I’ve just noticed it’s Jarvis Cocker’s 50th birthday, and used it as an excuse to dig this out: my NME interview with a pre-fame Pulp in June 1992. Had a look for the one I did with them just before the (at the time) last gig a decade later and couldn’t find it, annoyingly…
Everyone knows the mythical image of The Man In Black. But the truth about Johnny Cash was a whole lot more complicated. A “folk hero for the world”, and a humble man who struggled with addiction for his entire life. In this archive feature from Uncut’s February 2009 issue (Take 141), we present a revelatory new portrait of Cash’s life. We talk to many of the people who knew him best – the children, the bandmates, the managers, the peers – and discover the unexpurgated truth about this titan of American music. “He survived,” says his one-time son-in-law, “what Elvis didn’t…” Words: Alastair McKay
I’m not, as a rule, the sort of person who reveres and memorises reviews from the notional golden age of rock journalism. But the other day, I was pondering something Nick Kent wrote in his original NME review of Television’s “Marquee Moon”. I found it online this morning, specifically this passage:
Grizzly Bear have announced plans to re-release their 2012 album Shields in November.
The band will re-issue the album on November 12 in two separate formats. The first being a two-disc CD release titled Shields Expanded, which will come with the original Shields plus a bonus disc of demos plus remixes from artists such as Liars and Nicolas Jaar. Meanwhile, a 12-inch vinyl version of the album will just features the demos and remixes.
The Charlatans have announced plans to host a one-off charity concert in memory of former drummer Jon Brookes, who died earlier this year.
The band will play London’s Royal Albert Hall in aid of The Brain Tumour Charity on October 18. Tickets for the gig will go on sale at 10am on Friday morning [September 20].
Brookes passed away peacefully in hospital on the morning of August 13.
The Beatles have released a new promo video ahead of their anticipated On Air – Live At The BBC Volume 2 collection.
You can watch the film below.
On Air – Live At The BBC Volume 2 will be released Monday, November 11 in 2CD and 180-gram vinyl packages with a 48-page booklet. On Air’s 63 tracks include 37 previously unreleased performances and 23 previously unreleased recordings of in-studio banter and conversation between the band’s members and their BBC radio hosts.
David Bowie light-heartedly threatened to steal Arcade Fire's "Reflektor" for himself, according to band member Richard Reed Parry.
Bowie appears alongside the Canadian band on their new single, the first track to be taken from the forthcoming double album of the same name. Speaking to NME in a new interview in this week's issue, available digitally and on newsstands now, Parry lifted the lid on what it was like to be in the studio with Bowie.
The Rolling Stones have unveiled a trailer for their forthcoming live film, Sweet Summer Sun.
The film was recorded at London's Hyde Park on July 6 and 13. You can read our original reviews of the shows here (July 6) and here (July 13).
Jams, folks. Please take ten minutes to watch the excellent clips below from Natural Child and Chris Forsyth. The image above is the cover of Forsyth’s tremendous forthcoming album, which I’ll try my damnedest to write about in the next day or two.
