“I looked at the clock it was 4:89/It was out of the bag, I was legally blind”); while “Plinth” is a chaotic piece of Southern soul about a couple who spend an entire relationship wallowing in endless hangovers (“I remember one time I suggested we fly to somewhere hot in December/You said ‘I’m not a goose’ and walked out of the house/And went off on a three-day bender”).
“Michael Landon” is a piece of storytelling Dylanesque prose set to a tempo-defying piece of Dylanesque vocalese, featuring a violin solo from Sandy Lane, about a journey along a coastal mountain road. It was, apparently, inspired by a drive from Valencia to Benidorm, where Mitchell Maiato witnessed the surreal sight of a bar full of British expats watching an episode of the old western series Bonanza on a big screen (“the projection of Michael Landon, who had no idea where he was”). This is cosmic American music, but one with a sense of distance and an international perspective.
Let’s start at the end. The final track on this exhaustive trawl of the ditches and crossroads
of PJ Harvey’s oeuvre is “Red Right Hand”, the signature song of Harvey’s one-time collaborator Nick Cave. It is a song about devilry, written in blood; subsequently reshaped as the theme of the...
Let’s start at the end. The final track on this exhaustive trawl of the ditches and crossroads
of PJ Harvey’s oeuvre is “Red Right Hand”, the signature song of Harvey’s one-time collaborator Nick Cave. It is a song about devilry, written in blood; subsequently reshaped as the theme of the haircut gangster drama Peaky Blinders.
For Cave, “Red Right Hand” is a chance to embrace rock’n’roll at its most blood-raw. It is a tent-revival song in which fear and belief are locked in hideous quickstep. Since its subject is Hell and its declining suburbs, no performance of it can be too extreme. PJ Harvey, of course, is no stranger to shock and awe. Her early career was constructed from fragments of spit, feather and bone. But in Harvey’s “Red Right Hand” the horror comes wreathed in understatement. There is a tolling piano, a wailing harmony and abominable news delivered in a whisper. It is a lullaby performed by a siren, sung quietly because the children are already asleep.
It’s possible that Harvey would have taken “Red Right Hand” in a different direction if she had performed it a few years earlier. This 3CD or 6LP set shows how her career has been a matter of calibration. It caps a programme of reissues in which the demo versions of Harvey’s albums have been compared, often favourably, to the more polished official releases.
Steve Albini’s recording of Harvey’s second album, 1993’s Rid Of Me, has been the subject of much critical circumspection. Like (another controversial Albini production) Nirvana’sIn Utero, it favours pain over relief, volume over restraint. And since Albini is a master of the choreography of headbanging, there is a kind of poetic power in his rhythm of drills. But it’s a tough workout.
How else could it have been? The first five tracks (four previously unreleased) present Harvey’s demos from Rid Of Me, recorded in Dorset in 1991–92. First, “Dry – Demo”. There is nothing wrong with the finished version, except perhaps that it allows Harvey to hide behind the electric fury of the guitar. It sounds like a dry run for Nirvana. The demo has a different flavour: the guitar still grindslike an argument conducted inside
a cement mixer, but the vocal is brighter. Albini focuses on the pain, while on the demo Harvey licks the bruise. Likewise, “Man-Size – Demo”. Harvey’s home recording is more primal, less concerned with sonic architecture. Albini does a thing with a drum and an off-kilter rhythm. The demo just burns. Albini’s “Missed” wears grunge fatigues and sounds like a steamroller landscaping a peace garden. The demo moans and weeps. Instead of submitting to rhythmic pugilism, the song’s sense of hurt emerges through the clatter. The voice remains similarly upfront on “Me-Jane – Demo”, which has the urgency of a busk in a warzone, delivering the song with heightened theatrics and breathless despair. It offers a prototype for The White Stripes, with Meg in charge. Only the demo of “Highway 61 Revisited” sounds weaker than the original album version, though that in itself was an experiment in playful irrelevance.
There are nine other unreleased tracks, of which “Why D’Ya Go To Cleveland” is the only entirely unheard thing. An offcut from the Dance Hall At Louse Pointsessions with John Parish, it offers a clattering rearrangement of rock’n’roll cliche (a motor car, an American dreamboat, a dead-end love affair) and is more fun than it should be. The other unreleased demos bring the story up to date, but the differences in shading reflect Harvey’s evolving understanding of how her music should sound. On the sleeve of Uh Huh Her(2004), Harvey’s handwritten notes are instructive: turned up loud but playing gently; keep all noises, crashes, hiss and bangs; all that matters is my voice. Consequently, the demos from this period offer less contrast. “Cat On The Wall – Demo” is murkier, with a dash of melodica, “You Come Through – Demo ” has more restraint, “Uh Huh Her – Demo” is another memo for the attention of Jack White. “Evol – Demo” is not the most interesting song, but offers a brief primer in the sexual power of the electric guitar.
Not everything is unsalted. The B-sides and rarities – many from film soundtracks – allow Harvey to stretch herself into Brechtian oompah, Beefheartian discord, neo-folk. Some of these waifs and strays are excellent. “Losing Ground” from a Rainer Ptacek tribute (with Parish and Eric Drew Feldman) is a vital cacophony, and Harvey’s song for Jeff Buckley, “Memphis”, carries much emotional weight. “Guilty”, on which she invents Fontaines D.C., is more restrained in demo format; the demo of “I’ll Be Waiting” is grimier than the original. “Homo Sappy Blues” is a slight thing, playful, lyrically bleak. “The Age Of The Dollar” was recorded for the film A Dog Called Money but was shunted to the closing titles after John Parish told Harvey it sounded “like a jam in a pub”.
It’s quite a journey. By the end it’s clear that Harvey has learned how to turn the volume up by making less noise. Perhaps she always knew. One of the highlights is “Nina In Ecstasy 2”, a 1996 recording, released as a B-side in 1999. It’s a funereal fairytale, a hymn of innocence which segues into a chorus of “Where’s your mama gone?” from the multi-million-selling anthem of child abandonment, “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep”. It sounds both serene and alarming, because sometimes the most dangerous place in
the world is the Middle Of The Road.
Bob Dylan has announced the latest release in his ongoing Bootleg Series.
Fragments - Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996 - 1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17 features a 2022 remix of the album alongside previously unreleased recordings including studio outtakes, alternate versions and live performanc...
Bob Dylan has announced the latest release in his ongoing Bootleg Series.
Fragments – Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996 – 1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17 features a 2022 remix of the album alongside previously unreleased recordings including studio outtakes, alternate versions and live performances from 1997 – 2001.
It’s released by Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings on Friday, January 27 and will be available as a deluxe box set in 5CD and 10LP 12″ vinyl editions. Also available, a two-disc/4LP standard edition of Fragments which includes the Time Out of Mind 2022 remix disc and a disc of twelve select Outtakes and Alternates highlights.
Digital versions of the complete (five disc) and highlights (two disc) editions of Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 will be available on all streaming platforms on Friday, January 27.
And also here’s version 2 of “Love Sick” recorded January 14, 1997 at Criteria Studios.
Here’s the tracklisting for the deluxe 5CD box set:
Disc One – Time Out of Mind (2022 Remix)
1. Love Sick
2. Dirt Road Blues
3. Standing in the Doorway
4. Million Miles
5. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven
6. ‘Til I Fell in Love with You
7. Not Dark Yet
8. Cold Irons Bound
9. Make You Feel My Love
10. Can’t Wait
11. Highlands
Disc Two – Outtakes and Alternates
1. The Water is Wide (8/19/96, Teatro)
2. Dreamin’ of You (10/1/96, Teatro)
3. Red River Shore – version 1 (9/26/96, Teatro)
4. Love Sick – version 1 (1/14/97, Criteria Studios)
5. ‘Til I Fell in Love with You – version 1 (10/3/96, Teatro)
6. Not Dark Yet – version 1 (1/11/97, Criteria Studios)
7. Can’t Wait – version 1 (1/21/97, Criteria Studios)
8. Dirt Road Blues – version 1 (1/12/97, Criteria Studios)
9. Mississippi – version 1 (1/11/97, Criteria Studios)
10. ‘Til I Fell in Love with You – version 2 (1/16/97, Criteria Studios)
11. Standing in the Doorway – version 1 (1/13/97, Criteria Studios)
12. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven – version 1 (1/18/97, Criteria Studios)
13. Cold Irons Bound (1/9/97, Criteria Studios)
Disc Three – Outtakes and Alternates
1. Love Sick – version 2 (1/14/97, Criteria Studios)
2. Dirt Road Blues – version 2 (1/20/97, Criteria Studios)
3. Can’t Wait – version 2 (1/14/97, Criteria Studios)
4. Red River Shore – version 2 (1/19/97, Criteria Studios)
5. Marchin’ to the City (1/5/97, Criteria Studios)
6. Make You Feel My Love – take 1 (1/5/97, Criteria Studios)
7. Mississippi – version 2 (1/11/97, Criteria Studios)
8. Standing in the Doorway – version 2 (1/13/97, Criteria Studios)
9. ‘Til I Fell in Love with You – version 3 (1/16/97, Criteria Studios)
10. Not Dark Yet – version 2 (1/18/97, Criteria Studios)
11. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven – version 2 (1/12/97, Criteria Studios)
12. Highlands (1/16/97, Criteria Studios)
Disc Four – Live (1998-2001)
1. Love Sick (6/24/98, Birmingham, England)
2. Can’t Wait (2/6/99, Nashville, Tennessee)
3. Standing In The Doorway (10/6/00, London, England)
4. Million Miles (1/31/98, Atlantic City, New Jersey)
5. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven (9/20/00, Birmingham, England)
6. ‘Til I Fell in Love with You (4/5/98, Buenos Aires, Argentina)
7. Not Dark Yet (9/22/00, Sheffield, England)
8. Cold Irons Bound (5/19/00, Oslo, Norway)
9. Make You Feel My Love (5/21/98, Los Angeles, California) Previously released on the “Things Have Changed” maxi-single
10. Can’t Wait (5/19/00, Oslo, Norway)
11. Mississippi (11/15/01, Washington, D.C.)
12. Highlands (3/24/01, Newcastle, Australia)
Disc Five – Bonus Disc (Previously Released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006)
1. Dreamin’ of You – Tell Tale Signs (10/1/96, Teatro)
2. Red River Shore – Tell Tale Signs, version 1 (1/19/97, Criteria Studios)
3. Red River Shore – Tell Tale Signs, version 2 (1/8/97, Criteria Studios)
4. Mississippi – Tell Tale Signs, version 1 (9/96, Teatro)
5. Mississippi – Tell Tale Signs, version 3 (1/17/97, Criteria Studios)
6. Mississippi – Tell Tale Signs, version 2 (1/17/97, Criteria Studios)
7. Marchin’ to the City – Tell Tale Signs, version 1 (1/5/97, Criteria Studios)
8. Marchin’ to the City – Tell Tale Signs, version 2 (1/6/97, Criteria Studios)
9. Can’t Wait – Tell Tale Signs, version 1 (10/1/96, Teatro)
10. Can’t Wait – Tell Tale Signs, version 2 (1/5/97, Criteria Studios)
11. Cold Irons Bound – Tell Tale Signs, live (6/11/04, Bonnaroo Music Festival)
12. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven – Tell Tale Signs, live (10/5/00, London, England)
BUY THE PATTI SMITH DELUXE ULTIMATE MUSIC GUIDE HERE
It’s June 2009, but that’s about all that we can really say with any certainty about time and space here: on the stage, there’s a bit of a melée in progress. We’re at the Royal Festival Hall, and this is notionally a set by Ornette Col...
It’s June 2009, but that’s about all that we can really say with any certainty about time and space here: on the stage, there’s a bit of a melée in progress. We’re at the Royal Festival Hall, and this is notionally a set by Ornette Coleman, who has curated this year’s Meltdown festival here on London’s South Bank.
Ornette is definitely up there, and so are his band, but the number of additional players is proliferating. First, the Master Musicians Of Joujouka add to the swelling sound. Then, a figure in a black jacket strolls unannounced to the front of the stage. Once she’s there, she begins a freewheeling incantation, rising and falling with the music like she’s surfing a precipitous wave.
As a tacit introduction to Patti Smith, this is just about perfect. As it turns out, Patti is a longtime Ornette fan. She has improvised with him before and will do again, but there’s something in the spontaneity of what happens here – the power and scope of the music; Patti’s ease riding its currents – which is completely electrifying.
It’s a tightrope act of improvisation and art that we celebrate in our latest Ultimate Music Guide. As you enjoy the in-depth new writing on the following pages you’ll find the story of Patti’s unwillingness to commodify her music, a journey which begins with the free-roaming seditions of Horses and continues – with a break to raise a family – to this day in questing and allusive work. Whether it’s with her own group, in collaboration with a musician like Kevin Shields, or with her latest collaborators, Soundwalk Collective, she continues to try open up new and more adventurous perspectives.
As you’ll read in the archive interviews we’ve selected here, in an era of corduroy and scarves, not everyone was taken by Patti’s crashing of boundaries between songwriting, poetry and jazz improvisation. With the British music press, things frequently get hostile. Having slated Horses already, one writer decides to travel and meet the Patti SmithGroup in person, the better to more fully address their many shortcomings. At one boozy press event, hostile remarks and sandwiches are thrown. Throughout, though, Patti remains much as we see her when she performs in Rolling Thunder Revue – A Bob Dylan Story. Facing down the sceptics, she creates her own momentum by sheer focus and conviction.
Around the time of Meltdown in 2009, Patti spoke to The Guardian newspaper, praising “music that conjures up words, poetry, portals to another dimension.” She was speaking about Ornette Coleman’s work – but she could just as easily have been evaluating her own.
As she celebrates the publication of a new book, we present the Ultimate Music Guide to Patti Smith. Beatnik out of time. Improviser. Harbinger of punk... and yet somehow evading every definition, we celebrate a unique and multi-disciplined artistic output. “I’m gonna be a big star and I will ne...
As she celebrates the publication of a new book, we present the Ultimate Music Guide to Patti Smith. Beatnik out of time. Improviser. Harbinger of punk… and yet somehow evading every definition, we celebrate a unique and multi-disciplined artistic output. “I’m gonna be a big star and I will never return…”
The Walkmen have announced they will reunite next year for their first performances since 2014.
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READ MORE: The Walkmen – You & Me: The Sun Studio Edition review
The New York indie rockers – one of several bands that...
The Walkmen have announced they will reunite next year for their first performances since 2014.
The New York indie rockers – one of several bands that spearheaded the so-called “post-punk revival” of the early 2000s – will play a pair of concerts at Webster Hall in New York City, on April 26 and 27. Tickets for the shows will go on sale this Friday (November 18), with a pre-sale beginning on Wednesday (November 16) at 10am EST.
In a statement shared on social media announcing the shows, frontman Hamilton Leithauser referenced bassist Peter Bauer telling the Washington Postthe band were going on an “extreme hiatus” in 2013.
“I assumed that meant there would be a lot of Monster energy drinks and maybe that red-headed snowboarder guy would be hanging around a lot… but none of that actually happened,” Leithauser joked.
“Instead, in the ensuing years we’ve all worked on a ton of different projects in a ton of different places. Recently, someone sent us a clip of us playing at Irving Plaza from 2003, and it just looked very exciting. So, we’ve decided we’d like to play together again.”
The Walkmen teased their reunion earlier this month, sharing a video on social media that featured archival footage of them performing their signature song, “The Rat”.
Bauer announced The Walkmen’s hiatus in November of 2013, with the band playing a farewell show in Philadelphia the following month. “We have no future plans whatsoever,” he said at the time. They performed for the last time before their hiatus in February 2014, with a show in New Orleans.
The Walkmen’s last album together was 2012’s Heaven. “I don’t think any of us wanted to write another Walkmen record,” Bauer said when announcing the band’s hiatus the following year. “Maybe that will change down the line, maybe it won’t.”
Since embarking on a hiatus, members have all pursued separate creative endeavours. Leithauser, Bauer, guitarist Paul Maroon and multi-instrumentalist Walter Martin have all released solo albums.
Drummer Matt Barrick worked with Fleet Foxesin a touring and session capacity, contributing to their 2017 album Crack-Up and playing with the band live. Barrick also formed the supergroup Muzz with Interpolfrontman Paul Banks and Josh Kaufman of Bonny Light Horseman, with the trio releasing their self-titled debut album in 2020.
Roberta Flack is unable to sing following her recent ALS diagnosis.
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READ MORE: Roberta Flack – First Take: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition review
A spokesperson for Flack – known for her ballads "The First Time Ever I S...
Roberta Flackis unable to sing following her recent ALS diagnosis.
A spokesperson for Flack – known for her ballads “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” – confirmed the singer’s condition in a press statement on November 14.
The representative said Flack’s battle with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, has made it “impossible to sing and not easy to speak”. The press statement did not disclose how long the 85-year-old has been suffering from the disease.
Despite the impact of ALS on Flack’s voice, the statement insisted that she will remain “active in her musical and creative pursuits”, which include her eponymous foundation committed to animal welfare and music education.
The statement continued: “[Flack’s] fortitude and joyful embrace of music that lifted her from modest circumstances to the international spotlight remain vibrant and inspired… It will take a lot more than ALS to silence this icon.”
Among Flack’s future pursuits is a forthcoming children’s book titled The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music, co-written by the singer with author Tonya Bolden.
Early next year, Flack’s life and artistry will be chronicled in Roberta, a documentary based on the singer’s decades-spanning career directed by Antonino D’Ambrosio. Both the book and documentary will be released in January 2023, the same year as the 50th anniversary of Flack’s most popular album, Killing Me Softly.
Released in 1973, Flack’s fourth studio LP spawned the Billboard Chart-topping single “Killing Me Softly With His Song”, and later won the 1974 Grammy Award for Record of the Year. It is due to be reissued next year in celebration of the five decades since its release.
Flack suffered a stroke in 2016, and spoke of the importance of singing in an interview amid her return to the stage two years later. “I could sing any number of songs that I’ve recorded through the years, easily,” Flack told Associated Press in 2018. “I could sing them, but I’m going to pick those songs that move me.”
Damon Albarn has teamed up with Fatoumata Diawara on her new song "Nsera".
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The track, which you can listen to below, is taken from the Malian singer songwriter’s forthcoming new album, the follow up to her 2018 LP Fenfo (Som...
The track, which you can listen to below, is taken from the Malian singer songwriter’s forthcoming new album, the follow up to her 2018 LP Fenfo (Something To Say).
The pair previously worked on the Gorillaz 2020 track “Désolé” which saw the cartoon group teleport via a portal to Lake Como where they performed the song with Diawara.
It was part of the band’sSong Machine project at the time and went on to feature in the Song Machine Live cinema release last year.
The Britpop icons will be playing their only UK show of next year at the iconic venue on Saturday, July 8. The band will be supported by Slowthai, Self Esteem and Jockstrap. This marks the band’s first headline show since 2015, when they released their long-awaited and critically-acclaimed comeback album The Magic Whip.
The origins and influence of NEU!'s "Hero" – a groundbreaking combination of driving motorik guitars and angry proto-punk vocals in the latest issue of Uncut magazine – in UK shops from Thursday, October 13 and available to buy from our online store.
After a year apart, guitarist Michael Rot...
The origins and influence of NEU!’s “Hero” – a groundbreaking combination of driving motorik guitars and angry proto-punk vocals in the latest issue of Uncut magazine – in UK shops from Thursday, October 13 and available to buy from our online store.
After a year apart, guitarist Michael Rother and drummer, singer and guitarist Klaus Dinger had opposing visions when they regrouped as Neu!in 1974. Rother wanted to develop the textural music he’d recently been exploring with Harmonia, while his bandmate was shifting towards more primal rock’n’roll. The compromise was Neu! 75, which appears along with its two predecessors and a remix album on the boxset Neu! 50!: our archive album of 2022.
The showpiece of Neu! 75 is “Hero”, where Rother’s gorgeous melodies and drones are stampeded by Dinger’s proto-punk vocals, raging against the perceived injustices of his personal life and career. It ends with a bitter declaration: “Your only friend is music until your dying day!” The message is intensified by the powerful playing of his brother Thomas and Hans Lampe, two drummers who went on to record with Dinger as La Düsseldorf.
“The way Klaus sings on “Hero” is so impressive,” marvels Rother. “He wasn’t used to doing vocals, but he did it – bang! – just like that. And of course it gives that track so much of its energy.”
As with the rest of Neu! 75, “Hero” was guided by producer Conny Plank, the godfather of the German kosmische scene. Rother and Dinger were polar opposites as personalities, never socialising together and rarely discussing the music they made, but Plank was able to illuminate their unique studio chemistry. “Conny was a marvellous producer, because he had a spirit that just made things happen,” explains Lampe. “You were somehow inspired to be different. Recording with him was really magical.”
Rother and Dinger had already decided to go their separate ways by the time the album was released in the spring of 1975. “Klaus and I never saw ourselves as a band, it was a project,” says Rother, who attempted to reunite with Dinger a decade later, only for the sessions to fall apart amid much bitterness. “After creating Neu! 75 he went with La Düsseldorf and was very successful. I went back to Harmonia and was very unsuccessful. But happy!”
When Dinger died in 2008, Neu! had long passed into legend, with Neu! 75arguably their greatest and most influential work. “It’s astonishing to think that people still talk about us 50 years later,” Rother reflects, “because we were only concerned with making music together. It was just two people clicking.”
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Robert Smith has announced a Twitter listening party for the 30th anniversary of The Cure's ninth studio album Wish.
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The listening party will take place on Friday Novemb...
Robert Smith has announced a Twitter listening party for the 30th anniversary of The Cure’s ninth studio album Wish.
The listening party will take place on Friday November 25 at 11pm GMT under the hashtag #WishListeningParty.
Smith will lead the Tweet-along commentary of their classic album backstage following the band’s upcoming show at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome in the Netherlands.
Released in 1992, the record features singles “Friday I’m In Love”, “High” and “A Letter To Elise”. It reached Number One on the UK albums chart, and Number Two on the Billboard 200 in the US.
The 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of 'Wish' newly remastered by Robert Smith and Miles Showell at @AbbeyRoad Studios is now available to pre-order on CD, Deluxe CD & Black Vinyl. Shipping dates starting from October 7th 2022. Pre-order now at https://t.co/LgKJHS7V8kpic.twitter.com/pqwlHogWKH
The band kicked off their 2022 world tour in Latvia last month, debuting new tracks “Alone” and “Endsong”.
The tracks were followed by further debuts including “And Nothing Is Forever”, “I Can Never Say Goodbye” and “A Fragile Thing” offering a sense of what to expect from forthcoming new album Songs Of A Lost World, which Smith said was “almost finished” back in May.
The Cure are currently on their UK and European tour – you can find remaining tour dates below.
NOVEMBER 2022
15 – ZENITH, Nantes, France
17 – FESTHALLE, Frankfurt, Germany
18 – ZENITH, Strasbourg, France
19 – ST JAKOBSHALLE, Basel, Switzerland
21 – HANS-MARTIN-SCHLEYER-HALLE, Stuttggart, Germany
22 – LANXESS ARENA, Cologne, Germany
23 – SPORTPALEIS, Antwerp, Belgium
25 – ZIGGO DOME, Amsterdam, Netherlands
27 – STADE, Lievin, France
28 – ACCOR ARENA, Paris, France
DECEMBER 2022
01 – 3ARENA, Dublin, Ireland
02 – SSE, Belfast, Northern Ireland
04 – OVO HYDRO, Glasgow, Scotland
06 – FIRST DIRECT ARENA, Leeds, England
07 – UTILITA ARENA, Birmingham, England
08 – MOTORPOINT ARENA, Cardiff, Wales
11 – THE SSE ARENA, Wembley, London, England
Blur have announced details of a one-off UK reunion gig at London's Wembley Stadium for summer 2023. Check out ticket details below.
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The Britpop icons will playing their only UK show of 2023 at the iconic venue on Saturday, ...
Blur have announced details of a one-off UK reunion gig at London’s Wembley Stadium for summer 2023. Check out ticket details below.
The Britpop icons will playing their only UK show of 2023 at the iconic venue on Saturday, July 8. The band will be supported by Slowthai, Self Esteem and Jockstrap. This marks the band’s first headline show since 2015, when they released their long-awaited and critically-acclaimed comeback album The Magic Whip. Details of other world tour dates are currently unknown.
Tickets will go on general sale from 10am on Friday November 18 and will be available hereavailable here.
Looking ahead to delivering a greatest hits set, frontman Damon Albarn said: “We really love playing these songs and thought it’s about time we did it again.”
Guitarist Graham Coxon agreed: “I’m really looking forward to playing with my Blur brothers again and revisiting all those great songs. Blur live shows are always amazing for me: a nice guitar and an amp turned right up and loads of smiling faces.”
Bassist Alex James, meanwhile, said: “There’s always something really special when the four of us get in a room. It’s nice to think that on July 8 that room will be Wembley Stadium.”
Drummer Dave Rowntree added: “After the chaos of the last few years, it’s great to get back out to play some songs together on a summer’s day in London. Hope to see you there.”
Blur have announced details of a 2023 reunion gig at London’s Wembley Stadium. Image: Kevin Westenberg
After going on hiatus following the world tour for 2003’s Think Tank, then band first reunited in 2009 for a lengthy tour and Glastonbury headline performance.
This comes after Albarn previously claimed to NMEthat the band had been in talks and “had an idea” of how to make their comeback, before Rowntree teased that live activity would be on the cards if all members were “up for it” and Coxon appeared to downplay the chances of a reunion.
Coxon, who recently released his autobiography Verse, Chorus, Monster!, is also set to release the debut album with THE WAEVE, his side-project with former Pipettes member-turned-Mark Ronson collaborator and singer-songwriter Rose Elinor Dougall.
The first trailer for If These Walls Could Sing, a new documentary charting the importance of Abbey Road Studios, has landed.
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Directed by Paul McCartney's daughter Mary McCartney, If These Walls Could Sing is released next m...
The first trailer for If These Walls Could Sing, a new documentary charting the importance of Abbey Road Studios, has landed.
Directed by Paul McCartney’sdaughter Mary McCartney, If These Walls Could Sing is released next month in celebration of the famous recording studios’ 90th anniversary.
Abbey Road Studios was the backdrop for some of history’s greatest musical moments. The Beatles set up camp there in the ’60s and named their penultimate album after the studios and the St John’s Wood road.
“When you enter a place with so much history around it, it’s kind of sacred in a way,” Elton John says at the start of the new trailer, which you can watch below. “People want to come here. They want the sound of Abbey Road.”
The trailer for If These Walls Could Sing also shows pictures of director Mary crawling on the rugs of the studios before spotlighting her father. “This was our home, we spent so much time here,” Paul says.
Uncut catches up with The Smile's Jonny Greenwood, Thom Yorke and Tom Skinner to talk about their latest album A Light For Attracting Attention. Here are snippets of that conversation, available in full in the latest issue of Uncut magazine – in UK shops from Thursday, November 10 and available to...
Uncut catches up with The Smile’s Jonny Greenwood, Thom Yorke and Tom Skinner to talk about their latest album A Light For Attracting Attention. Here are snippets of that conversation, available in full in the latest issue of Uncut magazine – in UK shops from Thursday, November 10 and available to buy from our online store.
UNCUT: How does a Smilesong take shape? Is there a lot of jamming, or do you begin with chords and a melody?
GREENWOOD: Every song’s been different – some were already written – but broadly, there was just lots of frustration at not getting a chance to write or play with anyone, coupled with having many pent-up ideas. It was a glorious release, suddenly playing with Thom and Tom. It led to all this music suddenly coming to life. They’re very inspiring company – it was very fast.
UNCUT: There are moments on the album, particularly “Free In The Knowledge”, that feel almost hopeful. What gives you hope at the moment?
YORKE: Other people. You know… the normal ones. Not the right-wing freaks currently feeding off fear and hate that have taken our governments hostage. Perhaps we have all forgotten, but there was a lot of taking to the streets going on during the pandemic, a huge women’s movement formed and then Black Lives Matter. I took part in the huge Brexit protest march in London with my family – I can’t remember ever seeing so many people together in one place. Some said close to a million. This all had a very deep effect on me.
There is only so long right-wing zealots can gaslight their own population, and as we are seeing, their empty promises and use of force mean very little when millions take to the streets.
UNCUT: It must have been a little bit daunting to be invited into a group with Thom and Jonny. How did they put you at ease, and what kind of instruction or encouragement did they give you?
SKINNER: The band has always felt like a three-way conversation. We all bring different things to the project, and from a musical perspective my knowledge and experience are coming from quite a different place to Thom and Jonny, so it’s felt really collaborative and like we’re all learning but also surprisingly complementary. I feel like I can be relaxed and myself musically as much as, or more, than at any other time.
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Joni Mitchell has announced plans to release her comeback Newport Folk Festival performance as a live album.
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Earlier this summer, Mitchell perfor...
Joni Mitchell has announced plans to release her comeback Newport Folk Festival performance as a live album.
In a new rare interview with Elton John on his Rocket Hour radio show for Apple Music, Mitchell revealed that plans are in place to release the performance as an album.
John said: “I’ve seen you through music, and of course your incredible rehabilitation, but music has helped you so much and it’s beautiful to watch you evolve. And people out there, you haven’t heard things from the Newport Folk Festival yet, but I think there’s going to be an album coming out of that one?”
Mitchell then replied: “Yeah, we’re trying to put that out.” Going on to reveal that she “didn’t have any” rehearsals ahead of the performance, Mitchell then spoke about standing up to play the guitar during the performance.
“Yeah, that I had to figure out what I did,” she said. “And I couldn’t sing the key, I’ve become an alto, I’m not a soprano anymore, so I couldn’t sing the song. And I thought people might feel lighted that if I just played the guitar part but I like the guitar part to that song. So anyway, it was very well received, much to my delight.”
The revelation came during musician BrandiCarlile’s appearance on The Daily Show, as Pitchforkreported, with the artist telling host Trevor Noah that Mitchell would be taking to the stage in Grant County, Washington next June. Carlile will perform her own show in the city on Friday June 9, taking to the stage at the 27,500-capacity Gorge Amphitheatre – during her interview with Noah, she dropped the news that Mitchell will play the same venue the following night.
Hawkwind co-founder and saxophonist Nik Turner has died aged 82.
In a post on his Facebook page, a spokesperson for the musician revealed that he died peacefully at home on Thursday evening (November 10).
"We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Nik Turner - The Mighty Thunder Rider,...
Hawkwindco-founder and saxophonist Nik Turner has died aged 82.
In a post on his Facebook page, a spokesperson for the musician revealed that he died peacefully at home on Thursday evening (November 10).
“We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Nik Turner – The Mighty Thunder Rider, who passed away peacefully at home on Thursday evening,” the post read.
“He has moved onto the next phase of his Cosmic Journey, guided by the love of his family, friends and fans. Watch this space for his arrangements.”
We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Nik Turner – The Mighty Thunder Rider, who passed away peacefully at…
Turner founded Hawkwind alongside Dave Brock, Mick Slattery, John Harrison and Terry Ollis, initially performing roadie duties with the band before officially joining as a full-time member in 1969.
He performed with the space rock pioneers until 1976, including a period with a pre-MotörheadLemmy also in the band, before being kicked out. He then returned in 1982 for a two-year stint before leaving once again.
In the wake of Turner’s death, tributes have been pouring in online, with Motörhead’s official Twitter account writing: “We lost Lemmy’s old bandmate Nik Turner today. Play some Hawkwind nice and loud! Brainstorm here we go!”
So long #NikTurner thanks for the music, for making my little festival magic and giving me a turn on the mic. Wish you’d fixed things with the Capt before you left. ICU! ICU!
RIP Nik Turner, who kept the freak flag flying during the early 70s, both in his appearance & with masterful contributions to Hawkwind. Blowing wild sax thu a wah-wah, He was the Pied Piper for the band’s master-blaster wall of cosmic sound. pic.twitter.com/YrOKRaAaC5
Sad to be posting that Hawkwind founder member, Nik Turner, has passed away. More than anyone, Nik has represented the spirit of Hawkwind, despite only spending about ten years in the band. He'll be missed by many….certainly by me. I'm so glad I knew him. pic.twitter.com/KIWlEpuzti
Public Image Ltd and The Clash guitarist Keith Levene has died aged 65.
The news was broken by author and writer Adam Hammond, who revealed that Levene died on Friday (November 11).
"It is with great sadness I report that my close friend and legendary Public Image Limited guitarist Keith Leven...
The news was broken by author and writer Adam Hammond, who revealed that Levene died on Friday (November 11).
“It is with great sadness I report that my close friend and legendary Public Image Limited guitarist Keith Levene passed away on Friday 11th November,” Hammond wrote.
“There is no doubt that Keith was one of the most innovative, audacious and influential guitarists of all time.”
The tribute continued: “Keith sought to create a new paradigm in music and with willing collaborators John Lydon and Jah Wobble succeeded in doing just that. His guitar work over the nine minutes of “Theme”, the first track on the first PiL album, defined what alternative music should be.
“As well as helping to make PiL the most important band of the age, Keith also founded The Clash with Mick Jones and had a major influence on their early sound. So much of what we listen to today owes much to Keith’s work, some of it acknowledged, most of it not.”
Hammond concluded: “Our thoughts and love go out to his partner Kate, sister Jill and all of Keith’s family and friends. The world is a darker place without his genius. Mine will be darker without my mate.”
Keith sought to create a new paradigm in music and with willing collaborators John Lydon and Jah Wobble succeeded in doing just that. His guitar work over the nine minutes of 'Theme', the first track on the first PiL album, defined what alternative music should be.
Our thoughts and love go out to his partner Kate, sister Jill and all of Keith's family and friends. The world is a darker place without his genius. Mine will be darker without my mate.
After roadying for Yes in the early 1970s, Levene founded The Clash in 1976 alongside Mick Jones, famously persuadingJoe Strummer to leave his band at the time – The 101ers – and join the band.
Levene then left The Clash before they began recording music, going on to form Public Image Ltd with John Lydon after the breakup of the Sex Pistols.
After leaving PiL in 1983, Levene tried his hand at solo material, production and more.
Those to pay tribute to Levene since news of his death was announced include PiL bassist Jah Wobble.
See a range of tributes to the late guitarist below.
Elsewhere, The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe said he owes Levene “much of my guitar style, in some ways. he made it possible to be me.”
just found out Keith Levene passed away. i owe him much of my guitar style, in some ways. he made it possible to be me. @realjahwobble@marteeeen very sad, but a big thank you❤️
Primal Scream’sBobby Gillespie also quoted a passage about Levene that he wrote in his memoir, Tenement Kid: “The ante is upped even further by the screaming, nerve jangling arrpegiated Byrds–on-biker speed-laced-with-junk speedball genius guitar of Keith Levene. The Banshees’ John McKay and PIL’s Keith Levene reinvented rock guitar playing. After those two guys, people had to rethink how to play guitar. This was the future right here.”
We’re sad to hear of the death of Keith Levene. We were fortunate enough to work with Keith on an album he recorded with Jah Wobble. A post-punk legend who changed the sound of guitar music. pic.twitter.com/tgEiieQ5A9
