Police

The first set of Zappa’s mammoth series of reissues is reviewed in the new issue of Uncut, dated October 2012, and in shops now. To accompany David Cavanagh’s in-depth, three-page examination of the dozen re-releases, here’s a feature from November 2010’s Uncut (Take 162), in which members of the guitarist and composer’s various bands recall the madness and precision that went into some of his most important works. Interviews: John Lewis __________________________

Three members of Pussy Riot have been found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. The verdict was delivered to Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29 at Moscow's Khamovnichesky Court today (August 17). Prosecutors had requested a three-year prison term in the event of a guilty verdict. The sentence is expected later today (August 17)

Robert Wayne Birch, Elton John's longtime bass player, has died at the age of 56. Birch's body was discovered yesterday morning (August 15) around the corner from his home in Los Angeles. It is thought he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, although police have yet to confirm this. According to TMZ, Los Angeles County Assistant Coroner Chief Ed Winter has said that Birch's death is being ''investigated as a possible suicide'', although no suicide note has been discovered as yet.

Radiohead closed Fuji Rock festival in Japan with a 23-song headline set last night (July 29). Walking on stage at the stroke of 9.30pm, the five-piece strolled through "Lotus Flower" and "Bloom" from The King Of Limbs and "15 Step" from In Rainbows in quick succession, to the delight of the 50,000-strong crowd. Songs from The King Of Limbs and In Rainbows made up most of the rest of the set, with just a handful of songs from The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac and Hail To The Thief featuring.

It's the Swedish Cracker! Sort of...

Coming into work on the bus this morning, it occurred to me that the Christopher Nolan film I most wanted to watch again was Insomnia. I remember it being the least tricksy of Nolan’s films; a sharp, intelligent thriller, heavy on style and atmosphere, which seemed less concerned with the kind of ingenious puzzles and narrative twists that the director deployed in Memento, The Prestige and Inception.

Christopher Brahney, who went missing after The Stone Roses' first show at Heaton Park last Friday (June 29), has been found dead. A body was recovered by police from the Manchester Ship Canal at 9.35am (GMT) this morning (July 9) and Great Manchester Police have now confirmed that they formally identified the body as Brahney's.

Public Image Ltd. frontman John Lydon is set to appear on the panel for BBC One current affairs talk show Question Time. The former Sex Pistol will join former home secretary Alan Johnson and Conservative MP Louise Mensch on the programme tonight (July 5), which is being filmed in Derby. The panel will also include Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey and journalist Dominic Lawson, reports PA.

The full story of Detroit’s wild rock’n’roll revolutionaries, the MC5, is told in the new issue of Uncut, dated August 2012, and out on Monday, July 2.

Speaking to Uncut around the release of The Proposition, Nick Cave conceded, “The whole thing was a struggle. So much effort was put into it. It’s the most agonising, frustrating business to be in. Years go by trying to get something off the ground – one idea! It’s unbelievable, the vision you have at the beginning is constantly chipped away at, and you haven’t even filmed anything.”