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Carling Weekend Countdown: Bloc Party

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Carling Weekend Countdown: Bloc Party

This weekend sees the start of the annual Carling Weekend – a three day festival of some of the biggest and the best of the world’s rock bands. Starting this Friday (Aug 24) the event’s headliners include Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails and Razorlight. Throughout the week, Uncut will be previewing some of the must-see bands. Bloc Party are one of them. Playing the Main Stage on Saturday in Reading and Sunday in Leeds, the London band will be playing material from their second album titled - not entirely in keeping with the festival spirit - A Weekend In The City. The work of a self-consciously maturing band, this is an album by people who have got to the top only to find things are pretty dark when you get there. Sex, drugs and occasional violence are some of the album’s abiding themes, while the lyrics of singer Kele Okereke – like his memorable declaration “East London is a vampire…” – see the band unafraid of sticking their neck out. It’s dark stuff, but all that emotional turmoil makes for an explosive live show. Powered by Okereke’s impassioned vocals, and the spiky guitar playing of the wonky-haired Russell Lissack, Bloc Party are an excellent mixture of passion and fashion, and are definitely worth a look. Bloc Party appear on the main stage in Reading on Saturday and Leeds on Sunday, alongside Red Hot Chili Peppers, Arcade Fire, Eagles Of Death Metal and The Shins.

This weekend sees the start of the annual Carling Weekend – a three day festival of some of the biggest and the best of the world’s rock bands.

Starting this Friday (Aug 24) the event’s headliners include Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails and Razorlight.

Throughout the week, Uncut will be previewing some of the must-see bands.

Bloc Party are one of them. Playing the Main Stage on Saturday in Reading and Sunday in Leeds, the London band will be playing material from their second album titled – not entirely in keeping with the festival spirit – A Weekend In The City.

The work of a self-consciously maturing band, this is an album by people who have got to the top only to find things are pretty dark when you get there. Sex, drugs and occasional violence are some of the album’s abiding themes, while the lyrics of singer Kele Okereke – like his memorable declaration “East London is a vampire…” – see the band unafraid of sticking their neck out.

It’s dark stuff, but all that emotional turmoil makes for an explosive live show. Powered by Okereke’s impassioned vocals, and the spiky guitar playing of the wonky-haired Russell Lissack, Bloc Party are an excellent mixture of passion and fashion, and are definitely worth a look.

Bloc Party appear on the main stage in Reading on Saturday and Leeds on Sunday, alongside Red Hot Chili Peppers, Arcade Fire, Eagles Of Death Metal and The Shins.

Cut Of The Day: Flying Burritos Cover Trucker Classic

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Cut Of The Day: Flying Burritos Cover Trucker Classic

Today's youTube video clip comes coutesy of US TV in 1971. This clip of the Chris Hillman led Flying Burrito Brothers shows off a great live performnce of the classic 60s trucker song 'Six Days On The Road.' The song originally written by furtniture removals guys Earl Green & Carl Montgomery was made a hit by Dave Dudley in 1963. Check out the Burrito's great version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwPTYimAE7E

Today’s youTube video clip comes coutesy of US TV in 1971. This clip of the Chris Hillman led Flying Burrito Brothers shows off a great live performnce of the classic 60s trucker song ‘Six Days On The Road.’

The song originally written by furtniture removals guys Earl Green & Carl Montgomery was made a hit by Dave Dudley in 1963.

Check out the Burrito’s great version here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwPTYimAE7E

Green Man — Devendra, “olde English folk” and rain, rain and more rain

Michael Bonner
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Barely off site, but here’s how it was. Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks just wound it up on the main stage with the new addition of Sleater Kinney’s Janet Weiss behind the drum kit, and with a few choice words to some of their UK friends: “We endorse The Cribs, but not fucking Kasabian”. It’s something to do with a recent weekend at V Festival, apparently, and frankly we can’t say we blame him. The Jicks themselves remain something of an acquired taste – you can’t help but feel Malkmus’ skill is in elegantly slack guitar playing and couplets of the tossed-off variety, while sometime here feels overwrought or overdone. But still, there’s some fine moments and it’s worth staying to hear Malkmus’ between-song bon mots. Prior to The Jicks, Herman Dune played one of the sets of the weekend, David Herman Dune and his band play eerily beautiful songs like ‘Wish That I Could See You Soon’, tales of long-distance romance and life on the road beat out on trebly acoustic guitar and slipshod drums. There’s Devendra Banhart, looking sharp in tight black waistcoat and crisp white shirt, debuting a number of tracks from his new album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon backed by his Hairy Fairy band and bouncing round the stage rapping a shaker for a climactic ‘Just Like A Child’. Seasick Steve keeps it stripped down in the Folkey Dokey tent, a set of gnarled, bare-ass blues that lack gloss but make up for it with raw, earthy showmanship. Meanwhile, Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys flipped the notion solo sets have to be earnest yawn fests, wheeling onstage a billboard-sized testcard, dressing as a newsreader and an aeroplane captain, and during a climactic ‘Skylon’, relating the tale of a dramatic mid-air terrorist attack as friends dressed as air marshals and terrorists act out the warfare with fake TNT canisters and plastic guns. Although why the terrorist is wearing a Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers helmet remains unclear. In many ways, Green Man has moved far from its roots in bread-and-butter folk, so former Pentangle man John Renbourn feels pretty special, his set of dexterous baroque guitar and Celtic traditionals received with hushed awe. Meanwhile, out on the Literature tent, Shirley Collins performed the last of her three academic talks, a historical piece on old Romany song complete with ancient-sounding recordings of traveller’s songs. Directing Hand find their roots in the traditionals, too, although they spin out the influence in strange, experimental directions. Led by Alex Neilson, a young Scottish percussionist who’s been sharing the stage with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Directing Hand recast olde English folk as a broiling, improvised racket of freeform drums, sweeping harp, and throaty, undulating yodeling courtesy of his collaborator Vinnie Blackwall. It’s impressive stuff, but like the shins-deep mud plains that now cover much of the site, rather something of an endurance test. Still, it’s testament to Green Man’s spirit that even a spot of rain can’t ruin a good time. Roll on next year. LOUIS PATTISON

Barely off site, but here’s how it was. Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks just wound it up on the main stage with the new addition of Sleater Kinney’s Janet Weiss behind the drum kit, and with a few choice words to some of their UK friends: “We endorse The Cribs, but not fucking Kasabian”.

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Knocked Up

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Knocked Up

DIR: JUDD APATOW | ST: SETH ROGEN, KATHERINE HEIGL, PAUL RUDD What happens if the father of your baby is someone you normally wouldn’t look at twice? There’s an easy answer to that – “it rhymes with shmahmortion”, as someone delicately puts it; or there’s trying to make the best of it. I think we can agree the second option has greater comic potential, even if a sentimental fade-out is pretty much a given. On the face of it, this is just another high-concept romantic comedy, albeit with more belly laughs than most. But this summer’s US sleeper makes it two home runs on the bounce for The 40 Year Old Virgin writer-director-producer Judd Apatow, who must now be counted a cultural force to be reckoned with. And just as Virgin made a star out of Steve Carell, Knocked Up introduces a new comedy hero in the portly shape of 25-year-old Canadian Seth Rogen. An amiable, hairy, beer-bellied slob, Rogen has been enlivening the margins for a few years – but unless you’re an avid fan of Anchorman and The 40 Year Old Virgin you’re unlikely to know the name or recognise the face. In the US, his biggest claim to fame had been supporting roles in two short-lived sitcoms from the Apatow production line – Freaks And Geeks and Undeclared – both cancelled in their prime, but hip, funny cult items set in high school and college, respectively. It’s easy to see Knocked Up as the latest installment in Rogen’s sentimental education – not least because several more graduates from these shows also feature. Jay Baruchel, Jason Segel and Martin Starr play Ben’s house-mates: stoners and slackers who refuse to admit their student loan days are over. Pretty, goal-oriented blonde Alison (Katherine Heigl, from Grey’s Anatomy) is hardly the type to be attracted to Ben, but we can understand what he sees in her. And he’s funny, which goes a long way. If this odd couple routine is a tad obvious, you might think gags about obstetricians and epidurals have been done to death over the years. But Apatow likes these people too much to let them stay caricatures – we do, too – and don’t underestimate his knack for spreading zingers left, right and centre. Even the most hackneyed set-ups get a boost from his taste for vulgar mischief (two candid sex scenes are standouts). In this movie – as in The 40 Year Old Virgin – you can sense the American Pie generation growing up and settling down; but they’re definitely not going without a fight. A lot of the juiciest stuff here comes from the extreme contrast between Ben’s buddies (haphazardly applying themselves to cataloguing movie star nudity for an internet start-up) and Alison’s uptight sister, Debbie, and unhappy husband, Pete (Apatow’s wife, Leslie Mann, and Paul Rudd), whose marital woes don’t auger well for the expectant couple. At 39, and with two kids of his own, Apatow’s own sympathies are evidently split, if not quite evenly. The blokes definitely get a more indulgent eye, and probably more of the running time than the story would demand. Even so, apparently gratuitous episodes like Rogen and Rudd’s drug-addled trip to Vegas and Mann’s freak-out in front of an apologetic club doorman are going to be replayed long after the film’s conventionally pat and over-extended wrap-up has been forgiven and forgotten. As for Rogen, he has a couple more projects coming down the pike this year, Superbad and The Pineapple Express, both of which he’s also written. Comparisons with Will Ferrell don’t seem premature – we may even be looking at the next Bill Murray. A new star is born. TOM CHARITY

DIR: JUDD APATOW | ST: SETH ROGEN, KATHERINE HEIGL, PAUL RUDD

What happens if the father of your baby is someone you normally wouldn’t look at twice? There’s an easy answer to that – “it rhymes with shmahmortion”, as someone delicately puts it; or there’s trying to make the best of it. I think we can agree the second option has greater comic potential, even if a sentimental fade-out is pretty much a given.

On the face of it, this is just another high-concept romantic comedy, albeit with more belly laughs than most. But this summer’s US sleeper makes it two home runs on the bounce for The 40 Year Old Virgin writer-director-producer Judd Apatow, who must now be counted a cultural force to be reckoned with. And just as Virgin made a star out of Steve Carell, Knocked Up introduces a new comedy hero in the portly shape of 25-year-old Canadian Seth Rogen.

An amiable, hairy, beer-bellied slob, Rogen has been enlivening the margins for a few years – but unless you’re an avid fan of Anchorman and The 40 Year Old Virgin you’re unlikely to know the name or recognise the face. In the US, his biggest claim to fame had been supporting roles in two short-lived sitcoms from the Apatow production line – Freaks And Geeks and Undeclared – both cancelled in their prime, but hip, funny cult items set in high school and college, respectively.

It’s easy to see Knocked Up as the latest installment in Rogen’s sentimental education – not least because several more graduates from these shows also feature. Jay Baruchel, Jason Segel and Martin Starr play Ben’s house-mates: stoners and slackers who refuse to admit their student loan days are over.

Pretty, goal-oriented blonde Alison (Katherine Heigl, from Grey’s Anatomy) is hardly the type to be attracted to Ben, but we can understand what he sees in her. And he’s funny, which goes a long way.

If this odd couple routine is a tad obvious, you might think gags about obstetricians and epidurals have been done to death over the years. But Apatow likes these people too much to let them stay caricatures – we do, too – and don’t underestimate his knack for spreading zingers left, right and centre. Even the most hackneyed set-ups get a boost from his taste for vulgar mischief (two candid sex scenes are standouts). In this movie – as in The 40 Year Old Virgin – you can sense the American Pie generation growing up and settling down; but they’re definitely not going without a fight.

A lot of the juiciest stuff here comes from the extreme contrast between Ben’s buddies (haphazardly applying themselves to cataloguing movie star nudity for an internet start-up) and Alison’s uptight sister, Debbie, and unhappy husband, Pete (Apatow’s wife, Leslie Mann, and Paul Rudd), whose marital woes don’t auger well for the expectant couple.

At 39, and with two kids of his own, Apatow’s own sympathies are evidently split, if not quite evenly. The blokes definitely get a more indulgent eye, and probably more of the running time than the story would demand.

Even so, apparently gratuitous episodes like Rogen and Rudd’s drug-addled trip to Vegas and Mann’s freak-out in front of an apologetic club doorman are going to be replayed long after the film’s conventionally pat and over-extended wrap-up has been forgiven and forgotten.

As for Rogen, he has a couple more projects coming down the pike this year, Superbad and The Pineapple Express, both of which he’s also written. Comparisons with Will Ferrell don’t seem premature – we may even be looking at the next Bill Murray. A new star is born.

TOM CHARITY

This Is Shane Meadows

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This Is Shane Meadows

The action takes place in a small town, probably near Nottingham, left ruined by the multiple idiocies of Thatcherism. The focus is on a few boys, either just entering or leaving adolescence, who don’t have much of a paternal role model or, really, much of a purpose to their lives. One day, a charismatic figure arrives to galvanise them into some kind of action. There’s an explosive and terrible act of violence. Followed, finally, by a sort of redemption. Which Shane Meadows film are we talking about here? 24/7? This Is England? A Room For Romeo Brass? These are some of the very best and most humane British films of the past decade or so. Once Upon A Time In The Midlands (not included in this box set) is a bit closer to primetime sitcoms. Dead Man’s Shoes is bleaker, more barbaric – and, perhaps significantly, set in Derbyshire rather than Nottinghamshire. But really, they’re all the same film. The repetition isn’t necessarily a problem, of course. Meadows keeps working over the reasons why working-class males are driven to psychotic extremes, and consequently you could just about sell him as an East Midlands Scorsese. He’s certainly as sentimental about where he comes from, and as keen to find poetic resonances in ordinary lives. Like Scorsese, Meadows knows how to use a good tune: as Bob Hoskins shaves and Van Morrison’s “Wild Night” blares out in 24/7 (1997), the prospect of ballroom dancing with his aunt is invested with thrilling Dionysian potential. Meadows has his own De Niro, too, in the awkward shape of Paddy Considine: weird, intense, uncomfortably funny, often absolutely terrifying. He is not remotely funny in Dead Man’s Shoes (2004), mind, the slow and horrifying revenge thriller that Considine wrote with Meadows. As Richard (Considine) meticulously torments the gormless bullies who hounded his brother to death, the atrocities he commits are made righteous and plausible by the seriousness of his manner. In A Room For Romeo Brass (1999), Considine’s Morell initially appears to be a figure of fun, a “bloody gizzoid”. A loner who crashes into the lives of Romeo (Andrew Shim) and Gavin (Ben Marshall), Morell falls for Romeo’s sister (the brilliant and unheralded Vicky McClure, Meadows’ finest actress, who also excels as Lol in This Is England) and dreams, like Bob Hoskins in 24/7, of taking her to the only paradise he can imagine: Scarborough. Soon, though, Morell is revealed as an authentically deranged stalker, threatening first Gavin, then Gavin’s depressed, unemployed father. It’s Meadows’ best film, emotionally complicated and hugely moving, with Considine at his most strange and compelling. You wonder, if Considine had played Combo rather than Stephen Graham, whether This Is England (2007) might have been an even better one. Graham is very good as the National Front gauleiter, a corrupting force in the boisterous, noble community of skinheads led by Woody (Joseph Gilgun). But you miss Considine’s wired nuances, and at times Meadows’ morality, his drive to find goodness, overwhelms his storytelling gifts. Morality and a drive to find goodness are two of Meadows’ greatest attributes, too. He’s a hopeless romantic and a social realist, a fine comic (he plays “Man With Saucepan On Head” in 24/7, you’ll note) and the king of manly tearjerkers. At the end of This Is England, Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) ends his brief flirtation with the NF by flinging an England flag into the sea. Clayhill’s cover of “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” is playing, and you could take one of Morrissey’s lines as the key to all of Meadows’ films; “See the life I’ve had could make a good man turn bad.” Meadows, though, has more faith in the human spirit. No matter how much hardship they endure, his good men don’t stay bad forever. EXTRAS: Commentaries, documentaries, shorts, trailers, deleted scenes and a graphic novel animation of Dead Man’s Shoes. JOHN MULVEY

The action takes place in a small town, probably near Nottingham, left ruined by the multiple idiocies of Thatcherism. The focus is on a few boys, either just entering or leaving adolescence, who don’t have much of a paternal role model or, really, much of a purpose to their lives. One day, a charismatic figure arrives to galvanise them into some kind of action. There’s an explosive and terrible act of violence. Followed, finally, by a sort of redemption.

Which Shane Meadows film are we talking about here? 24/7? This Is England? A Room For Romeo Brass? These are some of the very best and most humane British films of the past decade or so. Once Upon A Time In The Midlands (not included in this box set) is a bit closer to primetime sitcoms. Dead Man’s Shoes is bleaker, more barbaric – and, perhaps significantly, set in Derbyshire rather than Nottinghamshire. But really, they’re all the same film.

The repetition isn’t necessarily a problem, of course. Meadows keeps working over the reasons why working-class males are driven to psychotic extremes, and consequently you could just about sell him as an East Midlands Scorsese. He’s certainly as sentimental about where he comes from, and as keen to find poetic resonances in ordinary lives. Like Scorsese, Meadows knows how to use a good tune: as Bob Hoskins shaves and Van Morrison’s “Wild Night” blares out in 24/7 (1997), the prospect of ballroom dancing with his aunt is invested with thrilling Dionysian potential.

Meadows has his own De Niro, too, in the awkward shape of Paddy Considine: weird, intense, uncomfortably funny, often absolutely terrifying. He is not remotely funny in Dead Man’s Shoes (2004), mind, the slow and horrifying revenge thriller that Considine wrote with Meadows. As Richard (Considine) meticulously torments the gormless bullies who hounded his brother to death, the atrocities he commits are made righteous and plausible by the seriousness of his manner.

In A Room For Romeo Brass (1999), Considine’s Morell initially appears to be a figure of fun, a “bloody gizzoid”. A loner who crashes into the lives of Romeo (Andrew Shim) and Gavin (Ben Marshall), Morell falls for Romeo’s sister (the brilliant and unheralded Vicky McClure, Meadows’ finest actress, who also excels as Lol in This Is England) and dreams, like Bob Hoskins in 24/7, of taking her to the only paradise he can imagine: Scarborough. Soon, though, Morell is revealed as an authentically deranged stalker, threatening first Gavin, then Gavin’s depressed, unemployed father. It’s Meadows’ best film, emotionally complicated and hugely moving, with Considine at his most strange and compelling.

You wonder, if Considine had played Combo rather than Stephen Graham, whether This Is England (2007) might have been an even better one. Graham is very good as the National Front gauleiter, a corrupting force in the boisterous, noble community of skinheads led by Woody (Joseph Gilgun). But you miss Considine’s wired nuances, and at times Meadows’ morality, his drive to find goodness, overwhelms his storytelling gifts.

Morality and a drive to find goodness are two of Meadows’ greatest attributes, too.

He’s a hopeless romantic and a social realist, a fine comic (he plays “Man With Saucepan On Head” in 24/7, you’ll note) and the king of manly tearjerkers. At the end of This Is England, Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) ends his brief flirtation with the NF by flinging an England flag into the sea. Clayhill’s cover of “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” is playing, and you could take one of Morrissey’s lines as the key to all of Meadows’ films; “See the life I’ve had could make a good man turn bad.” Meadows, though, has more faith in the human spirit. No matter how much hardship they endure, his good men don’t stay bad forever.

EXTRAS: Commentaries, documentaries, shorts, trailers, deleted scenes and a graphic novel animation of Dead Man’s Shoes.

JOHN MULVEY

Neil Young Album Details Emerge

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Neil Young Album Details Emerge

Neil Young has just completed work on his latest album 'Chrome Dreams II' which is due for release on October 16. Neil Young played the album to record label Reprise yesterday (August 19) continuing a playback tradition that goes back to 1969. 'Chrome Dreams II' features three songs revisited from the 1977 album 'Chrome Dreams' that Neil Young planned but didn't complete, as well as seven brand new recordings. The playback in Burbank, California was to 100 people, and lasted just over an hour. The album produced by 'The Volume Dealers' - NY and Niko Bolas features two epic tracks that clock in at eighteen and a half minutes and thirteen minutes respectively. Neil Young's last release was 'Living With War' in May 2006. More information is avaialable from Neil Young's official website here.

Neil Young has just completed work on his latest album ‘Chrome Dreams II’ which is due for release on October 16.

Neil Young played the album to record label Reprise yesterday (August 19) continuing a playback tradition that goes back to 1969.

‘Chrome Dreams II’ features three songs revisited from the 1977 album ‘Chrome Dreams’ that Neil Young planned but didn’t complete, as well as seven brand new recordings.

The playback in Burbank, California was to 100 people, and lasted just over an hour. The album produced by ‘The Volume Dealers’ – NY and Niko Bolas features two epic tracks that clock in at eighteen and a half minutes and thirteen minutes respectively.

Neil Young’s last release was ‘Living With War’ in May 2006.

More information is avaialable from Neil Young’s official website here.

Green Man — Joanna Newsom, Vashti Bunyan and Robert Plant

Michael Bonner
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Green Man. It’s all sylvan meadows, scampering deer, Hobits dancing in secluded woodland glades. Oh, OK, like all festivals this summer it’s a big sheet of grey mud and a big sheet of grey sky. But Green Man is different. Active since 2003, this festival’s distinct positioning, sat in various progressively burgeoning locations in the heart of the South Wales countryside, and its selective spirit – olde-tyme English folk, wyrd American psychedelia and the occasional burst of electronica just to confuse matters – has shaped up to be something of a gem for punters tired of festival homogenity. Little wonder a spree of similar boutique festivals like Latitude have sprung up in its wake. So yeah, it’s muddy. But it’s fun. On Friday night, the artist formerly known as [Smog], Bill Callahan and his harpist beau Joanna Newsom lit the wicker. But it’s Saturday things really get going. Six Organs Of Admittance is the best of the afternoon’s entertainment. Today consisting of Six Organs helmsman and sometime Comet On Fire Ben Chasny and his girl, Elise Ambrogio of Magik Markers, Six Organs whip up a savage, distinctly erotic storm of folk, acid rock and dirty blues. He’s on rhythm guitar, she’s onlead, and they face each other, leaning in, lips almost touching, weaving out beautiful fingerpicked folk songs or letting rip with caterwauling rock solos that strip the enamel off your teeth. And there’s even a cover of ‘Fire Of The Mind’ by Coil just to show you what sort of freaky headspace these two share. Yeah, Green Man might be a folk festival, but anyone coming here expecting oak-smelling traditionals might be in for a shock. PG Six battles off the downpour with cranked up, jammy electric folk. Manchester’s Rick Tomlinson, aka Voice Of The Seven Woods, switches between guitar and a Turkish saz, stringing out druggy Eastern melodies augmented by screaming violin and the funkiest drumming this side of ‘Sex Machine’. Oh, and there’s James Yorkston, who barely seems to have started his set as he announces “this is the last song” and launches into a twenty minute take on ‘The Lang Toun’ that builds to numerous cacophonic climaxes. Put it this way, if you’re expecting a day of rustic folk, this’ll be Dylan at Manchester Free Trade Hall all over again. What else? Well, genuinely with hand on heart, Green Man has the best food of any festival I’ve ever attended. Yesterday’s spicy fish and goat’s cheese wrap from the Arabic café was beyond excellent, and although I’m yet to brave the twenty minute queue for Pieminister, everyone who has done so has described the food in religious terms. Less certain about the rest of the shopping fare – the world’s first biodiesel fuelled pinball arcade, anyone? – but the site’s well worth a bit of an explore regardless. After Saturday night’s headliners, then – a beautiful,serene set from freak-folk’s leading lady Vashti Bunyan, a well-received set from New York’s proggy, complex Battles, and a show closer from Robert Plant And The Strange Sensation who dust down ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and play it note perfect – it’s up the hill in search of the party. We couldn’t find the campfire, but we did find the Rumpus Room, which far from resembling Ned Flanders’ basement, is instead a tent of chemically enhanced punters frugging into the night to  a soundtrack of glam rock, Arabian funk, and other 7” curios from the likes of DJing old hands like Richard Norris from The Grid. It’s like Sean Rowley’s Guilty Pleasures, except you don’t recognise any of the tune, but it really doesn’t matter. In short, then, Green Man: it’s wet, but a whole lot of fun. Catch you tomorrow. LOUIS PATTISON

Green Man. It’s all sylvan meadows, scampering deer, Hobits dancing in secluded woodland glades. Oh, OK, like all festivals this summer it’s a big sheet of grey mud and a big sheet of grey sky. But Green Man is different.

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The Stooges Blow V away With Frenzied Set

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The Stooges Blow V away With Frenzied Set

The Stooges turned in one the definitive sets of the weekend at V Festival in Chelmsford tonight (August 19). Coming onstage at 8.20pm, Iggy Pop exclaimed "we are the fucking Stooges", before launching straight into "Funhouse" highlights "Loose" and "Down On The Street". Pop was active throughout the set, climbing speaker stacks, running around the stage and jumping down to meet the audience countless times. As at Glastonbury this year, Pop kept cool by continually pouring bottles of water over himself. The Stooges went on to perform their best-loved songs over their forty-five minute slot, including "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "1970", to an incredibly appreciative audience. Earlier on the Channel 4 Stage, Manic Street Preachers drew a large crowd for a hit-laden set, which included "Motorcycle Emptiness" and "Australia". Although James Dean Bradfield's guitar was mostly inaudible for the first few songs, this was soon sorted out, with Bradfield telling the crowd: "It's my shit amps!" Uncut will be blogging from V Festival all weekend bringing you updates from the action, so take a look at Uncut’s festival blog.

The Stooges turned in one the definitive sets of the weekend at V Festival in Chelmsford tonight (August 19).

Coming onstage at 8.20pm, Iggy Pop exclaimed “we are the fucking Stooges”, before launching straight into “Funhouse” highlights “Loose” and “Down On The Street”.

Pop was active throughout the set, climbing speaker stacks, running around the stage and jumping down to meet the audience countless times.

As at Glastonbury this year, Pop kept cool by continually pouring bottles of water over himself.

The Stooges went on to perform their best-loved songs over their forty-five minute slot, including “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “1970”, to an incredibly appreciative audience.

Earlier on the Channel 4 Stage, Manic Street Preachers drew a large crowd for a hit-laden set, which included “Motorcycle Emptiness” and “Australia”.

Although James Dean Bradfield’s guitar was mostly inaudible for the first few songs, this was soon sorted out, with Bradfield telling the crowd: “It’s my shit amps!”

Uncut will be blogging from V Festival all weekend bringing you updates from the action, so take a look at Uncut’s festival blog.

Rilo Kiley Showcase New Album At V Festival

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Rilo Kiley Showcase New Album At V Festival

Rilo Kiley debuted a number of tracks from their new album at V Festival in Chelmsford this afternoon. They mainly performed songs from "Under The Blacklight", out this Monday (August 20), including "The Moneymaker", "Close Call" and "Breakin' Up". The LA group played to a small but highly enthusiastic crowd in the JJB/Puma Arena, also previewing fan favourites including "Does He Love You?" Just after Rilo Kiley, Guillemots played a well-received set on the Channel 4 Stage, performing songs such as "Annie Let's Not Wait" and "Trains To Brazil", before signing off with an extended and percussion-heavy rendition of "Sao Paulo". Uncut will be blogging from V Festival all weekend bringing you updates from the action, so take a look at Uncut’s festival blog.

Rilo Kiley debuted a number of tracks from their new album at V Festival in Chelmsford this afternoon.

They mainly performed songs from “Under The Blacklight”, out this Monday (August 20), including “The Moneymaker”, “Close Call” and “Breakin’ Up”.

The LA group played to a small but highly enthusiastic crowd in the JJB/Puma Arena, also previewing fan favourites including “Does He Love You?”

Just after Rilo Kiley, Guillemots played a well-received set on the Channel 4 Stage, performing songs such as “Annie Let’s Not Wait” and “Trains To Brazil”, before signing off with an extended and percussion-heavy rendition of “Sao Paulo”.

Uncut will be blogging from V Festival all weekend bringing you updates from the action, so take a look at Uncut’s festival blog.

“The fucking Stooges”: the greatest rock and roll band?

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We've just come back from The Stooges at the JJB/Puma Arena, sweaty, exhausted and exhilarated. Rarely have we ever seen a performance so elementally powerful, and rarely have we had the urge to get right down the front and go mad like we did tonight. "We are the fucking Stooges," says Iggy. Kicking off with 'Loose' and 'Down On The Street' is quite a beginning, but following it up with '1969' and 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' is something else. Then you get 'TV Eye', then 'No Fun', then '1970'. This is some show - these are more like nihilistic hymns than songs, more like forces of nature than constructed tunes. Iggy scales the speaker stack, undoing his trousers. He jumps down to meet the crowd, and the bouncers stand up on the rails, telling each other to push us down if we try to invade the stage. This isn't Snow Patrol, that's for sure. The Stooges are mostly over 60, but it's hard to believe how hard they rock. We might be sweaty, we might be exhausted, but we've just seen one of the best gigs we're ever likely to see. Long live The Stooges. Words: Tom Pinnock

We’ve just come back from The Stooges at the JJB/Puma Arena, sweaty, exhausted and exhilarated. Rarely have we ever seen a performance so elementally powerful, and rarely have we had the urge to get right down the front and go mad like we did tonight.

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Rilo Kiley and Guillemots: a mid-afternoon treat

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Their audience may have been tiny (to be brutally honest, the smallest we've seen in the JJB/Puma Arena this weekend), but every single one of them was hopelessly devoted to Rilo Kiley. Except the guys who were just hopelessly devoted to singer Jenny Lewis and her heart-stopping wardrobe, that is. The energy from the audience was palpable, even when Lewis and the band ran through new songs from their very-shortly-forthcoming album 'Under The Blacklight'. Dressed up in his usual formal tie and waistcoat, Blake Sennett looked every bit the dapper US indie gentleman, while Lewis, squeezed into a sparkly hotpant combo, was a quintessential frontwoman minx. All the better for their breathily sexual songs, however, like 'More Adventurous''s 'Portions For Foxes' and 'Breakin' Up' from their latest record. As usual, Lewis' voice was pure loveliness, especially on closer 'Does He Love You?'. A great band, unfairly overlooked amid V's more 'casual listener' audience. Crossing over to Guillemots on the Channel 4 Stage, we managed to catch the end of their set, including 'Annie Let's Not Wait' and a mammoth 10-minute version of 'Sao Paulo', which ended with thirteen people on stage banging drums and tambourines. We assume they were another band, but next time pick a more recognisable one for your stage invasion next time Mr Dangerfield, ok?! We're now getting slightly over excited about Iggy & The Stooges in the JJB/Puma Arena later on... Words: Tom Pinnock

Their audience may have been tiny (to be brutally honest, the smallest we’ve seen in the JJB/Puma Arena this weekend), but every single one of them was hopelessly devoted to Rilo Kiley. Except the guys who were just hopelessly devoted to singer Jenny Lewis and her heart-stopping wardrobe, that is.

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Seth Lakeman: rocking the psych-folk zeitgeist?

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Having just seen Seth Lakeman on the JJB/Puma Arena at V Festival, we're pleased to report the Devon folk sensation's performances have got quite daring - yes, Lakeman seems to have dropped some lemon drops, toddled off to visit the fairies in the woods and gone psychedelic. Ok, maybe we're exaggerating - Seth has gone to visit the piper at the gates of dawn, but only on one song. Joined by his three-piece band for the rest of the set, it was on 'Kitty Jay', the Folk Awards' star's most famous track, and his solo piece, that he really shined. With his band offstage, Lakeman launched into the song, his violin swooping and sliding like John Cale's viola, but never overshadowing his singing. At the end of the track, Lakeman upped the pace and, with his violin bathed in a cavern of reverb, turned out an unbelievable violin solo. Far out, man. The rest of Lakeman's set seemed to cast him more in the mould of a British Bright Eyes than a 'trad' folk singer, never a bad thing. Watch this space. Words: Tom Pinnock

Having just seen Seth Lakeman on the JJB/Puma Arena at V Festival, we’re pleased to report the Devon folk sensation’s performances have got quite daring – yes, Lakeman seems to have dropped some lemon drops, toddled off to visit the fairies in the woods and gone psychedelic.

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Sunday at V: the mud, the mud, the horror, the horror

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It's raining today in Chelmsford. It's only midday and the site is already churned up to a mudbath. Out with the wellies, then, and on with the show. Today, we'll be checking out Iggy & The Stooges, Rilo Kiley, Manic Street Preachers, The Killers, Seth Lakeman and many, many more. Rodr...

It’s raining today in Chelmsford. It’s only midday and the site is already churned up to a mudbath. Out with the wellies, then, and on with the show.

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Primal Scream destroy our eardrums with some techno-punk delights

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"Not bad for a bunch of old cunts, eh?" says Mani at the end of Primal Scream's set - and he isn't wrong. Following up their triptych of electro-punk terrorism albums with the watered-down Stones-lite of 'Riot City Blues' wasn't the Scream's brightest idea, but tonight they redeem themselves. Gone are the gospel singers of that album's overblown tour, leaving the band stripped down to a tight six-piece. The group are electrifying: a hailstorm of fuzz and techno beats, Stooges' energy and My Bloody Valentine noise. Even 'Riot City Blues' tracks are given the make over, draped in harder and punchier arrangements. Primal Scream's stylistic leaps over the last twenty-odd years could have led to a disjointed set, but it all somehow made sense, 'Loaded' fitting perfectly next to the likes of 'Swastika Eyes' and 'Burning Wheel'. If only they'd played 'Kowalski', then the night would have been perfect. They do, however, debut a new song, 'Can't Get Back', which Bobby claims is about "mumble...mumble....drugs....". Business as usual, then. It sounds like a continuation of 'Riot City Blues'' back to basics rock, but via the MC5 fuzzfest of 'Evil Heat''s 'City'. It bodes well. We also managed to check out a bit of Foo Fighters' headline slot on the main stage, beginning when Dave Grohl came out to play a strangely anti-climactic solo version of 'Everlong', before the full band launched into the mighty 'Monkey Wrench'. It's undeniable that the Foos put on a fantastic rock show. Although they pursue lowest common denominator crowd-pleasing in the way they drop out to let the audience sing the chorus of every single song, they do it so well, and it's so life-affirming, they effectively elevate the singalong to the status of high art, ahem. Everyone knows the words to every song and it's a real communal event. God Bless Dave Grohl. Next week he'll surely be uniting Israel and Palestine with the dumb rock thrills of 'All My Life' or 'Low'. Words: Tom Pinnock

“Not bad for a bunch of old cunts, eh?” says Mani at the end of Primal Scream‘s set – and he isn’t wrong.

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Primal Scream Debut New Song At V Festival

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Primal Scream Debut New Song At V Festival

Primal Scream performed a brand new song at V Festival tonight (August 18), when they headlined the JJB/Puma Arena. Bobby Gillespie and his bandmates ran through new track "Can't Get Back" in the midst of a thrilling greatest hits set, which included "Rocks", "Country Girl" and "Burning Wheel". Leaving the stage after "Rocks", the band returned to perform "Damaged", with Gillespie saying: "This is for Tony Wilson of Factory Records, who died last week. He was a big inspiration to us." Primal Scream then played "Loaded", before ending with "Movin' On Up". Foo Fighters headlined the V Stage tonight, following their acoustic performance earlier this afternoon. Dave Grohl took to the stage on his own and launched into "Everlong", as he did at the recent Live Earth concert, before being joined by the rest of the group at the final chorus. The band then launched into a crowd-pleasing set, featuring fan favourites including "Monkey Wrench" and "Breakout", before ending with "All My Life". The V Festival continues tomorrow, with Chelmsford set to host performances from Rilo Kiley, Iggy & The Stooges, Manic Street Preachers and Rodrigo y Gabriela. Uncut will be blogging from V Festival all weekend bringing you updates from the action, so take a look at Uncut’s festival blog.

Primal Scream performed a brand new song at V Festival tonight (August 18), when they headlined the JJB/Puma Arena.

Bobby Gillespie and his bandmates ran through new track “Can’t Get Back” in the midst of a thrilling greatest hits set, which included “Rocks”, “Country Girl” and “Burning Wheel”.

Leaving the stage after “Rocks”, the band returned to perform “Damaged”, with Gillespie saying: “This is for Tony Wilson of Factory Records, who died last week. He was a big inspiration to us.”

Primal Scream then played “Loaded”, before ending with “Movin’ On Up”.

Foo Fighters headlined the V Stage tonight, following their acoustic performance earlier this afternoon.

Dave Grohl took to the stage on his own and launched into “Everlong”, as he did at the recent Live Earth concert, before being joined by the rest of the group at the final chorus.

The band then launched into a crowd-pleasing set, featuring fan favourites including “Monkey Wrench” and “Breakout”, before ending with “All My Life”.

The V Festival continues tomorrow, with Chelmsford set to host performances from Rilo Kiley, Iggy & The Stooges, Manic Street Preachers and Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Uncut will be blogging from V Festival all weekend bringing you updates from the action, so take a look at Uncut’s festival blog.

Babyshambles Draw A Packed Arowd at V

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Babyshambles Draw A Packed Arowd at V

Babyshambles drew a large crowd at V Festival in Chelmsford today (August 18), despite heavy rain throughout their set. At their allotted start time of 6.00pm, the band bounded onstage and launched into new single "The Delivery", the first of a handful of tracks from their second album, "Shotter's Nation", that they previewed. Pete Doherty was on particularly lively form, regularly speaking to the crowd, throwing out flowers and even his broken guitar into the throng. The crowd remained in high spirits throughout, with the biggest cheers reserved for Libertines' track "What Katie Did", "Pipedown" and closer "Fuck Forever". Earlier in the day, Foo Fighters turned in a special secret acoustic set on the Channel 4 Stage. The set, billed under the name 606, included renditions of the Nirvana b-side "Marigold", as well as "Cold In Day In The Sun" and new track "But Honestly". The band were also joined by ex-Germs and ex-Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear and violinist Jesse Green. Uncut will be blogging from V Festival all weekend bringing you updates from the action, so take a look at Uncut’s festival blog.

Babyshambles drew a large crowd at V Festival in Chelmsford today (August 18), despite heavy rain throughout their set.

At their allotted start time of 6.00pm, the band bounded onstage and launched into new single “The Delivery”, the first of a handful of tracks from their second album, “Shotter’s Nation”, that they previewed.

Pete Doherty was on particularly lively form, regularly speaking to the crowd, throwing out flowers and even his broken guitar into the throng.

The crowd remained in high spirits throughout, with the biggest cheers reserved for Libertines’ track “What Katie Did”, “Pipedown” and closer “Fuck Forever”.

Earlier in the day, Foo Fighters turned in a special secret acoustic set on the Channel 4 Stage.

The set, billed under the name 606, included renditions of the Nirvana b-side “Marigold”, as well as “Cold In Day In The Sun” and new track “But Honestly”.

The band were also joined by ex-Germs and ex-Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear and violinist Jesse Green.

Uncut will be blogging from V Festival all weekend bringing you updates from the action, so take a look at Uncut’s festival blog.

Babyshambles and The Coral at V – both on top form

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While some recent Babyshambles performances have been like peeking into the rehearsal room of a really bad sixth form band, today they put on a surprisingly good show. Maybe Pete's recent jail threat has calmed him down or perhaps being banned from London has cleaned him up - whatever the cause, Doherty was surprisingly engaging with the audience and every bit the consummate showman. From new single 'The Delivery' to 'Pipedown' to 'What Katie Did', Babyshambles were tight and on top form. Pete threw his vintage guitar into the audience when it failed to work, then brought out a bunch of roses in a Morrissey-esque fashion - he was far from the automaton of past gigs. Doherty even poked fun at his own self-image - something that he's presumably been too smacked up to do before - saying prior to closer 'Fuck Forever': "That's about your lot, that's all you'll get. Can we get paid now?" The Coral were also on top form. A reliable live band, the Hoylake sextet played a greatest hits set, but with some added ferocity to their Merseybeat-psych. 'She Sings The Mourning' and 'Goodbye' were extended into scorching jams, demonstrating the heights of guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones' skills. That The Coral can combine these flights of experimental fancy with the catchiest of tunes is a special thing, and they got the whole Channel 4 Stage singing along to 'Dreaming Of You'. We're off to see Jarvis Cocker on the JJB Stage now - if he does 'Common People', you'll be the first to know. Words: Tom Pinnock

While some recent Babyshambles performances have been like peeking into the rehearsal room of a really bad sixth form band, today they put on a surprisingly good show.

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Edinburgh Film Festival — Saturday round up

Michael Bonner
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It's raining at the moment and the press screenings have temporarily halted to allow the local cinemas to let real people in to see normal movies, like The Bourne Ultimatum. I thought I'd take advantage of this lull in the proceedings to catch up with what I've seen. Yesterday, I got very excited about the brilliant In Search Of A Midnight Kiss. I met the producer Seth Caplan and director Alex Holdridge last night at the party for Control, the Ian Curtis movie. Apparently, Alex financed the film on his credit card, with a $3,000 limit, which makes this a terrific example of inventive, guerilla film making. Of course, not everything I've seen was a good as Midnight Kiss. I sat through a teeth-grindingly dull doc on Kurt Cobain, called About A Son. It uses all the interview tapes with Cobain that Michael Azzerad recorded for his Come As You Are biography. Like Julien Temple's Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten, you get the slightly eerie experience of the subject telling their own life story from beyond the grave. And it's a pretty arduous catalogue of woes, as Cobain miserably details his life. Ramdom words Cobain spoke that I jotted down include "deformed", "pain", "self-loathing", plus the phrase: "I was most likely to succeed in bringing an AK47 to school and blowing everyone away." I mean, you know, some great songs and all that, but the self-indulgent whining is pretty tiresome after, ooh, all of 5 minutes. This is played over footage of his hometown, Aberdeen in Washington State. Shot in Winter, there's equally grim footage of lumber yards, run down bars, gormless looking local yoots and ramshackle trailer parks. Enough, indeed, to drive anyone to develop a healthy smack habit. I was more impressed with Chan Park-Wook's latest, I'm A Cyborg But That's OK, which starts off in a rather whimsical tone, as a young girl, Young-goon (Lim Soo-jung), convinced she's an android, is institutionalised with an equally whacky bunch of inmates. It's kind of like Amelie coupled with One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, I guess. But Young-goon thinks eating food will damage her delicate circuitry, and the film becomes a little darker as she begins to starve to death. Maybe her rather touching friendship with another inmate, Il-sun (Jung Ji-hoon), can save her. Anyway, as you'd expect from Park-Wook, it looks fantastic -- rich, bold, vibrant colours -- and the flights of fantasy work well. It's a lot more gentle and playful that the Vengeance Trilogy, though there's one fantasy sequence where Young-goon imagines she's killing the entire medical staff of the institution that's as bloody as anything in Oldboy. I was hoping to see Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park later, but I've just heard the print didn't ship in time, which is a shame. Instead, Time Out's Dave Calhoun, a good friend of UNCUT, is doing a Q+A with director Andrew Kotting later, so I think I'll catch that. It'll keep me out of the pub, at any rate.

It’s raining at the moment and the press screenings have temporarily halted to allow the local cinemas to let real people in to see normal movies, like The Bourne Ultimatum. I thought I’d take advantage of this lull in the proceedings to catch up with what I’ve seen.

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Foo Fighters play secret gig as 606

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First thing this afternoon, we popped down to the Channel 4 Stage to see headliners Foo Fighters perform a secret gig. Dave Grohl arrived onstage and was immediately faced by a mass of cheers from the small crowd that had gathered to watch the 'band' 606. Foo Fighters In no time at all word had obviously spread, and the crowd trebled in size as the band ran through some of the songs that wouldn't make their headline set tonight. Starting off with 'Marigold', a Grohl-penned Nirvana b-side, they then picked through some of their more mellow tracks, including 'See You', 'Cold Day In The Sun' and 'Big Me'. During 'See You', Grohl took the chance to introduce his band at length - and we have to say we were pretty excited when we learned the third guitarist in the line-up was none other than Pat Smear, ex-Germ, ex-Foo Fighter and ex-Nirvana guitarist (if only for 'Unplugged...'). Let's hope he plays with them tonight. "This band 606 are pretty good," said a punter behind me. We also managed to see Editors' set on the main V Stageat 2.30pm. They might have had a slow-burning career trajectory, but they're undeniably massive now, and the crowd clapped and sang along to every song. Expect an even higher billing for Editors next year, preferably in the dark where their twilight-Joy Division-esque-ruminations belong. Words: Tom Pinnock

First thing this afternoon, we popped down to the Channel 4 Stage to see headliners Foo Fighters perform a secret gig. Dave Grohl arrived onstage and was immediately faced by a mass of cheers from the small crowd that had gathered to watch the ‘band’ 606.

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Edinburgh Film Festival — my favourite film so far!

Michael Bonner
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Okay, so the best thing about film festivals is stumbling into a film about which you know absolutely nothing and walk out, 90 minutes later, convinced you've just seen the best film of your life. So, let me tell you about In Search Of A Midnight Kiss, then. I didn't know it even existed until about 11 last night when I was in the Filmhouse bar and a 30 second clip running on a reel of trailers caught my eye. It was a black and white image of a cool-looking, fair-haired girl with unfeasibly large sunglasses, drawing on a cigarette. I'm a bit of a sucker for that kind of thing, and a friend, Jason Solomons from The Observer, mentioned he'd heard it was very good. It certainly is. It's an LA-shot indie, made for what looks like a fiver. In principle, it follows a similar pattern to Richard Linklater's film, Before Sunset (in fact, the producer Anne Walker-McBay has worked on a number of Linklater's films). Wilson, a twentysomething would-be scriptwriter, is coming out a particularly bad time after having split with his long-term girlfriend. It's New Year's Eve, and rather than face the night alone pontificating gloomily on his predicament, he posts a personal ad online for a date for the night. Which is how he meets Vivian. Wilson's a cynic, presumably burned in the wake of his recent split. But he's caring, and warm. Vivian, on the face of it, could be trouble. She "auditions" him for five minutes before decided to go out with him, chainsmoking cigarettes as she does. She's kinda kooky, kinda mysterious -- but not in a dreadful, self-conscious way. You sense she, too, is fragile, has her own set of problems. The two spend the evening walking and talking round LA. Their evening careers between moments of genuine, intimate human insight to bickering, flirting, drinking. Finally, there is a bittersweet liason of sorts. What's great about it is the way this blossoming relationship feels completely genuine. As Wilson and Vivian, Scoot McNairy and Sara Simmonds are both highly persuasive; you feel their relationship develop in an unhurried, believable way. The film's pretty funny, too. It opens with Wilson being caught masturbating by Jacob, his flatmate, over pictures of Jacob's girlfriend, Min. If you think this is a low budget riff on gross-out teen comedies, then fortunately this spools out into a loose, charming and engaging romantic comedy. The Festival are describing it as "the American indie discovery of the year". At time of writing, it doesn't seem to have a UK distributor, but I genuinely hope someone picks it up soon. It's honestly one of those films that, when you see it, you're hooked. You can find more information about the film here.

Okay, so the best thing about film festivals is stumbling into a film about which you know absolutely nothing and walk out, 90 minutes later, convinced you’ve just seen the best film of your life.

So, let me tell you about In Search Of A Midnight Kiss, then.

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