Hopefully by now you will have had a chance to zone out to our magnificent new Sounds Of The New West Presents Ambient Americana CD, free with the latest issue of Uncut – if not, you can grab yourself a copy here. Anyway, this playlist picks up where the CD leaves off, with a brand new track by Marisa Anderson and William Tyler from their upcoming collaborative album Lost Futures. There are similarly blissed-out new sounds from Red River Dialect’s David John Morris – written during a nine-month retreat at a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia – as well...
The new issue of Uncut, dated May 2021, and available now, comes with a special free CD – the latest in our Sounds Of The New West series, Ambient Americana. CLICK HERE TO GET THE NEW UNCUT DELIVERED DIRECT TO YOUR DOOR It compiles 15 tracks by artists mixing the traditions of country and folk with the mind-expanding sounds of ambient and kosmische music – from the blown-out songforms of Steve Gunn and Sarah Louise to the pedal-steel transcendence of Chuck Johnson, SUSS and Luke Schneider, via the droning majesty of William Tyler, North Americans, Mary Lattimore and others. Advertisement...
Not for the first time in its history, Great Britain finds itself at a crossroads, pulled one way and another by opposing cultural and political forces. On one side stands an establishment dedicated to the consolidation of existing power; on the other, a movement to confront and atone for the more shameful aspects of the past, as a way of addressing them and moving forwards. Of course, Gang Of Four were there in 1979. As frontman Jon King sang on “Not Great Men”, the third track on their debut album Entertainment!: “The past lives on in your front room/The...
In 2019, an extensive reissue campaign of David Sylvian’s solo albums reminded us how far this reluctant star had retreated from the limelight. Who could blame him? Japan found success too late, after they had already decided to split, when personal conflicts became unendurable. It’s a situation laid out on “Ghosts”, the exquisitely cold and distant highlight of their fifth and final album, 1981’s Tin Drum. “The ghosts of my life blow wilder than before”, mourned Sylvian, lost somewhere deep inside his own anxieties. But let us remember happier times, where the band’s vision finally coalesced. Japan had formed...
NYC-based singer-songwriter Nazanin, returns after her striking debut single “Infatuation” with her latest release, “Red Light.” The R&B-Pop sensation unveils an intensely appealing blend of pop and contemporary R&B, building-up on the momentum initiated by her debut release. “Red Light” finds Nazanin shares her attraction and brief relationship with a guy she met when she was younger, a personal experience she described as toxic. While most of us have had such experiences, Nazanin translates it beautifully into a hypnotic track, set to increase her popularity, especially amongst urban music fans. Her atypical childhood is one of the key elements...
CLICK HERE TO GET THE NEW UNCUT DELIVERED DIRECT TO YOUR DOOR The Velvet Underground, The Black Crowes, Bunny Wailer, Richard Thompson, Rhiannon Giddens, Laurie Anderson, Blake Mills, Nick Cave, Postcard Records, Mogwai and The Selecter all feature in the new Uncut, dated May 2021 and in UK shops from March 18 or available to buy online now. As always, the issue comes with a free CD, this time comprising 15 tracks of the finest ambient Americana. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: With a motherlode of activity planned for this year, we’ve assembled a collection of untold stories and compelling insights on the band who changed everything – those...
Kitt Wakeley’s upcoming album, Symphony of Sinners and Saints, will include a plethora of musical elements. EDM, orchestral music, heavy guitar, and thundering drums are a few of the album’s elements. Conducted by London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded at London’s famous Abbey Road Studio, “Conflicted” is a superb composition by the composer, portraying the inner struggle human beings experience. Featuring the well-known instrumental rock guitarist Joe Satriani, Kitt Wakeley leaves nothing for the imagination. The duo has already proven that they are quite capable of releasing music that resonates with audiences worldwide. “Conflicted” is an excellent example of...
In late Autumn, the Tennessee-born songwriter Valerie June took to YouTube, live from her home in Brooklyn, NY. Seated fireside, and cross-legged, with an acoustic guitar, June wore two pink carnations in her dreadlocked hair and played “Stay”, the first track from her new record. Midway through the performance, still strumming, she told how her father had passed away on this very date four years earlier. “He died on the largest supermoon of the year!” June said, beaming, before taking a more philosophical turn: “As we think about impermanence, I’d like to invite all the lights and the spirits...
On his return from the Isle Of Wight festival in September 1969, Bob Dylan moved himself, his wife and their three children – Sara was heavily pregnant with a fourth – from Woodstock to Greenwich Village. Settling into a townhouse on MacDougal Street, he tried to reconnect with the sort of life he had known after first arriving in New York from Minnesota. Early in 1970 he began recording the tracks that would not only complete Self-Portrait in time for a June release but provide the material for New Morning, which made its appearance in October. There would be...
With the new issue of Uncut upon us we are delighted to bring you a Velvet Underground playlist of deep cuts to soundtrack this month’s cover story – a veritable Exploding Publishing Inevitable, no less. Have a copy sent straight to your home. Advertisement “Prominent Men” Peel Slowly And See (Polydor, 1995) Lou Reed would often downplay Dylan’s influence in later years, but this early acoustic Velvets number certainly bears the unmistakable imprint of Bob. Recorded in mid-1965 at John Cale’s Ludlow Street Loft, it’s practically a Freewheelin’ outtake, with wheezy harmonica, earnestly anti-establishment lyrics and a Reed vocal...