After all the hoo-ha, huff, hysteria and hot air, here, finally, are The Rolling Stones doing what they do even better than raising the collective temperature with impertinent ticket prices, something they seem to have been doing at least since their 1969 American tour, nothing new in the Stones being accused of commercial banditry and the cynical exploitation of their fans, on whose behalf so many complaints have been indignantly voiced since the 50 And Counting dates in London and New York were announced. Why don’t they celebrate their half-centenary with, say, a free concert, the cry went up in some quarters, and let more people have a chance to see them, and for nothing too? Well, when they tried that in 1969, look where it got them: Altamont.
You’ll hopefully have spotted Uncut’s Films Of The Year in our current issue. High up the Top 10 is the brilliant Berberian Sound Studio, director Peter Strickland’s spin on low-rent 70s Italian horror movies and a tribute to the Heath Robinson-style endeavours of foley artists and sound designers of a certain generation. Ahead of the film's imminent release of the film on DVD – and Broadcast’s score in the New Year – I caught up with Peter Strickland to chat about the film and his influences.
The director of a new film profiling Ginger Baker is interviewed in the new issue of Uncut (dated January 2013, and out now), explaining why the Cream drummer broke his nose during filming… As a companion piece, this week's archive feature finds Baker's former bandmate, Eric Clapton, providing a painfully frank account of his days in Cream – psychedelic drugs, 24-hour confrontations and their love of Pet Sounds included. From Uncut's May 2004 issue (Take 84). Interview: Nigel Williamson
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Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds have unveiled the NSFW artwork for their forthcoming new album, Push The Sky Away.
The LP will be the band's fifteenth studio album and is set for release on February 19, 2013. The cover art features a naked woman in a sparsely decorated room and a be-suited Cave holding open the shutters to a window.
The album follows 2008's Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! and was recorded by regular Bad Seeds and Grinderman collaborator Nick Launay at La Fabrique studios, a 19th century mansion in the south of France.
The guitar Jimi Hendrix is believed to have set alight in 1967 has been sold at auction for over £200,000.
An important part of rock history, the the black Fender Stratocaster was made famous after Hendrix set fire to it at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967. Although, legend has it that the guitar Hendrix was playing onstage was switched with a lesser, cheaper instrument moments before the burning.
The Rolling Stones last night (November 29) played the second of two shows at London's O2 Arena in celebration of the band's 50th anniversary.
As per their show on Sunday, this was to be a hit-packed, guest-filled evening, with the return of Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor plus first-time guests Eric Clapton and Florence Welch of Florence And The Machine. Scroll down the page to see fan shot footage of Florence performing 'Gimme Shelter' with the band.
Beck has a new album out - Song Reader: Twenty New Songs By Beck. It is available only as sheet music. We dispatched Uncut's very own musical expert, John Lewis, to play the album, track by track, on his beloved piano. Below, you can watch the results - and let the magic of Beck's music wash over you...
Ahead of a run of live dates - including shows at London's Albert Hall and the Barbican Centre - and a new single, Sinéad O'Connor is set to answer your questions in Uncut as part of our regular An Audience With... feature.
So, is there anything you've ever wanted to ask Sinéad?
Her previous collaborations include Brian Eno, Ian Brown and Christy Moore; is there anyone she'd still like to work with?
What are her memories of playing at Roger Waters' The Wall concert in Berlin in 1990?
What does she remember about the music scene growing up in Dublin the 1970s?
