Vile day here in London, improved to some degree I'd hope by the arrival in UK shops of the new edition of Uncut. It has Nick Drake on the cover, as you probably know if you're a subscriber and your copy arrived over the weekend. It's the first time that Drake has appeared on our cover, and what John Robinson has done in his feature is transcend the tragic myth to discover a much more complex and human figure. John conducted new interviews with most of the key figures in Drake's musical career - Joe Boyd, John Wood, Richard Thompson, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Mattacks, Beverley Martyn and more - and came up with a portrait of Drake as an uncompromising and surprisingly robust artist. A pretty significant piece of work, I think. There's plenty more goodness in the issue, too: deep and often moving new interviews with Ryan Adams and Jeff Tweedy; Brian May revisiting the year everything changed for Queen; Steve Albini sharing some very fine recipes as well as his thoughts on Neil Young and Page and Plant; Holland, Dozier & Holland on their greatest hits; Danny Fields on his remarkable life with The Ramones, The Doors, The MC5, Bowie, Iggy, Nico and Warhol, and how he inadvertently got The Beatles into terrible trouble; and a review section that features Television, Van Morrison, Public Enemy, Robert Plant, Goat, a revelatory new album from Alice Gerrard, a revelatory old one from Bob Carpenter, and much, much more. And while I'm already aware that this is all perilously close to hype, the Uncut free CD is my favourite in ages, featuring as it does music from the aforementioned Carpenter, Gerrard, Tweedy and Goat, plus Hiss Golden Messenger, Ty Segall, Tricky, Spider Bags, Allah-Las, Avi Buffalo, Blonde Redhead, Jennifer Castle and Purling Hiss. All killer, no etc etc. Tomorrow I'm going to see Kate Bush - an event not even a thousand thinkpieces can stop me being excited about. I'll try and post some kind of review as quickly as possible on Thursday morning, if you want to check back then. In the meantime, a quote from Sinead O'Connor's Album By Album feature, in the new issue, that might as well act as a mission statement: "It's so bloody nice to talk music, not how your life's shit and what's in your handbag…" Drop me a line about the mag any time - uncut_feedback@ipcmedia.com - and maybe even follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey
Vile day here in London, improved to some degree I’d hope by the arrival in UK shops of the new edition of Uncut. It has Nick Drake on the cover, as you probably know if you’re a subscriber and your copy arrived over the weekend.
It’s the first time that Drake has appeared on our cover, and what John Robinson has done in his feature is transcend the tragic myth to discover a much more complex and human figure. John conducted new interviews with most of the key figures in Drake’s musical career – Joe Boyd, John Wood, Richard Thompson, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Mattacks, Beverley Martyn and more – and came up with a portrait of Drake as an uncompromising and surprisingly robust artist. A pretty significant piece of work, I think.
There’s plenty more goodness in the issue, too: deep and often moving new interviews with Ryan Adams and Jeff Tweedy; Brian May revisiting the year everything changed for Queen; Steve Albini sharing some very fine recipes as well as his thoughts on Neil Young and Page and Plant; Holland, Dozier & Holland on their greatest hits; Danny Fields on his remarkable life with The Ramones, The Doors, The MC5, Bowie, Iggy, Nico and Warhol, and how he inadvertently got The Beatles into terrible trouble; and a review section that features Television, Van Morrison, Public Enemy, Robert Plant, Goat, a revelatory new album from Alice Gerrard, a revelatory old one from Bob Carpenter, and much, much more.
And while I’m already aware that this is all perilously close to hype, the Uncut free CD is my favourite in ages, featuring as it does music from the aforementioned Carpenter, Gerrard, Tweedy and Goat, plus Hiss Golden Messenger, Ty Segall, Tricky, Spider Bags, Allah-Las, Avi Buffalo, Blonde Redhead, Jennifer Castle and Purling Hiss. All killer, no etc etc.
Tomorrow I’m going to see Kate Bush – an event not even a thousand thinkpieces can stop me being excited about. I’ll try and post some kind of review as quickly as possible on Thursday morning, if you want to check back then. In the meantime, a quote from Sinead O’Connor’s Album By Album feature, in the new issue, that might as well act as a mission statement: “It’s so bloody nice to talk music, not how your life’s shit and what’s in your handbag…”
Drop me a line about the mag any time – uncut_feedback@ipcmedia.com – and maybe even follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnRMulvey
