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DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS – GO GO BOOTS

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DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS – GO GO BOOTS

As this most powerful and prolific of bands prepares for a new tour of three-hour shows, no wonder frontman Patterson Hood says they are thinking about taking some time off. Go-Go Boots comes out just 11 months after previous album The Big To-Do: the two were written at the same time, but whereas the first was a bubbling Technicolor brew of big-boned rock’n’roll, Go-Go Boots is a more restrained affair, a country-soul stew populated by brooding ex-cops, frustrated movie stars, wife-murdering preachers and sweet old ladies. It’s a rich, invigorating and mischievous affair and, for older fans, possibly their best since 2004’s The Dirty South. Even if the band have recently decided to suspend their investigations of “the Southern thing” (that formed the backbone of their Southern Rock Opera, Decoration Day and The Dirty South albums), the policy has widened their scope and enhanced their popularity. The fruit of that can be heard on Go-Go Boots, which sees the band exploring old territory but with renewed wit and vigour, a more adventurous musical palate and an outstanding sense of drama. The Springsteen and Rolling Stones influences haven’t gone anywhere, but there’s more country thanks to the Bakersfield twang of Johnny Neff’s pedal steel and, for the first time, some genuine country soul, inspired by bassist Shonna Tucker. Songwriting is split between Hood, Tucker and Mike Cooley, which helps explain the band’s relentless productivity (this is their 11th album in 12 years). Hood writes the title track here, a gothic tale of a philandering preacher, which is later retold from a different perspective in the evocative “The Fireplace Poker”. This is what DBT have always done so well: writing absorbing tales of smalltown characters and setting them to raucous, life-affirming music. Hood has described Go-Go Boots as an “album of R’n’B murder ballads” and he also contributes the vivid “Ray’s Automatic Weapon” and spooky “Used To Be A Cop”. Both seethe with suppressed violence and masculine frustration. So, in its way, does his music industry blast, “Assholes”. Cooley is the Carl Perkins of the outfit, writing deceptively slight country songs to counterpoint Hood’s all-consuming intensity. The pick here is the sublime, subtle anti-Hollywood twang of “Pulaski”, although the banjo-led “Cartoon Gold” is another cracker. But Tucker’s contribution is in some ways the most vital. Ever since 2008’s Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, her role has been to offer a different vocal range and songs written from the women’s perspective – that are arguably more emotionally complex. Given that Drive-By Truckers albums habitually clock in at over an hour – this one is no exception – a little difference can go a long way. Tucker is even more influential on this album, evidently encouraging Hood to give the album a gentle country-soul skew. Her slow and stately “Dancin’ Ricky” comes early on, and she also takes vocal duties for “Where’s Eddie”, one of two Eddie Hinton covers originally released as a tribute single. Their inclusion should come as no surprise – the band referenced their fondness for the Muscle Shoals soul of Hinton, Tony Joe White and Dan Penn as far back as their 1998 debut, Gangstabilly. As well as the Hinton covers, Hood debuts a couple of soul-searching songs himself. “I Do Believe” is a sweet tribute to his grandmother, Sissy, while the bombastic finale, “Mercy Buckets”, is an old song he’s finally managed to find a home for. It caps the sound of a confident band cruising toward their peak – and perhaps even a hard-earned break. PETER WATTS Q+A PATTERSON HOOD Were you striving for a certain sound on this album? We had a clear idea of what the record was, early on. We had a bunch of songs that we knew belonged together and then honed in on certain sounds we thought were missing. There are aspects of the record we’ve all wanted to do, but maybe Shonna most of all. We’re all soul fanatics, but Shonna takes that to the next level, it’s all she listens to. We did the two Eddie Hinton songs and that was like a light going on. It affected the songs that came after. There’s a lot of murder on the album. Yeah, there’s a little bit of killing. If it was a film it would be The Night Of The Hunter, Southern noir. There are two songs about a murder in my home town that’s always fascinated me – I’ve an unfinished book and screenplay about it. What next? This is the first time I’ve put out a record with no clear idea of what comes after. The plan might be to take a break. This band will be working together for a long time and sometimes that means you have to know when to set it down. I think this is a good one to leave out there for a while. INTERVIEW: PETER WATTS

As this most powerful and prolific of bands prepares for a new tour of three-hour shows, no wonder frontman Patterson Hood says they are thinking about taking some time off.

Go-Go Boots comes out just 11 months after previous album The Big To-Do: the two were written at the same time, but whereas the first was a bubbling Technicolor brew of big-boned rock’n’roll, Go-Go Boots is a more restrained affair, a country-soul stew populated by brooding ex-cops, frustrated movie stars, wife-murdering preachers and sweet old ladies. It’s a rich, invigorating and mischievous affair and, for older fans, possibly their best since 2004’s The Dirty South.

Even if the band have recently decided to suspend their investigations of “the Southern thing” (that formed the backbone of their Southern Rock Opera, Decoration Day and The Dirty South albums), the policy has widened their scope and enhanced their popularity. The fruit of that can be heard on Go-Go Boots, which sees the band exploring old territory but with renewed wit and vigour, a more adventurous musical palate and an outstanding sense of drama. The Springsteen and Rolling Stones influences haven’t gone anywhere, but there’s more country thanks to the Bakersfield twang of Johnny Neff’s pedal steel and, for the first time, some genuine country soul, inspired by bassist Shonna Tucker.

Songwriting is split between Hood, Tucker and Mike Cooley, which helps explain the band’s relentless productivity (this is their 11th album in 12 years). Hood writes the title track here, a gothic tale of a philandering preacher, which is later retold from a different perspective in the evocative “The Fireplace Poker”. This is what DBT have always done so well: writing absorbing tales of smalltown characters and setting them to raucous, life-affirming music. Hood has described Go-Go Boots as an “album of R’n’B murder ballads” and he also contributes the vivid “Ray’s Automatic Weapon” and spooky “Used To Be A Cop”. Both seethe with suppressed violence and masculine frustration. So, in its way, does his music industry blast, “Assholes”.

Cooley is the Carl Perkins of the outfit, writing deceptively slight country songs to counterpoint Hood’s all-consuming intensity. The pick here is the sublime, subtle anti-Hollywood twang of “Pulaski”, although the banjo-led “Cartoon Gold” is another cracker. But Tucker’s contribution is in some ways the most vital. Ever since 2008’s Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, her role has been to offer a different vocal range and songs written from the women’s perspective – that are arguably more emotionally complex. Given that Drive-By Truckers albums habitually clock in at over an hour – this one is no exception – a little difference can go a long way.

Tucker is even more influential on this album, evidently encouraging Hood to give the album a gentle country-soul skew. Her slow and stately “Dancin’ Ricky” comes early on, and she also takes vocal duties for “Where’s Eddie”, one of two Eddie Hinton covers originally released as a tribute single. Their inclusion should come as no surprise – the band referenced their fondness for the Muscle Shoals soul of Hinton, Tony Joe White and Dan Penn as far back as their 1998 debut, Gangstabilly.

As well as the Hinton covers, Hood debuts a couple of soul-searching songs himself. “I Do Believe” is a sweet tribute to his grandmother, Sissy, while the bombastic finale, “Mercy Buckets”, is an old song he’s finally managed to find a home for. It caps the sound of a confident band cruising toward their peak – and perhaps even a hard-earned break.

PETER WATTS

Q+A PATTERSON HOOD

Were you striving for a certain sound on this album?

We had a clear idea of what the record was, early on. We had a bunch of songs that we knew belonged together and then honed in on certain sounds we thought were missing. There are aspects of the record we’ve all wanted to do, but maybe Shonna most of all. We’re all soul fanatics, but Shonna takes that to the next level, it’s all she listens to. We did the two Eddie Hinton songs and that was like a light going on. It affected the songs that came after.

There’s a lot of murder on the album.

Yeah, there’s a little bit of killing. If it was a film it would be The Night Of The Hunter, Southern noir. There are two songs about a murder in my home town that’s always fascinated me – I’ve an unfinished book and screenplay about it.

What next?

This is the first time I’ve put out a record with no clear idea of what comes after. The plan might be to take a break. This band will be working together for a long time and sometimes that means you have to know when to set it down. I think this is a good one to leave out there for

a while.

INTERVIEW: PETER WATTS

GRUFF RHYS – HOTEL SHAMPOO

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GRUFF RHYS – HOTEL SHAMPOO

Ever since Super Furry Animals first took to the road in 1995, Gruff Rhys has been collecting miniature bottles of shampoo from hotel rooms around the world, as well as soaps, shower caps, slippers and other paraphernalia of our disposable age. By last year, he’d amassed enough of these complimentary items to build a kennel-like sculpture from them in a Cardiff gallery – a monument to his transient existence. Hotel Shampoo is the accompanying album, and it’s a typical Gruff Rhys project: seemingly quirky and trivial, but executed with such honesty and dedication that it acquires an unexpected layer of meaning and poignancy. Few artists could have wrung the pathos from a synth-pop concept album about the life and times of disgraced luxury car designer John DeLorean, but Rhys ensured that Neon Neon’s Stainless Style was more than just an exercise in trashy ’80s kitsch. Likewise, his magic realist road trip movie Separado! could have been silly and self-indulgent; in fact it was charming, and taught us a fair bit about the cultural history of Patagonia along the way. Rhys doesn’t always gauge it correctly – last year’s collaboration with Brazilian junk musician Tony Da Gatorra was an irksome racket. But Hotel Shampoo finds him back on form with an album of wistful, psychedelic pop, showcasing the kind of casually ornate songwriting that Super Furry Animals chose to eschew on their last effort, 2009’s jammier Dark Days/Light Years. Opener “Shark Ridden Waters” sets the paisley-patterned tone. Produced by Twisted Nerve label boss and renowned crate-digger Andy Votel, it’s a pleasantly eddying tune built on a hefty sample of The Cyrkle’s 1967 album track “It Doesn’t Matter Any More”, a faintly psychedelicised summer-of-love version of a Bacharach and David song. Indeed, faintly psychedelicised lounge pop is generally what Rhys is shooting for here. There are echoes of Gainsbourg’s songs for Bardot and Birkin, Caetano Veloso’s yearning tropicália, The Zombies’ Odessey And Oracle, John Cale’s Paris 1919 and various late-’60s TV theme tunes. The chirpy arcadian stroll of “Honey All Over” seems to deliberately invoke The Small Faces’ “Itchycoo Park”, while “Sensations In The Dark” employs mariachi trumpets with the same cheerful zest as SFA’s “Northern Lites” once used steel drums. Gruff Rhys says he’s never kept a diary or a journal, so his hotel freebies act as mementos for the places he’s visited, the beds he’s slept in, and judging by the lyrics, the girls he’s shared them with. On the album’s stand-out track, the exquisite “Vitamin K”, Rhys finds that “fragments of the past come tumbling sharply now into focus” bringing with them “gallons and litres of shame” as he wonders if a particular ex-lover even remembers his name. On “Space Dust #2”, a duet with Swedish singer El Perro Del Mar, the sight of a girl across a seminar hall excites “raindrops and fireworks” but their romance is over by the morning, leaving only embers of recrimination. “If We Were Words (We Would Rhyme)” is a country-ish, waltz-time hymn to the girl who got away. It’s a pleasure to hear Rhys exploring his romantic side, although the sentimental nature of the subject matter has inspired some rather twee melodies. Keeping Andy Votel on board would have maintained a crepuscular, queer edge to the music, preventing certain songs from lapsing into cosy plinky-plonk. Rhys has proved his deftness and versatility as a songwriter time and again, but he needs someone on hand to anchor his whimsy. It’s therefore good to learn that, contrary to split rumours, Super Furry Animals will definitely be reconvening in the future. Hotel Shampoo is a fragrant little side-project but it’s a bit too sudsy to be the main event. Sam Richards Q+A Gruff Rhys How much shampoo have you hoarded over the years? It’s around 574 bottles, plus loads of other items – there’s a full inventory on my website. I started sorting them a couple of years ago at the same time as I was writing this batch of songs, so the two processes became one thing in my mind. How did your collection of hotel toiletries actually help you write the album? It became a handy way to finish lyrics or song titles. I had a song about a femme fatale, which became “Honey All Over” – like an imaginary shower gel or something. “Sensations In The Dark” sounds like a shit hair gel. Did you have an overall vision for the music? The songs are quite straightforward in terms of composition. I wanted to keep them all as short as possible and try and curb my instinct to go for a 15-minute jam. I was listening to a lot of piano or saxophone-driven records, so this is me getting that out of my system. What’s the latest on the next Super Furries album? We heard a worrying rumour last year that you might have called it quits. No, we made a pact on the last song of our first album [“For Now And Ever”] never to split up. We’re just taking our time. I think we’re at our best when we make completely over-the-top records where we spend six months in a studio and make a film as well. Three of us have got young families so when we’re all free and able to give it 100 per cent, that’s when we’ll go for it. INTERVIEW: SAM RICHARDS

Ever since Super Furry Animals first took to the road in 1995, Gruff Rhys has been collecting miniature bottles of shampoo from hotel rooms around the world, as well as soaps, shower caps, slippers and other paraphernalia of our disposable age. By last year, he’d amassed enough of these complimentary items to build a kennel-like sculpture from them in a Cardiff gallery – a monument to his transient existence.

Hotel Shampoo is the accompanying album, and it’s a typical Gruff Rhys project: seemingly quirky and trivial, but executed with such honesty and dedication that it acquires an unexpected layer of meaning and poignancy. Few artists could have wrung the pathos from a synth-pop concept album about the life and times of disgraced luxury car designer John DeLorean, but Rhys ensured that Neon Neon’s Stainless Style was more than just an exercise in trashy ’80s kitsch. Likewise, his magic realist road trip movie Separado! could have been silly and self-indulgent; in fact it was charming, and taught us a fair bit about the cultural history of Patagonia along the way.

Rhys doesn’t always gauge it correctly – last year’s collaboration with Brazilian junk musician Tony Da Gatorra was an irksome racket. But Hotel Shampoo finds him back on form with an album of wistful, psychedelic pop, showcasing the kind of casually ornate songwriting that Super Furry Animals chose to eschew on their last effort, 2009’s jammier Dark Days/Light Years.

Opener “Shark Ridden Waters” sets the paisley-patterned tone. Produced by Twisted Nerve label boss and renowned crate-digger Andy Votel, it’s a pleasantly eddying tune built on a hefty sample of The Cyrkle’s 1967 album track “It Doesn’t Matter Any More”, a faintly psychedelicised summer-of-love version of a Bacharach and David song.

Indeed, faintly psychedelicised lounge pop is generally what Rhys is shooting for here. There are echoes of Gainsbourg’s songs for Bardot and Birkin, Caetano Veloso’s yearning tropicália, The Zombies’ Odessey And Oracle, John Cale’s Paris 1919 and various late-’60s TV theme tunes. The chirpy arcadian stroll of “Honey All Over” seems to deliberately invoke The Small Faces’ “Itchycoo Park”, while “Sensations In The Dark” employs mariachi trumpets with the same cheerful zest as SFA’s “Northern Lites” once used steel drums.

Gruff Rhys says he’s never kept a diary or a journal, so his hotel freebies act as mementos for the places he’s visited, the beds he’s slept in, and judging by the lyrics, the girls he’s shared them with. On the album’s stand-out track, the exquisite “Vitamin K”, Rhys finds that “fragments of the past come tumbling sharply now into focus” bringing with them “gallons and litres of shame” as he wonders if a particular ex-lover even remembers his name.

On “Space Dust #2”, a duet with Swedish singer El Perro Del Mar, the sight of a girl across a seminar hall excites “raindrops and fireworks” but their romance is over by the morning, leaving only embers of recrimination. “If We Were Words (We Would Rhyme)” is a country-ish, waltz-time hymn to the girl who got away.

It’s a pleasure to hear Rhys exploring his romantic side, although the sentimental nature of the subject matter has inspired some rather twee melodies. Keeping Andy Votel on board would have maintained a crepuscular, queer edge to the music, preventing certain songs from lapsing into cosy plinky-plonk.

Rhys has proved his deftness and versatility as a songwriter time and again, but he needs someone on hand to anchor his whimsy. It’s therefore good to learn that, contrary to split rumours, Super Furry Animals will definitely be reconvening in the future. Hotel Shampoo is a fragrant little side-project but it’s a bit too sudsy to be the main event.

Sam Richards

Q+A Gruff Rhys

How much shampoo have you hoarded over the years?

It’s around 574 bottles, plus loads of other items – there’s a full inventory on my website. I started sorting them a couple of years ago at the same time as I was writing this batch of songs, so the two processes became one thing in my mind.

How did your collection of hotel toiletries actually help you write the album?

It became a handy way to finish lyrics or song titles. I had a song about a femme fatale, which became “Honey All Over” – like an imaginary shower gel or something. “Sensations In The Dark” sounds like a shit hair gel.

Did you have an overall vision for the music?

The songs are quite straightforward in terms of composition. I wanted to keep them all as short as possible and try and curb my instinct to go for a 15-minute jam. I was listening to a lot of piano or saxophone-driven records, so this is me getting that out of my system.

What’s the latest on the next Super Furries album? We heard a worrying rumour last year that you might have called it quits.

No, we made a pact on the last song of our first album [“For Now And Ever”] never to split up. We’re just taking our time. I think we’re at our best when we make completely over-the-top records where we spend six months in a studio and make a film as well. Three of us have got young families so when we’re all free and able to give it 100 per cent, that’s when we’ll go for it.

INTERVIEW: SAM RICHARDS

Bright Eyes play three UK shows in July

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Bright Eyes play three UK shows in July
Bright Eyes have added three new UK gigs for July. The band, who release their new album ‘The People’s Key’ on Monday (February 14), will play shows in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. The band first play Birmingham’s HMV Institute on July 8 before playing Leeds’ O2 Academy five days l...

Bright Eyes have added three new UK gigs for July.

The band, who release their new album ‘The People’s Key’ on Monday (February 14), will play shows in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.

The band first play Birmingham’s HMV Institute on July 8 before playing Leeds’ O2 Academy five days later on July 13. They finish the following evening at Manchester Academy on July 14.

These shows are in addition to the previously announced show at London’s Royal Albert Hall on June 23.

The band have not scheduled any appearances for either the weekends of June 24 – 26 or July 8 – 10, pointing to the distinct possibility that they are scheduled to play both Glastonbury and T In The Park.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow (February 11) at 9am (GMT). To check the availability of [url=http://www.seetickets.com/see/event.asp?artist=Bright+Eyes&filler1=see&filler3=id1nmestory] Bright Eyes tickets[/url] and get all the latest listings, go to [url=http://www.nme.com/gigs]NME.COM/TICKETS[/url] now, or call 0871 230 1094.

Noel Gallagher says he hasn’t started recording solo album yet

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Noel Gallagher says he hasn’t started recording solo album yet
Noel Gallagher has dismissed suggestions the release of his long anticipated solo album is imminent. The former Oasis guitarist had been widely reported to have been recording a solo album, with Miles Kane among those to have said they’ve collaborated Gallagher on the project. But, speaking to...

Noel Gallagher has dismissed suggestions the release of his long anticipated solo album is imminent.

The former Oasis guitarist had been widely reported to have been recording a solo album, with Miles Kane among those to have said they’ve collaborated Gallagher on the project.

But, speaking to Talksport today, Gallagher said he hadn’t even started yet. “I am not recording new stuff, not just yet, and it’ll be out when it’s finished I guess. Well, I’ve not even started it, so I don’t know” he said.

He also said it was unlikely the album would emerge anytime soon, adding “”I’d have thought probably if anything comes out it’ll [the album] be later rather than sooner.”

He also told the station that he had secured the rights to his new website, Noelgallagher.com over a year ago, contrary to reports he recovered it last week.

Mumford & Sons to perform with Bob Dylan at Grammys

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Mumford & Sons to perform with Bob Dylan at Grammys
Mumford & Sons will perform with Bob Dylan at this year's Grammy Awards ceremony. The band had previously performed with The Kinks' Ray Davies (watch video below), and are now set to hook up with the folk legend at Sunday's (February 13) ceremony at the Los Angeles Staples Center. They will pe...

Mumford & Sons will perform with Bob Dylan at this year’s Grammy Awards ceremony.

The band had previously performed with The Kinks‘ Ray Davies (watch video below), and are now set to hook up with the folk legend at Sunday’s (February 13) ceremony at the Los Angeles Staples Center.

They will perform with him as well as North Carolina band The Avett Brothers for an as-yet unannounced number, and will also play their song ‘The Cave’.

The band are nominated in the Best Rock Song category for their debut single ‘Little Lion Man’ and in the Best New Artist category.

Also at the ceremony Eminem and Dr Dre will team up to debut a song from Dre‘s forthcoming album ‘Detox’. It will be the first time the pair have performed together on TV in over a decade.

Lady Gaga and Arcade Fire will also be performing at the ceremony.

Club Uncut: Hiss Golden Messenger – February 9, 2011

Michael Bonner
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Hiss Golden Messenger Slaughtered Lamb, London “I’ll do my best to put you in a trance here,” says Michael Taylor, aka Hiss Golden Messenger, as he tweaks and tunes his guitar at the start of tonight’s Club Uncut show. This is Taylor’s third London show in a week, including an in-store performance at Rough Trade on Saturday. Clearly, he’s on a roll. John wrote a few days ago about Taylor’s excellent set at King’s Place, and there’s more of the same magic on display tonight. Here, though, there’s occasional accompaniment from Voice Of The Seven Thunders’ Rick Tomlinson – nearly back to match fitness after suffering a broken finger. Live, Taylor’s music has a warm, folk-soul feel to it that sounds particularly good resonating round the snug confines of the Slaughtered Lamb’s basement venue. There are some sound-proofing problems – noises from the bar upstairs frequently intrude, music from the jukebox or someone dragging what sounds like a bench across the floor. But for the most part, Taylor’s set – to my mind, strong on an early Seventies’ Laurel Canyon vibe – is exquisitely rendered here. The songs un-spool languidly from Taylor (and Tomlinson’s) guitar, homespun tales that mostly seem evocative of a rustic existence. Here he is, for instance, on “Drum”: “The farmer shall wear the green of his furrows/The plowman shall heel his teams for the day/The hunter shall still his dangerous arrow”. Between songs, Taylor offers glimpses into his own bucolic-sounding life in Pittsboro, North Carolina – “a very wooded place in the north part of the state.” He recorded much of his music there, “at the kitchen table”. It all sounds so folksy it seems jarring when, in passing, he mentions an email from his wife back home; modern day communications seem not to have much of a place here. Another typically strong night at Club Uncut. That’ll be Arboretum at the Borderline on March 24. We’ll see you there!

Hiss Golden Messenger

Slaughtered Lamb, London

“I’ll do my best to put you in a trance here,” says Michael Taylor, aka Hiss Golden Messenger, as he tweaks and tunes his guitar at the start of tonight’s Club Uncut show. This is Taylor’s third London show in a week, including an in-store performance at Rough Trade on Saturday. Clearly, he’s on a roll.

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Rolling Stones release new boxset

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Rolling Stones release new boxset
The Rolling Stones are set to release another huge boxset, this time collecting singles from the past four decades. 'The Rolling Stones Singles (1971-2006)' features 45 of the rock legends' singles, from 'Brown Sugar' in 1971 through to 2006's 'Biggest Mistake', and is released on April 11. View th...

The Rolling Stones are set to release another huge boxset, this time collecting singles from the past four decades.

‘The Rolling Stones Singles (1971-2006)’ features 45 of the rock legends’ singles, from ‘Brown Sugar’ in 1971 through to 2006’s ‘Biggest Mistake’, and is released on April 11. View the set at Rollingstones.com.

The lavish package contains 173 tracks, of which 83 are not officially available elsewhere. The 32-page booklet includes a new essay by Stones expert Paul Sexton and an interview with former bass player and band archivist Bill Wyman.

Additionally, the band are putting out a limited-edition vinyl version of ‘Brown Sugar’ in April to mark Record Store Day. It will include original B-sides ‘Bitch’ and ‘Let It Rock’.

Noah And The Whale announce UK and Ireland Tour

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Noah And The Whale announce UK and Ireland Tour
Noah And The Whale have announced details of a tour of the UK and Ireland. The London folk-pop band, who are [url=http://www.nme.com/news/nme-chart/54860]currently top of the NME Chart[/url] with ‘LIFEGOESON’, will play 12 shows across the country in May. They are due to begin the jaunt at t...

Noah And The Whale have announced details of a tour of the UK and Ireland.

The London folk-pop band, who are [url=http://www.nme.com/news/nme-chart/54860]currently top of the NME Chart[/url] with ‘LIFEGOESON’, will play 12 shows across the country in May.

They are due to begin the jaunt at the Manchester Ritz on May 3 and finish up at Cambridge’s Junction on May 18.

The band’s new album, ‘Last Night On Earth’, is released on March 7.

Manchester Ritz (May 3)

Leeds Metropolitan University (4)

Edinburgh Liquid Rooms (5)

Sheffield Leadmill (7)

Dublin O2 Academy (8)

Liverpool Stanley Theatre (9)

Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms (10)

Bristol Trinity Centre (12)

Birmingham HMV Institute (13)

London Camden Roundhouse (16)

Nottingham Rescue Rooms (17)

Cambridge Junction(18)

The Kinks to reissue seven albums

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The Kinks to reissue seven albums
The Kinks are to reissue seven of their albums later this year. The albums being re-issued first are 1964’s self-titled effort, 'Kinda Kinks' and 'The Kink Kontroversy', which both came out in 1965. They will be out on March 28. Following this 1969’s 'Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The B...

The Kinks are to reissue seven of their albums later this year.

The albums being re-issued first are 1964’s self-titled effort, ‘Kinda Kinks’ and ‘The Kink Kontroversy’, which both came out in 1965. They will be out on March 28.

Following this 1969’s ‘Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire)’ and 1971’s ’Muswell Hillbillies’ will be out in May. 1966’s ‘Face To Face’ and 1967’s ‘Something Else’ will follow in July.

Each of the albums will re-released as double CDs with added rarities, outtakes, demos, session tracks and in-depth liner notes.

In other Kinks news, frontman Ray Davies was recently [url=http://www.nme.com/news/the-kinks/53997]confirmed to curate London’s Meltdown festival[/url] at the Southbank Centre from June 10–18.

The Fifth Uncut Playlist Of 2011

John Mulvey
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Finishing the issue, so have to be quick today. It all goes a bit early ‘90s towards the bottom of the list this week. Nice to dig out the Suntanama records from about a decade ago, though, prompted by the discovery that Dave Shuford/D Charles Speer figured in their lineup. Don’t forget the Hiss Golden Messenger show tonight if you’re in London, folks. 1 The Suntanama – The Suntanama (Drag City) 2 Peaking Lights – 936 (Not Not Fun) 3 About Group – You’re No Good (Domino) 4 Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo (Matador) 5 Low – C’Mon (Sub Pop) 6 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (Bella Union) 7 Mystery Record 8 Various Artists – The Karindula Sessions: Tradi-Modern Sounds From Southeast Congo (Crammed Discs) 9 Panda Bear – Tomboy (Paw Tracks) 10 A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Cervantine (L.M Dupli-cation) 11 Hans-Joachim Roedelius – Geschenk Des Augenblicks (Bureau B) 12 Low – Drums And Guns (Sub Pop) 13 Foo Fighters – New Album (Roswell/RCA) 14 J Mascis – Several Shades Of Why (Sub Pop) 15 Alela Diane – Alela Diane & Wild Divine (Rough Trade)

Finishing the issue, so have to be quick today. It all goes a bit early ‘90s towards the bottom of the list this week. Nice to dig out the Suntanama records from about a decade ago, though, prompted by the discovery that Dave Shuford/D Charles Speer figured in their lineup.

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Beyonce, Coldplay and U2 to headline Glastonbury?

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Beyonce, Coldplay and U2 to headline Glastonbury?
Beyonce and U2 are reportedly confirmed to join Coldplay as headliners of this year's Glastonbury festival. Festival organisers are yet to officially announce the headliners, but U2 have long-since been rumoured to be playing this year's event. They cancelled their slot last year due to singer Bono...

Beyonce and U2 are reportedly confirmed to join Coldplay as headliners of this year’s Glastonbury festival.

Festival organisers are yet to officially announce the headliners, but U2 have long-since been rumoured to be playing this year’s event. They cancelled their slot last year due to singer Bono having surgery. Organiser Michael Eavis previously said he’d asked the band to play at the 2011 festival.

Eavis had also said of another 2011 headliner: “There’s an American artist that I’ve been wanting to have for years and yonks and yonks and yonks.”

Now gossip website Holymoly.com has claimed that U2 and Beyonce are both booked, with Coldplay already revealed as headliners.

Beyonce visited the festival in 2008, when her husband Jay-Z headlined, but she has never performed at the event.

Glastonbury 2011 takes place at Worthy Farm, Pilton. Billed music takes place on June 24-26, with the site opening on June 22.

Last year Gorillaz replaced U2 as headliners, with Muse and Stevie Wonder also playing headline slots.

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Arctic Monkeys play two Sheffield stadium shows

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Arctic Monkeys play two Sheffield stadium shows
Arctic Monkeys have announced details of two huge shows in their native Sheffield. The band will play in a custom-designed tent at the Sheffield Don Valley Bowl on June 10 and 11. Miles Kane, frontman Alex Turner’s The Last Shadow Puppets bandmate, will play solo support slots on both dates. In ...

Arctic Monkeys have announced details of two huge shows in their native Sheffield.

The band will play in a custom-designed tent at the Sheffield Don Valley Bowl on June 10 and 11.

Miles Kane, frontman Alex Turner’s The Last Shadow Puppets bandmate, will play solo support slots on both dates. In addition The Vaccines and Dead Sons will play on the June 10 bill, with Anna Calvi and Mabel Love set to play slots at the June 11 gig.

See Arcticmonkeys.com for more details and to view the official gig poster.

Arctic Monkeys are currently finishing off work on their fourth album in Los Angeles with producer James Ford.

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Strokes release new single as free download

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Strokes release new single as free download
The Strokes are set to release their comeback single 'Under Cover Of Darkness' as a free download tomorrow (February 9). The song will be available from the band's website, Thestrokes.com, from 7:35pm (GMT). It will be available to download for 48 hours. The track will also be released as a limite...

The Strokes are set to release their comeback single ‘Under Cover Of Darkness’ as a free download tomorrow (February 9).

The song will be available from the band’s website, Thestrokes.com, from 7:35pm (GMT). It will be available to download for 48 hours.

The track will also be released as a limited-edition seven-inch vinyl single on April 16, Record Store Day.

‘Under Cover Of Darkness’ is the first song to be taken from [url=http://www.nme.com/news/the-strokes/54693]The Strokes’ new album, ‘Angles'[/url], which is out on March 21. It’ll be the New York band’s first album since 2006’s ‘First Impressions Of Earth’.

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Coldplay to headline Glastonbury

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Coldplay to headline Glastonbury
Coldplay will headline the Saturday night (June 25) at this year's Glastonbury. The band, who had been strongly rumoured to play at the festival, will top the bill on the Pyramid Stage for the third time in their career, reports The Sun. However, The Rolling Stones appear to have turned out the ch...

Coldplay will headline the Saturday night (June 25) at this year’s Glastonbury.

The band, who had been strongly rumoured to play at the festival, will top the bill on the Pyramid Stage for the third time in their career, reports The Sun.

However, The Rolling Stones appear to have turned out the chance to headline the festival, despite being given a “massive offer” to play, according to the newspaper.

Last year, organiser Michael Eavis hinted about the identity the Sunday night headliner, stating it is “an American artist that I’ve been wanting for yonks and yonks”.

He also told BBC News he has asked U2 to headline the festival on the Friday (June 24), but has yet to receive a response from the Irish band.

The four-piece were forced to pull out of headlining last year’s festival after singer Bono injured his back.

Glastonbury 2011 takes place at Worthy Farm, Pilton. Billed music takes place on June 24-26, with the site opening on June 22.

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Uncut have teamed up with Sonic Editions to curate a number of limited-edition framed iconic rock photographs, featuring the likes of Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan and The Clash. View the full collection here.

Details of Alex Turner’s ‘Submarine’ soundtrack released

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Details of Alex Turner’s ‘Submarine’ soundtrack released
Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner's has released details of his forthcoming soundtrack record. The singer has written soundtrack songs for Submarinea Richard Ayoade-directed British film which was recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Turner will release a six-track EP featuring his songs fr...

Arctic Monkeys‘ Alex Turner‘s has released details of his forthcoming soundtrack record.

The singer has written soundtrack songs for Submarinea Richard Ayoade-directed British film which was recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

Turner will release a six-track EP featuring his songs from the film on March 14.

The songs featured are ‘Stuck On The Puzzle (Intro)’, ‘Hiding Tonight’, ‘Glass In The Park’, ‘It’s Hard To Get Around The Wind’, ‘Stuck On The Puzzle’ and ‘Piledriver Waltz’.

Submarine is based on the debut novel of the same name by Joe Dunthorne, and follows the story of a 15 year-old boy who is struggling to lose his virginity while struggling to keep his parents together. It hits UK cinemas on March 18.

Turner previously worked with Ayoade on Arctic Monkeys‘ 2008 live music DVD At The Apollo. The IT Crowd actor also directed the music videos for the band’s ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’, ‘Crying Lightning’ and ‘Cornerstone’ singles.

Arctic Monkeys are currently finishing off their new album with producer James Ford in Los Angeles.

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Gary Moore passes away

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Gary Moore passes away

Legendary rock guitarist Gary Moore has died aged 58. Adam Parsons, who managed Moore during his time in Thin Lizzy, confirmed to BBC News that the Northern Irishman passed away yesterday morning (February 6). The Belfast-born musician died in his sleep while on holiday in Spain. Born in 1952 as Robert William Gary Moore, the guitarist joined Dublin blues-rock band Skid Row at the age of 16. While playing with the group, Moore befriended vocalist Phil Lynott, who he later teamed up with again when he replaced Eric Bell in Thin Lizzy in 1974. Although he only spent a few months with the band during this initial stint, he would later return to the line-up in 1977, to replace Brian Robertson, and in 1978 for the 'Black Rose' tour. Moore also released 20 solo albums, starting with 1973's 'Grinding Stone', which was recorded under the Gary Moore Band moniker. He also scored hits with singles such as 'Parisienne Walkways' and 'Out In The Fields' and released his final solo studio in 2008, 'Bad For You Baby'. Speaking to BBC News, Bell expressed shock at Moore's death. "He was so robust, he wasn't a rock casualty, he was a healthy guy. He was a superb player and a dedicated musician," he said. Latest music and film news on Uncut.co.uk. Uncut have teamed up with Sonic Editions to curate a number of limited-edition framed iconic rock photographs, featuring the likes of Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan and The Clash. View the full collection here.

Legendary rock guitarist Gary Moore has died aged 58.

Adam Parsons, who managed Moore during his time in Thin Lizzy, confirmed to BBC News that the Northern Irishman passed away yesterday morning (February 6).

The Belfast-born musician died in his sleep while on holiday in Spain.

Born in 1952 as Robert William Gary Moore, the guitarist joined Dublin blues-rock band Skid Row at the age of 16.

While playing with the group, Moore befriended vocalist Phil Lynott, who he later teamed up with again when he replaced Eric Bell in Thin Lizzy in 1974.

Although he only spent a few months with the band during this initial stint, he would later return to the line-up in 1977, to replace Brian Robertson, and in 1978 for the ‘Black Rose’ tour.

Moore also released 20 solo albums, starting with 1973’s ‘Grinding Stone’, which was recorded under the Gary Moore Band moniker.

He also scored hits with singles such as ‘Parisienne Walkways’ and ‘Out In The Fields’ and released his final solo studio in 2008, ‘Bad For You Baby’.

Speaking to BBC News, Bell expressed shock at Moore‘s death.

“He was so robust, he wasn’t a rock casualty, he was a healthy guy. He was a superb player and a dedicated musician,” he said.

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Uncut have teamed up with Sonic Editions to curate a number of limited-edition framed iconic rock photographs, featuring the likes of Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan and The Clash. View the full collection here.

Hiss Golden Messenger: London King’s Place, February 4, 2011

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Various circumstances mean I have to miss Hiss Golden Messenger’s show at Club Uncut on Wednesday, so I went to see Michael Taylor’s first UK show at King’s Place, a rather refined venue beneath The Guardian offices, last Friday. I’ve written a fair bit about Taylor’s music here over the past year or so: to recap swiftly, he’s a folklorist currently based in the woods of North Carolina, who makes a rapturous, exquisitely-referenced kind of music that we could riskily tag as folk-soul. The first Hiss Golden Messenger recordings were rich, full band trips, but Taylor’s first UK release (the “Bad Debt” EP on BlackMaps, out at the end of 2010) was a bunch of raw solo acoustic demos, never originally intended to be released. So it is that Taylor seems to have inadvertently been recast as a solo singer-singwriter; a situation which may be accidental, but which rather suits him. Tonight, he was scheduled to be accompanied by his English friend, Rick Tomlinson of Voice Of The Seven Thunders (who passed on the first Hiss album, “From Country Hai East Cotton”, to me a couple of years back). Tomlinson, though, is missing due to some snow-related finger injury; word is he’s going to try and get fit for Wednesday. Taylor, then, finds himself alone onstage in a very reverential concert room. He is playing “sadsack existential blues songs,” as he self-effacingly calls them – though I suspect it may be hard to be anything other than self-effacing in such an oppressively hushed environment. Unusual for an existentialist, too, Taylor is mighty fond of religious imagery: whether it be the opening “Lion/Lamb”, or “Bad Debt” highlights like “No Lord Is Free” and “Jesus Shot Me In The Head”. “Bad Debt” songs, predictably enough, make up the heart of the set, though it’s worth noting that they’re not materially better suited to the solo treatment than the older songs from “Country Hai” (due to be belatedly released in the UK, in adjusted form, next month). One of Taylor’s strengths is the way his songs are so flexible that they can handle radically different versions; hopefully, a good few of the “Bad Debt” demos will be filled out on Taylor’s next record. Another of his strengths is his voice. A couple of cover versions – Michael Hurley’s “The Revenant” (played to Hurley in Taylor’s kitchen; Hurley was unimpressed) and Tim Hardin’s “Shiloh Town” (learned, we discover, from Mark Lanegan’s take on the song) provide vague signposts to Taylor’s style. For all his faith in American vernacular, though, it’s a couple of British artists who most spring to mind – Van Morrison (perhaps in part an association with the word ‘Domino’) and, especially, John Martyn. Like Martyn, Taylor inhabits a space somewhere between folk and soul, perhaps with a good deal of jazz substituted by country. On “Country Hai”, he throws in reggae, a delightfully lethargic iteration of funk, and all manner of other things into the mix. But that sort of expansiveness can wait for another time. For these first UK shows, it’s good to see Hiss Golden Messenger’s strong, bare bones. Try and make it along to the Slaughtered Lamb on Wednesday if you can.

Various circumstances mean I have to miss Hiss Golden Messenger’s show at Club Uncut on Wednesday, so I went to see Michael Taylor’s first UK show at King’s Place, a rather refined venue beneath The Guardian offices, last Friday.

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Mick Jagger to pay tribute to Solomon Burke at Grammy Awards

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Mick Jagger to pay tribute to Solomon Burke at Grammy Awards
Mick Jagger has been confirmed to perform at the Grammy Awards ceremony on February 13. The Rolling Stones singer will pay tribute to the late soul singer Solomon Burke at the Los Angeles ceremony by performing with Raphael Saadiq. It will be the first time he has performed at the Grammys, althoug...

Mick Jagger has been confirmed to perform at the Grammy Awards ceremony on February 13.

The Rolling Stones singer will pay tribute to the late soul singer Solomon Burke at the Los Angeles ceremony by performing with Raphael Saadiq.

It will be the first time he has performed at the Grammys, although The Rolling Stones played via a videolink from London when they were presented with a Lifetime Achievement award in 1986.

Jagger joins other confirmed performers including Eminem, Katy Perry, Muse, Rihanna and Usher. Lady Gaga will debut her new single ‘Born This Way’ at the event.

Burke died in October 2010.

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Manic Street Preachers ‘gutted’ about failing to make the Top 40

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Manic Street Preachers ‘gutted’ about failing to make the Top 40
Manic Street Preachers' Nicky Wire has admitted he was "gutted" that the band's last single missed the top 40 of the UK singles chart. 'Some Kind of Nothingness' peaked at Number 44 in December, and was the first single from the band to not to make the chart since they signed to Sony in 1991. It fe...

Manic Street Preachers‘ Nicky Wire has admitted he was “gutted” that the band’s last single missed the top 40 of the UK singles chart.

‘Some Kind of Nothingness’ peaked at Number 44 in December, and was the first single from the band to not to make the chart since they signed to Sony in 1991. It features a guest vocal from Echo & The Bunnymen‘s Ian McCulloch.

Wire told Absolute Radio: “I was quite distraught that ‘Some Kind of Nothingness’, our single, missed the Top 40. I was gutted.”

He added that he still takes a keen interest in the charts, but usually finds it a stressful listening experience when concerning his own music.

“My excitement always turns into a real dose of fear when I’m waiting for a chart position or to find out whether the radio’s going to play our record,” he said. “It’s like waiting for that envelope to drop through the door and see you’ve got a D in geography.”

The band’s next single, ‘Postcards From A Young Man’, is released on February 28, and is the title track of their 2010 album.

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Slash open to reuniting with Axl Rose and Guns N’ Roses

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Slash open to reuniting with Axl Rose and Guns N’ Roses
Slash has admitted he would consider reuniting with Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose - but only if the singer apologised to him. Speaking ahead of his forthcoming tour slot with Ozzy Osbourne, the guitarist said he would talk to Rose about playing together if a "sorry" was forthcoming, but he didn't...

Slash has admitted he would consider reuniting with Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose – but only if the singer apologised to him.

Speaking ahead of his forthcoming tour slot with Ozzy Osbourne, the guitarist said he would talk to Rose about playing together if a “sorry” was forthcoming, but he didn’t expect that to happen.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Daily, he responded to a question over whether what he’d do if Axl Rose called him, apologised and wanted a reunion.

“That would be a call I would be surprised to get,” he said. “If that really happened, I would have to clean out my junk drawer, too, but I don’t see it happening. But if it did happen, I would do whatever it takes to at least have a conversation about it.”

Slash left Guns N’ Roses in 1996 and is not thought to have talked to Rose since. He now plays in Velvet Revolver, as well as releasing solo material.

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Uncut have teamed up with Sonic Editions to curate a number of limited-edition framed iconic rock photographs, featuring the likes of Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan and The Clash. View the full collection here.

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