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Franz Ferdinand Debut New Material

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Franz Ferdinand Debut New Material

Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy played a short set, including a new song called "Catherine Kiss Me", during the Opening Night party at the Edinburgh Film Festival yesterday. The Opening Night film was Hallam Foe, whose soundtrack, released through Domino records, includes another new Franz song, "Hallam Foe Dandelion Blow". The party was held at the Edinburgh School of Art, where Kapranos and McCarthy took to the stage in front of an invited audience who included actress Tilda Swinton and Hallam Foe star, Jamie Bell. "We're the slightly less glamorous half of Franz," joked Kapranos, before they played "Hallam Foe Dandelion Blow", "Catherine Kiss Me", "Matinee" and "Jacqueline". "We'll let you go back to your banging House music now," laughed Kapranos as they left the stage.

Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy played a short set, including a new song called “Catherine Kiss Me”, during the Opening Night party at the Edinburgh Film Festival yesterday.

The Opening Night film was Hallam Foe, whose soundtrack, released through Domino records, includes another new Franz song, “Hallam Foe Dandelion Blow”.

The party was held at the Edinburgh School of Art, where Kapranos and McCarthy took to the stage in front of an invited audience who included actress Tilda Swinton and Hallam Foe star, Jamie Bell.

“We’re the slightly less glamorous half of Franz,” joked Kapranos, before they played “Hallam Foe Dandelion Blow”, “Catherine Kiss Me”, “Matinee” and “Jacqueline”.

“We’ll let you go back to your banging House music now,” laughed Kapranos as they left the stage.

Cut Of The Day: The Stooges’ phenomenal ‘1970’

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Cut Of The Day: The Stooges’ phenomenal ‘1970’

Cut Of The Day: Thursday August 16. The Stooges played a phenomenal set at Glastonbury this year, with more raw power and aggression than a band a third of their age. Have a look at this great video of their Glasto performance of “1970” from their album “Funhouse” to see what to expect at V Festival this weekend (August 18-19), where The Stooges play the JJB/Puma Arena. Check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck2nU-eS5_g

Cut Of The Day: Thursday August 16.

The Stooges played a phenomenal set at Glastonbury this year, with more raw power and aggression than a band a third of their age.

Have a look at this great video of their Glasto performance of “1970” from their album “Funhouse” to see what to expect at V Festival this weekend (August 18-19), where The Stooges play the JJB/Puma Arena.

Check out the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck2nU-eS5_g

Les Savy Fav’s “Let’s Stay Friends”

John Mulvey
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Around the turn of the decade, I used to go and see a Brooklyn band called Les Savy Fav every time they played London. They were a fantastic night out. The singer, Tim Harrington, occasionally behaved like a cross between Iggy Pop, Salvador Dali and Captain Birdseye. I remember one show where he spent most of the show stalking the dancefloor with a monitor on his shoulder, another that probably involved quite a lot of shoe throwing, and a third where the entire crowd were compelled to sit on the floor of the Dublin Castle while he passed among us. Harrington was always very funny, and it helped that he had such a tight band backing him up. Because before their New York/Brooklyn contemporaries made post-punk hip, Les Savy Fav understood that there was a continuum from punk, to the Gang Of Four and Public Image and Talking Heads, to US hardcore and American underground bands like Fugazi, right on through the likes of Sleater-Kinney. Difficult rhythms, cheesewire guitars, literate words; none of this ever went away, it just stopped selling itself to the fashionable kids. The weird thing about Les Savy Fav, though, is that their records never had the same impact. I'm pretty sure I have them all at home, I remember enjoying them briefly, but I couldn't name you a single song. For me, it was all about the shows. The arrival of "Let's Stay Friends" makes me wonder, though: have their records radically improved, or should I go back and play the old ones again? My hunch (though I will check out "The Cat & The Cobra" etc again) is that it's mostly the former. "Let's Stay Friends" is the first Savy Fav album in six years, apparently, and God, it's great. In the interim, the band kept running their Frenchkiss label and, amongst other things, released the first two Hold Steady albums on it. If you're a fan of those wordy, anthemic records, you should definitely have a go with this; "The Year Before The Year 2000" and "Patty Lee", especially, have a similar feel to them of a kind of post-punk bar band. Imagine The Hold Steady, though, if the Husker Du love had been replaced by a powerful Fugazi influence; the fantastic "Brace Yourself" has the same taut, dub structure of something like "Waiting Room", I think. Or imagine The Hold Steady if, instead of parties and Catholicism and ordinary street-hustling lives, they sang about medieval monarchs ("Being the king was pretty cool," observes Harrington in "Raging In The Plague Age"). Of course, judging Les Savy Fav purely by comparing them with The Hold Steady is pretty unfair. "Let's Stay Friends" is simply a great record by a great rock'n'roll band who have, I think, finally found the great tunes to match their great ideas. Have a listen at myspace.com/lessavyfav and let me know what you think.

Around the turn of the decade, I used to go and see a Brooklyn band called Les Savy Fav every time they played London. They were a fantastic night out. The singer, Tim Harrington, occasionally behaved like a cross between Iggy Pop, Salvador Dali and Captain Birdseye.

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RICHARD HAWLEY – Lady’s Bridge

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RICHARD HAWLEY – Lady’s Bridge

Hawley's fourth album, Cole's Corner, attracted a Mercury nomination, and established the former Pulp/Longpigs sideman as a late contender for Most Promising Newcomer of 1962. Happily, Lady's Bridge offers no great departures from that record's melancholy mood. It, too, sounds as if it has been decanted from a time when disc jockeys wore dinner jackets, and a gentleman in trouble might soothe his troubled heart with a stroll along the banks of the canal. Not that Hawley needs to change. While he still sings like a kinder, sadder Jarvis Cocker would, perhaps after an encounter with his karaoke uncle, he does it with such sincerity that it seems churlish to resist. Actually, he doesn't sing. He croons. The opening "Valentine", with a guitar strummed in the manner of a tolling bell, and cataclysmic strings on loan from The Walker Brothers, is a delicate and devastating pop song, in which a man struggles through the night to the dawnin' (rhymes with "warning in your eyes"), whereupon the tune swells to the point where only Roy Orbison could bring it home alive. As before, the album's title refers to a Sheffield landmark, but Hawley's concerns are universal. Mostly, he maps the faultlines between loneliness and love. Occasionally (the skiffly "Serious") he is upbeat. "The Streets Are Ours" is almost paternal, with Hawley rejecting the soulless people who "make our TVs blind us/from our vision and our goals." "Dark Road" is a defiant cowboy song and - if this really was 1962 - would benefit from being covered by Lee Marvin. But fear not. Mostly, Hawley is woeful. There are songs of ships on troubled oceans, suns which refuse to shine, and rivers (that rhyme with "forgive her"). The loveliest of these is "Roll River"; a gentle melody floated over honky-tonk piano and majestic strings. It sounds so peaceful and untroubled that you almost don't notice that the singer is busy yearning for death. Alastair McKay UNCUT: Where did the album title come from? RICHARD HAWLEY: Lady's Bridge is in Sheffield. It's a really ancient fording point. It was originally built out of wood in 1140 by a Norman Prince, and it was rebuilt after the great Sheffield floods of the 1840's.The title is a metaphor too; it's about leaving the past behind. UNCUT: Did you feel a pressure to succeed following the success of Coles Corner? RICHARD HAWLEY: In the studio, it was my job to make sure no one felt that pressure. In the end, you've got to make the music you want to make. It will hurt if people hate it, but I've got no choice. UNCUT: How do you write the songs? RICHARD HAWLEY: They mostly come to me when I'm distracted. A few times on tour I'd tell the bus driver to pull over. I would then run out on to the hard shoulder and sing a tune into a dictaphone. I can't drive, but I can certainly drive people crackers! Interview: Paul Moody

Hawley’s fourth album, Cole’s Corner, attracted a Mercury nomination, and established the former Pulp/Longpigs sideman as a late contender for Most Promising Newcomer of 1962. Happily, Lady’s Bridge offers no great departures from that record’s melancholy mood. It, too, sounds as if it has been decanted from a time when disc jockeys wore dinner jackets, and a gentleman in trouble might soothe his troubled heart with a stroll along the banks of the canal.

Not that Hawley needs to change. While he still sings like a kinder, sadder Jarvis Cocker would, perhaps after an encounter with his karaoke uncle, he does it with such sincerity that it seems churlish to resist. Actually, he doesn’t sing. He croons. The opening “Valentine”, with a guitar strummed in the manner of a tolling bell, and cataclysmic strings on loan from The Walker Brothers, is a delicate and devastating pop song, in which a man struggles through the night to the dawnin’ (rhymes with “warning in your eyes“), whereupon the tune swells to the point where only Roy Orbison could bring it home alive.

As before, the album’s title refers to a Sheffield landmark, but Hawley’s concerns are universal. Mostly, he maps the faultlines between loneliness and love. Occasionally (the skiffly “Serious”) he is upbeat. “The Streets Are Ours” is almost paternal, with Hawley rejecting the soulless people who “make our TVs blind us/from our vision and our goals.” “Dark Road” is a defiant cowboy song and – if this really was 1962 – would benefit from being covered by Lee Marvin.

But fear not. Mostly, Hawley is woeful. There are songs of ships on troubled oceans, suns which refuse to shine, and rivers (that rhyme with “forgive her“). The loveliest of these is “Roll River”; a gentle melody floated over honky-tonk piano and majestic strings. It sounds so peaceful and untroubled that you almost don’t notice that the singer is busy yearning for death.

Alastair McKay

UNCUT: Where did the album title come from?

RICHARD HAWLEY: Lady’s Bridge is in Sheffield. It’s a really ancient fording point. It was originally built out of wood in 1140 by a Norman Prince, and it was rebuilt after the great Sheffield floods of the 1840’s.The title is a metaphor too; it’s about leaving the past behind.

UNCUT: Did you feel a pressure to succeed following the success of Coles Corner?

RICHARD HAWLEY: In the studio, it was my job to make sure no one felt that pressure. In the end, you’ve got to make the music you want to make. It will hurt if people hate it, but I’ve got no choice.

UNCUT: How do you write the songs?

RICHARD HAWLEY: They mostly come to me when I’m distracted. A few times on tour I’d tell the bus driver to pull over. I would then run out on to the hard shoulder and sing a tune into a dictaphone. I can’t drive, but I can certainly drive people crackers!

Interview: Paul Moody

KULA SHAKER – Strangefolk

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KULA SHAKER – Strangefolk

The astral-travelling gatecrashers of Britpop, Kula Shaker found themselves cast into near-oblivion after ill-advised flirtations with right-wing imagery. Hit singles in Sanskrit also, bafflingly, fell out of vogue. Crispian Mills reconvened the band last year and, thrilled by the "energy", they return with what is, surprisingly, only their third album. They haven't downsized: the rock is (well played) bog-standard retro, but themes cover Guantanamo and the afterlife. Amid the Dylan raps and Yardbirds licks (and if The Charlatans made this, they'd be garlanded) there's a welcome sense that they're smartly chuckling at themselves. Chris Roberts

The astral-travelling gatecrashers of Britpop, Kula Shaker found themselves cast into near-oblivion after ill-advised flirtations with right-wing imagery. Hit singles in Sanskrit also, bafflingly, fell out of vogue. Crispian Mills reconvened the band last year and, thrilled by the “energy”, they return with what is, surprisingly, only their third album. They haven’t downsized: the rock is (well played) bog-standard retro, but themes cover Guantanamo and the afterlife. Amid the Dylan raps and Yardbirds licks (and if The Charlatans made this, they’d be garlanded) there’s a welcome sense that they’re smartly chuckling at themselves.

Chris Roberts

M.I.A. – Kala

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M.I.A. – Kala

The Central St Martins graduate with the Tamil Tiger parentage is poised to raise temperatures - and eyebrows - all over again. Maya Arulpragasam's second is a head-spinning equatorial dash so completely cuckoo it makes any accusations of cultural tourism seem mightily churlish. She's in Trinidad one minute, India via Angola the next, but always anchored by choleric basslines that are 100% London. Rhythms are constructed from gunshots, dog barks and swarms of rattling snares, with producer Dave 'Switch' Taylor at his most fidgety behind the desk. New Order and Pixies are plundered for apocalyptic oomph on the stupefying "$20" while "Mango Pickle Down River" brilliantly finds M.I.A. trading rhymes with aboriginal kids. She twangs the boundaries of taste both lyrically ("Take me on a genocide tour/Take me on a trip to Darfur") and musically. But a knockout's a knockout, however messy the bout. Sam Richards

The Central St Martins graduate with the Tamil Tiger parentage is poised to raise temperatures – and eyebrows – all over again. Maya Arulpragasam’s second is a head-spinning equatorial dash so completely cuckoo it makes any accusations of cultural tourism seem mightily churlish. She’s in Trinidad one minute, India via Angola the next, but always anchored by choleric basslines that are 100% London.

Rhythms are constructed from gunshots, dog barks and swarms of rattling snares, with producer Dave ‘Switch’ Taylor at his most fidgety behind the desk. New Order and Pixies are plundered for apocalyptic oomph on the stupefying “$20” while “Mango Pickle Down River” brilliantly finds M.I.A. trading rhymes with aboriginal kids. She twangs the boundaries of taste both lyrically (“Take me on a genocide tour/Take me on a trip to Darfur”) and musically. But a knockout’s a knockout, however messy the bout.

Sam Richards

Rilo Kiley – Under The Blacklight

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Rilo Kiley – Under The Blacklight

Blame Mr Young. Way back in '72, when his "Heart Of Gold" hit the top of the US charts and he had the chance to become the biggest rock star in the world, he bottled it. Old Neil - or young Neil as he was then - couldn't stand the heat, couldn't shoulder the workload, shied away from the spotlight and decided he'd rather spend his days, uh, getting stoned, man. But Neil's always been a canny operator and, with a few well chosen words, he turned commercial suicide into the coolest artistic statement in the world: "This song ("Heart Of Gold") put me in the middle of the road," he said in the sleeve notes to his ramshackle compilation, Decade. "Travelling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride but I met more interesting people there." Voila! Navel gazing and bleating to the converted became a raised middle finger to the Man. With that one much-quoted phrase - nearly as daft, when you come to think about it, as his fatal "It's better to burn out than to fade away" - he eternally legitimised the slacker art of wimping out and paved the way for future generations of bands who hit the motherlode to skedaddle back to the margins when the fun got too much like hard work. In fact, I guess you could say with that one quote old Neil invented the mythical nonsense we've come to accept as Indie. What's all this got to do with Rilo Kiley? I thought you'd never ask. Well, one of the consequences of the young Mr Young legging it back to the porch to whittle away at songs written solely for himself (and if anyone else liked them it was, of course, a bonus) was that it called into question the motives of anyone with the guts and the gumption to make a grab for mass attention. The desire to sell loads of records and have your songs heard beyond your circle of cognescenti was suddenly deemed artistically insincere - a sell out. And people who should really know better are saying that about Rilo Kiley. They are saying that Under The Blacklight is the band's "Fleetwood Mac Moment." This is what people always say when a group fronted by a woman coming from an indie background makes a record that is anywhere near half listenable. This is what they said when Courtney Love made the wonderful Celebrity Skin. And, I might add, it's an observation more often than not delivered with a sneer. Well, OK, Under The Blacklight is by far and away the most accessible album that Rilo Kiley have ever made. But, d'you know what? This is a GOOD THING! Up until now, I've always found them slightly irritating. There was an affected kookiness to Jenny Lewis' vocals on The Execution Of All Things, a forced, jittery weirdness to her lyrics on More Adventurous that seemed deliberately set up as self-defence mechanisms against those albums being purely what they yearned to be: Pop. Thankfully there is none of that nervousness to Under The Blacklight. From the opening "Silver Lining" to the closing "Give A Little Love", this is a confident collection of songs that - say it loud and say it proud - wants a little piece of your heart no matter how cool you think you are. The major shift here in terms of songwriting is in the presentation. Ms Lewis has jettisoned the loose and scratchy indie sketches for the warm immediacy of classic black pop music - Motown and Stax especially - to get her thoughts across. This is a step on from Rabbit Fur Coat, her recent quasi-confessional side project with the Watson Twins, where she modelled the best songs on recollections of Laura Nyro making gospel whoopie with Labelle. Forget the Mac for a moment. What Rilo Kiley have done here is what The Eagles did between Desperado and On The Border - stopped listening to their coked-up peers on the LA scene, cut loose of their fears and started listening to the radio. In fact, the funky "The Moneymaker", fruggy "Smoke Detector" and boldly latinate "Dejalo" sound so catchy and carefree it takes a while for them to reveal their dark obsessions with sex, money and the corrupting relationship between the two. "The Moneymaker" has loads of fun with the stripper/client power conundrum, "Smoke Detector" ogles "a girl in a tanktop" who looks hot on the dancefloor because "she is not wearing a bra", "15" throbs with doomed, illegal druglust and "Dejalo" is downright filthy ("She sleeps on your right side/ She gets nailed, I get tied/ I sleep on your left side/ A hundred ways to keep love alive"). Ms Lewis grew up in the valleys around LA where all the sex movies are made and this has always provided rich pickings. But the sexiest thing about Under The Blacklight is her naked, bell-clear voice which injects an alluring country twang into even the most soft rock settings. Her whisper behind guitarist and co-songwriter Blake Sennett's "Dreamworld" brings a hint of "J'Taime" to the album's most Rumours track, and the way she delivers the word 'drag' to the title track ("When you get sober/ Will you get kinder?/ Cos when you get uptight/ It's such a dra-a-ag") is actually the coolest thing recorded this year. Mac Moment? Under The Blacklight is more like Blondie's Parallel Lines; a quality album choc-ful of what we used to call hits. Those guys in the ditch? They're sneaking guilty glances at the stars. Steve Sutherland UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: JENNY LEWIS UNCUT: People are saying Under The Blacklight is Rilo Kiley's Fleetwood Mac Moment. JENNY LEWIS: Haha! I've heard that, yeah! I've heard the Tusk comparison, which is really a compliment. Better to have a Fleetwood Mac Moment than a Miami Sound Machine Moment which I've heard kinda loosely used in reference to one of the tracks called "Dejalo". UNCUT: The album certainly sounds bigger than before, more a pop record than an indie one. JENNY LEWIS: Well, thank you. I've always been a fan of pop music and if you listen to our earlier recordings and our early demos, we started out as a pop band and sort of moved away from that a little bit. I don't think we've ever really been an indie band, it's just that we've made records that were released on independent labels and we kind of worked with what we had at our disposal. UNCUT: So it was a conscious decision to go pop... JENNY LEWIS: Well, I wrote most of the songs while on the road touring my solo record (Rabbit Fur Coat) last year. That was a very heavy time and I think these songs were written in response to that. I wanted to simplify the process and just write a bunch of pop songs. And this time we had the time to deliberate and work with different producers. We recorded in three different sessions. The first two were with Jason Lader, who's worked with Jay-Z and is one of Rick Rubin's engineers. He's worked with Rick for so many years on various projects that he also has a long beard and long hair ! Ha! We started with Jason in a studio in Silverlake and then we moved to Sunset Sound where we finished up with a guy called Mike Elizondo who's been working with Dr Dre for many years. He was involved in that 50 Cent track "In Da Club" which is awesome. He also produced the last Fiona Apple album. With Mike, it was the first time we'd worked with a producer who got involved with the arrangements of the songs, to make them a little more.... tight. And we got to bring in extra musicians. Like, Jackson Browne plays guitar on "The Angels Hung Around". I mean, Jackson Browne plays on one of my songs - what a mindblower! UNCUT: More than any of your other work, Under the Blacklight sounds influenced by soul music. JENNY LEWIS: Well, I've always been a fan of that sound. I mean, I've been a Laura Nyro fan since I was eight or nine years old. And on this record we got to bring in the Waters to do backing vocals. They performed on Michael Jackson's Thriller! UNCUT: Listen closely, though, and beneath the surface there's some nasty stuff going on. JENNY LEWIS: Yeah, I think that's something that our band has always done. On the surface they sound like pop songs but inside they're a little bit darker. In fact, I think these are some of the darkest songs I've ever written. They aren't necessarily about me. Some of them are, sure, but some of them are about the most incredible sex I've never had. UNCUT: Most of them seem to deal with sex and money and what happens when the two meet. JENNY LEWIS: Well, I think that reflects growing up in Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley, the pornography capitol of the universe. For better or worse, that's always informed my songwriting. We've just done the video for "The Moneymaker" and I'm so proud of it. We held a casting call and actually cast people who work in the porn industry in Los Angeles. We got to meet with them and talk with them and, y'know, it's not a social commentary or anything but I think we kind of realised that pornography is a definite level of showbusiness and that we all have to make those kind of decisions at one point or another - not necessarily ending up in pornography but... you can kind of see the progression and how it can happen. UNCUT: So porn becomes a metaphor for the kind of choices we get to make and opportunities that we face in life? JENNY LEWIS: Exactly man, exactly... UNCUT: You were widely lauded for Rabbit Fur Coat. Did it feel strange coming back to the band again. Weren't you tempted to pursue a solo career with no-one else to answer to and compromise with? JENNY LEWIS: Well, I did enjoy it immensely. It was a very liberating experience. That was a really important year for me. It built my confidence and I realised that I didn't necessarily need anyone else. But I was glad to get back to the band because we've worked really hard together. We've been a band for 10 years and all the things that I was able to do with my record were only as a result of the hard work we'd put into Rilo Kiley. I mean, coming back to the band was a little... stiff. We hadn't played together for a couple of years but once we were over that we enjoyed ourselves. UNCUT: There's a good chance that this will be a very big record for you. Are the band ready to become superstars? JENNY LEWIS: Wow! You're the first person who's ever said that to me! But yeah, if you look at our band, it's always been a gradual progression so I can't imagine anything bad happening. Y'know, whatever happens well see it through. Interview: Steve Sutherland

Blame Mr Young. Way back in ’72, when his “Heart Of Gold” hit the top of the US charts and he had the chance to become the biggest rock star in the world, he bottled it. Old Neil – or young Neil as he was then – couldn’t stand the heat, couldn’t shoulder the workload, shied away from the spotlight and decided he’d rather spend his days, uh, getting stoned, man.

But Neil’s always been a canny operator and, with a few well chosen words, he turned commercial suicide into the coolest artistic statement in the world: “This song (“Heart Of Gold”) put me in the middle of the road,” he said in the sleeve notes to his ramshackle compilation, Decade. “Travelling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride but I met more interesting people there.”

Voila! Navel gazing and bleating to the converted became a raised middle finger to the Man.

With that one much-quoted phrase – nearly as daft, when you come to think about it, as his fatal “It’s better to burn out than to fade away” – he eternally legitimised the slacker art of wimping out and paved the way for future generations of bands who hit the motherlode to skedaddle back to the margins when the fun got too much like hard work.

In fact, I guess you could say with that one quote old Neil invented the mythical nonsense we’ve come to accept as Indie.

What’s all this got to do with Rilo Kiley? I thought you’d never ask. Well, one of the consequences of the young Mr Young legging it back to the porch to whittle away at songs written solely for himself (and if anyone else liked them it was, of course, a bonus) was that it called into question the motives of anyone with the guts and the gumption to make a grab for mass attention. The desire to sell loads of records and have your songs heard beyond your circle of cognescenti was suddenly deemed artistically insincere – a sell out.

And people who should really know better are saying that about Rilo Kiley. They are saying that Under The Blacklight is the band’s “Fleetwood Mac Moment.” This is what people always say when a group fronted by a woman coming from an indie background makes a record that is anywhere near half listenable. This is what they said when Courtney Love made the wonderful Celebrity Skin. And, I might add, it’s an observation more often than not delivered with a sneer.

Well, OK, Under The Blacklight is by far and away the most accessible album that Rilo Kiley have ever made. But, d’you know what? This is a GOOD THING!

Up until now, I’ve always found them slightly irritating. There was an affected kookiness to Jenny Lewis’ vocals on The Execution Of All Things, a forced, jittery weirdness to her lyrics on More Adventurous that seemed deliberately set up as self-defence mechanisms against those albums being purely what they yearned to be: Pop. Thankfully there is none of that nervousness to Under The Blacklight. From the opening “Silver Lining” to the closing “Give A Little Love”, this is a confident collection of songs that – say it loud and say it proud – wants a little piece of your heart no matter how cool you think you are.

The major shift here in terms of songwriting is in the presentation. Ms Lewis has jettisoned the loose and scratchy indie sketches for the warm immediacy of classic black pop music – Motown and Stax especially – to get her thoughts across. This is a step on from Rabbit Fur Coat, her recent quasi-confessional side project with the Watson Twins, where she modelled the best songs on recollections of Laura Nyro making gospel whoopie with Labelle.

Forget the Mac for a moment. What Rilo Kiley have done here is what The Eagles did between Desperado and On The Border – stopped listening to their coked-up peers on the LA scene, cut loose of their fears and started listening to the radio. In fact, the funky “The Moneymaker”, fruggy “Smoke Detector” and boldly latinate “Dejalo” sound so catchy and carefree it takes a while for them to reveal their dark obsessions with sex, money and the corrupting relationship between the two.

“The Moneymaker” has loads of fun with the stripper/client power conundrum, “Smoke Detector” ogles “a girl in a tanktop” who looks hot on the dancefloor because “she is not wearing a bra“, “15” throbs with doomed, illegal druglust and “Dejalo” is downright filthy (“She sleeps on your right side/ She gets nailed, I get tied/ I sleep on your left side/ A hundred ways to keep love alive“).

Ms Lewis grew up in the valleys around LA where all the sex movies are made and this has always provided rich pickings. But the sexiest thing about Under The Blacklight is her naked, bell-clear voice which injects an alluring country twang into even the most soft rock settings. Her whisper behind guitarist and co-songwriter Blake Sennett’s “Dreamworld” brings a hint of “J’Taime” to the album’s most Rumours track, and the way she delivers the word ‘drag’ to the title track (“When you get sober/ Will you get kinder?/ Cos when you get uptight/ It’s such a dra-a-ag“) is actually the coolest thing recorded this year.

Mac Moment? Under The Blacklight is more like Blondie’s Parallel Lines; a quality album choc-ful of what we used to call hits. Those guys in the ditch? They’re sneaking guilty glances at the stars.

Steve Sutherland

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: JENNY LEWIS

UNCUT: People are saying Under The Blacklight is Rilo Kiley’s Fleetwood Mac Moment.

JENNY LEWIS: Haha! I’ve heard that, yeah! I’ve heard the Tusk comparison, which is really a compliment. Better to have a Fleetwood Mac Moment than a Miami Sound Machine Moment which I’ve heard kinda loosely used in reference to one of the tracks called “Dejalo”.

UNCUT: The album certainly sounds bigger than before, more a pop record than an indie one.

JENNY LEWIS: Well, thank you. I’ve always been a fan of pop music and if you listen to our earlier recordings and our early demos, we started out as a pop band and sort of moved away from that a little bit. I don’t think we’ve ever really been an indie band, it’s just that we’ve made records that were released on independent labels and we kind of worked with what we had at our disposal.

UNCUT: So it was a conscious decision to go pop…

JENNY LEWIS: Well, I wrote most of the songs while on the road touring my solo record (Rabbit Fur Coat) last year. That was a very heavy time and I think these songs were written in response to that. I wanted to simplify the process and just write a bunch of pop songs.

And this time we had the time to deliberate and work with different producers. We recorded in three different sessions. The first two were with Jason Lader, who’s worked with Jay-Z and is one of Rick Rubin’s engineers. He’s worked with Rick for so many years on various projects that he also has a long beard and long hair ! Ha!

We started with Jason in a studio in Silverlake and then we moved to Sunset Sound where we finished up with a guy called Mike Elizondo who’s been working with Dr Dre for many years. He was involved in that 50 Cent track “In Da Club” which is awesome. He also produced the last Fiona Apple album.

With Mike, it was the first time we’d worked with a producer who got involved with the arrangements of the songs, to make them a little more…. tight. And we got to bring in extra musicians. Like, Jackson Browne plays guitar on “The Angels Hung Around”. I mean, Jackson Browne plays on one of my songs – what a mindblower!

UNCUT: More than any of your other work, Under the Blacklight sounds influenced by soul music.

JENNY LEWIS: Well, I’ve always been a fan of that sound. I mean, I’ve been a Laura Nyro fan since I was eight or nine years old. And on this record we got to bring in the Waters to do backing vocals. They performed on Michael Jackson’s Thriller!

UNCUT: Listen closely, though, and beneath the surface there’s some nasty stuff going on.

JENNY LEWIS: Yeah, I think that’s something that our band has always done. On the surface they sound like pop songs but inside they’re a little bit darker. In fact, I think these are some of the darkest songs I’ve ever written. They aren’t necessarily about me. Some of them are, sure, but some of them are about the most incredible sex I’ve never had.

UNCUT: Most of them seem to deal with sex and money and what happens when the two meet.

JENNY LEWIS: Well, I think that reflects growing up in Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley, the pornography capitol of the universe. For better or worse, that’s always informed my songwriting.

We’ve just done the video for “The Moneymaker” and I’m so proud of it. We held a casting call and actually cast people who work in the porn industry in Los Angeles. We got to meet with them and talk with them and, y’know, it’s not a social commentary or anything but I think we kind of realised that pornography is a definite level of showbusiness and that we all have to make those kind of decisions at one point or another – not necessarily ending up in pornography but… you can kind of see the progression and how it can happen.

UNCUT: So porn becomes a metaphor for the kind of choices we get to make and opportunities that we face in life?

JENNY LEWIS: Exactly man, exactly…

UNCUT: You were widely lauded for Rabbit Fur Coat. Did it feel strange coming back to the band again. Weren’t you tempted to pursue a solo career with no-one else to answer to and compromise with?

JENNY LEWIS: Well, I did enjoy it immensely. It was a very liberating experience. That was a really important year for me. It built my confidence and I realised that I didn’t necessarily need anyone else. But I was glad to get back to the band because we’ve worked really hard together. We’ve been a band for 10 years and all the things that I was able to do with my record were only as a result of the hard work we’d put into Rilo Kiley.

I mean, coming back to the band was a little… stiff. We hadn’t played together for a couple of years but once we were over that we enjoyed ourselves.

UNCUT: There’s a good chance that this will be a very big record for you. Are the band ready to become superstars?

JENNY LEWIS: Wow! You’re the first person who’s ever said that to me! But yeah, if you look at our band, it’s always been a gradual progression so I can’t imagine anything bad happening. Y’know, whatever happens well see it through.

Interview: Steve Sutherland

Lost Jagger and Lennon track to finally get released

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Lost Jagger and Lennon track to finally get released

A lost 1973 recording by Mick Jagger and John Lennon is finally to see release on the Rolling Stone’s first solo best of album. “Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup)” was produced by Lennon in 1973 in Los Angeles and features a superstar group of musicians alongside Jagger. The track features guitarists Danny Kortchmar and Jesse Ed Davis, keyboardist and Dylan cohort Al Kooper, ex-Cream bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Jim Keltner, with Harry Nilsson on backing vocals. “The Very Best Of Mick Jagger” also features tracks including Jagger’s 1970 version of “Memo From Turner” featuring Ry Cooder, taken from the film “Performance”, which the Stones’ singer starred in. Alongside tracks from Jagger’s four solo albums, “She’s The Boss” (1985), “Primitive Cool” (1987), “Wandering Spirit” (1993) and “Goddess In The Doorway” (2001), the album also includes guest appearances from David Bowie and Bono and a track written with Lenny Kravitz. The compilation is released on October 2.

A lost 1973 recording by Mick Jagger and John Lennon is finally to see release on the Rolling Stone’s first solo best of album.

“Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup)” was produced by Lennon in 1973 in Los Angeles and features a superstar group of musicians alongside Jagger.

The track features guitarists Danny Kortchmar and Jesse Ed Davis, keyboardist and Dylan cohort Al Kooper, ex-Cream bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Jim Keltner, with Harry Nilsson on backing vocals.

“The Very Best Of Mick Jagger” also features tracks including Jagger’s 1970 version of “Memo From Turner” featuring Ry Cooder, taken from the film “Performance”, which the Stones’ singer starred in.

Alongside tracks from Jagger’s four solo albums, “She’s The Boss” (1985), “Primitive Cool” (1987), “Wandering Spirit” (1993) and “Goddess In The Doorway” (2001), the album also includes guest appearances from David Bowie and Bono and a track written with Lenny Kravitz.

The compilation is released on October 2.

Celebrations mark 30th anniversary of Elvis’ death

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Celebrations mark 30th anniversary of Elvis’ death

Celebrations will shortly be under way in the US today (August 15) to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. Events taking place in the next week include concerts, vigils and sound-alike competitions. The King died on August 16 1977 at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, where tens of thousands of fans are likely to gather tonight for a candlelit vigil. Graceland, also Elvis’ resting place, will open to visitors at 8.30pm (Memphis time) and the pilgrimage is expected to last until the early hours of Thursday morning as fans make their way past Elvis’ grave. The week’s events also include a set of concerts by Elvis’ ex-wife Priscilla and musicians who performed with Presley and a sound-alike competition. Local businesses are all cashing in with special edition chocolates commemorating Elvis’ well-known love of all things sweet. One peanut butter cup is imprinted with the slogan ‘Live Like The King’. Todd Morgan, a spokesman for Elvis Presley Enterprises, said: "We're gearing up for the best Elvis Week we've ever had." In other news, Elvis Presley’s daughter is to release a digitally enhanced duet with her late father to mark 30 years since his death. Lisa Marie Presley is to appear in a video of Elvis’ 1969 hit “In The Ghetto”, which will be posted on Spinner.com. Admitting the filming process was overwhelming at times, Presley said: "I've never cried when I've done anything, but I just lost it when I heard it. It's pretty organic. There are no bells and whistles - they just added me into the original recording."

Celebrations will shortly be under way in the US today (August 15) to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. Events taking place in the next week include concerts, vigils and sound-alike competitions.

The King died on August 16 1977 at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, where tens of thousands of fans are likely to gather tonight for a candlelit vigil.

Graceland, also Elvis’ resting place, will open to visitors at 8.30pm (Memphis time) and the pilgrimage is expected to last until the early hours of Thursday morning as fans make their way past Elvis’ grave.

The week’s events also include a set of concerts by Elvis’ ex-wife Priscilla and musicians who performed with Presley and a sound-alike competition.

Local businesses are all cashing in with special edition chocolates commemorating Elvis’ well-known love of all things sweet. One peanut butter cup is imprinted with the slogan ‘Live Like The King’.

Todd Morgan, a spokesman for Elvis Presley Enterprises, said: “We’re gearing up for the best Elvis Week we’ve ever had.”

In other news, Elvis Presley’s daughter is to release a digitally enhanced duet with her late father to mark 30 years since his death.

Lisa Marie Presley is to appear in a video of Elvis’ 1969 hit “In The Ghetto”, which will be posted on Spinner.com.

Admitting the filming process was overwhelming at times, Presley said: “I’ve never cried when I’ve done anything, but I just lost it when I heard it. It’s pretty organic. There are no bells and whistles – they just added me into the original recording.”

Today’s Uncut playlist

John Mulvey
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These seem to be quite popular, so here are the fairly eclectic records we've played in the Uncut office today. Unlike last week's rundown, I think we're broadly behind all of this lot. . . 1. Various Artists - The Very Best Of Ethiopiques 2. MV & EE With The Golden Road - Gettin' Gone 3. John Fogarty - Revival 4. The Groop - The Groop 5. Yeasayer - 2080 6. Blossom Toes - If Only For A Moment 7. Sir Richard Bishop - Polytheistic Fragments 8. Captain Beefheart - Safe As Milk 9. Ravi Shankar - Flowers Of India 10. Mick Jagger - Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup)/ Memo From Turner 11. Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends

These seem to be quite popular, so here are the fairly eclectic records we’ve played in the Uncut office today. Unlike last week’s rundown, I think we’re broadly behind all of this lot. . .

Continue

Countdown To V: Primal Scream

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Countdown To V: Primal Scream

This weekend (August 18-19) sees the twelfth V Festival take place in Chelmsford and Staffordshire. There’s a fantastic selection of music on offer at V, from classic veterans to buzzing new bands, which we at Uncut will be previewing every day in the run up to the festival. From C86 vanguards to loved-up acid house heads to future techno-punks and back again, Primal Scream have never been a band to stand still. Soldiering on for over two decades with a revolving line up centred around Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes and Robert ‘Throb’ Young, they have an incredibly diverse back catalogue to draw from, so expect to hear the techno terrorism of ‘Swastika Eyes’ and ‘Kowalski’ alongside the classic rock splendour of ‘Rocks’, ‘Movin’ On Up’ and ‘Country Girl’. While a Primal Scream gig is always an event worth seeing – Gillespie famously directed a tirade of abuse at the audience and other bands while onstage at Glastonbury in 2005 – the band are also planning to unleash a few new tracks on the V audience this weekend. What direction they’ll be taking is anyone’s guess, but we’d advise sticking round to find out. Other performers at V include Foo Fighters, Kanye West, Manic Street Preachers, The Coral, Babyshambles and Jarvis Cocker. Uncut will be blogging from V Festival all weekend bringing you updates from the action, so take a look at Uncut’s festival blog this weekend (August 18-19).

This weekend (August 18-19) sees the twelfth V Festival take place in Chelmsford and Staffordshire. There’s a fantastic selection of music on offer at V, from classic veterans to buzzing new bands, which we at Uncut will be previewing every day in the run up to the festival.

From C86 vanguards to loved-up acid house heads to future techno-punks and back again, Primal Scream have never been a band to stand still. Soldiering on for over two decades with a revolving line up centred around Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes and Robert ‘Throb’ Young, they have an incredibly diverse back catalogue to draw from, so expect to hear the techno terrorism of ‘Swastika Eyes’ and ‘Kowalski’ alongside the classic rock splendour of ‘Rocks’, ‘Movin’ On Up’ and ‘Country Girl’.

While a Primal Scream gig is always an event worth seeing – Gillespie famously directed a tirade of abuse at the audience and other bands while onstage at Glastonbury in 2005 – the band are also planning to unleash a few new tracks on the V audience this weekend. What direction they’ll be taking is anyone’s guess, but we’d advise sticking round to find out.

Other performers at V include Foo Fighters, Kanye West, Manic Street Preachers, The Coral, Babyshambles and Jarvis Cocker.

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

this weekend (August 18-19).

Cut Of The Day: Robert Plant And The Strange Sensation

Uncut
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Cut Of The Day: Robert Plant And The Strange Sensation

With The Green Man Festival swiftly approaching (August 17-19), feast your eyes on this brilliant television performance from Robert Plant and The Strange Sensation to get yourself in the mood. This great version of single ‘Shine It All Around’, from 2005’s “Mighty ReArranger”, was originally broadcast on Later… With Jools Holland. Ex-Led Zeppelin legend Plant joins Joanna Newsom and Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks in headlining a night of the festival this weekend, at Glanusk Park in Wales’ Brecon Beacons. Check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akRjj6pVAco

With The Green Man Festival swiftly approaching (August 17-19), feast your eyes on this brilliant television performance from Robert Plant and The Strange Sensation to get yourself in the mood.

This great version of single ‘Shine It All Around’, from 2005’s “Mighty ReArranger”, was originally broadcast on Later… With Jools Holland.

Ex-Led Zeppelin legend Plant joins Joanna Newsom and Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks in headlining a night of the festival this weekend, at Glanusk Park in Wales’ Brecon Beacons.

Check out the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akRjj6pVAco

PJ Harvey unveils ‘White Chalk’’s first single and one-off show

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PJ Harvey unveils ‘White Chalk’’s first single and one-off show

PJ Harvey has revealed the first single to be taken from her new album, “White Chalk”. Released on September 17, "When Under Ether" will also feature b-side “Wait”, one of the first tracks recorded by Harvey in 1988. “White Chalk” is released on September 24, and the singer-songwriter will play a special one-off show at Bristol’s Colton Hall that night. The gig, like Harvey’s other recent performances, will be a solo show. PJ Harvey’s new album is her seventh studio album (or eighth, if you choose to count "Four-Track Demos". Or ninth, if you include the "Dance Hall At Louse Point" collaboration with John Parish. It's confusing!) and the follow-up to 2004’s “Uh Huh Her”.

PJ Harvey has revealed the first single to be taken from her new album, “White Chalk”.

Released on September 17, “When Under Ether” will also feature b-side “Wait”, one of the first tracks recorded by Harvey in 1988.

“White Chalk” is released on September 24, and the singer-songwriter will play a special one-off show at Bristol’s Colton Hall that night. The gig, like Harvey’s other recent performances, will be a solo show.

PJ Harvey’s new album is her seventh studio album (or eighth, if you choose to count “Four-Track Demos”. Or ninth, if you include the “Dance Hall At Louse Point” collaboration with John Parish. It’s confusing!) and the follow-up to 2004’s “Uh Huh Her”.

Wu-Tang Clan and Dhani Harrison sample The Beatles

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Wu-Tang Clan and Dhani Harrison sample The Beatles

The Wu-Tang Clan have recorded their own version of George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. Rather than a straight cover version, the “White Album” original forms a basis for the Wu-Tang Clan’s own song, titled “Gently Weeps”, which features acoustic guitar work from Harrison’s son, Dhani. Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist John Frusciante is also set to tackle lead guitar on the track, taken from Wu-Tang Clan’s forthcoming album. “8 Diagrams”, the follow-up to 2001’s “Iron Flag”, is set for release on November 13.

The Wu-Tang Clan have recorded their own version of George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”.

Rather than a straight cover version, the “White Album” original forms a basis for the Wu-Tang Clan’s own song, titled “Gently Weeps”, which features acoustic guitar work from Harrison’s son, Dhani.

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist John Frusciante is also set to tackle lead guitar on the track, taken from Wu-Tang Clan’s forthcoming album.

“8 Diagrams”, the follow-up to 2001’s “Iron Flag”, is set for release on November 13.

Dave Gahan reveals new album details

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Dave Gahan reveals new album details

Dave Gahan has announced details of his second solo album. "Hourglass" is set to be released on October 22, and features ten tracks, including lead single "Kingdom". Recorded with acclaimed Beck and Air producer Tony Hoffer in New York, Gahan has said the album addresses his fear of ageing. The singer said: “My fear is that I’ve wasted so much time in fear, in fear of diving in. I feel like I’m racing against the clock. This record has been an amazing opportunity to push the artist in me.” The tracklisting is as follows: “Saw Something” “Kingdom” “Deeper And Deeper” “21 Days” “Miracles” “Use You” “Insoluble” “Endless” “A Little Lie” “Down”

Dave Gahan has announced details of his second solo album.

“Hourglass” is set to be released on October 22, and features ten tracks, including lead single “Kingdom”.

Recorded with acclaimed Beck and Air producer Tony Hoffer in New York, Gahan has said the album addresses his fear of ageing.

The singer said: “My fear is that I’ve wasted so much time in fear, in fear of diving in. I feel like I’m racing against the clock. This record has been an amazing opportunity to push the artist in me.”

The tracklisting is as follows:

“Saw Something”

“Kingdom”

“Deeper And Deeper”

“21 Days”

“Miracles”

“Use You”

“Insoluble”

“Endless”

“A Little Lie”

“Down”

Beirut readies ‘Gulag Orkestar’ follow-up

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Beirut readies ‘Gulag Orkestar’ follow-up

Indie-folk group Beirut have revealed details of their new album, set for release this October. "The Flying Club Cup", the speedy follow-up to last year’s debut, "Gulag Orkestar", will be supported by a handful of UK dates. Released on October 8, the album moves away from the Balkan folk leanings of their debut and embraces more Western European influences, including traditional French music. Speaking to Pitchfork about the making of "The Flying Club Cup", Condon said: “I was listening to a lot of Jacques Brel and French chanson music, pop songs shrouded in big, glorious, over-the-top arrangements and all this drama. [I was] very much throwing myself into the world of classical pop music.” The tracklisting for the album is: "A Call to Arms" "Nantes" "A Sunday Smile" "Guyamas Sonora" "La Banlieu" "Cliquot" "The Penalty" "Forks and Knives (La Fête)" "In the Mausoleum" "Un Dernier Verre (Pour la Route)" "Cherbourg" "St. Apollonia" "The Flying Club Cup" Beirut will return to the UK to play the following shows: Manchester Club Academy (November 6) Glasgow Arches (7) Leeds Irish Centre (8) Cardiff The Point (9) London Roundhouse (10)

Indie-folk group Beirut have revealed details of their new album, set for release this October.

“The Flying Club Cup”, the speedy follow-up to last year’s debut, “Gulag Orkestar”, will be supported by a handful of UK dates.

Released on October 8, the album moves away from the Balkan folk leanings of their debut and embraces more Western European influences, including traditional French music.

Speaking to Pitchfork about the making of “The Flying Club Cup”, Condon said: “I was listening to a lot of Jacques Brel and French chanson music, pop songs shrouded in big, glorious, over-the-top arrangements and all this drama. [I was] very much throwing myself into the world of classical pop music.”

The tracklisting for the album is:

“A Call to Arms”

“Nantes”

“A Sunday Smile”

“Guyamas Sonora”

“La Banlieu”

“Cliquot”

“The Penalty”

“Forks and Knives (La Fête)”

“In the Mausoleum”

“Un Dernier Verre (Pour la Route)”

“Cherbourg”

“St. Apollonia”

“The Flying Club Cup”

Beirut will return to the UK to play the following shows:

Manchester Club Academy (November 6)

Glasgow Arches (7)

Leeds Irish Centre (8)

Cardiff The Point (9)

London Roundhouse (10)

Bright Eyes pull V Festival appearances

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Bright Eyes pull V Festival appearances

Bright Eyes have cancelled their performances at this weekend’s V Festival (August 18-19), to be held in Staffordshire and Chelmsford. The folk-rock troupe, led by songwriter Conor Oberst, have also pulled out of a series of UK dates due to start tonight. It seems illness is the cause of the cancellations, although no specifics have been given. A statement from the band said: “Bright Eyes would like to express their utmost thanks to all their fans and supporters and sincerely apologise for this unfortunate occurrence.” The dates affected are: Bristol Carling Academy (August 15) Liverpool Carling Academy (16) Nottingham Royal Concert Hall (17) V Festival, Chelmsford (18) V Festival, Staffordshire (19)

Bright Eyes have cancelled their performances at this weekend’s V Festival (August 18-19), to be held in Staffordshire and Chelmsford.

The folk-rock troupe, led by songwriter Conor Oberst, have also pulled out of a series of UK dates due to start tonight.

It seems illness is the cause of the cancellations, although no specifics have been given.

A statement from the band said: “Bright Eyes would like to express their utmost thanks to all their fans and supporters and sincerely apologise for this unfortunate occurrence.”

The dates affected are:

Bristol Carling Academy (August 15)

Liverpool Carling Academy (16)

Nottingham Royal Concert Hall (17)

V Festival, Chelmsford (18)

V Festival, Staffordshire (19)

Six Organs Of Admittance live

John Mulvey
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I could be mistaken about this, but there's a point in this really fine Six Organs Of Admittance show when Ben Chasny and his new foil, Elisa Ambrogio, appear to be whispering sweet nothings to each other. Then the hushed, gentle duet becomes clearer. "They may even eat the horse that you're riding," they're singing. As far as I know, I think this is a new song from the next Six Organs album due in November. On this evidence, it's going to be quite a departure. Chasny is too much of an adventurer and shit-stirrer to stick with the acid-folk formula which he'd perfected before most people had woken up to it. Tonight's support act, Hush Arbors, actually do a pretty good job of sounding like Chasny circa "Dust And Chimes" or "Dark Noontide", though they're also capable of some billowing white noise + effete melody hybrids like the one they close with. Six Organs, though, are moving on. Chasny's incantatory singing has got stronger and while he's still playing elaborate, opulent tunes, like an electrified Bert Jansch at times, it's the way he intersects with Ambrogio that's so radical and thrilling. Ambrogio's performance fronting The Magik Markers on their new "Boss" album (reviewed here) has been exciting us here in the office for the past few weeks. As half of the reconfigured Six Organs, she quietly harmonises with Chasny, then, while he carves labyrinthine folkish figures on his guitar, she lets fly these quite astonishing no-wave solos: great sustained clangs and skronks, punctuated by cavernous silences, that are at once free and fiercely controlled. It makes for quite a spectacle, not least because Ambrogio rocks out in such an intense and passionate way. Headbanging in slow motion, shredding her strings one by one, she acts as a magnetic force, drawing Chasny towards her into a series of erotic guitar duels, until they're facing off against each other, rocking backwards and forwards in perfect sync, finding a cacophonous and beautiful common ground in their playing. The whole thing is very charged and I'm struggling to think of anything I can adequately compare it with. I suppose Sonic Youth have hit this sort of vibe occasionally, but it's the intimacy of the pair which is so striking, the sense that you're watching something very private but also something which has a keen understanding of primal rock theatre. For an encore, they make a brackish avant-blues jam out of, of all things, Fleetwood Mac's "That's Alright", wryly positing themselves as the New Weird America's Buckingham and Nicks. Cute, and awesome.

I could be mistaken about this, but there’s a point in this really fine Six Organs Of Admittance show when Ben Chasny and his new foil, Elisa Ambrogio, appear to be whispering sweet nothings to each other. Then the hushed, gentle duet becomes clearer. “They may even eat the horse that you’re riding,” they’re singing.

Continue

Countdown To V: Kanye West

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Countdown To V: Kanye West

This weekend (August 18-19) sees the twelfth V Festival take place in Chelmsford and Staffordshire. There’s a fantastic selection of music on offer at V, from classic veterans to buzzing new bands, which we at Uncut will be previewing every day in the run up to the festival. Far from the misogynistic template of much contemporary hip hop, Kanye West is a man with ambition – and not just ambition to own the biggest houses and the flashest cars. His songs tackle deep topics, including the plight of child diamond miners, and he’s often spoken out for gay and black rights. Don’t expect empty posturing at his V set – there’ll be intelligent lyrics and cutting edge beats alongside the de rigeur showbiz glamour. West will no doubt be previewing tracks from his forthcoming third album, ”Graduation”, which, if you needed any more convincing, his mother believes is his best yet. It’s going to be quite a show. Other performers at V include Primal Scream, Foo Fighters, Manic Street Preachers, The Coral, Babyshambles and Jarvis Cocker. Uncut will be blogging from V Festival all weekend bringing you updates from the action, so take a look at Uncut’s festival blog this weekend (August 18-19).

This weekend (August 18-19) sees the twelfth V Festival take place in Chelmsford and Staffordshire. There’s a fantastic selection of music on offer at V, from classic veterans to buzzing new bands, which we at Uncut will be previewing every day in the run up to the festival.

Far from the misogynistic template of much contemporary hip hop, Kanye West is a man with ambition – and not just ambition to own the biggest houses and the flashest cars. His songs tackle deep topics, including the plight of child diamond miners, and he’s often spoken out for gay and black rights.

Don’t expect empty posturing at his V set – there’ll be intelligent lyrics and cutting edge beats alongside the de rigeur showbiz glamour. West will no doubt be previewing tracks from his forthcoming third album, ”Graduation”, which, if you needed any more convincing, his mother believes is his best yet. It’s going to be quite a show.

Other performers at V include Primal Scream, Foo Fighters, Manic Street Preachers, The Coral, Babyshambles and Jarvis Cocker.

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

this weekend (August 18-19).

Cut Of The Day: Queens Of The Stone Age Live

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Cut Of The Day: Queens Of The Stone Age Live

Cut Of The Day: Tuesday August 14 Today's YouTube clip sees an amazing performance of "Misfit Love" by Queens Of The Stone Age on "The Henry Rollins Show". The sound quality, as with all performances on Rollins' show, is extremely clear and the band, led by Josh Homme, is on top form. "Misfit Love", originally from the group's recent album "Era Vulgaris", is a return of sorts to the 'robot rock' of their self-titled debut album. Check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMhz72P1lfo

Cut Of The Day: Tuesday August 14

Today’s YouTube clip sees an amazing performance of “Misfit Love” by Queens Of The Stone Age on “The Henry Rollins Show”.

The sound quality, as with all performances on Rollins’ show, is extremely clear and the band, led by Josh Homme, is on top form.

“Misfit Love”, originally from the group’s recent album “Era Vulgaris”, is a return of sorts to the ‘robot rock’ of their self-titled debut album.

Check out the video here:

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