An unintended consequence of the My Bloody Valentine release: plenty of plays this week for “Straight Outta Compton”, following directly after “m b v” in my iTunes library. As you can see, though, it’s been an amazing few days for new music, and consequently I’ve added plenty of links so you can hear Mikal Cronin, Library Of Sands (to recap: Naynay Shineywater from Brightblack Morning Light), Jennie O (produced by Jonathan Wilson), and Retribution Gospel Choir’s amazing “Seven” (featuring Nels Cline, and especially recommended to fans of “Psychedelic Pill”).
Today’s looking like it might shape up as Stephen Stills day: as I write, we’re on track 16 (“Helplessly Hoping”) of his new career boxset, with 60-odd more to come.
To Matthew E White’s first London show tonight, all being well, but in the meantime this week’s playlist, with a few things to listen to and watch, as is becoming a hopefully useful habit.
Until I woke up this morning and checked Twitter, I had planned to write something about the new Low album today. The enormously unexpected return of Bowiemania put paid to that; I’ll try again with Low tomorrow, unless in the intervening 24 hours Kevin Shields is finally shamed into pulling his finger out.
Happy new year, everybody. Bit of a tentative start to 2013, though the new issue with Gram Parsons on the cover has just arrived in UK shops. A plug, too, for the next Uncut Ultimate Music Guide, dedicated to The Beatles, which I think is out January 17.
We seem to be posting a lot more lists than actual joined-up writing at the moment – Michael’s just put Uncut’s full Top 75 of 2012 on the website, with links, and is promising our Archive/Reissues chart tomorrow – but, hey, here’s another. Among some other good new arrivals, another strong recommendation for Parquet Courts: check them out here.
One of those rushed weeks, I’m afraid – it looks like I won’t be able to construct a Wild Mercury Sound 2012 chart ‘til next week now, if you can bear the agonising wait. Lots of links and clips to be getting on with here, though: please make sure you have a listen to the new Sun Kil Moon and Plush tracks, and check the clip that Neil Young scholars are claiming shows the first time he’s collapsed onto the floor and wiggled his legs in the air mid-solo.
Sometime in the summer of 2011, I spent a pretty amazing Saturday morning at a small recording studio in Green Lanes, North London. When I walked in, a hesitant but beautiful piano line was coming through the speakers, and one of the most emotionally compelling voices I’ve encountered in the past few years was singing a song which, it transpired, would be called “Never Ending Happening”.
