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STRUMMERVILLE

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STRUMMERVILLE

The afterlife of Joe Strummer is proving to be surprisingly rich. A blockbuster biography, a Julien Temple documentary, a string of tribute records, a limited-edition Strummer Telecaster and a Great Western loco bearing his name are all part of a wider sense that Strummer’s life and work remain an inspirational example. As Billy Bragg puts it here: “He’s not a legend but a legacy.” Strummerville, the charity set up by Joe’s family and friends, is at the centre of that legacy. As this documentary reveals, Strummerville has several strands to its work; first and foremost it funds young acts looking for rehearsal space, gigs, studio time and the like. Then there is the Strummer Campfire. In his so-called ‘Wilderness years’ following the implosion of The Clash, Joe turned his festival campfire into a word-of-mouth institution, a gathering point for simpático spirits, a tradition gleefully maintained by Strummerville at Glastonbury and elsewhere. Don Letts’ film supplies a snapshot portrait of Strummer’s life and times, including plenty of great home movie footage, and weaves this biographical material into Strummerville’s work. Several of the young acts that have been given a helping hand had only a vague (or no) notion of what Joe Strummer achieved, but all are quick to grasp that authenticity is at the centre of his output. “He was a man of the people,” says Alex Thomson of The Riff Raff, one of the hopefuls helped by Strummerville. “We’re trying to keep the fire burning.” So far names like Shooting Star Poets and Nimmo And The Gauntletts remain on the fringes, but one senses that Strummerville, as alt.Fame college, will help deliver a breakthrough soon enough. “It’s about making bands stand on their own feet,” says one of the Gauntletts. Among those long inspired by the Clash is Billy Bragg, who credits the group for introducing him to Rock Against Racism, “my first political act”. Bragg’s Jail Guitar Doors initiative, set up to provide prison inmates with instruments, works with Strummerville. Handing out acoustics with ‘This Machine Kills Time’ stencilled on them, Bragg reflects that what he’s doing is what The Clash taught him. “We’re not trying to be X Factor, we’re giving them the key to the door – self esteem,” he says. Damien Hirst, for whom Strummer was first a hero, and later a friend, is another involved; watching him create a logo for the charity with several gallons of house paint is a treat. Also involved is The Hours’ Antony Genn. “There was a homemade quality to what Strummer did, with his campfire and customised blaster,” says Genn. “It’s that same ‘analogue attitude’ that’s at work here.” EXTRAS: None. Neil Spencer

The afterlife of Joe Strummer is proving to be surprisingly rich. A blockbuster biography, a Julien Temple documentary, a string of tribute records, a limited-edition Strummer Telecaster and a Great Western loco bearing his name are all part of a wider sense that Strummer’s life and work remain an inspirational example. As Billy Bragg puts it here: “He’s not a legend but a legacy.”

Strummerville, the charity set up by Joe’s family and friends, is at the centre of that legacy. As this documentary reveals, Strummerville has several strands to its work; first and foremost it funds young acts looking for rehearsal space, gigs, studio time and the like. Then there is the Strummer Campfire. In his so-called ‘Wilderness years’ following the implosion of The Clash, Joe turned his festival campfire into a word-of-mouth institution, a gathering point for simpático spirits, a tradition gleefully maintained by Strummerville at Glastonbury and elsewhere.

Don Letts’ film supplies a snapshot portrait of Strummer’s life and times, including plenty of great home movie footage, and weaves this biographical material into Strummerville’s work. Several of the young acts that have been given a helping hand had only a vague (or no) notion of what Joe Strummer achieved, but all are quick to grasp that authenticity is at the centre of his output. “He was a man of the people,” says Alex Thomson of The Riff Raff, one of the hopefuls helped by Strummerville. “We’re trying to keep the fire burning.”

So far names like Shooting Star Poets and Nimmo And The Gauntletts remain on the fringes, but one senses that Strummerville, as alt.Fame college, will help deliver a breakthrough soon enough. “It’s about making bands stand on their own feet,” says one of the Gauntletts.

Among those long inspired by the Clash is Billy Bragg, who credits the group for introducing him to Rock Against Racism, “my first political act”. Bragg’s Jail Guitar Doors initiative, set up to provide prison inmates with instruments, works with Strummerville. Handing out acoustics with ‘This Machine Kills Time’ stencilled on them, Bragg reflects that what he’s doing is what The Clash taught him. “We’re not trying to be X Factor, we’re giving them the key to the door – self esteem,” he says.

Damien Hirst, for whom Strummer was first a hero, and later a friend, is another involved; watching him create a logo for the charity with several gallons of house paint is a treat. Also involved is The Hours’ Antony Genn. “There was a homemade quality to what Strummer did, with his campfire and customised blaster,” says Genn. “It’s that same ‘analogue attitude’ that’s at work here.”

EXTRAS: None.

Neil Spencer

ELVIS

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ELVIS

This ABC mini-series was first broadcast in February, 1979, 18 months after Elvis Presley had died. Albert Goldman’s misanthropic biography was still two years away, but some of the King’s less salubrious habits had been detailed in Elvis: What Happened, published by members of his entourage months before his demise. The image had cracked, but it hadn’t yet been obliterated. And nor had it turned into any of the other peculiar accompaniments of the posthumous Presley myth, where the brilliance of Elvis is hidden by commerce, mock-religion, or deliberate stupidity. Kurt Russell’s performance was rightly praised, earning him an Emmy nomination that set him up for future collaborations with John Carpenter (notably Escape From New York and The Thing). Russell’s ability to play Elvis as a real man shouldn’t be underestimated – after all, Presley spent much of his own movie career playing a cartoon of himself. (The casting of Kurt’s father, Bing, as Presley’s father, Vernon adds a further level of verisimilitude). Carpenter talks in the short promo film, Elvis: Bringing A Legend To Life, about how his film was a sincere attempt to tell the story of a man who became larger than life. He concedes that much of the material will be familiar to us, but suggests that some will not. I’d guess that the foregrounding of Elvis’ relationship with his mother, Gladys, was news in 1979, though it falls far short of later interpretations, which extended – implausibly – to incest. Carpenter’s Elvis is also in the habit of confiding with his dead twin, Jesse. He does this first as a child at his brother’s graveside. This sets up a key scene – a conversation with his shadow on the wall of the Hilton International hotel in Las Vegas. “I got it all, man,” Elvis says, as if addressing Jesse. “I oughta be the happiest person in the world, but I still feel there’s something missing.” He reaches out to touch his own silhouette. “Like somewhere deep inside, there’s an empty place. What’s it gonna take, man? What’s it gonna take to fill that up?” It’s not quite “Alas, poor Yorick,” but the sense of hurt is poignantly expressed. So, this is the Elvis who took up permanent residence on Lonely Street, confused and disabled by fame. There is no mention of drugs, apart from a couple of moments of irregular behaviour and odd lapses into paranoia. We see Elvis screening Rebel Without A Cause on the wall of his den, mouthing James Dean’s lines: “Boy, if I had one day, when I didn’t have to be all confused, if I felt that I belonged someplace…” And that, really, is the point. Elvis was an outsider. No-one had lived a life like his before, and the crude diagnosis is that he wasn’t able to cope with it. Happily, Carpenter omits the final chapter in Elvis’ life, stopping the action in 1969, with Presley’s triumphant return to the stage. Arguably, Russell played Fat Elvis in Tarantino’s Death Proof. Here, he delivers a version of Elvis from the time before the myth took on a life of its own. Trapped between a shy boy’s sneer and a showman’s smile, he strides into the Vegas lights, fearing, half hoping, his life will be ended by an assassin’s bullet. EXTRAS: Featurette, clips from American Bandstand, commentary by Ronnie McDowell and Presley’s cousin, Edie Hand, and gallery. Alastair McKay

This ABC mini-series was first broadcast in February, 1979, 18 months after Elvis Presley had died. Albert Goldman’s misanthropic biography was still two years away, but some of the King’s less salubrious habits had been detailed in Elvis: What Happened, published by members of his entourage months before his demise.

The image had cracked, but it hadn’t yet been obliterated. And nor had it turned into any of the other peculiar accompaniments of the posthumous Presley myth, where the brilliance of Elvis is hidden by commerce, mock-religion, or deliberate stupidity.

Kurt Russell’s performance was rightly praised, earning him an Emmy nomination that set him up for future collaborations with John Carpenter (notably Escape From New York and The Thing). Russell’s ability to play Elvis as a real man shouldn’t be underestimated – after all, Presley spent much of his own movie career playing a cartoon of himself. (The casting of Kurt’s father, Bing, as Presley’s father, Vernon adds a further level of verisimilitude).

Carpenter talks in the short promo film, Elvis: Bringing A Legend To Life, about how his film was a sincere attempt to tell the story of a man who became larger than life. He concedes that much of the material will be familiar to us, but suggests that some will not. I’d guess that the foregrounding of Elvis’ relationship with his mother, Gladys, was news in 1979, though it falls far short of later interpretations, which extended – implausibly – to incest.

Carpenter’s Elvis is also in the habit of confiding with his dead twin, Jesse. He does this first as a child at his brother’s graveside. This sets up a key scene – a conversation with his shadow on the wall of the Hilton International hotel in Las Vegas. “I got it all, man,” Elvis says, as if addressing Jesse. “I oughta be the happiest person in the world, but I still feel there’s something missing.” He reaches out to touch his own silhouette. “Like somewhere deep inside, there’s an empty place. What’s it gonna take, man? What’s it gonna take to fill that up?” It’s not quite “Alas, poor Yorick,” but the sense of hurt is poignantly expressed.

So, this is the Elvis who took up permanent residence on Lonely Street, confused and disabled by fame. There is no mention of drugs, apart from a couple of moments of irregular behaviour and odd lapses into paranoia. We see Elvis screening Rebel Without A Cause on the wall of his den, mouthing James Dean’s lines: “Boy, if I had one day, when I didn’t have to be all confused, if I felt that I belonged someplace…” And that, really, is the point. Elvis was an outsider. No-one had lived a life like his before, and the crude diagnosis is that he wasn’t able to cope with it. Happily, Carpenter omits the final chapter in Elvis’ life, stopping the action in 1969, with Presley’s triumphant return to the stage.

Arguably, Russell played Fat Elvis in Tarantino’s Death Proof. Here, he delivers a version of Elvis from the time before the myth took on a life of its own. Trapped between a shy boy’s sneer and a showman’s smile, he strides into the Vegas lights, fearing, half hoping, his life will be ended by an assassin’s bullet.

EXTRAS: Featurette, clips from American Bandstand, commentary by Ronnie McDowell and Presley’s cousin, Edie Hand, and gallery.

Alastair McKay

THE GROUNDHOGS – THANK CHRIST FOR THE GROUNDHOGS

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THE GROUNDHOGS – THANK CHRIST FOR THE GROUNDHOGS

It was customary for British bands in the late 1960s to have the blues – but it was only the Groundhogs who really battled them. Having started life in the early 1960s as a dues-paying, John Lee Hooker backing four, by the mid-1970s, they had become a trio who supported The Rolling Stones, had three Top 10 albums – only to develop a baroque quasi-funk, just in time for punk. Just as they finally won the battle, the war, so to speak, moved elsewhere. Thank Christ For The Groundhogs is a three-CD set that recounts the highpoints of their campaign. Since the demise of the definitive power trio – bass player Pete Cruikshank, drummer Ken Pustelnik, and guitarist Tony McPhee – in the mid 1970s, the band has enjoyed a double life. Their terrestrial selves play on the pub circuit. Their records, however, enjoy a glowing reputation among the likes of Julian Cope, Comets On Fire, Steve Malkmus, and Mark E Smith – inspired, one would think, by the band’s schizophrenia, their unspooling riffs, and laconic reportage. Essentially, the Groundhogs made music for generations of freaks, without being particularly freaky themselves. Based around the blues-derived playing of Tony McPhee, (never a drug-taker; his hobbies included mending electronic equipment), theirs was music that, if anything made a virtue out of this British reserve. Not just great musicians, the Groundhogs were also acute songwriters: and having sketched images of war, class obedience, suburban life, the band’s torrential playing was ripe to break free from them. Still, listening to the band’s first two albums, the Mike Batt-produced Scratching The Surface (recorded in a single afternoon in 1968) and the fractionally more deranged Blues Obituary (1969), only a staunch believer would have predicted the stylistic leap that the band were shortly going to make. An outfit from the same blues scene that gave rise to Clapton and the Yardbirds, they were undoubtedly authentic, but sound, retrospectively hugely constrained. Maybe they had the blues. But at this point, it sounded more like the blues had them. For Thank Christ For The Bomb (1970) and Split (1971), however, something great happened, and it becomes helpful to think of the Groundhogs as a hybrid of The Kinks and The Rolling Stones. Like the latter, they were fans of American R’n’B, who had moved on, lessons learned. Like the former, they had made their escape by mining their own cultural identity. Thank Christ…is in part a British Tommy’s psych album, part a tour of English “types”. Half of Split, another concept, is an account of a psychedelic experience during an Indian meal. It’s what the band make of McPhee’s songs, (like “Strange Town”, later covered by The Fall or the inspirational “Split Part 2”) that show what the Groundhogs were all about. To hear them in such moments is to hear musicians in full exploratory flight, McPhee’s guitar playing and Pustelnik’s free-roaming drumming setting them on the same paths as Cream, and The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Having scaled such heights, it’s perhaps no wonder that the band’s next album Who Will Save The World – The Mighty Groundhogs, should see them assuming mythical powers. Certainly, inside, they attempt the impossible: from Mellotron Skiffle (“Earth Is Not Room Enough”) to Cartesian Indie (“Body In Mind”), and mostly pull them off. The album was another Top 10 success, but was the last to feature the original lineup. It’s a shame that the Groundhogs don’t enjoy a more revered position. Instead, they join noble company: underdogs, perhaps, but still capable of truly magnificent days. John Robinson Q+A Tony McPhee Your sound changed a lot, didn’t it? Scratching The Surface was nearly all derived blues, changed a bit. For Blues Obituary… the blues had its second popular time, and we realised it was going out again. I wanted the songs to be listenable later on… The original trio was very powerful… We definitely loved improvising. Whoever was having a good night we’d call on them, “Right, it’s your turn…” But what used to happen was I would go off at a tangent, and wouldn’t be able to find my way back. Ken [Pustelnik] would do this weird drumming, which is what he does, and Pete was playing harmonic basslines. I got rid of Ken initially, because he annoyed me intensely. We tried in 2004, to get back together, but he pissed me off again. I said to Pete, ‘I can’t do this any more.’ I left him a message and went down the pub. You’ve got some interesting fans… I didn’t realise that a lot of punks were well into The Groundhogs. Captain Sensible is one of our staunchest fans, and Mark E Smith is a big fan too. It’s very weird. INTERVIEW: JOHN ROBINSON

It was customary for British bands in the late 1960s to have the blues – but it was only the Groundhogs who really battled them. Having started life in the early 1960s as a dues-paying, John Lee Hooker backing four, by the mid-1970s, they had become a trio who supported The Rolling Stones, had three Top 10 albums – only to develop a baroque quasi-funk, just in time for punk. Just as they finally won the battle, the war, so to speak, moved elsewhere.

Thank Christ For The Groundhogs is a three-CD set that recounts the highpoints of their campaign. Since the demise of the definitive power trio – bass player Pete Cruikshank, drummer Ken Pustelnik, and guitarist Tony McPhee – in the mid 1970s, the band has enjoyed a double life. Their terrestrial selves play on the pub circuit. Their records, however, enjoy a glowing reputation among the likes of Julian Cope, Comets On Fire, Steve Malkmus, and Mark E Smith – inspired, one would think, by the band’s schizophrenia, their unspooling riffs, and laconic reportage.

Essentially, the Groundhogs made music for generations of freaks, without being particularly freaky themselves. Based around the blues-derived playing of Tony McPhee, (never a drug-taker; his hobbies included mending electronic equipment), theirs was music that, if anything made a virtue out of this British reserve. Not just great musicians, the Groundhogs were also acute songwriters: and having sketched images of war, class obedience, suburban life, the band’s torrential playing was ripe to break free from them.

Still, listening to the band’s first two albums, the Mike Batt-produced Scratching The Surface (recorded in a single afternoon in 1968) and the fractionally more deranged Blues Obituary (1969), only a staunch believer would have predicted the stylistic leap that the band were shortly going to make. An outfit from the same blues scene that gave rise to Clapton and the Yardbirds, they were undoubtedly authentic, but sound, retrospectively hugely constrained. Maybe they had the blues. But at this point, it sounded more like the blues had them.

For Thank Christ For The Bomb (1970) and Split (1971), however, something great happened, and it becomes helpful to think of the Groundhogs as a hybrid of The Kinks and The Rolling Stones. Like the latter, they were fans of American R’n’B, who had moved on, lessons learned. Like the former, they had made their escape by mining their own cultural identity. Thank Christ…is in part a British Tommy’s psych album, part a tour of English “types”. Half of Split, another concept, is an account of a psychedelic experience during an Indian meal.

It’s what the band make of McPhee’s songs, (like “Strange Town”, later covered by The Fall or the inspirational “Split Part 2”) that show what the Groundhogs were all about. To hear them in such moments is to hear musicians in full exploratory flight, McPhee’s guitar playing and Pustelnik’s free-roaming drumming setting them on the same paths as Cream, and The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Having scaled such heights, it’s perhaps no wonder that the band’s next album Who Will Save The World – The Mighty Groundhogs, should see them assuming mythical powers. Certainly, inside, they attempt the impossible: from Mellotron Skiffle (“Earth Is Not Room Enough”) to Cartesian Indie (“Body In Mind”), and mostly pull them off. The album was another Top 10 success, but was the last to feature the original lineup.

It’s a shame that the Groundhogs don’t enjoy a more revered position. Instead, they join noble company: underdogs, perhaps, but still capable of truly magnificent days.

John Robinson

Q+A

Tony McPhee

Your sound changed a lot, didn’t it?

Scratching The Surface was nearly all derived blues, changed a bit. For Blues Obituary… the blues had its second popular time, and we realised it was going out again. I wanted the songs to be listenable later on…

The original trio was very powerful…

We definitely loved improvising. Whoever was having a good night we’d call on them, “Right, it’s your turn…” But what used to happen was I would go off at a tangent, and wouldn’t be able to find my way back. Ken [Pustelnik] would do this weird drumming, which is what he does, and Pete was playing harmonic basslines. I got rid of Ken initially, because he annoyed me intensely. We tried in 2004, to get back together, but he pissed me off again. I said to Pete, ‘I can’t do this any more.’ I left him a message and went down the pub.

You’ve got some interesting fans…

I didn’t realise that a lot of punks were well into The Groundhogs. Captain Sensible is one of our staunchest fans, and Mark E Smith is a big fan too. It’s very weird.

INTERVIEW: JOHN ROBINSON

ARCADE FIRE – THE SUBURBS

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ARCADE FIRE – THE SUBURBS

Odd to think that Arcade Fire’s Funeral is now six years old. Musically, it still sounds mysterious and fresh, urgent, and slightly impenetrable. Odd, too, to recognise in retrospect how the nightmarish follow-up, Neon Bible, was lacking in those same fine qualities. It was dense where it might have been vital, and brash where it could have been bold. And it had gaudy synthesisers; not what was really required from a band who made their name by sounding like a Québécois skiffle band reinterpreting the Pixies’ hits. Of course, Arcade Fire couldn’t have kept burning at the intensity they displayed on their debut LP, but the gothic bluntness of Neon Bible – a black mirror in which the reflected image of Ian McCulloch of Echo And The Bunnymen was clearly visible – did lead to a nagging suspicion that Funeral might have been a fluke. Well, on the evidence of The Suburbs, it was and it wasn’t. Yes, Funeral was an accident of artistic chemistry, emotions, time and place. It was also a work of stubborn creativity. So, in recognising that its frenetic energy couldn’t be repeated, Arcade Fire have reinvented themselves. The neuralgia of Neon Bible is dissolved, and the group have returned to the melodic simplicity of their debut EP. The Suburbs is a surprising record, swapping the spit and fire of Funeral for a sense of mature playfulness. If Funeral was organic, and Neon Bible was force-fed, The Suburbs makes do with being merely delicious. (And a little wistful, wounded, and wise.) The spark for the album was an email frontman Win Butler received from an old friend, in the year off after touring Neon Bible. The message had an attachment, a photograph showing the friend with his young daughter, standing in the mall around the corner from Butler’s former home in the far suburbs of Houston, Texas. The picture caused Butler to reflect on his childhood, and to try to retrace his steps. These efforts were replicated by other members of the band, who used their post-tour furlough to explore their beginnings in various Canadian suburbs – only to find that the locations of their infant memories had changed, or disappeared. To call The Suburbs a concept album may be stretching the fabric of the idea, but it does feel like a series of postcards from the foothills of early middle age. Yes, Butler is only 30, but in a song such as “Suburban War”, looking back on the days when musical tastes and hair-length seemed like matters of vital principle, the sense of distance from his teenage self is canyon-wide. It’s like Wilco’s “Heavy Metal Drummer”, with a sense of loss in the spaces where Jeff Tweedy put the jokes. “You grew your hair, so I grew mine,” Butler sings, as if fingering the yellow-blue rim of an emotional bruise. “Now the cities we live in could be distant stars/And I search for you in every passing car.” “Sprawl I (Flatland)” inhabits the same terrain with delicacy, and just a hint of Radiohead’s prog-fuzz. Of course, Butler is too poetic to deal in unvarnished autobiography. The suburbs he describes are not just the malls and sprawl of The Woodlands, Texas, or the concrete oases that punctuate the Canadian prairies; they are the architecture of alienation. Butler’s travels are psychogeographical – trips to the bland landscapes which symbolise everything that is missing from contemporary life. The action isn’t just in the rear-view mirror. Butler is also commuting to the near-future, the place JG Ballard saw as “a vast, conforming suburb of the soul” where everything interesting had already happened. If that sounds like tough meat for a rock’n’roll record, it is. But Arcade Fire have learned from the undiluted angst of Neon Bible, and the music here is simpler, and sweeter. The title track is a good-time tune with a sense of emotional uncertainty buried under a falsetto chorus. “Modern Man” chugs like something by The Cars, though the understated anxiety of the vocal is closer to David Byrne. At the start of the song, Butler is singing “I wait in line, I’m a modern man”. By the end, he is smashing the mirror of the titular hero. Whether this adds up to anything more than a sense of faint anxiety is arguable, but there remains something oddly nostalgic about such an optimistic notion of modernity. And here’s another strange thing. There’s something of The Killers about The Suburbs, though it’s hard to pinpoint where the similarity lies. Putting aside the possibility that the worldviews of Win Butler and Brandon Flowers are infected by Mormonism (and this has some appeal), both bands channel old-style new-wave melodies. Previously, Arcade Fire were brittle, where Killers favoured gloss, but now that distinction seems less profound. It’s not that Arcade Fire sound like Vegas pop. Well, not entirely. “We Used To Wait” has a worrying hint of Supertramp. “Half-Light II” is disco-Springsteen, with a thumping pulsebeat, and a lyric about “heading back East” to find a town to live in. In another jarring collage, “Ready To Start” hooks a murky tune to a Martha Reeves rhythm, yet it’s far from festive. “Businessmen drink my blood,” Butler sings, “like the kids at art school said they would”. But this is no sell-out. Much subtlety remains. “Half-Light I” has the dream-drift of Eno, circa Another Green World, with a lovely vocal from Régine Chassagne capturing the uncertainty and promise of dusk, or dawn. “Strange, how half-light can make a place new,” she sings, reflecting on the boarded-up façades of childhood places. “The Month of May” is like Wire, circa “1-2-X-U”, though its emetic energy is not reflected in the words. (“Some things are pure/Some things are right/The kids are still standing with their arms folded tight.”) Where does this leave us? Well, Butler is happy to drive into the sprawl, but he’s too fond of ambiguity to serve up an anthem for doomed youth. The Suburbs explores the badlands between safety and boredom. It’s nostalgic, with a sense of future dread. There is pain and pleasure, loss and hope. It feels like the anaesthetic is wearing off. Alastair McKay

Odd to think that Arcade Fire’s Funeral is now six years old. Musically, it still sounds mysterious and fresh, urgent, and slightly impenetrable. Odd, too, to recognise in retrospect how the nightmarish follow-up, Neon Bible, was lacking in those same fine qualities. It was dense where it might have been vital, and brash where it could have been bold. And it had gaudy synthesisers; not what was really required from a band who made their name by sounding like a Québécois skiffle band reinterpreting the Pixies’ hits.

Of course, Arcade Fire couldn’t have kept burning at the intensity they displayed on their debut LP, but the gothic bluntness of Neon Bible – a black mirror in which the reflected image of Ian McCulloch of Echo And The Bunnymen was clearly visible – did lead to a nagging suspicion that Funeral might have been a fluke.

Well, on the evidence of The Suburbs, it was and it wasn’t. Yes, Funeral was an accident of artistic chemistry, emotions, time and place. It was also a work of stubborn creativity. So, in recognising that its frenetic energy couldn’t be repeated, Arcade Fire have reinvented themselves. The neuralgia of Neon Bible is dissolved, and the group have returned to the melodic simplicity of their debut EP. The Suburbs is a surprising record, swapping the spit and fire of Funeral for a sense of mature playfulness. If Funeral was organic, and Neon Bible was force-fed, The Suburbs makes do with being merely delicious. (And a little wistful, wounded, and wise.)

The spark for the album was an email frontman Win Butler received from an old friend, in the year off after touring Neon Bible. The message had an attachment, a photograph showing the friend with his young daughter, standing in the mall around the corner from Butler’s former home in the far suburbs of Houston, Texas. The picture caused Butler to reflect on his childhood, and to try to retrace his steps. These efforts were replicated by other members of the band, who used their post-tour furlough to explore their beginnings in various Canadian suburbs – only to find that the locations of their infant memories had changed, or disappeared.

To call The Suburbs a concept album may be stretching the fabric of the idea, but it does feel like a series of postcards from the foothills of early middle age. Yes, Butler is only 30, but in a song such as “Suburban War”, looking back on the days when musical tastes and hair-length seemed like matters of vital principle, the sense of distance from his teenage self is canyon-wide. It’s like Wilco’s “Heavy Metal Drummer”, with a sense of loss in the spaces where Jeff Tweedy put the jokes. “You grew your hair, so I grew mine,” Butler sings, as if fingering the yellow-blue rim of an emotional bruise. “Now the cities we live in could be distant stars/And I search for you in every passing car.” “Sprawl I (Flatland)” inhabits the same terrain with delicacy, and just a hint of Radiohead’s prog-fuzz.

Of course, Butler is too poetic to deal in unvarnished autobiography. The suburbs he describes are not just the malls and sprawl of The Woodlands, Texas, or the concrete oases that punctuate the Canadian prairies; they are the architecture of alienation. Butler’s travels are psychogeographical – trips to the bland landscapes which symbolise everything that is missing from contemporary life. The action isn’t just in the rear-view mirror. Butler is also commuting to the near-future, the place JG Ballard saw as “a vast, conforming suburb of the soul” where everything interesting had already happened.

If that sounds like tough meat for a rock’n’roll record, it is. But Arcade Fire have learned from the undiluted angst of Neon Bible, and the music here is simpler, and sweeter. The title track is a good-time tune with a sense of emotional uncertainty buried under a falsetto chorus. “Modern Man” chugs like something by The Cars, though the understated anxiety of the vocal is closer to David Byrne. At the start of the song, Butler is singing “I wait in line, I’m a modern man”. By the end, he is smashing the mirror of the titular hero. Whether this adds up to anything more than a sense of faint anxiety is arguable, but there remains something oddly nostalgic about such an optimistic notion of modernity.

And here’s another strange thing. There’s something of The Killers about The Suburbs, though it’s hard to pinpoint where the similarity lies. Putting aside the possibility that the worldviews of Win Butler and Brandon Flowers are infected by Mormonism (and this has some appeal), both bands channel old-style new-wave melodies. Previously, Arcade Fire were brittle, where Killers favoured gloss, but now that distinction seems less profound.

It’s not that Arcade Fire sound like Vegas pop. Well, not entirely. “We Used To Wait” has a worrying hint of Supertramp. “Half-Light II” is disco-Springsteen, with a thumping pulsebeat, and a lyric about “heading back East” to find a town to live in. In another jarring collage, “Ready To Start” hooks a murky tune to a Martha Reeves rhythm, yet it’s far from festive. “Businessmen drink my blood,” Butler sings, “like the kids at art school said they would”.

But this is no sell-out. Much subtlety remains. “Half-Light I” has the dream-drift of Eno, circa Another Green World, with a lovely vocal from Régine Chassagne capturing the uncertainty and promise of dusk, or dawn. “Strange, how half-light can make a place new,” she sings, reflecting on the boarded-up façades of childhood places. “The Month of May” is like Wire, circa “1-2-X-U”, though its emetic energy is not reflected in the words. (“Some things are pure/Some things are right/The kids are still standing with their arms folded tight.”)

Where does this leave us? Well, Butler is happy to drive into the sprawl, but he’s too fond of ambiguity to serve up an anthem for doomed youth. The Suburbs explores the badlands between safety and boredom. It’s nostalgic, with a sense of future dread. There is pain and pleasure, loss and hope. It feels like the anaesthetic is wearing off.

Alastair McKay

Ask Wilko!

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Ask Wilko!
Wilko Johnson, the guitarist with trailblazing pub rockers Dr Feelgood, is soon visiting the Uncut hotseat to answer your questions in our An Audience With... feature. So, what would you like to ask him? ** How does it feel to be a movie star, thanks to the brilliant Oil City Confidential document...

Wilko Johnson, the guitarist with trailblazing pub rockers Dr Feelgood, is soon visiting the Uncut hotseat to answer your questions in our An Audience With… feature.

So, what would you like to ask him?

** How does it feel to be a movie star, thanks to the brilliant Oil City Confidential documentary?

** As a guitarist and keen astronomer, who does he think is better suited to take over from Patrick Moore, should he ever retire from The Sky At Night? Himself, or Queen’s Brian May?

** Would he ever leave his precious Canvey Island..?

Send your questions by Tuesday August 3, to uncutaudiencewith@ipcmedia.com

Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson says gig tickets cost too much

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Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson says gig tickets cost too much

Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has attacked the price of gig ticket, suggesting fans are paying too much. The singer criticised bands who charge extortionate prices for gig tickets, insisting they only have themselves to blame for half-empty arenas. "It's a massive commitment to come and see a band," he told Sky News. "They deserve not just a great show, but reasonable ticket prices. It's just not right, you know - it's a rock 'n' roll show, it's not a cash cow." Iron Maiden are set to headline the closing night at this year's Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth on Sunday (August 1). [url=http://www.nme.com/news/iron-maiden/48812] Alice Cooper, Mötley Crüe, Iggy & The Stooges, Anthrax, The Cult and Slayer[/url] are among the acts set to play the event. See Uk.sonispherefestivals.com for more information. 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.

Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has attacked the price of gig ticket, suggesting fans are paying too much.

The singer criticised bands who charge extortionate prices for gig tickets, insisting they only have themselves to blame for half-empty arenas.

“It’s a massive commitment to come and see a band,” he told Sky News. “They deserve not just a great show, but reasonable ticket prices. It’s just not right, you know – it’s a rock ‘n’ roll show, it’s not a cash cow.”

Iron Maiden are set to headline the closing night at this year’s Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth on Sunday (August 1).

[url=http://www.nme.com/news/iron-maiden/48812] Alice Cooper, Mötley Crüe, Iggy & The Stooges, Anthrax, The Cult and Slayer[/url] are among the acts set to play the event. See Uk.sonispherefestivals.com for more information.

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.

Gorillaz stream one-off show in Damascus online

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Gorillaz stream one-off show in Damascus online

Gorillaz are streaming the audio from their one-off gig in Syria online. The group played the Citadel in Damascus last Sunday (July 25) - [url=http://nme.com/news/gorillaz/52219]making Damon Albarn's outfit the first British band to play in the capital[/url]. Usual band members and ex-Clash pair Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, plus De La Soul, Kano, Bashy, the National Orchestra For Arabic Music, Bootie Brown and Bobby Womack performed during the show. All of them feature on the band's current album 'Plastic Beach'. The collective performed a set that included the singles 'Stylo', 'On Melancholy Hill', 'Dare' and 'Feel Good Inc', and you can listen to the entire show at NPR.org. "I just want to explain really briefly why we're here having this fantastic experience," Albarn said after they played 2005 single 'Dirty Harry'. "I came [here] 15 months ago and met a beautiful guy Issam [Rafea] who works with the Syrian National Orchestra For Arabic Music, we made a lot of music together and it was a real turning point, and spending time here in Syria really opened my mind." Syria is one of Israel's strongest opponents, and supports a number of armed groups that carry out attacks against the state. [url=http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/52249]Gorillaz are set for a 19-date North American tour later this year[/url], and will head out on a [url=http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/52181]rescheduled jaunt round the the UK and Ireland in November[/url]. 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.

Gorillaz are streaming the audio from their one-off gig in Syria online.

The group played the Citadel in Damascus last Sunday (July 25) – [url=http://nme.com/news/gorillaz/52219]making Damon Albarn’s outfit the first British band to play in the capital[/url].

Usual band members and ex-Clash pair Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, plus De La Soul, Kano, Bashy, the National Orchestra For Arabic Music, Bootie Brown and Bobby Womack performed during the show. All of them feature on the band’s current album ‘Plastic Beach’.

The collective performed a set that included the singles ‘Stylo’, ‘On Melancholy Hill’, ‘Dare’ and ‘Feel Good Inc’, and you can listen to the entire show at NPR.org.

“I just want to explain really briefly why we’re here having this fantastic experience,” Albarn said after they played 2005 single ‘Dirty Harry’. “I came [here] 15 months ago and met a beautiful guy Issam [Rafea] who works with the Syrian National Orchestra For Arabic Music, we made a lot of music together and it was a real turning point, and spending time here in Syria really opened my mind.”

Syria is one of Israel’s strongest opponents, and supports a number of armed groups that carry out attacks against the state.

[url=http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/52249]Gorillaz are set for a 19-date North American tour later this year[/url], and will head out on a [url=http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/52181]rescheduled jaunt round the the UK and Ireland in November[/url].

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.

Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder pens song for new film

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Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder pens song for new film

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has penned a song for Julia Roberts' new film Eat Pray Love. The track, 'Better Days', is the first single from the movie soundtrack, both due for release in the UK on September 20. 'The Long Road', a song originally featured on the 1996 Sean Penn flick Dead Man Walking score for which Vedder collaborated with the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, also features on the album. Music by Marvin Gaye, Neil Young, Bebél Gilberto, João Gilberto, Josh Rouse and Dario Marianelli is also featured on the Eat Pray Love soundtrack. The tracklisting is as follows: 'Flight Attendant' - Josh Rouse 'Last Tango In Paris (Suite Pt. 2)' - Gato Barbieri 'Thank You (Fallettin Me Be Mice Elf Agin)' - Sly & The Family Stone 'Der Hölle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen' from Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) - Wiener Philharmoniker, George Solti Conductor 'Heart Of Gold' - Neil Young 'Kaliyugavaradana' - U. Srinivas 'The Long Road' - Eddie Vedder (feat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) 'Harvest Moon' - Neil Young 'Samba Da Bençáo' - Bebél Gilberto 'Wave' - João Gilberto 'Got To Give It Up (Part 1)' - Marvin Gaye '’S Wonderful' - João Gilberto 'Better Days' - Eddie Vedder 'Attraversiamo' - Dario Marianelli 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.

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has penned a song for Julia Roberts‘ new film Eat Pray Love.

The track, ‘Better Days’, is the first single from the movie soundtrack, both due for release in the UK on September 20.

‘The Long Road’, a song originally featured on the 1996 Sean Penn flick Dead Man Walking score for which Vedder collaborated with the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, also features on the album.

Music by Marvin Gaye, Neil Young, Bebél Gilberto, João Gilberto, Josh Rouse and Dario Marianelli is also featured on the Eat Pray Love soundtrack.

The tracklisting is as follows:

‘Flight Attendant’ – Josh Rouse

‘Last Tango In Paris (Suite Pt. 2)’ – Gato Barbieri

‘Thank You (Fallettin Me Be Mice Elf Agin)’ – Sly & The Family Stone

‘Der Hölle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen’ from Die Zauberflöte (The Magic

Flute) – Wiener Philharmoniker, George Solti Conductor

‘Heart Of Gold’ – Neil Young

‘Kaliyugavaradana’ – U. Srinivas

‘The Long Road’ – Eddie Vedder (feat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan)

‘Harvest Moon’ – Neil Young

‘Samba Da Bençáo’ – Bebél Gilberto

‘Wave’ – João Gilberto

‘Got To Give It Up (Part 1)’ – Marvin Gaye

‘’S Wonderful’ – João Gilberto

‘Better Days’ – Eddie Vedder

‘Attraversiamo’ – Dario Marianelli

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.

Tom Jones set to beat Eminem in album chart?

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Tom Jones set to beat Eminem in album chart?

Tom Jones is continuing to outsell Eminem this week, according to Wednesday's (July 28) official midweek chart update. The rapper's latest album 'Recovery' is currently 500 sales behind the 70-year-old's new LP 'Praise & Blame'. If Jones' release continues to outsell Eminem he will, at 70, [url=http://www.nme.com/news/tom-jones/52243]become the oldest male musician to have a UK Number One album[/url]. The current holder is Bob Dylan, who hit the top spot last year aged 67 with 'Together Through Life'. [url=http://www.nme.com/news/tom-jones/52243]Tom Jones said on Tuesday (July 27) that he would like to collaborate with Eminem[/url] at some point in the future. Elsewhere in the countdown, Avenged Sevenfold are on course to enter the Top Five with their new LP, while Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP's 'We No Speak Americano' looks set to be toppled by new boy band Wanted's single 'All Time Low' in the UK singles chart. 'Billionaire' by Travis McCoy Ft Bruno Mars is currently lying in second place. 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.

Tom Jones is continuing to outsell Eminem this week, according to Wednesday’s (July 28) official midweek chart update.

The rapper’s latest album ‘Recovery’ is currently 500 sales behind the 70-year-old’s new LP ‘Praise & Blame’.

If Jones‘ release continues to outsell Eminem he will, at 70, [url=http://www.nme.com/news/tom-jones/52243]become the oldest male musician to have a UK Number One album[/url]. The current holder is Bob Dylan, who hit the top spot last year aged 67 with ‘Together Through Life’.

[url=http://www.nme.com/news/tom-jones/52243]Tom Jones said on Tuesday (July 27) that he would like to collaborate with Eminem[/url] at some point in the future.

Elsewhere in the countdown, Avenged Sevenfold are on course to enter the Top Five with their new LP, while Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP‘s ‘We No Speak Americano’ looks set to be toppled by new boy band Wanted‘s single ‘All Time Low’ in the UK singles chart. ‘Billionaire’ by Travis McCoy Ft Bruno Mars is currently lying in second place.

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.

U2 producer Daniel Lanois: ‘I’m lucky to be alive after bike crash’

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U2 producer Daniel Lanois: ‘I’m lucky to be alive after bike crash’

U2 and Bob Dylan producer Daniel Lanois has admitted he is lucky to be alive after he was involved in a motorcycle accident last month. The Quebec-born musician and producer broke six bones, cracked his pelvis and suffered internal bleeding in his right lung [url=http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/51414]following the crash in Los Angeles[/url]. "I was on my bike with a friend of mine on the back and a guy coming the other way decided to turn in front of me into a variety store," he told Rolling Stone. "I veered to miss him, but I hit an industrial box on the sidewalk going 35 miles per hour. I blacked out and when I came to I was laying on my back in the parking lot and people were telling me, 'Don't move.' Then they hauled me away to a hospital and I had to lay there like a vegetable for three weeks." The producer has been in a wheelchair ever since he was involved in the crash at the beginning of June. The accident also forced the postponement of a series of tour dates with his new group Black Dub, who were due to play the Jazz Café in London yesterday (July 27). 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.

U2 and Bob Dylan producer Daniel Lanois has admitted he is lucky to be alive after he was involved in a motorcycle accident last month.

The Quebec-born musician and producer broke six bones, cracked his pelvis and suffered internal bleeding in his right lung [url=http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/51414]following the crash in Los Angeles[/url].

“I was on my bike with a friend of mine on the back and a guy coming the other way decided to turn in front of me into a variety store,” he told Rolling Stone.

“I veered to miss him, but I hit an industrial box on the sidewalk going 35 miles per hour. I blacked out and when I came to I was laying on my back in the parking lot and people were telling me, ‘Don’t move.’ Then they hauled me away to a hospital and I had to lay there like a vegetable for three weeks.”

The producer has been in a wheelchair ever since he was involved in the crash at the beginning of June.

The accident also forced the postponement of a series of tour dates with his new group Black Dub, who were due to play the Jazz Café in London yesterday (July 27).

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.

Snow Patrol and REM supergroup ‘is a dark tale of bad deeds’

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Snow Patrol and REM supergroup ‘is a dark tale of bad deeds’

Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody has described his debut album with supergroup Tired Pony, which includes REM's Peter Buck, as a "dark tale of bad deeds". 'The Place We Ran From' was recorded in one week with Bloc Party producer Garret 'Jacknife' Lee, and all the songs were laid down in first or second takes. "There's quite a lot of blood dripping from this record," Lightbody told Uncut's sister publication NME. "You have to go really deep into the record before you find it, but it's there. There's quite a lot of dark tales of bad deeds." Lightbody recruited a host of guest stars to feature on the album, including Buck, Editors frontman Tom Smith, Snow Patrol touring member Troy Stewart, Snow Patrol collaborator Iain Archer and Belle & Sebastian drummer Richard Colburn. "I had no idea if the music was going to be country, folk, blues or whatever," explained Buck, after signing on for the project. "I was prepared for a punk record, I brought my mandolin. As long as it was spontaneous and improvised, it sounded like a very exciting thing to do." "It was a loose-limbed idea of mine to get people together to record a bunch of songs I'd been writing," added Lightbody. "But when I got in the studio I realised the songs we were writing there were better than the ones I'd already written." 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.

Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody has described his debut album with supergroup Tired Pony, which includes REM‘s Peter Buck, as a “dark tale of bad deeds”.

‘The Place We Ran From’ was recorded in one week with Bloc Party producer Garret ‘Jacknife’ Lee, and all the songs were laid down in first or second takes.

“There’s quite a lot of blood dripping from this record,” Lightbody told Uncut’s sister publication NME. “You have to go really deep into the record before you find it, but it’s there. There’s quite a lot of dark tales of bad deeds.”

Lightbody recruited a host of guest stars to feature on the album, including Buck, Editors frontman Tom Smith, Snow Patrol touring member Troy Stewart, Snow Patrol collaborator Iain Archer and Belle & Sebastian drummer Richard Colburn.

“I had no idea if the music was going to be country, folk, blues or whatever,” explained Buck, after signing on for the project. “I was prepared for a punk record, I brought my mandolin. As long as it was spontaneous and improvised, it sounded like a very exciting thing to do.”

“It was a loose-limbed idea of mine to get people together to record a bunch of songs I’d been writing,” added Lightbody. “But when I got in the studio I realised the songs we were writing there were better than the ones I’d already written.”

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.

Gorillaz announce North American tour details

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Gorillaz announce North American tour details

Gorillaz have announced details of a 19-date tour of North America. Kicking off on October 3 in Montreal, Quebec, the 'Escape To Plastic Beach' dates will conclude in Vancouver, British Columbia on November 3. Following the jaunt, [url=http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/52181]Damon Albarn and co will head out on a rescheduled tour of the UK and Ireland, beginning in Dublin on November 11[/url]. Meanwhile, [url=http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/52240]Albarn has revealed that he thought the group's set at Glastonbury lacked "human interaction"[/url]. Gorillaz will play: Montreal, QC Bell Centre (October 3) Wallingford, CT Oakdale Theatre (5) Boston, MA Agganis Arena (6) New York, NY Madison Square Garden (8) Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center (10) Washington, DC Patriot Center (11) Detroit, MI Fox Theatre (13) Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre (14) Chicago, IL UIC Pavilion (16) Minneapolis, MN Target Center (17) Houston, TX Toyota Center (19) Dallas, TX Verizon Theatre (20) Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center (22) Denver, CO Wells Fargo Theatre (24) Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre (26) Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amphitheatre (27) Oakland, CA Oracle Arena (30) Seattle, WA Key Arena (November 2) Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena (3) 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.

Gorillaz have announced details of a 19-date tour of North America.

Kicking off on October 3 in Montreal, Quebec, the ‘Escape To Plastic Beach’ dates will conclude in Vancouver, British Columbia on November 3.

Following the jaunt, [url=http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/52181]Damon Albarn and co will head out on a rescheduled tour of the UK and Ireland, beginning in Dublin on November 11[/url].

Meanwhile, [url=http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/52240]Albarn has revealed that he thought the group’s set at Glastonbury lacked “human interaction”[/url].

Gorillaz will play:

Montreal, QC Bell Centre (October 3)

Wallingford, CT Oakdale Theatre (5)

Boston, MA Agganis Arena (6)

New York, NY Madison Square Garden (8)

Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center (10)

Washington, DC Patriot Center (11)

Detroit, MI Fox Theatre (13)

Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre (14)

Chicago, IL UIC Pavilion (16)

Minneapolis, MN Target Center (17)

Houston, TX Toyota Center (19)

Dallas, TX Verizon Theatre (20)

Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center (22)

Denver, CO Wells Fargo Theatre (24)

Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre (26)

Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amphitheatre (27)

Oakland, CA Oracle Arena (30)

Seattle, WA Key Arena (November 2)

Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena (3)

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.

Arcade Fire’s Win Butler praises Bono for ‘engaging’ with George W Bush

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Arcade Fire’s Win Butler praises Bono for ‘engaging’ with George W Bush

Arcade Fire's Win Butler has praised U2's Bono for "engaging" with George W Bush over Aids relief in Africa. Butler, [url=http://www.nme.com/news/arcade-fire/52024]whose band are appealing to fans to donate to the Haiti Kanpe charity[/url], said that although Bono often got stick from musicians and fans he believed he was having a positive effect. The Irish rocker described the then-US president as "bold" in 2003 for increasing the US' Emergency Plan for Aids Relief budget in Africa and the Caribbean. "As much as people slag Bono, I will forever give him credit for engaging with George W Bush when he was president," he said in this week's exclusive cover story interview with Uncut's sister publication NME. "Even though it was a deeply unpopular move, even in his own band. The HIV medications in Africa, every aspect of the US foreign policy – it was a hell of a lot more than any president before had done." He added: "Bono was engaged in the work even though the situation wasn't ideal. That's not my path, but I will never fault someone for trying to be engaged in the world." Get next week's issue of NME for more from Arcade Fire and their new album 'The Suburbs', on UK newsstands from Wednesday (July 28). 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.

Arcade Fire‘s Win Butler has praised U2‘s Bono for “engaging” with George W Bush over Aids relief in Africa.

Butler, [url=http://www.nme.com/news/arcade-fire/52024]whose band are appealing to fans to donate to the Haiti Kanpe charity[/url], said that although Bono often got stick from musicians and fans he believed he was having a positive effect.

The Irish rocker described the then-US president as “bold” in 2003 for increasing the US’ Emergency Plan for Aids Relief budget in Africa and the Caribbean.

“As much as people slag Bono, I will forever give him credit for engaging with George W Bush when he was president,” he said in this week’s exclusive cover story interview with Uncut’s sister publication NME. “Even though it was a deeply unpopular move, even in his own band. The HIV medications in Africa, every aspect of the US foreign policy – it was a hell of a lot more than any president before had done.”

He added: “Bono was engaged in the work even though the situation wasn’t ideal. That’s not my path, but I will never fault someone for trying to be engaged in the world.”

Get next week’s issue of NME for more from Arcade Fire and their new album ‘The Suburbs’, on UK newsstands from Wednesday (July 28).

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.

Neil Young Collaborator Dies

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Neil Young Collaborator Dies
Ben Keith – the veteran steel guitar played who worked with Neil Young for nearly 40 years – has died, reportedly from a heart attack. He was 73. Young himself appears to have broken the news onstage at a show in Winnipeg on Monday, July 26, dedicating “Old Man”, from the 1972 album Harvest...

Ben Keith – the veteran steel guitar played who worked with Neil Young for nearly 40 years – has died, reportedly from a heart attack. He was 73.

Young himself appears to have broken the news onstage at a show in Winnipeg on Monday, July 26, dedicating “Old Man”, from the 1972 album Harvest, to his long-standing collaborator: “This is for Ben Keith. His spirit will live on. The Earth has taken him.”

The filmmaker Jonathan Demme – who directed Young’s concert films Heart Of Gold (2006) and this year’s Neil Young Trunk Show – confirmed Keith’s death in the Los Angeles Times yesterday (July 27).

Demme called Keith “an elegant, beautiful dude, and obviously a genius. He could play every instrument. … Neil has all the confidence in the world, but with Ben on board, there were no limits. Neil has a fair measure of the greatness of his music, but he knew he was even better when Ben was there.”

Keith had already made a name for himself as a major session musician in Nashville, playing on a string of hits including Patsy Cline’s “I Fall To Pieces”, before hooking up with Young in February, 1971 for the Harvest sessions.

Speaking to UNCUT in March 2009, Keith remembered his first meeting with Young. “He wanted a steel guitar player and I lived a couple of blocks from the studio. He’d already started the sessions, and I slipped in as quiet as I could and started playing along, and we cut five songs before I really met him. I didn’t even know who he was. I’d heard of CSNY, but I didn’t know he was doing a solo LP. He seemed like a good guy, as he did music like I do it – spontaneously.”

Young appeared similarly impressed with Keith, as he recalled on an interview in The Tennessean in 2005: “Ben and I developed the style during those sessions. When we did ‘Old Man’ and talked about what he could play, I said, ‘Try to play those single notes and make it sound doubled. Just ride those babies all the way through there, that’s a great sound.”

Keith went on to play on over a dozen Young albums, including On The Beach, Tonight’s The Night, Comes A Time, Prairie Wind, Chrome Dreams II, and became a mainstay of Young’s touring bands, excluding Crazy Horse.

He also worked with Emmylou Harris, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Band, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr and Linda Ronstadt.

Keith’s passing is another recent loss for Young. In January, his friend, film producer Larry “L.A.” Johnson, also died from a heart attack.

Arcade Fire’s live webcast to be directed by Terry Gilliam

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Arcade Fire’s live webcast to be directed by Terry Gilliam

Arcade Fire have announced that the [url=http://www.nme.com/news/arcade-fire/52146]online stream of their show at New York's Madison Square Garden[/url] will be directed by Terry Gilliam. Former Monty Python member Gilliam has directed films including Brazil, 12 Monkeys and The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus. The gig will take place on August 5 at 10pm (EDT). Meanwhile, as well as being able to watch the Canadian group preview songs from [url=http://www.nme.com/news/arcade-fire/51573]their upcoming album 'The Suburbs'[/url], fans will be able to select multiple camera angles and even submit photos of their own "suburbs", which may be featured onstage during the band's performance, reports The Associated Press. For more information, visit YouTube.com. 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.

Arcade Fire have announced that the [url=http://www.nme.com/news/arcade-fire/52146]online stream of their show at New York’s Madison Square Garden[/url] will be directed by Terry Gilliam.

Former Monty Python member Gilliam has directed films including Brazil, 12 Monkeys and The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus.

The gig will take place on August 5 at 10pm (EDT).

Meanwhile, as well as being able to watch the Canadian group preview songs from [url=http://www.nme.com/news/arcade-fire/51573]their upcoming album ‘The Suburbs'[/url], fans will be able to select multiple camera angles and even submit photos of their own “suburbs”, which may be featured onstage during the band’s performance, reports The Associated Press.

For more information, visit YouTube.com.

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.

The Coral announce November UK tour and ticket details

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The Coral announce November UK tour and ticket details

The Coral have announced details of a five-date UK tour for November. The Wirral band, who recently released new album 'Butterfly House', will kick off the tour in Leeds on November 14. The shows include a date at London's prestigous Royal Albert Hall on November 15. The Coral will play: O2 Academy Leeds (November 14) London Royal Albert Hall (15) O2 Academy Oxford (17) O2 ABC Glasgow (19) Liverpool University (20) Tickets go on sale at 9:30am (BST) on Friday (July 30). 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.

The Coral have announced details of a five-date UK tour for November.

The Wirral band, who recently released new album ‘Butterfly House’, will kick off the tour in Leeds on November 14.

The shows include a date at London‘s prestigous Royal Albert Hall on November 15.

The Coral will play:

O2 Academy Leeds (November 14)

London Royal Albert Hall (15)

O2 Academy Oxford (17)

O2 ABC Glasgow (19)

Liverpool University (20)

Tickets go on sale at 9:30am (BST) on Friday (July 30).

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.

Madness announce mammoth UK tour and ticket details

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Madness announce mammoth UK tour and ticket details

Madness have announced plans for a mammoth UK tour in the winter. The ska veterans will hit the road for 16 dates, calling at Blackpool Empress Ballroom on November 26 and taking in a date at London Earls Court on December 17. The 'Do Not Adjust Your Nut' tour will see the band debut new material from their forthcoming as-yet-untitled studio LP, the follow-up to 2009's 'The Liberty Of Norton Folgate'. Madness will play the following dates: Blackpool Empress Ballroom (November 26) Glasgow O2 Academy (27) Newcastle O2 Academy (28) Manchester Apollo (30) Sheffield O2 Academy (December 1) Hull Arena (3) Leicester De Montfort Hall (4) Leeds O2 Academy (5) Nottingham Rock City (7) Bournemouth BIC (8) Reading Rivermead (10) Birmingham O2 Academy (11) Cardiff International Arena (13) Plymouth Pavilions (14) Brighton Centre (15) London Earls Court (17) Tickets go on sale on Friday (July 30) at 9.30am (BST). 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.

Madness have announced plans for a mammoth UK tour in the winter.

The ska veterans will hit the road for 16 dates, calling at Blackpool Empress Ballroom on November 26 and taking in a date at London Earls Court on December 17.

The ‘Do Not Adjust Your Nut’ tour will see the band debut new material from their forthcoming as-yet-untitled studio LP, the follow-up to 2009’s ‘The Liberty Of Norton Folgate’.

Madness will play the following dates:

Blackpool Empress Ballroom (November 26)

Glasgow O2 Academy (27)

Newcastle O2 Academy (28)

Manchester Apollo (30)

Sheffield O2 Academy (December 1)

Hull Arena (3)

Leicester De Montfort Hall (4)

Leeds O2 Academy (5)

Nottingham Rock City (7)

Bournemouth BIC (8)

Reading Rivermead (10)

Birmingham O2 Academy (11)

Cardiff International Arena (13)

Plymouth Pavilions (14)

Brighton Centre (15)

London Earls Court (17)

Tickets go on sale on Friday (July 30) at 9.30am (BST).

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.

NEIL YOUNG LIFTS LID ON ARCHIVES VOL 2

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NEIL YOUNG LIFTS LID ON ARCHIVES VOL 2

The second instalment of Neil Young’s Archives project is progressing well, with Archives Volume 2 promising “even more content” than 2009’s 10-disc Volume 1, according to Young’s official website, www.neilyoung.com. Volume 2 will cover Young’s mid 1970s-to-early-1980s period, and along with “many unreleased tracks”, four unreleased albums will be made officially available for the first time. Three of these albums are studio recordings – the legendary, long-bootlegged Chrome Dreams, 1975’s Homegrown and Oceanside-Country. The fourth is a document of Young’s 1976 tour, Odeon-Budokan. Although Archives Volume 1 was notable for its adoption of Blu-Ray technology, the four albums – issued as part of the NYA Special Release Series – will initially only be available on vinyl, mastered from analogue tapes. “They were originally created for that format,” adds Young. “So now is the time to get your new phonograph player.” More details as we get them!

The second instalment of Neil Young’s Archives project is progressing well, with Archives Volume 2 promising “even more content” than 2009’s 10-disc Volume 1, according to Young’s official website, www.neilyoung.com.

Volume 2 will cover Young’s mid 1970s-to-early-1980s period, and along with “many unreleased tracks”, four unreleased albums will be made officially available for the first time. Three of these albums are studio recordings – the legendary, long-bootlegged Chrome Dreams, 1975’s Homegrown and Oceanside-Country. The fourth is a document of Young’s 1976 tour, Odeon-Budokan.

Although Archives Volume 1 was notable for its adoption of Blu-Ray technology, the four albums – issued as part of the NYA Special Release Series – will initially only be available on vinyl, mastered from analogue tapes. “They were originally created for that format,” adds Young. “So now is the time to get your new phonograph player.”

More details as we get them!

Foreigner and Europe rock London Roundhouse at iTunes Festival

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Foreigner and Europe rock London Roundhouse at iTunes Festival

Foreigner and Europe rocked London's Roundhouse last night (July 26), both bands playing a host of hits from their career-spanning backcatalogue at the iTunes Festival. Foreigner performed their hit singles 'I Want To Know What Love Is', 'Cold As Ice' and 'Waiting For A Girl Like You'. Band founder Mick Jones was the sole original member of the group in the line-up. The rocker performed alongside a six-piece band made up of players who have performed under the band name over the last six years. Setting their stall out early on, singer Kelly Hansen walked across the top of the stage barrier shaking fans' hands as the group performed 'Cold As Ice'. They played only one song ('When It Comes To Love') from their 2009 album 'Can't Slow Down', packing the majority of their set with songs from their first five albums. "It is really great to be back in England, it has been a long time," Jones said prior to launching into 'Feels Like The First Time'. He then commented on the Roundhouse's recent facelift: "This place has improved a lot since we last played here." As Foreigner brought their set to a close Hansen told the crowd: "This is a historical place so I want you to reach out and put your arm around the person next to you," before performing 1985 UK and US Number One 'I Want To Know What Love Is'. Earlier Swedish metal veterans Europe covered Bob Marley's 'No Woman No Cry' midway through their 1988 single 'Superstitious'. Frontman Joey Tempest spent much of the show swinging his mic stand around before jumping down to the front barrier to shake fans' hands during 'Rock The Night'. The band ended their show to huge cheers as they introduced their famous 1986 UK chart topper 'The Final Countdown'. Foreigner played: 'Double Vision' 'Head Games' 'Cold as Ice' 'Waiting For A Girl Like You' 'When It Comes To Love' 'Dirty White Boy' 'That Was Yesterday' 'Can't Slow Down' 'Starrider' 'Feels Like The First Time' 'Urgent' 'Juke Box Hero' 'I Want to Know What Love Is' 'Hot Blooded' 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.

Foreigner and Europe rocked London‘s Roundhouse last night (July 26), both bands playing a host of hits from their career-spanning backcatalogue at the iTunes Festival.

Foreigner performed their hit singles ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’, ‘Cold As Ice’ and ‘Waiting For A Girl Like You’.

Band founder Mick Jones was the sole original member of the group in the line-up. The rocker performed alongside a six-piece band made up of players who have performed under the band name over the last six years.

Setting their stall out early on, singer Kelly Hansen walked across the top of the stage barrier shaking fans’ hands as the group performed ‘Cold As Ice’. They played only one song (‘When It Comes To Love’) from their 2009 album ‘Can’t Slow Down’, packing the majority of their set with songs from their first five albums.

“It is really great to be back in England, it has been a long time,” Jones said prior to launching into ‘Feels Like The First Time’. He then commented on the Roundhouse‘s recent facelift: “This place has improved a lot since we last played here.”

As Foreigner brought their set to a close Hansen told the crowd: “This is a historical place so I want you to reach out and put your arm around the person next to you,” before performing 1985 UK and US Number One ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’.

Earlier Swedish metal veterans Europe covered Bob Marley‘s ‘No Woman No Cry’ midway through their 1988 single ‘Superstitious’. Frontman Joey Tempest spent much of the show swinging his mic stand around before jumping down to the front barrier to shake fans’ hands during ‘Rock The Night’.

The band ended their show to huge cheers as they introduced their famous 1986 UK chart topper ‘The Final Countdown’.

Foreigner played:

‘Double Vision’

‘Head Games’

‘Cold as Ice’

‘Waiting For A Girl Like You’

‘When It Comes To Love’

‘Dirty White Boy’

‘That Was Yesterday’

‘Can’t Slow Down’

‘Starrider’

‘Feels Like The First Time’

‘Urgent’

‘Juke Box Hero’

‘I Want to Know What Love Is’

‘Hot Blooded’

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.

Manic Street Preachers anounce new ‘Postcards…’ album tracklisting

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Manic Street Preachers anounce new ‘Postcards…’ album tracklisting

Manic Street Preachers have revealed the tracklisting of their new album 'Postcards From A Young Man' to Uncut's sister title NME. The Welsh trio will release the album on September 20, with the lead single from the record, '(It's Not War) – Just The End of Love', out a week earlier (September 23). The album is the band's 10th studio effort – with the band having describing it as "one last shot at mass communication". It was recorded with producer Dave Eringa in the band's home studio in Cardiff. Echo And The Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch guests on the track 'Some Kind of Nothingness', while former Guns N' Roses guitarist Duff MaKagen also contributed to the album. The tracklisting of 'Postcards From A Young Man' is: '(It's Not War) – Just The End of Love' 'Postcards From A Young Man' 'Some Kind of Nothingness' 'The Descent – (Pages 1 & 2)' 'Hazleton Avenue' 'Auto-Intoxication' 'Golden Platitudes' 'I Think I’ve Found It' 'A Billion Balconies Facing The Sun' 'All We Make Is Entertainment' 'The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever' 'Don’t Be Evil' 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.

Manic Street Preachers have revealed the tracklisting of their new album ‘Postcards From A Young Man’ to Uncut’s sister title NME.

The Welsh trio will release the album on September 20, with the lead single from the record, ‘(It’s Not War) – Just The End of Love’, out a week earlier (September 23).

The album is the band’s 10th studio effort – with the band having describing it as “one last shot at mass communication”. It was recorded with producer Dave Eringa in the band’s home studio in Cardiff.

Echo And The Bunnymen‘s Ian McCulloch guests on the track ‘Some Kind of Nothingness’, while former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Duff MaKagen also contributed to the album.

The tracklisting of ‘Postcards From A Young Man’ is:

‘(It’s Not War) – Just The End of Love’

‘Postcards From A Young Man’

‘Some Kind of Nothingness’

‘The Descent – (Pages 1 & 2)’

‘Hazleton Avenue’

‘Auto-Intoxication’

‘Golden Platitudes’

‘I Think I’ve Found It’

‘A Billion Balconies Facing The Sun’

‘All We Make Is Entertainment’

‘The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever’

‘Don’t Be Evil’

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.

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