State of grace

This is the full text of my interview with Hurray For The Riff Raff in New Orleans, that appeared in the print edition of Uncut a couple of months ago. I've added a lot of music to listen to as you read; not just by Alynda and the Riff Raff, but by some of the other New Orleans musicians who are critical to the story.

CSNY's "Doom Tour" exhumed, and reconstructed into an ideal show from their stadium excursion...

With a new Nick Cave documentary, 20,000 Days On Earth, due to open in the UK next month, I thought it a good time to dust down a piece I wrote on Cave's film career for our 2013 Ultimate Music Guide dedicated to Cave.

How does the most innovative guitarist of his generation spend his spare time? By writing masterful film scores and trying to reinvent how music sounds, it seems. Jonny Greenwood’s There Will Be Blood soundtrack is performed at London’s Roundhouse on August 6 and 7, and here, in this piece from Uncut’s April 2011 issue (Take 167), Rob Young penetrates Greenwood’s studio lair and discovers, among other things, what Radiohead have been up to of late...

It is hard to tell where Neil Young and what we can just about call Crazy Horse end their main set in Hyde Park, Saturday night. "Rockin' In The Free World" has spluttered to a conclusion, of sorts, and the band appear to have left the stage. Then, you notice Young remains amidst the debris, pointing agitatedly at the word printed across his new t-shirt: "EARTH".

What strange music Jack White makes these days. At the end of this hot, compelling, tempestuous show, he stands triumphantly on a monitor, guitar held high above head like the hammer of Thor, every inch the conquering stadium rocker.

Edwyn Collins has just performed at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London as part of this year’s Meltdown festival – here, in a fascinating feature from Uncut’s April 2010 issue (Take 155), the tale of Collins’ Orange Juice is told by the man himself alongside the group’s other members. Get ready for a tale of wilful perversity, vicious in-fighting, pant-wetting on TV and how Edwyn Collins “traded in all our equity for a funny bassline”… Words: Alastair McKay ___________________

A Pennsylvania federal judge has ordered sanctions against the attorney preparing to sue Led Zeppelin for "Stairway to Heaven," claiming that the lawyer behaved "in a flagrantly unprofessional and offensive manner" over the course of a different case. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Francis Malofiy recently attracted the judge's consternation while bringing a lawsuit against Usher and 19 other defendants for copyright infringement.

Alabama's finest return, recharged, and with a brilliant, balanced blast of rock'n'roll...

Synths and sex... the Kendal clan's excellent fourth...