The current issue of Uncut – in shops now or available to buy online by clicking here, with free P&P for the UK – features an exclusive extract from Richard Thompson’s forthcoming memoir Beeswing in which he recalls how, in 1967, the newly formed Fairport Convention took their first tentative steps into London’s burgeoning underground scene. In addition, Thompson talks candidly to Uncut about the process of writing the book and how he feels now looking back at those naive and exciting early days… RICHARD THOMPSON: “The ’60 and ’70s continue to be musically of great interest to people....
As Bob Dylan may tell you, covering Frank Sinatra classics is not without its risks. Comparisons with Sinatra’s vocal agility is one problem – they didn’t call him The Voice for nothing – while his versions of a large swathe of the Great American Songbook remain definitive, indelibly stamped with his personality and the Rat Pack panache of his prime. Frank liked to own a song. Willie Nelson is no stranger to either Sinatra or the American songbook. He was an aspiring 22-year-old DJ when Sinatra delivered In The Wee Small Hours in 1955 (its sleeve design is echoed...
Founded by visionary producer Adrian Sherwood and Slits singer Ari Up, aka Munich-born Ariane Daniela Forster, New Age Steppers were a loose collective featuring a rich talent pool: among them, Mark Stewart and Bruce Smith from The Pop Group, reggae crooner Bim Sherman, Aswad bassist George Oban, experimental improviser Steve Beresford, future pop queen Neneh Cherry, drummer Lincoln “Style” Scott and more. Notable for releasing both the first ever single and album on Sherwood’s long-running underground label On-U Sound, the Steppers relished the seemingly infinite new possibilities and fertile tensions opened up by post-punk, blending covers of obscure Jamaican...
With the news that My Bloody Valentine have released their catalogue across streaming services for the first time, it seemed like a good opportunity to dust down our cover story from Uncut’s March 2018 issue. Here, then, is the band’s full, epic tale – told by Kevin Shields, Colm Ó Cíosóig, Debbie Googe and Bilinda Butcher, original singer Dave Conway and a host of friends and collaborators. PERFECT SOUND FOREVER A landmark of songwriting and sonic adventure, Loveless by MY BLOODY VALENTINE didn’t come cheap. As the band’s members explain, this was a recording plagued by poverty, illness and...
Buy the Deluxe Ultimate Music Guide to Neil Young here – with free P&P for the UK Early in the quarantine period there was talk of making lemonade – of the consolations which might obliquely be taken from the events we had globally been served. Among these was a proposed clearing of an attic or outbuilding, and a general putting of things into order. For many of us, it’s an undertaking which might still be put off indefinitely. For a singular personality, however, such a project might become an all-consuming passion. Not so much an itch which can’t be...
Waging heavy peace! Introducing the definitive, fully updated 148-page guide to Neil Young. From Buffalo Springfield to Colorado: every album, by every band, reviewed. The cars! The collections! Archives 1 & 2! BUY A COPY HERE!
American rapper-songwriter Blink just dropped a debut Hip-Hop song, “Wanna Party,” alongside a groovy music video. His soothing vocal flow and partying-vibe come together with swag for an outstanding sonic result. Known for his quick abilities as a Football player in University, Blink is much more on the slow and flowing side in his music. The Orlando, Florida rapper’s specialty; that chilling, steezy, player type of music vibes. With all the social distancing rules taking over everybody’s lives, “Wanna Party” is a refreshing hit preparing the post-covid-19 partying mode. Encouraging everyone to be themselves while making sure to live...
Aicha Dosso dropped her second single and music video for “J’en ai marre.” Premiered and reviewed by Divvy Magazine, “J’en ai marre,” is a ‘new single in total alignment with her debut release, as she consistently pursues soothing and poetic vibrations stemming from her signature blend between Parisian Cabaret and NYC-inspired sonorities. The song’s title means ‘I’ve had enough,’ as Aicha Dosso explores the many aspects she dislikes in today’s society, including people who can’t love, display violent behaviors, take but never give back or abuse others’ trust. The visuals are very “out-of-the-box,” and Aicha Dosso exposed her acting...
Personal narrative is the lifeblood of country music, and Loretta Lynn has a history more famously potent than most. One of eight children born to a Kentucky coal miner, she married at the age of 14 and endured a long, abusive relationship, became the first woman to win the CMA’s Entertainer Of The Year Award (in 1972) and is widely acknowledged as a pillar of the genre. It’s a story of struggle and success that’s sustained multiple retellings, whether in memoir, movie or album, and her 50th full-length is another iteration, with a slight twist. This year Coal Miner’s...
The current issue of Uncut – in shops now or available to buy online by clicking here, with free delivery for the UK – features a rare and exclusive interview with mercurial Postcard Records founder Alan Horne as he shares his personal selection of photos, artefacts and ephemera from deep within the label’s vaults. The most inspirationally DIY of the UK’s original post-punk indie wave, Postcard was dreamed into life in the Glasgow of 1979 by Horne, then an ambitiously bored 20-year-old, who famously ran the business out of the sock drawer in his tenement bedroom. Under the banner...
