Hit Singles

Hit Singles

Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition – the myth is real!

Nebraska occupies a pivotal place in Bruce Springsteen’s catalogue, but for some that has never been enough. Ever since the legend of Electric Nebraska – Nebraska’s band-recorded alter ego – emerged, fans have wanted to unpick the knotty relationship between Nebraska and Born In The USA and hear electrified E Street versions of this sombre acoustic album. As recently as June 2025, Springsteen was denying Electric Nebraska even existed – and nothing appeared on the recent, epic Tracks II set – but the mythical album is finally here, thanks to the deus ex machina of Deliver Me From Nowhere, a Bruce biopic that focuses on his angsty wrestling match between artistry and commerce (spoiler alert: he could have both). Why do fans yearn to hear Electric Nebraska when the original album is already so good? Is there a nagging feeling it might have been even better? That Bruce was wrong? Or is it simply a desire to hear great songs in different clothes, to ponder the alternative history? The release of the Nebraska ’82 boxset brings some resolution, although different listeners have the right to draw opposing conclusions. Advertisement [embedded content] To these ears, an electric, or semi-electric, Nebraska would… Read More →

Hit Singles

Patti Smith at the London Palladium: transcendent rock ritual with an awkward conclusion

“Jesus died for somebody’s sins… but NOT MINE!” It’s one of the most compelling opening lines in rock history, emblazoned here across numerous T-shirts worn by the crowd, and greeted when Patti Smith first intones it at the top of the show with an ecstatic roar from the Palladium stalls. As her trusty lieutenant Lenny Kaye emphasises in the current issue of Uncut, “it’s not a rejection of Christ or what he stands for, it’s an assertion of responsibility.” In other words, everything is there for the taking if only you have the courage to reach out and grab it. Advertisement It’s why, 50 years on, Horses is still such a potent experience, its poetic epiphanies crystallising the idea of rock’n’roll as personal salvation. Evidently, Patti Smith’s passion for this manifesto remains undimmed. Her silver hair turned iridescent in the spotlight, tonight she resembles a celestial visitor, here to tell us all that paradise is within our grasp. At the same time, she’s an impish, vivacious presence, keen to do the watusi and have some fun. In this day and age, it’s actually a treat to see a great rock band silhouetted on a black stage, lit by pure white… Read More →

Hit Singles

Billy Strings: bluegrass star shines at the Royal Albert Hall

The last time I heard a crowd roar like this before a musician had played a note, the newly reunited Pixies were taking the stage. Billy Strings is a secret phenomenon in the UK when compared to his arena-filling US status as the biggest bluegrass act in decades. In the Royal Albert Hall, though, fans ranging from an earmuffed babe in arms to grizzled Deadheads treat the guitarist like a hallowed great. Advertisement There’s more standing, drinking and dancing than I’ve ever seen at a UK Americana show. The bona fides of playing with Bob Weir and Bill Kreutzmann, recording with Willie Nelson and Dylan’s rare invitation to guest on “All Along The Watchtower” (at a summer Outlaw Festival show) doubtless help, while expansive soloing and group interplay also place him in the stylistic neighbourhood of jam bands and “Dark Star”. Billy is a humble, boyish 33-year-old, without the charisma of an obvious star, except when his guitar speaks for him. He was raised himself from a family background of addiction, abuse and ingrained self-destruction which began with his dad’s fatal heroin overdose when Billy was only two. “Somewhere in there, I believe I’m a white-trash piece of shit that… Read More →

Hit Singles

John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band’s Power To The People reviewed: New York protest period revisited in opulent – but omissive – boxset

The elephant in the room Before we get to Elephant’s Memory, let’s tackle the elephant in the room. Power To The People covers the period John Lennon and Yoko Ono moved to the US and recorded Some Time In New York City. Chronologically, it falls between Imagine and Mind Games, both of which have already received lavish boxsets. So why is Power To The People out of sync? In short, because of “Woman Is The N***** Of The World”. The song title was controversial enough in 1972 – indeed, that was the very point – but by the 2020s was deemed beyond the pale and Mind Games was shuffled ahead in the queue. Now Power To The People has emerged with the problematic song excised completely – not even acknowledged in extensive sleevenotes, bar a reproduction of the original album artwork – while it’s surely not unrelated that the smaller, more affordable versions of this release focus on Lennon’s 1972 One To One concerts rather than the studio album that Lennon and Ono recorded with the Elephant’s Memory band. Advertisement The decision was clearly not made lightly. But while the removal of one track from any artist’s legacy is significant,… Read More →

Hit Singles

The Making Of “Question” by The Moody Blues

As The Moody Blues travelled across America during the late 1960s, they often encountered young men the same age as them at airports and bus stations, on their way home from Vietnam. These encounters inspired Justin Hayward to write “Question”, the single the band released in April 1970. While “Question” wasn’t an obvious candidate for a hit – subject matter aside, it lacked the richly orchestrated sound that The Moody Blues were known for since 1967’s “Nights In White Satin” – the single climbed to No 2, giving them their biggest chart success since “Go Now”. Later that year, “Question” was at the heart of the Moodies’ set at the Isle Of Wight Festival, helping to charm a febrile audience. “I had no thoughts about a single when I wrote it, because a five-minute song with two tempo changes is not usually single material,” says Hayward. Advertisement The Moodies had a warmer, calmer sound than many of their peers, but were no less tuned in to the beats of the counterculture. They dropped acid in 1967 and never looked back, writing songs like “Fly Me High” and “The Best Way To Travel” about their experiences. Ray Thomas’s tribute to Timothy Leary,… Read More →

Hit Singles

Inside our latest free Uncut CD: The Gold Rush – The Songs Of Neil Young

The new December 2025 issue of Uncut comes with a very special free CD: The Gold Rush – The Songs Of Neil Young. The compilation features 15 of Young‘s classics and deep cuts reinterpreted exclusively for Uncut in tribute to Shakey’s 80th birthday. There’s some ragged, glorious rock from Kurt Vile & The Sadies, J Mascis, Alan Sparhawk‘s Tired Eyes and MJ Lenderman & The Wind; there are tender ballads from Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Joan Shelley & Nathan Salzburg, Drive By Truckers‘ Mike Cooley, and Sharon Van Otten & The Attachment Theory; and there are wilder, more experimental versions from Orcutt Shelley Miller and Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection. Advertisement Plus it all kicks off with a stunning eight-and-a-half-minute “Ambulance Blues” from Phosphorescent. See below for the full tracklisting and more… ORDER A COPY FROM US HERE Advertisement 1 PhosphorescentAmbulance BluesWe begin this – if we say so ourselves – stellar new tribute to Neil Young with one of his most totemic songs. As the closer to 1974’s On The Beach, it’s certainly an ambitious track to take on, but Phosphorescent nail their own version without losing the magic of Young’s recording. Here, Matthew Houck is on guitar, vocals and harmonica, Jo Schornikow is on… Read More →

Hit Singles

Ultimate Record Collection: Nick Cave

King Inkie! The story of the young Nick Cave and his bands lends itself to lurid headlines. As you’ll read in this latest Ultimate Record Collection, though, behind the drugs, violence and withering disdain, there was a demented creativity and a powerful work ethic. Advertisement Today, one of the fruits of that is the adulation Cave enjoys in sold-out arenas, but it took a while for the world to come round to his way of thinking. London gave Rowland S Howard malnutrition, and the other members of Cave’s band The Birthday Party a healthy disrespect for what they saw as the mediocrity of the alternative music scene in the UK. Against such a backdrop, the group pushed themselves further into what some might like to romantically call the abyss but was actually more like truly original composition. Things moved pretty quickly in this world, with limited edition releases, name changes, reconfigured material, changes of record label and collaborations, as the band move from sullen triers to leaders of a fanatical constituency which seems to either want to fight them, or become romantically attached to them. Watching Birthday Party YouTube clips is an excellent way to spend your time. Of… Read More →

Hit Singles

Buzzcocks announce new album, Attitude Adjustment

Buzzcocks have announced details of a new studio album, Attitude Adjustment. It is released on January 30, 2026. Says Steve Diggle, “It’s punk rock with a Motown vibe! A new album should always have elements of surprise and create its own world, and this does. It avoids the cliché and expands the Buzzcocks’ magical journey.” The tracklisting for Attitude Adjustment is: Queen of the SceneGamesSeeing DaylightPoetic Machine GunTear of a Golden GirlHeavy StreetsOne of the Universe (Part One)All Gone to WarOne of the Universe (Part Two)Jesus at the WheelJust a Dream I FollowedFeeling UptightBreak That Ball and ChainThe Greatest of Them All Meanwhile, Buzzcocks round out 2025 playing dates with The Stranglers. Friday, October 17 – Leeds, O2 AcademySaturday, October 18 – Manchester, O2 ApolloTuesday, October 21 – Newcastle, O2 City HallThursday, October 23 – Edinburgh, Corn ExchangeFriday, October 24 – Aberdeen, Music HallTuesday, October 28 – Bristol, BeaconWednesday, October 29 – Brighton, DomeFriday, October 31 – London, RoundhouseSaturday, November 1 – London, Roundhouse

Hit Singles

Emma Pollock’s Begging The Night To Take Hold reviewed: Glasgow indie-rock mainstay unearths interior and exterior truths

A tumultuous journey of self-discovery How to explain the nine years that have passed since In Search Of Harperfield, Emma Pollock’s self-acknowledged “best received” album in her 30 years as the vanguard of the Scottish underground? In her own words: “start at the beginning until you sing sunlight” – an oblique, poetic fragment that at its core captures the essence of a tumultuous journey of self-discovery, captured in all its light and shade on the songwriter’s fourth solo album. Recorded in the safe spaces around and after pandemic lockdowns, Begging The Night To Take Hold was shelved while The Delgados – the band formed by Pollock and three friends in ’90s Glasgow which, through its Chemikal Underground label and studio, continues to underpin much of the city’s music scene – embarked on a triumphant reunion tour, including sets at Primavera in Barcelona and their hometown’s open-air Kelvingrove Bandstand. As she prepared to return to the record and the intense grief of her father’s sudden death that informed much of its writing, Pollock obtained a post-menopause autism diagnosis, and found some answers to the questions she had begun to ask herself about her place in the world. Advertisement Pollock is in… Read More →

Hit Singles

John Lennon’s 30 Best Songs

Yoko Ono: The word ‘imagine’ was a very important word between us. It’s very special because of John’s song “Imagine”, as well. I was there when he wrote it. We were in Ascot, in our bedroom upstairs. Because we were both artists, we showed each other everything. If I scribbled something I’d show it to John. He would scribble something and show it to me. That’s how he wrote his songs, too. He wasn’t one of those writers who’d write from ten until 12 in the morning. He used to think of an idea when we were in a plane or something. He just writes it down. And at the time he writes it down, he’s already got the melody. John didn’t have a narrow talent. He had all the different emotions he was able to express in his songs. If you want to analyse it, his mum wasn’t around, and his dad wasn’t around, and he wanted someone to listen to him when he was a little boy. When I went to Liverpool, to his childhood home, I cried, because I saw the little bedroom where it all started. Advertisement “Imagine” is my favourite of John’s peace songs. I… Read More →

Hit Singles

The Earlies’ These Were The Earlies reviewed: magical, premature eulogy turns 21

The soil was practically falling over their heads As album titles go, These Were The Earlies was hardly one to inspire confidence; it was as if this Anglo-American collective were over before they’d begun. Indeed, with their debut’s songs selected from several years’ worth of limited, little-heard singles, the soil was practically falling over their heads. So who were The Earlies? The answer explains their predicament. They spanned two continents, with Christian Madden and Giles Hatton in Manchester, and John-Mark Lapham travelling between there and Texas, where Brandon Carr also lived. More confusingly, they’d double, even triple, their live lineup, yet Lapham rarely joined them onstage. Not that the Brits had met Carr during recordings: he’d only contributed vocals after encountering his compatriot in an American record store. In terms of headcount, then, not to mention backstory, many in the music business would call them ‘unwieldy’. Advertisement A comforting hand on the shoulder Still, perhaps this looseness powered their cosmic frontier-crossing. Certainly, Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips reverberated in “25 Easy Pieces”’ starry-eyed naivety, “Dead Birds”’ orchestral fireworks and “Slow Man’s Dream”’s ghostly, bucolic drift. That’s not to mention the kosmische “Bring It Back Again”’s psychedelia and the generally… Read More →

Hit Singles

Introducing the new Uncut… Neil Young at 80 and our free 15-track Neil Young CD!

We invited some of Neil Young’s most esteemed fans to cover his songs We knew we were onto something good on August 21 – at 3.44pm, to be precise. That’s when Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s version of “Cortez The Killer” landed in mine and Tom Pinnock’s inboxes accompanied by the briefest note: “Will this work for you guys?” Set over the merest shades of an acoustic guitar, it sounded like Will Oldham had recorded it on his front porch in Kentucky, with crickets chirping in the distance and the resonant tones of chime bells and the creak of a rocking chair providing further ambience. It was evidence that our plan to mark Neil Young’s impending 80th birthday by inviting some of Young’s most esteemed fans to cover his songs was off to the very strongest start. Advertisement Some 14 tracks later – the last new recording to arrive, on September 7, was Kurt Vile and The Sadies’ rowdy version of “White Line” – Tom and I had a CD every bit as stellar as the Dylan Revisited CD assembled for Bob’s 80th in 2021. A huge thanks to all the artists involved for their time – and Tom for pulling it… Read More →

Hit Singles

Uncut December 2025

EVERY PRINT EDITION OF OUR DECEMBER 2025 ISSUE COMES WITH A FREE, 15-TRACK CD — THE GOLD RUSH: THE SONGS OF NEIL YOUNG — FEATURING HIS FINEST SONGS REIMAGINED EXCLUSIVELY FOR UNCUT BY BONNIE “PRINCE” BILLY, J MASCIS, SHARON VAN ETTEN, KURT VILE & THE SADIES, JOAN SHELLEY, MARGO CILKER AND MORE! NEIL YOUNG To celebrate his upcoming 80th birthday, friends, collaborator and admirers — including Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Emmylou Harris, Nils Lofgren, Thurston Moore, Micah Nelson and Margo Price — join Uncut to salute the many facets of a fearless, single minded artist. “He radically changes his mind and his direction, to the shock of everyone. But then, he’s done this all his life.” Advertisement OTIS REDDING The story of Otis Blue — bandmates, eyewitnesses and fellow travellers recall the whirlwind making of a soul masterpiece that redefined modern rhythm and blues. PATTI SMITH 50 years on, Horses has lost none of its defiance and power. Lenny Kaye revisits the noble warrior poet’s landmark debut. THE ROLLING STONES Ronnie Wood on Black And Blue, Billy Preston and joining the world’s greatest rock’n’roll band by “osmosis”. Advertisement SUPER FURRY ANIMALS The Welsh psych-pop heroes reunite in Cardiff for their first… Read More →

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Rush announce 2026 world tour

Rush co-founders Geddy Lee [bass, keys, vocals] and Alex Lifeson [guitar, vocals] have announced they will return to the stage in 2026 for a new tour, Fifty Something. The tour will not only celebrate Rush’s music but the life of late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. It marks the first time Lee and Lifeson have toured together the finale of Rush’s R40 Tour on August 1, 2015. Advertisement For Fifty Something, Lee and Lifeson will be joined by drummer Anika Nilles. General onsale begins here on Friday, October 17. Rush’s 2026 Fifty Something Tour June 7 – Los Angeles, CA @ Kia ForumJune 9 – Los Angeles, CA @ Kia ForumJune 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ Kia ForumJune 13 – Los Angeles, CA @ Kia ForumJune 18 – Mexico City, MX @ Palacio de los DeportesJune 24 – Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies ArenaJune 26 – Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies ArenaJune 28 – Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies ArenaJune 30 – Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies ArenaJuly 16 – Chicago, IL @ United CenterJuly 18 – Chicago, IL @ United CenterJuly 20 – Chicago, IL @ United CenterJuly 22 – Chicago, IL @ United CenterJuly 28 – New York, NY @ Madison Square GardenJuly 30 – New York, NY @ Madison… Read More →

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Kraftwerk announce 2026 UK and Ireland tour

Following their one-off headline performance at the Forever Now festival in June, Kraftwerk have announced that they will tour the UK and Ireland next year, for the first time since 2017. The Multimedia Tour 2026 will visit 14 cities in May and June, with an additional early evening show at London’s Royal Albert Hall. See the poster below for the full itinerary: Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday October 10 from here.

Hit Singles

Jimmy Page pays tribute to Yardbirds’ co-founder, Chris Dreja

Jimmy Page has paid tribute to Chris Dreja, the rhythm guitarist, bassist and co-founder of The Yardbirds, who has died aged 79. Born Christopher Walenty Dreja in 1945, he was raised in Kingston, Surrey – on the ‘Thames Delta’, as the home of the British blues scene became known. Advertisement Dreja began playing with guitarist Anthony “Top” Topham, a school friend of his brother, forming the Metropolitan Blues Quartet in 1963 with singer Keith Relf, bassist Paul Samwell-Smith and drummer Jim McCarty. Not long after, the band changed their name to the Yardbirds, Topham left to be replaced by Eric Clapton. The band recorded their debut album Five Live Yardbirds at the Marquee in 1964, before Clapton left. Over the years, the group also saw Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page pass through their ranks as lead guitarists, with Dreja switching to bass. Advertisement After Page went on to form Led Zeppelin, he invited Dreja to join as bassist. Dreja declined. A keen artist and photographer – his artwork appears on the cover of the band’s sole studio album, Yardbirds aka Roger The Engineer – Dreja chose instead to pursue a career in photography. His photograph of Led Zeppelin appears on the… Read More →

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St Etienne’s International reviewed: cherished indie pop trio go out on a party high

Their hip vision of a swinging London Back in 1992, Saint Etienne issued the insouciant invitation to “Join Our Club”. For indie pop lovers of style and taste, it was an easy RSVP. The Britpop-adjacent trio of Bob Stanley, Pete Wiggs and Sarah Cracknell were well connected but never exclusive. If anything, they were nerdy enthusiasts, hymning their hip vision of a swinging London, which drew fondly across decades of post-war British, nay European, pop culture – film, literature and visual art as much as music – while deftly bodyswerving the more jingoistic connotations of Cool Britannia. More than 30 years on, their 13th album is a similarly celebratory summons to their leaving party. Although they have not announced a hard split, International will be Saint Etienne’s last album and, like the final scene of It’s A Wonderful Life, there’s a heart-warming gathering of old friends, new kids, well-wishers and elder statesmen queuing up to mark the occasion, from Vince Clarke and Nick Heyward to Erol Alkan and Confidence Man. No tears – okay, some tears – for this beloved band. Advertisement They carved their own niche as a renaissance pop act The guestlist is bolstered by spoken word cameos… Read More →

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Thomas Pynchon’s Shadow Ticket reviewed: darkly comic detective caper set during Prohibition-era

“The Al Capone of Cheese” Thomas Pynchon’s ninth novel starts out as a case for Hicks McTaggart, a private dick hired to find the daughter of “the Al Capone of Cheese”. (“A byword of terror in milk sheds throughout the land”.) Hicks is “a big ape with a light touch” whose style of investigation is peculiarly passive. As he is spirited from Milwaukee onto a transatlantic ocean liner and then to Europe, where fascism is sprouting, he becomes a hatstand for the author’s playful use of pulp detective tropes. The book completes Pynchon’s fictional jigsaw of the 20th century. The story’s relationship with time and place is fluid. The main feature of Milwaukee in 1932 is that it isn’t quite Chicago. Pynchon refers to “pre-fascist space time”. Also “a strange time .. one of those queer little passageways behind the scenery”. Readers in search of contemporary echoes won’t be disappointed. In a tale of goons, conspiracists, electoral jiggery-pokery and popcorn cooked in goose fat, the most feared of organised crime groupings is New York Real Estate. Advertisement “You can’t trust the newsreels” There is talk of ancient plutocrats being de-aged, a diverting new technology called Face-Tube, robot girls, and lurid headlines… Read More →

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Send us your questions for Cameron Crowe!

There really aren’t enough films where the hero is a music journalist. But thanks to Cameron Crowe, there is at least one: 2000’s Oscar-winning Almost Famous, which helped to bring some much-needed legitimacy to the notion of asking philosophical questions to spaced-out guitarists for a living. Advertisement Crowe, of course, was once that teenage music journalist himself: Rolling Stone’s youngest ever correspondent, charming his way into the confidence of bands like The Allman Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles and Led Zeppelin. In 1981, he wrote Fast Times At Ridgemont High, which was turned into a cult movie of the same name. Crowe soon became an acclaimed film director himself, making Singles, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous and Vanilla Sky among others, before eventually gravitating back towards the music world with documentaries about Pearl Jam and David Crosby, and an upcoming biopic of Joni Mitchell. Now he’s about to publish his memoir, The Uncool, which takes us back to those halcyon ’70s days, with a cover endorsement from Stevie Nicks. Advertisement And while he’s in reflective mood, he’s kindly submitted to a gentle grilling from you, the Uncut readers. So, what do you want to ask a titan of both the music writing… Read More →

Hit Singles

Uncut’s New Music Playlist for October 2025

As we move into what the money people call Q4, it feels as if 2025 still has plenty left to give. To wit, we bring you significant new singles by Dry Cleaning, Sleaford Mods and Melody’s Echo Chamber; wily survivors Peter Perrett, Robert Finley and Thurston Moore continue to deliver the goods; and if you haven’t yet encountered Plantoid, Mildred or The New Eves, you’re in for a treat. Plus there’s reliably excellent new stuff from Tortoise, Midlake, Ed Harcourt, Lianne La Havas and David Moore, among a myriad of other delights. Dive in… Advertisement DRY CLEANING“Hit My Head All Day”(4AD) [embedded content] MELODY’S ECHO CHAMBER“In The Stars”(Domino) [embedded content] ROBERT FINLEY“I Wanna Thank You”(Easy Eye Sound) Advertisement [embedded content] PETER PERRETT“WGB/WMD (David Holmes Remix)”(Domino) [embedded content] PLANTOID“Dozer”(Bella Union) [embedded content] TORTOISE“Works And Days”(International Anthem x Nonesuch) [embedded content] NALA SINEPHRO“Grand Prix”(Warp / A24) [embedded content] WESTERMAN“About Leaving”(Partisan) [embedded content] ED HARCOURT“A Ghost Walked Through Me”(Deathless Recordings) [embedded content] MIDLAKE“Days Gone By”(Bella Union) [embedded content] HANNAH FRANCES“Life’s Work”(Fire Talk) [embedded content] WHITELANDS“Glance”(Sonic Cathedral) [embedded content] THE NEW EVES“Red Brick”(Transgressive) [embedded content] SLEAFORD MODS“Megaton”(Rough Trade) [embedded content] STEREOLAB“Fed Up With Your Job”(Warp / Duophonic UHF Disks) [embedded content] THURSTON MOORE“Temptation Inside… Read More →

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Listen to a previously unheard T.Rex song, “I’m Dazed”

To commemorate what would have been Marc Bolan’s 78th birthday, English Heritage have today unveiled a blue plaque at Bolan’s former home at 31 Clarendon Gardens, Maida Vale, London. The occasion has also been marked by the release of “I’m Dazed”, a completely unheard T. Rex song recorded in 1975, and recently discovered on studio tapes from the period. Advertisement The track was first laid down at Château d’Hérouville studios near Paris in March 1975, and T. Rex recorded a second version on April 22 at Musicland Studios in Munich. Produced by Bolan and engineered by Reinhold Mack, it features the classic mid-‘70s T. Rex lineup of Bolan, Steve Currie, Gloria Jones, Davey Lutton and Dino Dines. Listen below: Martin Barden, consultant to Demon Music, who discovered the tracks, says: “While cataloguing some old T. Rex tapes, I spotted tracks I’d never heard before. When we played the reel and Marc’s voice came through, it was magical. To unearth this completely unheard track, ‘I’m Dazed’, after 50 years, feels like finding hidden treasure and is a true gift for fans. This song was recorded when Marc was living an itinerant life, hopping across borders and continents – and producing some… Read More →