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REM’s “Accelerate”

John Mulvey
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OK, then, I must admit I’ve been sceptical about this one, so disillusioned by “Around The Sun” (three good, if woefully overproduced, songs notwithstanding) that I didn’t even bother to check out any bootlegs of those “live rehearsal” gigs from Dublin last year. . . More fool me, it transpires. If “Around The Sun” was a glossy attempt to update the moods of “Automatic For The People”, “Accelerate” looks further back into REM’s terrific back catalogue for inspiration. The mixture of crunch and jangle from Peter Buck, the generally speedier pace, Michael Stipe stuffing far too many words into each line while Mike Mills gamely tries to keep up with his harmonies, the attractive gothic woodiness of the folk ballads – all this reminds me a lot of how the band sounded circa “Lifes Rich Pageant” and “Document”. It’d be mighty rash to suggest “Accelerate” was the equal of those albums, but it certainly draws on their energies. This is not a perfect record, by any stretch, but it is one that improves with every listen, and which this morning sounds pretty much like the best REM effort since “New Adventures In Hi-Fi” (and I like “Up” and “Reveal” more than most critics, I suspect). The opener, “Living Well’s The Best Revenge” is, I think, the most straightforwardly exciting song they’ve recorded since “So Fast, So Numb”, a breathless hurtle which seems designed to prove they’re still capable of this dynamic, heady, heavily-textured kind of rock. It’s a point which’ll be made ad nauseam in reviews of “Accelerate”, but Buck’s return to electric prominence is both striking and massively welcome. I remember interviews with Stipe and Mills circa “Around The Sun” talked of how Buck busied himself in the studio stocking up their iPods. This time, mercifully, he seems to have contributed a lot more – or contributed a lot more of the sound which REM’s fans generally want from him – to the record. “Accelerate”, in fact, sounds like the record REM’s fans wanted them to make, not necessarily the record REM may have wanted to make. It’s a small complaint, I guess, when professional pragmatism sounds as good as this. I don’t want to write too much on the specific tracks, not least because I’ve got a very long review to file for the mag in the next few days. But it’s just under 35 minutes long, and only one of the 11 tracks (“Sing For The Submarine”) outlasts its welcome. “I’m Gonna DJ” you’ll probably know from recent tours and last year’s live album; it’s the worst song here, I think. Besides “Living Well’s The Best Revenge”, I’m currently taken with “Mansized Wreath” (improbably funky work from Mills), the fuzzed-out raga of “Mr Richards” (shades of “Time After Time” maybe) and another breakneck thriller called “Horse To Water”. If anyone saw the Dublin shows or has listened to the bootlegs, let me know what you think. Judging by "Accelerate", I really should have believed the hype.

OK, then, I must admit I’ve been sceptical about this one, so disillusioned by “Around The Sun” (three good, if woefully overproduced, songs notwithstanding) that I didn’t even bother to check out any bootlegs of those “live rehearsal” gigs from Dublin last year. . . More fool me, it transpires.

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Hot Chip – Made In The Dark

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Hot Chip – Made In The Dark

Ever since Hot Chip's second album, 'The Warning', came out in May 2006, they've become a stimulating presence in British pop. A studio collective with a workshop mentality, in that time the five have overseen scores of remixes, wild DJ sets, memorable gigs, a Mercury nomination and an edifyingly funky 'DJ Kicks' set. Nor should it be forgotten that for thousands affected by new rave, Hot Chip were by default the awkward but lovable go-to guys at the indie/dance interface. Now they've stepped up a level. On this rich and touching album they confidently draw upon their diverse influences and individual skill sets in new, often inventive ways without spoiling the delicate nature of their songs. Driven by digital calypso, for example, "One Pure Thought" and "Ready For The Floor" are giddy highlights, as syrupy as Tom Tom Club. On the rare occasion Hot Chip do get carried away by synth squelches and R&B belches, this leads to the record's sloppier moments, "Shake A Fist" and "Bendable Poseable", tracks most groups would kill to have written. On first listen, much of 'Made In The Dark' is a noisy barrage of ideas, but these discreetly reveal themselves over time. Raucous opener "Out At The Pictures" finds Alexis Taylor singing about the delights of Wetherspoons pubs ("It's on every street, it's fucking cheap", he begins). During the exceedlingly danceable electro-house section of "Don't Dance", Taylor chants the title as the chorus, as if to to confound the ravers. If they're comfortable with the humour this time, it's worth noting that the record is also a good deal smoochier than 'Coming On Strong' or 'The Warning'. Taylor, a newlywed, explores his familiar themes of love and intimacy on "We're Looking For A Lot Of Love" and "In The Privacy Of Our Love". The cuddly interplay of his reedy voice and Joe Goddard's anchoring baritone suggests he's as content with his wife as he is his music-making partner. As a listener, it’s equally hard not to feel the love. With Hot Chip, it now feels like the right time to commit. PIERS MARTIN Q&A WITH HOT CHIP'S ALEXIS TAYLOR: UNCUT: Your thoughts on 'Made In The Dark'? TAYLOR: Well, every one of our albums feels like we try and make each song quite stylistically different from the next, but I don't think that's a conscious decision. That's just something me and Joe (Goddard) have always done. This album is more extreme than the last two, more varied and more kind of wobbly and confusing. But having said all of that, we think it works. Have you taken into account what Hot Chip has become? Recently we played in Brazil, we met Bjork, and that was a nice moment. Watching her performance from the side of the stage, I suddenly felt really proud to have reached a position where I was on the side of the stage watching Bjork because I was making music that people wanted to hear in Brazil. So it kind of felt like a long way from Putney. INTERVIEW: PIERS MARTIN

Ever since Hot Chip‘s second album, ‘The Warning’, came out in May 2006, they’ve become a stimulating presence in British pop. A studio collective with a workshop mentality, in that time the five have overseen scores of remixes, wild DJ sets, memorable gigs, a Mercury nomination and an edifyingly funky ‘DJ Kicks’ set. Nor should it be forgotten that for thousands affected by new rave, Hot Chip were by default the awkward but lovable go-to guys at the indie/dance interface. Now they’ve stepped up a level.

On this rich and touching album they confidently draw upon their diverse influences and individual skill sets in new, often inventive ways without spoiling the delicate nature of their songs. Driven by digital calypso, for example, “One Pure Thought” and “Ready For The Floor” are giddy highlights, as syrupy as Tom Tom Club. On the rare occasion Hot Chip do get carried away by synth squelches and R&B belches, this leads to the record’s sloppier moments, “Shake A Fist” and “Bendable Poseable”, tracks most groups would kill to have written.

On first listen, much of ‘Made In The Dark’ is a noisy barrage of ideas, but these discreetly reveal themselves over time. Raucous opener “Out At The Pictures” finds Alexis Taylor singing about the delights of Wetherspoons pubs (“It’s on every street, it’s fucking cheap”, he begins). During the exceedlingly danceable electro-house section of “Don’t Dance”, Taylor chants the title as the chorus, as if to to confound the ravers.

If they’re comfortable with the humour this time, it’s worth noting that the record is also a good deal smoochier than ‘Coming On Strong’ or ‘The Warning’. Taylor, a newlywed, explores his familiar themes of love and intimacy on “We’re Looking For A Lot Of Love” and “In The Privacy Of Our Love”. The cuddly interplay of his reedy voice and Joe Goddard’s anchoring baritone suggests he’s as content with his wife as he is his music-making partner. As a listener, it’s equally hard not to feel the love. With Hot Chip, it now feels like the right time to commit.

PIERS MARTIN

Q&A WITH HOT CHIP’S ALEXIS TAYLOR:

UNCUT: Your thoughts on ‘Made In The Dark’?

TAYLOR: Well, every one of our albums feels like we try and make each song quite stylistically different from the next, but I don’t think that’s a conscious decision. That’s just something me and Joe (Goddard) have always done. This album is more extreme than the last two, more varied and more kind of wobbly and confusing. But having said all of that, we think it works.

Have you taken into account what Hot Chip has become?

Recently we played in Brazil, we met Bjork, and that was a nice moment. Watching her performance from the side of the stage, I suddenly felt really proud to have reached a position where I was on the side of the stage watching Bjork because I was making music that people wanted to hear in Brazil. So it kind of felt like a long way from Putney.

INTERVIEW: PIERS MARTIN

Adele – 19

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Adele – 19

Some days it feels like we've gone back to the early '80s, when every other month would produce a new Best White Soul Voice You've Never Heard, a boy or girl who'd in due course turn out to be Just Another Cravenly Ambitious Pop Star. They all got the treatment – Mick Hucknall and Marti Pellow, Alison Moyet and Lisa Stansfield – and nobody gives a toss about 'em today. In the wake of Amy Winehouse – who turned out to be the real thing after all – labels great and small scrambled to find their own mockney-soul diarist-exhibitionists. The biggest hype thus far has been bestowed on 19-year-old Adele Atkins, pride of West Norwood and owner of a larynx whose vocal range uncannily replicates the timbre and catch-in-the-throat hoarseness of the amazing Amy W. Actually, what Atkins sounds like is Winehouse infused with the suburban street smarts of Jamie T, who released the first Adele single ("Hometown Glory") on his own Pacemaker label. Allowed this gnarled rock-scribe veteran a measure of scepticism. Adele can certainly sing, but '19' reeks of some A&R trendhound making it his/her biz to sign The New Amy and not resting till s/he's found the right chick from South London to fit the bill. Where 'Back to Black' sounded emotionally and musically true, almost everything on the covers-all-bases '19' sounds like it was absorbed by osmosis at the BRIT School (where she and Winehouse are alumni). Veering between faux-soul and Hoxton hipness, Adele simply hasn't found her own voice yet. The acoustic tracks that open the LP are awful: "Daydreamer", about a bisexual beau, is ickily trite, "Best For Last" barely fit for a Heather Small cover. New single "Chasing Pavements" is a crisp little pop song that gives equally-tipped British singer Duffy a run for her money in the sub-Dusty stakes, but does no more than that. "Cold Shoulder" is Lisa Stansfield via Winehouse; "Crazy for You" wants to be Patsy Cline via Etta James but isn't. The cover of Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love" is as emotionally vapid as Trisha Yearwood's. Maybe Atkins just needs to live a little longer – or at least find her own Blake Fielder-Civil. It takes more than clubbing with Kate Nash and Jack Penate to be a genuine contender. BARNEY HOSKYNS

Some days it feels like we’ve gone back to the early ’80s, when every other month would produce a new Best White Soul Voice You’ve Never Heard, a boy or girl who’d in due course turn out to be Just Another Cravenly Ambitious Pop Star. They all got the treatment – Mick Hucknall and Marti Pellow, Alison Moyet and Lisa Stansfield – and nobody gives a toss about ’em today.

In the wake of Amy Winehouse – who turned out to be the real thing after all – labels great and small scrambled to find their own mockney-soul diarist-exhibitionists. The biggest hype thus far has been bestowed on 19-year-old Adele Atkins, pride of West Norwood and owner of a larynx whose vocal range uncannily replicates the timbre and catch-in-the-throat hoarseness of the amazing Amy W. Actually, what Atkins sounds like is Winehouse infused with the suburban street smarts of Jamie T, who released the first Adele single (“Hometown Glory”) on his own Pacemaker label.

Allowed this gnarled rock-scribe veteran a measure of scepticism. Adele can certainly sing, but ’19’ reeks of some A&R trendhound making it his/her biz to sign The New Amy and not resting till s/he’s found the right chick from South London to fit the bill. Where ‘Back to Black’ sounded emotionally and musically true, almost everything on the covers-all-bases ’19’ sounds like it was absorbed by osmosis at the BRIT School (where she and Winehouse are alumni).

Veering between faux-soul and Hoxton hipness, Adele simply hasn’t found her own voice yet. The acoustic tracks that open the LP are awful: “Daydreamer”, about a bisexual beau, is ickily trite, “Best For Last” barely fit for a Heather Small cover. New single “Chasing Pavements” is a crisp little pop song that gives equally-tipped British singer Duffy a run for her money in the sub-Dusty stakes, but does no more than that. “Cold Shoulder” is Lisa Stansfield via Winehouse; “Crazy for You” wants to be Patsy Cline via Etta James but isn’t. The cover of Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” is as emotionally vapid as Trisha Yearwood’s.

Maybe Atkins just needs to live a little longer – or at least find her own Blake Fielder-Civil. It takes more than clubbing with Kate Nash and Jack Penate to be a genuine contender.

BARNEY HOSKYNS

Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

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Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

It’s almost 'de rigeur' for a debut album to convey anti-authoritarian attitude, and that by Vampire Weekend is no exception. However, rather than The Man, the government, or even the parents, this is a band who save their disdain for the punctuation. “Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma,” frontman Ezra Koenig declares in "Oxford Comma". "I've seen those English dramas too…" This, self-evidently is not the work of a studiedly cooler-than-thou group. If history has taught us to find the archetypal New York band slouched in an alley, Vampire Weekend seem more likely to be found upstate in the Hamptons, reading novels on a yacht. Refusing to conform to rock archetypes, even styles – like Brooklyn neighbors Dirty Projectors and Yeasayer their debut features African flavours – VW show themselves possessed of great strength of character, unafraid to wear their hearts, or their intelligence on their sleeves. Duly, punctuation is not the only unexplored territory which the Columbia University graduates set out to claim as their own here. From neo-baroque revival architecture ("Mansard Roof") to types of Congolese music ("Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"), Koenig's songs originate in some decidedly left-field subjects, without Vampire Weekend ever becoming wacky. Though undoubtedly collegiate, this is far superior to what we've come to know as "college rock". Instead, the band play a smart, sometimes shy, but still curiously hip indie, which has steadily gathered heat through 2007. The band have described it as "Upper West Side Soweto", and “A-Punk” nicely shows why. Just as impressive, though are “Campus”, where they come across like a coyer version of The Walkmen, “M79”, a chamber pop classic redolent of The Kinks, or “Walcott”, which could be an affluent Clinic. Throughout, the songs serve a pertinent reminder that Americana can be as much Scott Fitzgerald as Hemingway, and comprise white collar anthems aswell as blue. Cosmopolitan, anglophile, afrobeat – Vampire Weekend are in an Ivy League of their own. JOHN ROBINSON

It’s almost ‘de rigeur’ for a debut album to convey anti-authoritarian attitude, and that by Vampire Weekend is no exception. However, rather than The Man, the government, or even the parents, this is a band who save their disdain for the punctuation. “Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma,” frontman Ezra Koenig declares in “Oxford Comma”. “I’ve seen those English dramas too…”

This, self-evidently is not the work of a studiedly cooler-than-thou group. If history has taught us to find the archetypal New York band slouched in an alley, Vampire Weekend seem more likely to be found upstate in the Hamptons, reading novels on a yacht. Refusing to conform to rock archetypes, even styles – like Brooklyn neighbors Dirty Projectors and Yeasayer their debut features African flavours – VW show themselves possessed of great strength of character, unafraid to wear their hearts, or their intelligence on their sleeves.

Duly, punctuation is not the only unexplored territory which the Columbia University graduates set out to claim as their own here. From neo-baroque revival architecture (“Mansard Roof”) to types of Congolese music (“Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”), Koenig’s songs originate in some decidedly left-field subjects, without Vampire Weekend ever becoming wacky. Though undoubtedly collegiate, this is far superior to what we’ve come to know as “college rock”.

Instead, the band play a smart, sometimes shy, but still curiously hip indie, which has steadily gathered heat through 2007. The band have described it as “Upper West Side Soweto”, and “A-Punk” nicely shows why. Just as impressive, though are “Campus”, where they come across like a coyer version of The Walkmen, “M79”, a chamber pop classic redolent of The Kinks, or “Walcott”, which could be an affluent Clinic.

Throughout, the songs serve a pertinent reminder that Americana can be as much Scott Fitzgerald as Hemingway, and comprise white collar anthems aswell as blue. Cosmopolitan, anglophile, afrobeat – Vampire Weekend are in an Ivy League of their own.

JOHN ROBINSON

Shelby Lynne – Just A Little Lovin’

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Shelby Lynne – Just A Little Lovin’

Having drawn Dusty Springfield comparisons for some time now, it was odds-on that Shelby Lynne would have a record like Just A Little Lovin’ in mind. But the surrounding circumstances were less predictable. Originally suggested by friend and fan Barry Manilow, these nine Springfield-famous covers (and one original, “Pretend”) were Lynne’s solution to Capitol Records’ lack of conviction over last LP 'Suit Yourself'. Everyone loves Dusty, she figured. Which brings its own baggage. Vowing to steer clear of untouchables like “Son Of A Preacher Man”, Lynne’s song selection is key. There’s a case for avoiding “I Only Want To Be With You” and “Anyone Who Had A Heart” too, but the results are remarkably good. In squeezing all the Saturday night/Sunday morning feel from the originals, she refashions them into doleful folk-soul songs. Instead of strings and choirs, producer Phil Ramone relies on piano and spare tones of jazzy guitar. So the title track, for instance, now sounds like a mournful elegy rather than the gospel celebration of its 'Dusty In Memphis' forebear. It might all be too restrained for those craving the robustness of 2000’s breakthrough LP 'I Am Shelby Lynne', but effortless elegance is the order here. There’s added vulnerability too, mindful of lapsing into self-pity. Instead of Memphis Horns and weary euphoria, “Breakfast In Bed” is hushed guitar, piano and Lynne’s torchy lament. And she seems to find new meaning in Tony Joe White’s “Willie & Laura Mae Jones”, which could have been swiped from Bobbie Gentry’s songbook. If there’s something odd about an authentic Southern girl reworking a singer from Ealing who longed to emulate her American heroes, then it’s perhaps best to judge this record on its own merit. Which, as it turns out, is very high indeed. ROB HUGHES

Having drawn Dusty Springfield comparisons for some time now, it was odds-on that Shelby Lynne would have a record like Just A Little Lovin’ in mind. But the surrounding circumstances were less predictable. Originally suggested by friend and fan Barry Manilow, these nine Springfield-famous covers (and one original, “Pretend”) were Lynne’s solution to Capitol Records’ lack of conviction over last LP ‘Suit Yourself’. Everyone loves Dusty, she figured.

Which brings its own baggage. Vowing to steer clear of untouchables like “Son Of A Preacher Man”, Lynne’s song selection is key. There’s a case for avoiding “I Only Want To Be With You” and “Anyone Who Had A Heart” too, but the results are remarkably good. In squeezing all the Saturday night/Sunday morning feel from the originals, she refashions them into doleful folk-soul songs. Instead of strings and choirs, producer Phil Ramone relies on piano and spare tones of jazzy guitar. So the title track, for instance, now sounds like a mournful elegy rather than the gospel celebration of its ‘Dusty In Memphis’ forebear.

It might all be too restrained for those craving the robustness of 2000’s breakthrough LP ‘I Am Shelby Lynne’, but effortless elegance is the order here. There’s added vulnerability too, mindful of lapsing into self-pity. Instead of Memphis Horns and weary euphoria, “Breakfast In Bed” is hushed guitar, piano and Lynne’s torchy lament. And she seems to find new meaning in Tony Joe White’s “Willie & Laura Mae Jones”, which could have been swiped from Bobbie Gentry’s songbook.

If there’s something odd about an authentic Southern girl reworking a singer from Ealing who longed to emulate her American heroes, then it’s perhaps best to judge this record on its own merit. Which, as it turns out, is very high indeed.

ROB HUGHES

My Bloody Valentine Confirmed For Roskilde Festival

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My Bloody Valentine Confirmed For Roskilde Festival
My Bloody Valentine have confirmed their second European festival appearance for this Summer. The recently reformed shoegazers are to play the Roskilde Festival, near Copenhagen which takes place between July 3 and 6. My Bloody Valentine, who will play their first live shows in 16 years this June,...

My Bloody Valentine have confirmed their second European festival appearance for this Summer.

The recently reformed shoegazers are to play the Roskilde Festival, near Copenhagen which takes place between July 3 and 6.

My Bloody Valentine, who will play their first live shows in 16 years this June, starting at London’s Roundhouse on June 20, will join previously announced Roskilde headliner’s Radiohead.

MBV are also set to play Spanish festival FIB Benicassim, which takes place from July 17 to 20.

Other acts so far confirmed for Roskilde are The Chemical Brothers, Yeasayer, and Holy Fuck.

More information about the festival, and to buy tickets, click here for www.roskilde-festival.dk

R.E.M’s Accelerate – Read The First Preview Here!

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R.E.M’s Accelerate – Read The First Preview Here!

As previously reported, R.E.M's fourteenth studio album, produced by U2 and Bloc Party producer Jacknife Lee is due for release on March 31. The album contains eleven tracks, including forthcoming single “Supernatural Superserious” and sees a return to the rockier sound REM abandoned on 2004’s critically panned “Around The Sun” album. The anticipation around this record is high, with much murmurings about whether 'Accelerate' will see a 'return-to-form' for the trio -- to find out what Uncut Deputy Editor John Mulvey thinks - check out his first preview of R.E.M's 'Accelerate' by clicking here for the Wild Mercury Sound blog. R.E.M's North American tour dates recently announced, supported by Modest Mouse and The National are: Vancouver Deer Lake Park (May 23) Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl (29) Berkeley Greek Theatre (31) Denver Red Rocks Ampitheatre (June 3) Chicago United Center (6) Toronto Molson Ampitheatre (8) Raleigh Walnut Creek Amptheatre (10) Washington Merriweather Post Pavilion (11) Boston Tweeter Center (13) Long Island Jones Beach Theater (14) Philadelphia Mann Center (18) New York City venue TBC (19) Atlanta Lakewood Ampitheatre (21)

As previously reported, R.E.M‘s fourteenth studio album, produced by U2 and Bloc Party producer Jacknife Lee is due for release on March 31.

The album contains eleven tracks, including forthcoming single “Supernatural Superserious” and sees a return to the rockier sound REM abandoned on 2004’s critically panned “Around The Sun” album.

The anticipation around this record is high, with much murmurings about whether ‘Accelerate’ will see a ‘return-to-form’ for the trio — to find out what Uncut Deputy Editor John Mulvey thinks – check out his first preview of R.E.M’s ‘Accelerate’ by clicking here for the Wild Mercury Sound blog.

R.E.M’s North American tour dates recently announced, supported by Modest Mouse and The National are:

Vancouver Deer Lake Park (May 23)

Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl (29)

Berkeley Greek Theatre (31)

Denver Red Rocks Ampitheatre (June 3)

Chicago United Center (6)

Toronto Molson Ampitheatre (8)

Raleigh Walnut Creek Amptheatre (10)

Washington Merriweather Post Pavilion (11)

Boston Tweeter Center (13)

Long Island Jones Beach Theater (14)

Philadelphia Mann Center (18)

New York City venue TBC (19)

Atlanta Lakewood Ampitheatre (21)

Rare Led Zep Footage To Be Broadcast In New Classic Rock Series

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Rare Led Zep Footage To Be Broadcast In New Classic Rock Series

Archive TV footage of legendary rock artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix is to be rescued from obselete Super8 and Betamax formats and cleaned up in a new deal between Rockworld.TV and the Infernal Machine music archive. The Infernal Machine archive boasts unique footage including Beatles appearances on 60s German show Beat Club and Hendrix's two appearances on the Ed Sullivan show. Aerosmith, The Who and The Grateful Dead also feature in the dense archive collection that Rockworld.TV now have access to the contents of. The obselete formats will be transfered, remastered and collated into a new Classic Rock series of programming for broadcast on Rockworld.TV set to be ready later this year. Pete Hadfield, co-founder and Joint CEO of Carnaby Media who own Rockworld.TV has said: "We are getting access to some of the most exciting music footage in existence, a great deal of which has rarely if ever been seen before, which make our broadcast offering even stronger than it is already." More information about what archive footage will be treated will be available in due course, check back to www.uncut.co.uk for more information as we get it. Rockworld.TV currently broadcasts on Sky Channel 368 and online at www.rockworld.TV Pic credit: Rex Features

Archive TV footage of legendary rock artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix is to be rescued from obselete Super8 and Betamax formats and cleaned up in a new deal between Rockworld.TV and the Infernal Machine music archive.

The Infernal Machine archive boasts unique footage including Beatles appearances on 60s German show Beat Club and Hendrix’s two appearances on the Ed Sullivan show.

Aerosmith, The Who and The Grateful Dead also feature in the dense archive collection that Rockworld.TV now have access to the contents of.

The obselete formats will be transfered, remastered and collated into a new Classic Rock series of programming for broadcast on Rockworld.TV set to be ready later this year.

Pete Hadfield, co-founder and Joint CEO of Carnaby Media who own Rockworld.TV has said: “We are getting access to some of the most exciting music footage in existence, a great deal of which has rarely if ever been seen before, which make our broadcast offering even stronger than it is already.”

More information about what archive footage will be treated will be available in due course, check back to www.uncut.co.uk for more information as we get it.

Rockworld.TV currently broadcasts on Sky Channel 368 and online at www.rockworld.TV

Pic credit: Rex Features

Neil Young Archives – New Format Twist

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Neil Young Archives – New Format Twist
Neil Young's long saga with releasing his 'Archives' series has taken another turn, with the singer announcing that the latest delay is due to production issues. Young, speaking to US publication Hollywood Reporter at the premiere of the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young film 'Deja Vu' at the Sundance...

Neil Young‘s long saga with releasing his ‘Archives’ series has taken another turn, with the singer announcing that the latest delay is due to production issues.

Young, speaking to US publication Hollywood Reporter at the premiere of the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young film ‘Deja Vu’ at the Sundance Film Festival has said that the first volume will now only be presented on the new Blu-Ray format and DVD.

Young said: “I know it’s in technical production now, but it’s only coming out on Blu-ray and DVD. There won’t be CDs. Technology has caught up to what the concept was in the first place [and] how we’re able to actually present it. But there’s no doubt it will come out this year.'”

The multi-disc Archives is expected to feature previously released live sets including ‘Live At Massey Hall’ and ‘Live At The Fillmore East’ as well as never released studio tracks.

Fans of Neil Young have already been vocalising their opinions about the fact that Archives will not feature on CD format, with some accusing the singer as ‘insane’.

For more information and opinion, check out Neil Young fansite www.thrasherswheat.org by clicking here.

For the full Billboard/ Hollywood Reporter story, click here.

Alex James Chosen As Real Food Expert

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Alex James Chosen As Real Food Expert

Former Blur bassist turned cheesemaker Alex James has been chosen as a food expert for the Real Food Festival selection committee. Alex James and co-cheese producer Juliet Harbutt will be helping handpick artisan food makers to attend the festival, which takes place at London's Earl's Court from April 24-27. Alex James has commented, "Finally someone is taking a stance for the little guys….500 of the best artisan producers under one roof, why wouldn’t I be involved. You know where you’ll find me, at the cheese stand!" Others on the commitee include Rose Prince, food writer for The Daily Telegraph, Chris Walton, of Pelham Organic Farm and food writer and author Richard Johnson. More information and tickets to the Real Food Festival are available by clicking here: www.realfoodfestival.co.uk Pic credit: PA Photos

Former Blur bassist turned cheesemaker Alex James has been chosen as a food expert for the Real Food Festival selection committee.

Alex James and co-cheese producer Juliet Harbutt will be helping handpick artisan food makers to attend the festival, which takes place at London’s Earl’s Court from April 24-27.

Alex James has commented, “Finally someone is taking a stance for the little guys….500 of the best artisan producers under one roof, why wouldn’t I be involved. You know where you’ll find me, at the cheese stand!”

Others on the commitee include Rose Prince, food writer for The Daily Telegraph, Chris Walton, of Pelham Organic Farm and food writer and author Richard Johnson.

More information and tickets to the Real Food Festival are available by clicking here: www.realfoodfestival.co.uk

Pic credit: PA Photos

R.E.M Confirm North American Tour

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R.E.M Confirm North American Tour
R.E.M. have confirmed thirteen dates of a North American tour today (January 29). The band whose fourteenth studio album 'Accelerate' is due out on March 31 in the UK and day later, April 1 in the US will go out in support of it from the end of May. For more on the album, including the track listi...

R.E.M. have confirmed thirteen dates of a North American tour today (January 29).

The band whose fourteenth studio album ‘Accelerate’ is due out on March 31 in the UK and day later, April 1 in the US will go out in support of it from the end of May.

For more on the album, including the track listing click here for Uncut’s previous news story.

Modest Mouse and The National have been hand-picked by the band to be the support bands on all of the dates.

Tour dates announced so far are:

Vancouver Deer Lake Park (May 23)

Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl (29)

Berkeley Greek Theatre (31)

Denver Red Rocks Ampitheatre (June 3)

Chicago United Center (6)

Toronto Molson Ampitheatre (8)

Raleigh Walnut Creek Amptheatre (10)

Washington Merriweather Post Pavilion (11)

Boston Tweeter Center (13)

Long Island Jones Beach Theater (14)

Philadelphia Mann Center (18)

New York City venue TBC (19)

Atlanta Lakewood Ampitheatre (21)

Grant Lee Phillips To Kick Off European Tour In UK

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Grant Lee Phillips To Kick Off European Tour In UK
Grant-Lee Phillips has announced that he will play two solo shows in the UK this April. Starting his European Ballads Tour, Phillips will play Galsgow's King Tut's venue on April 25 and London's The Scala on April 27. Speaking about performing this time without a full band, Phillips says, "I have ...

Grant-Lee Phillips has announced that he will play two solo shows in the UK this April.

Starting his European Ballads Tour, Phillips will play Galsgow’s King Tut’s venue on April 25 and London’s The Scala on April 27.

Speaking about performing this time without a full band, Phillips says, “I have always found my acoustic shows to be rewarding in a unique way. The truth is, regardless of what path an album’s production may eventually take, for me the writing almost always begins with the voice and the guitar. That is my hammer and chisel, the most basic tools. I also love the freedom that simplicity allows. That is a big one for me. A song should be alive, open to new inspiration and interpretation. That is the beauty of going it alone, one man? six strings?”

Phillips’ fifth solo studio album ‘Strangelet’, was released last year, his first new material in seven years.

The full Ballads Tour dates are:

Glasgow, King Tuts (April 25)

London, Scala (27)

Dublin, Whelans (28)

Oslo, Rockefeller Music Hall (30)

Trondheim, Blaest (May 1)

Bergen, Hotel Norge (2)

Stavanger, Folken (3)

More information is available here: www.grantleephillips.com

The Kooks Announce Spring Tour

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The Kooks Announce Spring Tour
The Kooks have today (January 29) announced details of a full UK tour, to promote their forthcoming second album. 'Konk' is the follow-up to their 1.5 million selling debut 'Inside In/Inside Out' and is released through Virgin on April 14. The ten-date tour kicks off in Manchester on April 22. T...

The Kooks have today (January 29) announced details of a full UK tour, to promote their forthcoming second album.

‘Konk’ is the follow-up to their 1.5 million selling debut ‘Inside In/Inside Out’ and is released through Virgin on April 14.

The ten-date tour kicks off in Manchester on April 22.

The Kooks will play the following venues, with tickets onsale from this Friday (February 1) at 10am.

Manchester, Apollo (April 22)

Swindon, Oasis (23)

Newport, Centre (24)

Hull, Arena (25)

Birmingham, Carling Academy (27)

Sheffield, Carling Academy (28)

Edinburgh, Corn Exchange (29)

London, Brixton Academy (May 1/2)

Plymouth, Pavillions (3)

More information is available from the band’s official website, by clicking here: www.thekooks.co.uk

The Fifth Uncut Playlist Of 2008

John Mulvey
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Some big new entries on this latest playlist, not least the arrival of REM's much-anticipated "Accelerate". I'll try and write something about the album in the next few days: morbidly suspicious as I am of all the "return to form" hype accumulating around "Accelerate", I'm beginning to think it is, actually, A Return To Form. But anyway. . . Here's what we've been playing. Dead Child, incidentally, are David Pajo and some other Slint affiliates who appear to be living out their teenage fantasies by trying to sound like Iron Maiden. 1. Various Artists - Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli (Numero Group) 2. The Night Marchers - Scene Report (Myspace) 3. Boredoms - Super Roots 9 (Thrill Jockey) 4. REM - Accelerate (Warner Bros) 5. Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind (Columbia) 6. Michael Rother - Flammende Herzen (Water) 7. Dead Child - Attack (Quarterstick) 8. Rocket From The Crypt - Circa: Now! (Headhunter) 9. Tim Buckley - Honeyman (Edsel) 10. Various Artists - Imaginational Anthems Vol 3 (Tompkins Square) 11. Discjokke - Staying In (Smalltown Supersound) 12. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (XL) 13. Smashing Pumpkins - American Gothic EP (Reprise) 14. Nordic Nomadic - Nordic Nomadic (Blue Fog) 15. Excepter - Debt Dept. (Paw Tracks) 16. Fucked Up - Year Of The Pig (Vice)

Some big new entries on this latest playlist, not least the arrival of REM‘s much-anticipated “Accelerate”.

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Arctic Monkeys Score Record NME Award Nominations

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Arctic Monkeys Score Record NME Award Nominations
Arctic Monkeys have been nominated in seven categories for this years Shockwave NME Awards, due to take place next month. The Sheffield band, who released their second album 'Favourite Worst Nightmare' last year are shorlisted for awards including Best British Band and Best Album. Babyshambles, Mu...

Arctic Monkeys have been nominated in seven categories for this years Shockwave NME Awards, due to take place next month.

The Sheffield band, who released their second album ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ last year are shorlisted for awards including Best British Band and Best Album.

Babyshambles, Muse and 2007’s Mercury Music Prize winners Klaxons are up against the Monkeys for the Best British Band prize.

Klaxons are also shorlisted in three other categories including Best Album – with The Enemy, Babyshambles and Radiohead also shortlisted.

The annual Shockwaves NME Award winners are decided by the weekly magazine’s readers, and the ceremony takes place at London’s Indigo O2 on February 28.

You can see the full list of nominees and vote by clicking here: NME.COM/awardsvote

Stephen Malkmus Fourth Album Tracklisting Revealed

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Stephen Malkmus Fourth Album Tracklisting Revealed

The tracklisting for Stephen Malkmus' fourth album with The Jicks since Pavement went on 'hiatus' in 1999 has been revealed today. 'Real Emotional Trash' is set for release through Domino on March 3 in the UK and March 4 in the US, just prior to a US tour which kicks off on March 19. The new ten-track album features the following songs: ‘Dragonfly Pie’ ‘Hopscotch Willie’ ‘Cold Son’ ‘Real Emotional Trash’ ‘Out of Reaches’ ‘Baltimore’ ‘Gardenia’ ‘Elmo Delmo’ ‘We Can't Help You’ ‘Wicked Wanda’ You can read Uncut's first preview of 'Real Emotional Trash' on John Mulvey's Wild Mercury Sound blog by clicking here now. The tour dates announced so far are: Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue (March 19) Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater (20) Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre (21) Indianapolis, IN - Vogue Theater (22) Newport, KY - Southgate House (23) Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge (25) Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse (26) Washington, DC - 9:30 Club (28) Philadelphia, PA – Fillmore (29) New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (31) Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg (April 2) Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club (3) North Adams, MA - MASS MoCA (4)

The tracklisting for Stephen Malkmus‘ fourth album with The Jicks since Pavement went on ‘hiatus’ in 1999 has been revealed today.

‘Real Emotional Trash’ is set for release through Domino on March 3 in the UK and March 4 in the US, just prior to a US tour which kicks off on March 19.

The new ten-track album features the following songs:

‘Dragonfly Pie’

‘Hopscotch Willie’

‘Cold Son’

‘Real Emotional Trash’

‘Out of Reaches’

‘Baltimore’

‘Gardenia’

‘Elmo Delmo’

‘We Can’t Help You’

‘Wicked Wanda’

You can read Uncut’s first preview of ‘Real Emotional Trash’ on John Mulvey’s Wild Mercury Sound blog by clicking here now.

The tour dates announced so far are:

Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue (March 19)

Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater (20)

Chicago, IL – Vic Theatre (21)

Indianapolis, IN – Vogue Theater (22)

Newport, KY – Southgate House (23)

Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge (25)

Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse (26)

Washington, DC – 9:30 Club (28)

Philadelphia, PA – Fillmore (29)

New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom (31)

Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg (April 2)

Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club (3)

North Adams, MA – MASS MoCA (4)

Juno

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Juno

DIR: JASON REITMAN ST: ELLEN PAGE, JASON BATEMAN, MICHAEL CERA, JENNIFER GARNER You know a new generation's taken over American indie comedy when a schoolgirl here ridicules her teacher by making big eyes at him and sarcastically cooing, "Oh me too, I love Woody Allen." 16-year-old Juno (Page) gets knocked up, after one sexual experiment with her rather wet classmate Bleeker (Cera, from Superbad). Pragmatically, she decides to find a perfect couple who'll adopt the baby. Scanning small ads in the local paper she's drawn to Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner). At first this affluent suburban pair seem to be too good to be true. They are. Mark graduates from enlightening her as to the magic of Sonic Youth to taking a less wholesome, midlife-crisis-fuelled interest, while Vanessa's a Stepford wife on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "She's really beautiful," muse Juno and her best friend, "but really horrible. Like Diana Ross." Fortunately Juno has hip parents in the shape of JK Simmons and Alison Janney. Their reaction when she breaks the news of her pregnancy is, "Thank God - we thought you were going to say: hard drugs." All is eventually resolved in a vaguely romantic feel-good manner, which is the only false step this wonderfully witty, dark-hearted movie makes. Director Reitman matches the cutting cynicism he showed in Thank You For Smoking. Yet this is Page's triumph, spitting out smart-ass lines like she thought Tina Fey's Mean Girls was soft and Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World held too optimistic a world view. Juno likes The Stooges, The Runaways, gory horror movies and, well, little else. She's a prematurely ultra-sophisticated post-slacker: pregnancy, she drawls, "makes me pee like Seabiscuit". She delivers Diablo Cody's gum-snapping dialogue with precision "Hi," she announces brightly on marching up to the reception desk of a clinic, "I'm calling to procure a hasty abortion." You could argue that it cops out at the end, but that in itself would be a judgment call on a woman's choice. Somewhere between bleak art-house and Judd Apatow farce there's a perfect film to be made around these issues, and this is very nearly it. Despite an indie soundtrack so tragically fey that you're startled when Belle & Sebastian come on, it's whip-smart, cool, and very, very funny. CHRIS ROBERTS

DIR: JASON REITMAN

ST: ELLEN PAGE, JASON BATEMAN, MICHAEL CERA, JENNIFER GARNER

You know a new generation’s taken over American indie comedy when a schoolgirl here ridicules her teacher by making big eyes at him and sarcastically cooing, “Oh me too, I love Woody Allen.”

16-year-old Juno (Page) gets knocked up, after one sexual experiment with her rather wet classmate Bleeker (Cera, from Superbad).

Pragmatically, she decides to find a perfect couple who’ll adopt the baby. Scanning small ads in the local paper she’s drawn to Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner). At first this affluent suburban pair seem to be too good to be true. They are. Mark graduates from enlightening her as to the magic of Sonic Youth to taking a less wholesome, midlife-crisis-fuelled interest, while Vanessa’s a Stepford wife on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “She’s really beautiful,” muse Juno and her best friend, “but really horrible. Like Diana Ross.” Fortunately Juno has hip parents in the shape of JK Simmons and Alison Janney. Their reaction when she breaks the news of her pregnancy is, “Thank God – we thought you were going to say: hard drugs.” All is eventually resolved in a vaguely romantic feel-good manner, which is the only false step this wonderfully witty, dark-hearted movie makes.

Director Reitman matches the cutting cynicism he showed in Thank You For Smoking. Yet this is Page’s triumph, spitting out smart-ass lines like she thought Tina Fey’s Mean Girls was soft and Terry Zwigoff’s Ghost World held too optimistic a world view. Juno likes The Stooges, The Runaways, gory horror movies and, well, little else. She’s a prematurely ultra-sophisticated post-slacker: pregnancy, she drawls, “makes me pee like Seabiscuit”. She delivers Diablo Cody’s gum-snapping dialogue with precision “Hi,” she announces brightly on marching up to the reception desk of a clinic, “I’m calling to procure a hasty abortion.”

You could argue that it cops out at the end, but that in itself would be a judgment call on a woman’s choice. Somewhere between bleak art-house and Judd Apatow farce there’s a perfect film to be made around these issues, and this is very nearly it. Despite an indie soundtrack so tragically fey that you’re startled when Belle & Sebastian come on, it’s whip-smart, cool, and very, very funny.

CHRIS ROBERTS

There Will Be Blood

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There Will Be Blood

DIRECTED BY PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON ST: DANIEL DAY LEWIS, PAUL DANO, KEVIN J O'CONNOR Synopsis: Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis) taps an ocean of oil in Little Boston, California, in 1911. But his moment of glory is marred by a feud with an evangelical preacher, Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), and an accident that deprives his adopted son HW of hearing. Daniel spurns the child, opening up to Henry (Kevin J O'Connor), his long lost brother instead... Paul Thomas Anderson has been an audacious talent from the first. He's one of those rare young American filmmakers not afraid to call himself an artist and claim the privileges bestowed by authorship: final cut, for instance... and the right to fall on your face if you have to. Anyone who values hubris and exuberance has to warm to PTA, but at the same time it's obvious that he hasn't always found a narrative framework to support his sprawling canvases; the profundity to match his precocity. That is, until now. His first film since Punch Drunk Love in 2002, There Will Be Blood is a massive leap forward; a bone fide American epic that seems to have been carved out of the very earth. It's built around a magnificent performance from Daniel Day Lewis - arguably the pinnacle of his career - as Daniel Plainview, a prospector turned oilman in the early days of the twentieth century, a pioneer capitalist and the quintessential self-made man. Spanning the period from 1898 to 1928, but largely set in southern California before WWI, the movie is structured as a slow reveal, beginning with Daniel (in anything but plain view) toiling with a pickaxe in a mineshaft, and ending on an unforgettable image of a man spent, exhausted, empty and alone. It's not much of a spoiler to say things end badly: the ominous tone is set from the first notes of Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood's unsettling score, a discordant orchestral piece influenced by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, whose music haunted The Exorcist and The Shining. The violence promised in the title erupts from nature herself. Strikes and gushers lash out in accidents that smack of retribution, claiming several men before we've even heard a word spoken (the first quarter of an hour is entirely speechless). But violence is also bottled up deep in Plainview, a driven, obsessive entrepreneur who calculates his words for maximum profit and keeps a tally in his head. What measure of man is this? Initially we may admire his acumen and zeal. He adopts the orphaned son of a colleague and brings him up as his own. Day-Lewis affects a shewd, eminently respectable demeanour. His voice rich and seasoned (and sounding echoes of John Huston's Noah Cross in Chinatown), Plainview pitches the common good, schools and churches. It's true he seizes opportunity ruthlessly when it comes, but he brings prosperity in his wake. It's only when he takes the Almighty for an enemy (in the person of Paul Dano's evangelical preacher Eli Sunday) that we begin to realise the extent to which he's motivated by rancour and pride. "I have a competition in me," he will admit in a fleeting moment of candor with his brother Henry (Kevin J O'Connor). "I want no one else to succeed... I hate most people." Money and religion: these are grand themes, twin pillars of civilization, and Anderson maps them with a surveyor's meticulous patience and precision. Taking its cue from Upton Sinclair's novel "Oil!" (but soon going its own way), this is a film about the foundation of the American century, the oil boom that would propel the first among nations. Over the course of two and a half hours we learn much about the process by which this vast resource was reaped. Nor is it any coincidence that the climax is reserved for 1928, the very verge of the Crash - any more than it's a coincidence this great, monumental movie should emerge now, as the fag-end of the Oil Age slouches onto the horizon. The breadth of vision is impressive, but the lean, stark filmmaking more so: for all its turbulent, troubling undercurrents, this is also Anderson's most classical movie, a work that seems pinned to a number of illustrious forebears: Giant, certainly, but Citizen Kane more importantly; Chinatown; Eureka and von Stroheim's Greed. To these we might add two more John Huston films: The Treasure of Sierra Madre and Wise Blood. And then there's family, as there always is in Anderson's films, even if blood relatives are regularly supplanted by surrogates. Not that these relationships are any more sustaining in the long run: fathers and father figures invariably fail their sons and daughters, just as children are doomed to disappoint their parents and mentors. Rejection; alienation; anger - this is what fires Anderson, and never more ferociously than here. He unleashes scenes of madness and psychosis, such savage and extreme black comedy - Daniel's baptism - that the movie finally teeters on the edge of disaster. (There must be something of Daniel Plainview in PTA, to be able to get under the skin of such a monster.) God and mammon get such a thorough thrashing, it's practically sadistic. And yet for all the sins we witness in There Will Be Blood - they include blasphemy, theft and murder - the most shocking incident is this one: when Daniel takes the young son who is not his flesh but who he has come to love - the boy loves him, at least - and abandons him to his fortune. It's a wretched betrayal disguised as a kindness, and he acts more than anything out of embarrassment. Perhaps it's at this moment that Daniel starts to hate himself. His fate is sealed. TOM CHARITY

DIRECTED BY PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON

ST: DANIEL DAY LEWIS, PAUL DANO, KEVIN J O’CONNOR

Synopsis:

Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis) taps an ocean of oil in Little Boston, California, in 1911. But his moment of glory is marred by a feud with an evangelical preacher, Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), and an accident that deprives his adopted son HW of hearing. Daniel spurns the child, opening up to Henry (Kevin J O’Connor), his long lost brother instead…

Paul Thomas Anderson has been an audacious talent from the first. He’s one of those rare young American filmmakers not afraid to call himself an artist and claim the privileges bestowed by authorship: final cut, for instance… and the right to fall on your face if you have to. Anyone who values hubris and exuberance has to warm to PTA, but at the same time it’s obvious that he hasn’t always found a narrative framework to support his sprawling canvases; the profundity to match his precocity. That is, until now.

His first film since Punch Drunk Love in 2002, There Will Be Blood is a massive leap forward; a bone fide American epic that seems to have been carved out of the very earth. It’s built around a magnificent performance from Daniel Day Lewis – arguably the pinnacle of his career – as Daniel Plainview, a prospector turned oilman in the early days of the twentieth century, a pioneer capitalist and the quintessential self-made man.

Spanning the period from 1898 to 1928, but largely set in southern California before WWI, the movie is structured as a slow reveal, beginning with Daniel (in anything but plain view) toiling with a pickaxe in a mineshaft, and ending on an unforgettable image of a man spent, exhausted, empty and alone.

It’s not much of a spoiler to say things end badly: the ominous tone is set from the first notes of Radiohead‘s Jonny Greenwood‘s unsettling score, a discordant orchestral piece influenced by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, whose music haunted The Exorcist and The Shining.

The violence promised in the title erupts from nature herself. Strikes and gushers lash out in accidents that smack of retribution, claiming several men before we’ve even heard a word spoken (the first quarter of an hour is entirely speechless). But violence is also bottled up deep in Plainview, a driven, obsessive entrepreneur who calculates his words for maximum profit and keeps a tally in his head.

What measure of man is this? Initially we may admire his acumen and zeal. He adopts the orphaned son of a colleague and brings him up as his own. Day-Lewis affects a shewd, eminently respectable demeanour. His voice rich and seasoned (and sounding echoes of John Huston’s Noah Cross in Chinatown), Plainview pitches the common good, schools and churches. It’s true he seizes opportunity ruthlessly when it comes, but he brings prosperity in his wake.

It’s only when he takes the Almighty for an enemy (in the person of Paul Dano’s evangelical preacher Eli Sunday) that we begin to realise the extent to which he’s motivated by rancour and pride. “I have a competition in me,” he will admit in a fleeting moment of candor with his brother Henry (Kevin J O’Connor). “I want no one else to succeed… I hate most people.”

Money and religion: these are grand themes, twin pillars of civilization, and Anderson maps them with a surveyor’s meticulous patience and precision. Taking its cue from Upton Sinclair’s novel “Oil!” (but soon going its own way), this is a film about the foundation of the American century, the oil boom that would propel the first among nations. Over the course of two and a half hours we learn much about the process by which this vast resource was reaped. Nor is it any coincidence that the climax is reserved for 1928, the very verge of the Crash – any more than it’s a coincidence this great, monumental movie should emerge now, as the fag-end of the Oil Age slouches onto the horizon.

The breadth of vision is impressive, but the lean, stark filmmaking more so: for all its turbulent, troubling undercurrents, this is also Anderson’s most classical movie, a work that seems pinned to a number of illustrious forebears: Giant, certainly, but Citizen Kane more importantly; Chinatown; Eureka and von Stroheim’s Greed. To these we might add two more John Huston films: The Treasure of Sierra Madre and Wise Blood.

And then there’s family, as there always is in Anderson’s films, even if blood relatives are regularly supplanted by surrogates. Not that these relationships are any more sustaining in the long run: fathers and father figures invariably fail their sons and daughters, just as children are doomed to disappoint their parents and mentors.

Rejection; alienation; anger – this is what fires Anderson, and never more ferociously than here. He unleashes scenes of madness and psychosis, such savage and extreme black comedy – Daniel’s baptism – that the movie finally teeters on the edge of disaster. (There must be something of Daniel Plainview in PTA, to be able to get under the skin of such a monster.) God and mammon get such a thorough thrashing, it’s practically sadistic.

And yet for all the sins we witness in There Will Be Blood – they include blasphemy, theft and murder – the most shocking incident is this one: when Daniel takes the young son who is not his flesh but who he has come to love – the boy loves him, at least – and abandons him to his fortune. It’s a wretched betrayal disguised as a kindness, and he acts more than anything out of embarrassment. Perhaps it’s at this moment that Daniel starts to hate himself. His fate is sealed.

TOM CHARITY

Yeasayer To Play Uncut Stage At Brighton’s Great Escape

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Yeasayer To Play Uncut Stage At Brighton’s Great Escape
Yeasayer are among the first bands booked to play the Uncut stage at this year's Great Escape Festival. Yeasayer [pictured above], the most expansive, eclectic band on the new Brooklyn scene will be joined by Wild Beasts, a compelling mix of Orange Juice jangle and Billy Mackenzie operatics; and No...

Yeasayer are among the first bands booked to play the Uncut stage at this year’s Great Escape Festival.

Yeasayer [pictured above], the most expansive, eclectic band on the new Brooklyn scene will be joined by Wild Beasts, a compelling mix of Orange Juice jangle and Billy Mackenzie operatics; and No Age, a thrilling punk update of My Bloody Valentine, who are revolutionising the LA music scene on the Uncut-sponsored stage.

The Great Escape is an annual three-day festival of the best new music in the world, and this year takes place at venues around Brighton between May 15 and 17.

We’ll be confirming many more bands for our bill over the next few weeks; keep an eye on www.uncut.co.uk.

In the meantime, Early Bird Festival tickets are available for £35, allowing you access to all Great Escape gigs over the festival’s three days (so long as there’s room in each venue when you get there, of course).

Other bands announced thus far include The Young Knives, Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong, Lightspeed Champion and Black Mountain.

Tickets, for over-18s only, are available from www.escapegreat.com or by phoning 0870 907 0999.

Meanwhile, Yeasayer are also about to head out on a UK tour, the dates are:

Birmingham, Bar Academy (March 5)

London, ICA (6)

Glasgow, King Tuts (8)

Manchester, Night & Day (9)

London, ICA (10)

Boredoms: “Super Roots 9”

John Mulvey
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By some immeasurably strong act of will, I’ve refrained from banging on about the Boredoms round these parts for the best part of three months – ever since, in fact, they played the best show I saw in 2007. Happily, I have a very good excuse to go on about them again. I somehow managed to get through last year without buying a pricey Japanese import of a Boredoms record called “Super Roots 9”, and it transpires my restraint has paid off: the excellent Thrill Jockey operation out of Chicago have signed the band, and are starting the relationship with a UK/US release of this (unsurprisingly) astonishing live album. Regular readers will have picked up some details from my obsession with the band, but I’ll reiterate. After about two decades of radically eclectic music, the Boredoms – or Vooredoms (the double 'o' is an infinity symbol), as they may be called now – are currently a four-piece, comprising Eye on vocals and various other things (mixing, electronics, and so on, though he’s recently added a fence of guitar necks to his armoury) and three drummers. A basic Boredoms gig these days involves something like an hour and a half of ecstatic, relentless music, driving across the terrain of dance music, hardcore, Krautrock and, most reliably, delirious psychedelic freak-out. It’s some of the highest and most uplifting music I’ve ever heard, and it’s improved further by the imaginative ways Eye continues to expand his sound. Last summer, he played with 77 drummers in a New York park. On Christmas Eve 2004, the band hooked up with a 24-piece choir to add massed cosmic ululations to the cascading, euphoric rhythms, whooshes and yelps that generally make up a Boredoms gig, and it’s this show that is captured on “Super Roots 9” – the first addition to their “Super Roots” series in years. Without being precious about this, it’s impossible for even the most vivid recording to capture the relentless peaks of the Boredoms live. That said, “Super Roots 9” does a pretty good job of getting close. It begins with the choir alone, radiant, then kicks off into a 40 minute helter-skelter motorik rave called "LIVWE!!" that’ll be familiar – minus the choir, of course – to anyone who’s experienced the band live in the past few years. The intensity of it is quite incredible, a sense that the full-on blast of the band is almost too much to handle – almost, but not quite. It’s this precarious position, so transcendent, yet so close to being over-saturated, that adds a frantic tension to this uncommonly uplifting music. “Super Roots 9” is exhausting and exhilarating in equal measure, and it also makes me wonder, once again, whether Eye will ever try and capture this music that’s he’s been touring for years on a studio record. Maybe I’ll ask someone at Thrill Jockey and get back to you. . .

By some immeasurably strong act of will, I’ve refrained from banging on about the Boredoms round these parts for the best part of three months – ever since, in fact, they played the best show I saw in 2007.

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